Carl Guardino once raised six figures to defeat Dave Cortese’s bid for mayor. Now he wants to see him go to Sacramento. Guardino, the powerful former CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, has endorsed Cortese’s bid for the Senate District 15 seat. Cortese, a Santa Clara County supervisor, is competing with former FEC commissioner...
Santa Clara County education leader drops lawsuit against board
Education leader Joseph Di Salvo is dropping his lawsuit against the Santa Clara County Board of Education and fellow trustees who voted in July to censure him, but Di Salvo says the fight is far from over. “I am 100 percent innocent of the alleged charges,” Di Salvo told San Jose Spotlight Sept. 24. “The...
South Bay labor unions vote for their next leader — for now
Silicon Valley’s labor leaders selected Jean Cohen as their new interim executive officer, a little more than a month after Ben Field stunned political insiders by abruptly resigning. The executive officer of the South Bay Labor Council, a powerful coalition of more than 100 unions, resigned July 13, less than two weeks after a heated,...
Two longtime San Jose politicos announce new plans
Two of San Jose City Hall’s most familiar faces are pursuing new political ventures. Ex-San Jose Councilmember Don Rocha announced on Facebook he’s running for the Cambrian School District Board of Trustees — coming full circle since that’s where he began his political career a decade ago. Since terming out from the San Jose council,...
Santa Clara County COVID-19 tax plan fails
Santa Clara County’s effort to tax residents to pay for COVID-19 relief measures failed after a short debate Tuesday. County leaders proposed two options for asking voters in November to approve a 5/8-cent sales tax to help close the county’s estimated $300 to $600 million budget deficit. The county has spent $165.4 million so far...
Santa Clara County proposes ‘regressive’ sales tax hike for COVID-19 costs
Despite admitting that sales tax hikes are “regressive,” Santa Clara County lawmakers want taxpayers to help foot the bill for COVID-19 costs that have drained the county coffers. On Tuesday, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved a referral from Board President Cindy Chavez to explore placing a general five-eighths of one cent retail...
Watch: A live chat with San Jose’s police watchdog Shivaun Nurre
The Memorial Day police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis awakened an unprecedented movement in San Jose — and across the country — against police violence, implicit bias, systemic racism and confrontational policing. Those tensions exploded after San Jose police officers shot rubber bullets at mostly peaceful protesters in May, causing serious injuries by striking...
South Bay school leader tests positive for COVID-19 after in-person meeting
Nearly 40 school principals with the Santa Clara Unified School District were forced to attend an in-person meeting last month amid the COVID-19 pandemic — and one education leader tested positive for COVID-19. Sources told San José Spotlight this week that Superintendent Stella Kemp required principals to show up in person — despite other leaders...
Carl Guardino’s next move finally revealed
After Carl Guardino announced in January he is stepping down as CEO of Silicon Valley Leadership Group, speculation swirled about the powerful business leader’s next move. “I truly do not know what is next, as I did not believe it was appropriate to start searching in any way while I was still being entrusted to...
San Jose mayor compares racist cops to teachers in deleted tweet
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo compared racist cops to teachers in a now-deleted tweet as calls to defund the police intensified after Facebook posts made by active and retired police officers were exposed by a blogger. In a now-deleted tweet, Liccardo responded to a tweet from Sajid Khan — a public defender who recently became...
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