Op-ed

Op-ed

Op-ed: Moving equity forward with reparations in the Bay Area

Chattel enslavement has left replicative damages on United States society. Although racism affects everyone, anti-Black racism and the legacy of enslavement has echoed through centuries of political, legal and social change. The Black political legacies from Reconstruction, Jim Crow, civil rights, Black Power and the War on Drugs have fueled the movement for Black Lives...

Op-ed: Taking down billboards in San Jose—who benefits?

As recently reported, San Jose is being sued for not following its own rules. The case centers around the city’s backroom deal to allow Clear Channel to erect new digital billboards along the Guadalupe River Trail near Mineta San Jose International Airport and Highway 101 without competitive bidding—and in conflict with an existing contract that...

James: MAGA school board candidates rightly called out

San Jose Spotlight’s recent article on MAGA school board candidates provided valuable help to voters in our community by identifying the local embodiment of the national, far-right movement to have candidates infiltrate local school boards, including those right here in Silicon Valley. Over the past two years, a local Republican group recruited candidates to run...

Varich: Internet-era logic on full display in Spotlight’s school board story

Spotlight commenters have gleefully called out the many over-the-top accusations its article tossed at local Republicans, which was charmingly entitled “Conservatives infiltrate Silicon Valley school board races.” As one of those “infiltrators,” I’m also struck by how the article uses a number of flawed rhetorical devices. Sadly, many of these conventions have become more common in the...

Olson: Feds giving small businesses short end of the stick

Everyone — from the biggest government agencies that often smother small businesses with red tape to the biggest businesses which often suffocate small businesses with monopoly power — likes to say that they support small businesses. Indeed, one of the country’s biggest defense contractors testified at a deposition that small businesses are “the backbone of...

Op-ed: Stop the political attacks on Silicon Valley nonprofits

Given the role local nonprofits have played on the front lines of pandemic response— distributing food to homebound seniors, providing childcare for essential workers, strengthening families through mental health services and door-to-door wellness checks, and vaccinating thousands of vulnerable residents—we are surprised that multiple San Jose candidates for elected office have disparaged the value of...

Zimmerman: San Jose needs to stand up for its climate goals

Almost two years ago, the San Jose City Council passed landmark legislation banning the use of natural gas in new residences, becoming the largest city in the nation to do so. Shortly after, councilmembers considered additional legislation banning natural gas in commercial properties. In the eleventh hour, at the behest of Bloom Energy, an exemption...