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Some Santa Clara city employees plan to strike if negotiations toward a new labor contract continue to stall. Gary Ferraris, president of the union AFSCME Local 4911, told the City Council Tuesday the city’s Unit 6 field operations and maintenance workers will strike on May 1—International Workers’ Day—if a resolution isn’t reached. There are about...
Going to Santa Clara’s Central Park? Watch where you step
Santa Clara’s Central Park has a goose problem. More specifically, a goose poop problem. The park is home to—by one count—about 176 Canada geese, and each one drops roughly a pound of excrement every day. Over a year, that adds up to more than 63,000 pounds of feces dropped at the park, according to a...
Santa Clara residents miss opportunity to make home upgrades
Even though Santa Clara had more than $1 million available for residents to upgrade their homes, only a small number of homeowners took advantage of the opportunity. Now Santa Clara is putting those dollars to other uses. The city planned to spend about $1.2 million in federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and...
Santa Clara hires temporary city manager
After more than a month without a city manager, Santa Clara officials are turning to a former employee to take the lead. The City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday to name former interim City Manager Rajeev Batra as Santa Clara’s new interim city manager, with Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Councilmember Kathy Watanabe opposed. His contract, with...
Santa Clara sees demographics shift over the last decade
Santa Clara’s population has grown substantially over the past decade, and with those changes come new challenges. 2020 census results show the number of people who identify as Asian in Santa Clara has risen by more than a third in the past decade. But even before this demographic shift in the city, pressure was put...
What’s happening at Santa Clara City Hall?
Santa Clara has no city manager or city attorney after both were fired this year by a councilmember majority. Now one is looking to sue and another is getting a massive severance to not sue. With the council majority cleaning house at City Hall and ousting two top administrators and allies of Mayor Lisa Gillmor,...
Santa Clara police answer calls for crisis intervention
When Santa Clara police go out on a call involving mental health, specially trained officers respond. Santa Clara launched its Crisis Intervention Specialist (CIS) unit more than a year ago, and the program is having a positive impact. It has reshaped how the police department responds to individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. “The majority of calls...
Santa Clara developer scales back project plans
A developer looking to redevelop 46 acres of northern Santa Clara has scaled back its plans by more than half. Mission Point is a proposal to build a new mixed-use neighborhood by developer Kylli at 3005 Democracy Way in Northern Santa Clara. It was first submitted in 2019 after collecting feedback that began in late 2017....
Santa Clara 76-acres rezoning could add thousands of homes
Seventy-six acres of office parks in northern Santa Clara have just been rezoned to add high density housing. The Santa Clara City Council voted unanimously this week to approve the Patrick Henry Drive Specific Plan, which changes the zoning of an area bounded by the Hetch Hetchy pipeline right-of-way to the north, Mission College on...
UPDATE: Santa Clara revises political boundaries
Less than four years after Santa Clara split into six election districts, the city has redrawn those boundaries—this time with fresh data from the 2020 U.S. Census. On Tuesday, the Santa Clara City Council voted unanimously to approve new boundaries selected by an independent commission to carry the city through the elections of the next...