School meeting gets ugly

Confronted with furious opponents, leaders of the Cupertino Union School District seem intent on pouring fuel on the fire.

The latest episode unfolded at last week’s board meeting when board President Anjali

Kausar shouted down booing parents, snapped at a woman mispronouncing Kausar’s name and interjected herself into public comment.

“I am going to respond to what you said,” she said, provoking cries of “It’s not your turn” and “Let the people talk.”

She gaveled a 10-minute break and stalked off with fellow trustee Soma McCandless.

Speakers had been calling for Kausar and Superintendent

Wendy Gudalewicz to resign. “It was one of the most bizarre meetings I’ve ever been to,” said Santa Clara County Assessor

Larry Stone, a 40-year veteran of public office, who attended Tuesday’s meeting. “Anjali cuts people off. She speaks angrily

to parents. It’s a very hostile environment.”

Kausar did not return phone calls from IA but in an email blamed critics’ behavior that “led to the meeting devolving to a level that was beyond the reasonable standard for proper public behavior.”

Other than the booing, it was unclear from watching a videotape of the meeting what behavior Kausar was referring to.

Earlier in the meeting, Superintendent Gudalewicz laboriously explained that an oath of office that she had administered to board members, requiring them to support and advocate for board decisions, actually originated in the Oak Grove School District. Gudalewicz said she didn’t realize that the wording departed from what’s legally required when swearing in trustees. Despite the controversy over the oath, the board in a 3-to-2 poll indicated that it was done discussing it.

Parent discontent may come home to roost should the Cupertino district seek a local parcel tax to avert a budget shortfall. Unhappy constituents make passing a tax very difficult.

Kausar herself will face more difficulties. Besides an online petition and pesky speakers calling for her to resign, the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission has received a complaint about her financial reports, in which for five years she neglected to list Apple stock and income from her Chamber of Commerce and realty jobs — while voting on Apple purchases, real estate and chamber-related issues.

New councilman’s video draws fire from colleague

Two San Jose City Council members are at odds over a balcony and a “Rocky Balboa” movie clip.

To illustrate why he supported a businesswoman’s downtown club project, Councilman Lan

Diep summoned Sylvester Stallone by playing a two-minute video at Tuesday’s council meeting that shows Rocky, the actor’s underdog character, fighting for what he believes in.

That didn’t sit well with Councilman Raul Peralez — the downtown councilman who opposed the proposal on grounds that it would create too much nightlife on one block. Peralez said afterward that the clip was an “inappropriate use of the council’s time.”

“Should every council member defer their comments and request a three-minute video?” asked Peralez. With meetings sometimes stretching past midnight already, the council earlier this year considered imposing a curfew on itself. “What if I wanted to show a five-minute video — or God forbid — a 15-minute video? It’s not a practice I’d like to see any of our colleagues continue.”

Diep responded by saying council members each receive time to make comments and he chose to fill his time with a relevant video. Diep met with Peralez to smooth things over after the meeting.

“I have no intention of regularly playing videos,” Diep said. “But drawing analogies is a powerful way to make dry topics immediately relevant to people’s lives.”

Mayor Sam Liccardo planned to cut off Diep’s video if it went on too long. The mayor said he won’t ban videos in the future but will step in if it’s irrelevant or drags on too long. “I certainly don’t expect the council to be conducted as a solemn procedure, but I do expect all of us to take the public’s business seriously,” Liccardo said.

Diep also was criticized for asking about the costs of installing a door in his top-floor City Hall office balcony he shares with Peralez’s office. Peralez has a door to the balcony, but said he never uses it.

“I don’t think it’s a really wise use of time, energy and money,” Peralez said of Diep’s inquiry.

Diep said someone he works with suggested he install the door, but he ditched the idea after being told it would cost $20,000 in taxpayer dollars. “They gave me the price estimate and that’s the end of it,” Diep responded. “I’m not putting in a work order.”

Councilman sues in flap over flying of communist flag

San Jose Councilman Tam

Nguyen described it as a “stab in the heart.”

A pair of Vietnamese writers accused Nguyen, who recently moved to bar the flag of communist-run Vietnam from city property, of being a communist himself because they don’t think he went far enough.

And now the first-term councilman is suing, saying the rumors are politically motivated and have damaged his reputation. He wants a court to award him a million bucks for each reference.

“These people are totally vicious and out of bounds,” Nguyen told IA. “I begged them to stop, but they keep taunting me.”

The defamation suit, filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court, says An Van Le — who uses the pen name Kiem Ai — and Dan Tu Vo published statements about Nguyen “with malice or reckless disregard for the truth.”

Nguyen alleges that the articles portrayed him in a false light, injured his reputation and inflicted severe emotional distress.

Le and Vo were unavailable for comment.

The articles appeared in numerous Vietnamese blogs, online forums and mailing lists.

The squabble began last month after Nguyen led an effort to ban the communist flag from city flag poles. Nguyen first asked the city to consider prohibiting the flag all over San Jose, but that raised free speech concerns. The proposal was tweaked to cover city property only.

But the writers published posts in Vietnamese — translated to English in the lawsuit — that said Nguyen’s push to limit the ban to city flagpoles only meant he legalized it everywhere else. They claim Nguyen failed to follow the model of Westminster, a Southern California city that opposes the flying of the flag anywhere — without banning it outright.

“Traitor Tam Nguyen conspired … to legalize communist bloody flag in the city of San Jose,” one translated post read, according to the lawsuit. “Tam Nguyen has defrauded the trust of the people and turned the ‘ban the flag’ into ‘permit to fly communist flag’ everywhere in San Jose.”

Nguyen says the writers “twisted” what was meant to be a good move for the community for political reasons. He said it’s because they’re backing Van Le, a resident who unsuccessfully ran for state Assembly last year and is rumored as a possible challenger to Nguyen’s reelection next year.

Family courthouse touts its fetching new cafe

Acrimonious divorces, fierce custody battles, abused children placed in foster care. Few people — if any — go to family court expecting a good time.

But a shiny new cafe just opened at the new family courthouse in downtown San Jose that makes a quick visit worthwhile, even if you don’t have to appear in court.

It’s not the food that makes it special, though it’s better than lunch at the courthouse. The new Family Tree Cafe offers breakfast all day, Peet’s coffee, and hot and cold sandwiches, including peanut butter and jelly or bananas for kids.

What sets it apart is the architecture. The room is bright with light from huge window boxes, giving patrons a view of a Japanese maple and green bamboo. Cafe-goers are welcome to take their food upstairs, where an outdoor terrace straight out of a Manhattan cocktail party scene with benches and pretty landscaping offers a view of the downtown skyline.

The new building is part of a national trend of providing a homier family court environment for people seeking to mend lives unraveled by divorce, addiction or mental illness. It is equipped with digital display message boards, including in the cafe, which allow visitors with family court cases to have a snack, grab a coffee or eat until their number is called.

In a written statement, the presiding judge of Santa Clara County Superior Court, Patricia Lucas, extolled the virtues of new restaurant, saying, “In addition to the beautifully designed Family Justice Center Courthouse, the Family Tree Café provides the public an opportunity to feel comfortable and at ease as they navigate through what may otherwise be a difficult or stressful occasion.”

Of course, the building is still a courthouse, which means passing through a metal detector.