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According to the California Association of Realtors, home sales in the state edged up in January for a second straight month. Existing home sales are up 0.04% from December, but down 45.7% from January 2022. “Thanks to slightly waning interest rates and tempering home prices, California’s housing market kicked off the new year with another...
Robinson: Powerless mayor says problems won’t be solved overnight
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan addressed over 200 people at the Villages on Feb. 15 in an event sponsored by the Senior Academy. His presentation was professional and polished. His analysis was cogent and his recommended solutions for homelessness, affordable housing and public safety were well-received. But his overall message was pessimistic: “It’s not going...
Dewan: Early learning is a recipe for school readiness
Families with young children have a variety of early learning program options in Santa Clara County. Enrollment for next school year is already underway. Families who are interested in enrolling their child in preschool, transitional kindergarten (TK) or kindergarten can do so each year starting as early as December in some of Santa Clara County’s...
Arriola: Cindy Chavez versus the concrete ceiling
I spent my summer and fall quarters interning for the Cindy Chavez mayoral campaign to support a local Latina in her journey to leadership. For many, this local election was seen as a fight between two candidates with different perspectives targeting the same issues, and ultimately one candidate lost. For minority groups, however, this battle...
Bramson: Should San Jose declare homelessness an emergency?
Last month, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a homelessness emergency in her city. The move was meant to dramatically speed up services for the thousands of people living on the streets, while also cutting through the local red tape that slows the delivery of new services to a crawl. Backing the new mayor’s play, the...
Op-ed: San Jose is failing at community safety and policing
In its last meeting of 2022, the San Jose City Council cemented its record as a body that has failed our city when it comes to policing and community safety. Receiving a long-overdue consultant report on whether the city has the authority to create more independent oversight and investigations of police misconduct, the council collectively...
Silver Taube: Addressing the impact of structural racism on Black workers
Structural racism has been an impediment for Black Americans and has had an impact on the economy. If the Black wage, education, housing and investing gaps had been closed 20 years ago, it would have added an estimated $16 trillion to the economy, according to a report by Citi, with the Black pay gap alone accounting...
Op-ed: COPA challenges displacement
The op-ed against COPA by Neil Collins of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors is misleading, factually inaccurate and frankly irresponsible. The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) is a policy that would allow nonprofit housing providers engaged with and supported by the current tenants to be able to make the first offer whenever...
Smith: It’s time for San Jose to follow the law
San Jose prides itself on its so-called “sunshine” policies and transparency measures. But the truth is, the Bay Area’s largest city and its government are shrouded in secrecy and darkness. Six years ago, I was the plaintiff in a California Public Records Act lawsuit against San Jose, which resulted in a landmark California Supreme Court...
Staedler: Stormwater permits will require hundreds of millions of dollars to comply
The San Jose City Council agenda last week had an innocuous item called the Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit Reissuance. It was previously discussed during the Dec. 5 Transportation and Environment Committee meeting. The new five-year stormwater permit became effective July 1, 2022 and expires July 2027. If you want to know how much you should be...