The surprising news that a homeless housing project near Willow Glen that would have turned recycled shipping containers into houses has come to a screeching halt has some officials saying “I told you so.” “At $600,000 per unit, I knew this project couldn’t pencil out,” said Councilmember Johnny Khamis in an interview Tuesday. “After all,...
Despite raise, San Jose lawmakers struggle to survive
Months before a city commission voted to raise San Jose lawmakers’ salaries by tens of thousands of dollars, Councilmember Sergio Jimenez struggled to make ends meet in Silicon Valley despite serving on the council of America’s 10th largest city. He started looking for a second gig to help supplement his family’s income. Now, Jimenez works as...
San Jose approves prevailing wages for private construction projects
While the unlicensed Silvery Towers subcontractor Job Torres Hernandez received his sentence in federal court for harboring undocumented workers in slave-like conditions, San Jose lawmakers on Tuesday passed a law to prevent construction companies from exploiting low-wage workers on private construction projects that receive tax breaks. Spurring from negotiations with labor unions more than a...
San Jose lawmakers to address ‘missing middle’ housing, prevailing wages
Housing officials had originally deferred the missing middle housing debate earlier this month. Since that time, they pulled together more information about a recent homebuyer downpayment assistance proposal from Councilmember Pam Foley, as well as a backyard unit proposal from Mayor Sam Liccardo and Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco, Sylvia Arenas and Foley. Foley’s homebuyer assistance program proposal, which...
San Jose OKs three new fire stations, relocating two existing stations
San Jose is now in the market to build three new fire stations and relocate two existing ones after the City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to move forward with the search for five new sites. Emergency responses have spiked 83 percent in the last decade, according to a memo from San Jose Fire Chief...
San Jose looks to boost energy resiliency in wake of wildfire-driven blackouts
Since the California Public Utilities Commission decided to allow energy providers to unilaterally turn off the lights when the risk for wildfires is high, San Jose lawmakers want to know how it will affect the more than one million residents in the city. In a new memo, Mayor Sam Liccardo, Vice Mayor Chappie Jones and Councilmembers Sergio...
San Jose lawmakers narrowly approve budget amid inequity concerns
San Jose City Councilmembers on Tuesday narrowly voted to approve Mayor Sam Liccardo’s June budget message, despite criticism that it didn’t go far enough to address racial and economic inequities in the city. The split vote marked the first time in recent history that nearly half the City Council voted against a mayor’s fiscal budget, which is historically...
San Jose lawmakers expected to approve city budget
After months of preparation, the San Jose City Council on Tuesday is expected to approve the proposed $4.3 billion budget for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Since March, Mayor Sam Liccardo has released two budget messages that help shape how the city spends public dollars. The mayor’s first message focused on limiting spending to brace for a...
San Jose lawmakers fundraised nearly $3.7M last year. Here’s where it went.
Contact Grace Hase at grace@sanjosespotlight.com or follow @grace_hase on Twitter.
In split vote, San Jose lawmakers decide to study potential 2020 tax measure
Despite warnings from Councilmembers Johnny Khamis and Sergio Jimenez that San Jose residents are becoming overtaxed, a split City Council on Tuesday decided to move forward with researching a 2020 ballot measure to help build affordable housing and shelter the city’s homeless. Last month, San Jose administrators studied three potential tax measures – two of them were...
