Savvy Mayor McEnery Leads Civic Charge in San Jose

When the founders of the Technology Center set out two years ago to find a home for their new museum, San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery realized that landing it would be just the thing for his rebuilding city.

He figured that the museum would give the city claim to the title of capital of the Silicon Valley.

With telling ease, he coolly outgunned the leading candidate city, Mountain View, and landed the museum.

It was a splendid example of the savvy, “can-do” reputation that McEnery, a 41-year-old Democrat, has earned during his 4 1/2 years as mayor of San Jose.

Indeed, people note that while the city may employ a “weak mayor” system--that is, the nonpartisan mayor is elected citywide but serves as just one of 11 City Council members--it has anything but a weak mayor.

“It is a weak mayor system, but he is very strong,” said Steven Tedesco of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce. “If he opposes you, you are in trouble, but if he’s with you, he is with you all the way.”

McEnery has led the charge for redevelopment and helped persuade Santa Clara County voters--half of whom live in his city--to approve a sales tax surcharge for local freeway construction. He even made a spirited but unsuccessful grab for San Francisco’s big league baseball Giants earlier this year.

One might expect nothing less from a man whose family has helped shape city politics for three generations.

McEnery, grandson of a councilman and son of a Democratic Party leader, was first elected to the City Council in 1978, then successfully campaigned for mayor in 1982 and again last fall.

He is prohibited from seeking a third term and says he is not interested in moving to Washington or Sacramento, although several supporters suspect that he might some day run for Congress.

Before joining the council, McEnery worked at the family business, Farmers Union Corp., which still owns 90,000 square feet of downtown commercial space at San Pedro Square in the heart of the city’s redevelopment area.

McEnery is barred from voting on projects near that property, “but he sure lobbies for (them),” said Daniel Minutillo, a lawyer who ran for mayor against McEnery last November.

Still, the mayor’s downtown property holdings, including his interests in a steakhouse and a bar in San Pedro Square, scarcely raise an eyebrow here, even though he and other civic officials acknowledge that the downtown renewal would inevitably reflect well on McEnery’s personal finances.

In any case, the issue has apparently not affected McEnery’s ability to shepherd the council on redevelopment or other matters.

“A lot of it is his personality,” said Vice Mayor Susan Hammer. “He has a clear sense of purpose. He knows what he wants. He knows politics. And he is totally dedicated to San Jose.”

Sometimes, however, his “clear sense of purpose” means trouble. Just last month, he apologized to the council for having single-handedly reorganized the financing of a new sports arena while council members were on vacation.

McEnery also has been personally criticized for spending too much time and city money rebuilding downtown while residential areas suffer.

The streets are not swept, potholes go unfixed and police officers are not hired as fast as they ought to be, critics complain.

“I’m aware people are grumbling,” McEnery said, but he maintains that most people in San Jose support him. “The best poll you can take is running for an election . . . and I got 64% to 65% of the vote in (two mayoral) elections.”