The way of the Dojo IN BUSINESS | P.10 MARCH 5, 2010 VOLUME 18, NO. 9
INSIDE: WEEKEND | PAGE 13
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Broken arm leads to $1M suit against city WOMAN FILES CLAIM AFTER BEING INJURED DURING ARREST FOR ALLEGED CRACK COCAINE USE By Daniel DeBolt
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he City Council and city officials have decided to reject a $1 million claim against the city brought by a woman whose arm was shattered while she was being arrested by Mountain View police officers last fall. The injury occurred Sept.
MV Whisman kicks off 10 budget forums NO PINK SLIPS PLANNED FOR DISTRICT’S TEACHERS By Kelsey Mesher
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espite tough fiscal decisions ahead, the Mountain View Whisman School District will not be handing out pink slips come March 15, the state deadline for notifying employees of layoffs. In the first of a series of budget forums Tuesday afternoon, district chief financial officer Craig Goldman told the site council at Huff Elementary that the district plans to cut 11 staff positions in elementary schools, but that he is “highly confident” probationary and tenured teachers will keep their jobs this year. The classroom reductions are one part of working out next year’s budget amidst significant cuts from Sacramento. Due to a combination of categorical and unrestricted operational funding cuts, Goldman said, the district will be See MV WHISMAN, page 8
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15, when officers were placing 47-year-old Jody Lynn Haar, of Marina, under arrest for allegedly being under the influence of cocaine and possessing a crack pipe. She was apprehended while riding in a car that was stopped by police on El Camino Real. According to reports filed by the three officers involved, Haar, who is 5-foot-10 and 155 pounds, was sitting on a curb with her arms behind her back and was in the process of being handcuffed when she surprised the officers by lunging forward to stand up, saying, “I didn’t do anything wrong.” As she moved, police agent Jose Vieyra held Haar’s right arm in what he described as a “control hold” — his left hand on Haar’s right hand and his right hand on Haar’s right elbow. Officers wrote that she was losing her balance while Vieyra kept her in the control hold to keep her from falling forward, and that’s about when her upper right arm broke in several places. Officers said they believed she was trying to “break free” to avoid arrest. On Tuesday, the City Council met in closed session to discuss the case, and city attorney Jannie Quinn announced that they had decided to reject the claim. The city’s position, said Quinn in a phone interview, is that “The force used was reasonably necessary because the claimant tried to resist arrest.” Haar’s attorney, William B. Look, said the officers used excessive force and were negligent. In the claim filed against the city, Look called “not credible” the police report describing See LAWSUIT, page 7
JAMES TENSUAN
MUY DIVERTIDO: Clowns Guayabita (left) and Valerito inflate a balloon last weekend in front of Mi Pueblo, the Mexican grocery store on Rengstorff Avenue. The two frequent the location, making balloon shapes for kids.
Brain drain takes toll on Valley REGION’S HIGH-TECH TALENT RETURNING IN DROVES TO INDIA, CHINA These days, he said, Indian companies are on the lookout for “Silicon Valley DNA,” which helps give them a “global perspective to move beyond the India-centric marketplace.”
ing place in India, and that requires a different type of engineer. So that’s mart, talented immigrants the market I’m addressing.” have shaped the entrepreFor example, Perkins is currently neurial spirit and vitality of looking to fill a vice president of Silicon Valley for decades. But engineering position at a company lately, with economies in Mumbai: “They want growing in China, India the candidate to come and elsewhere while the from here because they local tech scene remains “There’s nothing good about need, as they put it, a real stagnant, skilled immigame changer,” he said. this for Silicon Valley.” grants are returning to The trend bothers some their home countries in industry watchers, who say VIVEK WADHWA search of better opportuan exodus of highly qualinities. fied individuals could have And recruiters like Jack serious implications for the Perkins, of Mountain View, are In the past, India was “really big economic health of Silicon Valley. helping them get there. on the services side, and back-office “We have a lot to worry about,” “The word is that India is boom- type of work and IT implementa- said Vivek Wadhwa, a researcher ing, and there are more product tion and quality and testing,” he at Duke University and currently a development opportunities there,” said. “But now there’s a critical mass visiting scholar at UC Berkeley. said Perkins, a principal at local of new product development for See BRAIN DRAIN, page 10 boutique search firm Oryx. global (technology) products, takBy Kelsey Mesher
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