The tragic story of Santa Clara, the only Bay Area city to destroy its downtown, began and ended with its City Hall. In August 1957, Santa Clara City Manager Lloyd Brady applied for urban renewal funds for “The (Downtown) Franklin Street Facelift.” The city received grants and loans totaling $65 million in 2021 dollars.  The...

How do you measure political malfeasance and cowardice? What is the yardstick to best tick off moral failings like one would measure the growth of their children? Bodies. Dead bodies. As temperatures have stayed in the 30s at night, as torrential rains pound the South Bay, as flood warnings have been issued, advocates implore cities...

The recent San Jose City Council meetings to review the findings from the Redistricting Commission continue to show San Jose’s dismissive behavior and attitude towards its African/African Ancestry community. Most of the maps, with the exception of the Unity Map, that have been put forth suppress the voices and votes of our community. The complexity...

While there is currently an intense debate about the densification of single-family home zoning to multi-unit zoning, a housing initiative called “Opportunity Housing,” densification of single-family lots with accessory dwelling units (ADUs) has been legal for many years. In 2017, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, along with the City Council, worked to simplify and reduce...

On Tuesday, the San Jose City Council will face a difficult choice. With limited funds remaining, the council will consider whether to invest federal COVID-19 relief funds in children’s programs now, or to hold off on this funding for another year. For those following closely, you may remember that I have been pushing for this...

Every trial lawyer knows that a photo is worth a thousand words and a video of a key event is a royal flush. A bona fide winner. Cases in point: George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. Interesting that these celebrated videos originated from very different sources. Seventeen year-old Darnella Frazier won the Pulitzer Prize for incredible...

The San Jose Airport Commission, at its Nov. 8 meeting, voted resoundingly to reject the city report advocating the construction of four—not two—1,000-square-foot digital billboards on Mineta San Jose International Airport property near the Guadalupe River Trail. These billboards,  known as off-premise signs, advertise products and services not available at the location of the sign—in...

The last few months have been an interesting time for both aviation and community advocates related to aviation issues in Santa Clara County. The county Board of Supervisors has authorized work to close Reid-Hillview Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration is demanding the removal of a homeless encampment underneath the Mineta San Jose International Airport’s flight...

With the recent passing of SB 9 and SB 10, along with continuing talks of Opportunity Housing, the fate of San Jose’s 14 conservation districts hangs in a delicate balance between protection and potential demolition. As housing becomes increasingly unaffordable throughout San Jose, the passing of bills like SB 10 may look like an end...

On Dec. 2, the VTA Board of Directors will decide how to distribute $150-200 million dollars of Measure B highway funding in the next few years. When the process started in the summer of this year, there was hope VTA would manage this process professionally and with an eye not just on congestion management, but...