Recycling Mayors

More than 120 people jammed into the tiny Los Gatos Council Chambers Monday night to witness Mike Wasserman step down as mayor, and watch the council vote to pass the gavel, as is done in communities with annual rotating mayorships. Nobody was surprised by the selection: former Mayor Dianne McNutt, who was Wasserman's vice mayor. The meeting, thankfully, consisted of a blessedly short presentation of slides from Wasserman's tenure—set to the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling." One or the other of those resulted in a standing ovation. Wasserman, who is gearing up to run for a seat on the county Board of Supervisors, took the opportunity to review his accomplishments of the past year (another standing ovation). He then wasted no time nominating McNutt for mayor, which resulted in yet another standing ovation. In case you're wondering, standing and clapping is how the good citizens of Cat Town do their calisthenics. McNutt talked briefly about things that needed to get done, and then rapidly recycled Councilmember Joe Pirzynski as vice mayor. Pirzynski was McNutt's vice mayor the first time she was mayor.

Spartan Sparker'

Is there an arsonist running loose around San Jose State University? That's what the Fire Department and SJSU Police are wondering after three small blazes forced large-scale dorm evacuations this month. Last Thursday morning, two garbage cans were set ablaze on the fifth and seventh floors of Joe West Hall, a 12-story high-rise dorm. Since the older building is not equipped with a sprinkler system, every time a fire is reported, all 500 students who call the building home have to be cleared out. This six-hour fire evacuation process also barricades foot and road traffic from large sections of the campus and surrounding streets. Thursday's incident followed another fire and evacuation on Nov. 3, when paper was set on ablaze and thrown down the dorm's elevator shaft. Pat Lopes Harris, SJSU's head of media relations, and San Jose Fire Capt. Scott Kouns have both said that the fires are suspicious and are currently being investigated. Ironically, the only person injured in last Thursday's incident was a male student who slashed his elbow while attempting to break the glass box surrounding a fire extinguisher. Fly thinks this potential Spartan Sparker may just be trying to get out of turning in a term paper.

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