San Jose is one step closer to getting financial relief to landlords and tenants who’ve struggled to pay their bills during the pandemic. The San Jose City Council on Tuesday unanimously accepted $30,379,739.90 in emergency rental assistance from the federal government. San Jose is divvying the funds between community-based organizations to reach residents that state...
Author: Carly Wipf (Carly Wipf)
Santa Clara County moving into orange tier, expanding indoor dining and retail
Santa Clara County on Wednesday will move into the less-restrictive orange tier of the state’s reopening plan, removing capacity limits for retailers and doubling capacity for indoor dining and other businesses. The county is currently in the red tier since March 2. Local health officials say COVID-19 cases are steadily falling, which means restaurants, movie...
San Jose to vote on sweeping homeless camps, creating sanctioned encampments
Some San Jose leaders want to clear homeless encampments immediately — despite health regulations cautioning not to do so during a pandemic — and move homeless residents to a government-approved camping site. The San Jose City Council could vote Tuesday to dismantle encampments — against COVID-19 health guidelines. Councilmember Raul Peralez and city officials proposed...
San Jose pumps the brakes on Valley Water water-recycling plan
In an effort to address drought and increase local groundwater supply, the Santa Clara Valley Water District is fast-tracking a plan to purify and recycle more water in San Jose. But city elected leaders — concerned for the environment and limited staff resources due to COVID-19 — are pumping the brakes and want more time...
San Jose leaders push back against bill to change VTA governance
San Jose councilmembers are pushing against a new state bill that would keep them off the county’s transit board. AB 1091, introduced by Assemblymember Marc Berman, would prohibit elected officials from serving on the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) board. Instead, cities can appoint expert residents to represent their communities. San Jose would also...
Battle over billboards: San Jose faces lawsuit, pushback on proposed changes
San Jose faces allegations that its billboard ban—and proposed changes to its billboard policy—violate property owners’ constitutional rights. In a lawsuit, a group called Citizens for Free Speech and Equal Justice claims San Jose violates residents’ free-speech and equal protection rights through a decades-old ban on new billboards. The suit comes just as the City...
San Jose purchases land for new police academy
San Jose could soon get a new police training facility for an $18.5 million price tag. The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to purchase 4.7 acres of land with a 97,831 square foot warehouse. The property will become a police academy, which police officials say is needed to replace current smaller, subpar training...
How progressive is Silicon Valley? The answer might surprise you
Among the seemingly solid-blue picture of the Bay Area, pockets of a more conservative population are growing. When former President Donald Trump first ran for office in 2016, roughly 20% of Santa Clara County residents, or 144,514 people, voted for him. As hundreds of thousands turned out to vote again last year amidst the rampant...
San Jose fact-check: Opportunity Housing and single-family homes
Planning Commissioner Pierluigi Oliverio is talking a lot about San Jose’s proposal to densify its single-family neighborhoods, but some residents say he isn’t educating the public as much as spreading misinformation. Faced with a housing crisis, San Jose leaders are devising a plan to allow more density in signature suburban neighborhoods. So-called Opportunity Housing allows...
Seniors empty San Jose mobile home park after years of debate
Six years after a developer revealed plans to replace a San Jose mobile home park that housed seniors with luxury condos, some residents found themselves surprised they don’t qualify for the replacement housing that was promised. While most residents seem to be happy with the agreement that allowed owners of the mobile homes in the park to either...