Author: Vicente Vera (Vicente Vera)

State orders San Jose to halt implementing hotel rent

San Jose’s Housing Department violated a state agreement by setting monthly rents too high for formerly unhoused residents living at the SureStay Hotel. Now the city needs to recalculate. In April 2020, homeless residents vulnerable to COVID-19 received free emergency shelter in hotels across Santa Clara County through Project Homekey—the state program subsidizing emergency housing run by local governments and nonprofits. After...

Neighbors decry safe parking site for San Jose homeless

A coalition of San Jose residents are fuming that their elected leader left them out of discussions about a safe parking site for homeless individuals in their neighborhood. An empty parking lot in North San Jose just south of Highway 237 holds at least four RVs and four unhoused residents after close to 70 people were swept from an encampment...

Santa Clara County voters overwhelmingly reject Newsom recall

Santa Clara County isn’t ready to fire Gov. Gavin Newsom. Results for the gubernatorial recall election Tuesday show a large majority of Santa Clara County voters saying no to kicking Newsom out of office. About 76% of county voters don’t want to recall the governor, while 24% cast ballots against him, according to the latest...

San Jose tenants allege management kept COVID hospitalization quiet

Raymond Ramsey says he never relies on his property manager to share details about other tenants—because they often don’t. But he’s baffled that he learned about a recent COVID infection in his building through the local gossip mill. Ramsey, a former unhoused resident, moved into Santa Clara County’s first supportive housing complex, Second Street Studios...

San Jose to transform park alongside homeless encampments

The city plans to transform the dilapidated flatlands at Columbus Park in North San Jose into a premier public park and plaza—complete with playgrounds, sports fields and rest areas. But the “elephant in the room” is the presence of more than 200 homeless residents. The land surrounding Columbus Park is a sanctuary for unhoused people—and a...

Homeless fentanyl deaths rising in Santa Clara County

Fentanyl continues to kill unhoused residents in Santa Clara County, and some unsuspecting users may be taking the drug in the form of counterfeit pills. Seven homeless individuals in San Jose suffered fatal overdoses from methamphetamine laced with fentanyl in the past month, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Fentanyl, a synthetic...

Residents want to recall Santa Clara County supervisors

An effort to recall the top elected officials in the county is starting—but organizers are still gathering volunteers before hitting the streets to canvas for signatures. Jeff Roberts, a Santa Clara County resident inspired by the campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom, is trying a similar strategy to remove the entire Board of Supervisors for...

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