Following is post I composed as a series of questions for Mayor Reed. Although he did not answer them, except, perhaps, in the abstract and in a subsequent blog, or on the radio on one of his fireside chats on KLIV, I think the questions - and the answers which have not yet been uttered - are entirely relevant to SJPD.

I wrote this post for the following blog:

http://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/entries/08_26_11_mayor_chuck_reed_interview/

Actually, I have alot of questions.

I would like for Mayor Reed to take a look at my post from here: http://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/entries/08_22_11_pension_crisis_budget_mayor_chuck_reed_stanford/, and address each of those points, explaining how his votes over the past decade or so have reflected an adherence to principles of responsible and transparent governance.

I would also like for him to address the issue of attrition described in the following article: http://protectsanjose.com/content/san-joses-vanishing-police-department-calling-all-councilmembers and explain how he intends to ensure this city remains as safe as possible in light of up to (or perhaps at least) 60 additional resignations or retirements between now and the end of the year. And I would like for him to explain how essentially gifting nearly $20 million to other agencies in San Jose training dollars is a responsible use of taxpayer dollars, especially since San Jose would have lost that number of officers in the next couple of years to attrition anyway.

Does this mean that the 60 + laid-off officers will be offered their jobs back? And, will Mayor Reed be sufficiently transparent as to disclose how many of those officers previously laid off have already taken positions elsewhere. Will he further be so transparent as to disclose how far below our authorized strength (1106 sworn positions, I believe) SJPD will likely be at the end of the year?

With an additional homicide today, does Mayor Reed still adhere to the notion that the increase in homicides is an aberration, or that this overall increase in crime is an anomaly? Has the city suffered an increase in violent crime overall? (I am pretty sure that it has, but what are the statistics so far?

Since Mayor Reed acknowledged a few months ago that other cities in the county have a higher revenue per capita than does San Jose, I wondered if Mayor Reed has any plans for increasing the city’s revenue that do not involve increasing taxes and fees (since we can see how well that’s worked for San Jose so far)or is his primary concern limited to spearheading via ballot measure a series of pension reforms which are illegal (as determined recently in the suit that the Orange County DSA won against their county) and immoral (as, surely, reneging on a contract must also be deemed to be immoral).

I also posted a follow-up question in the same blog as a follow-on to this question posted by a firefighter:

"SJFD staffed leaner than all major bay area departments and pay more into pensions. Why is SJ in a worse or same position as these other cities"

and my post:

This same question is just as applicable to the police department. Additionally, why is it that officers who have lateral transfered to other agencies and gross approximately the same income end up netting so much more in their take-home pay - anywhere from several hundred to a couple thousand more? Why is it that this level and type of compensation - generally including a true 3% at 50 formula - is considered sustainable by these cities, but not San Jose?