San Jose officials have agreed to green light Mayor Matt Mahan’s latest budget plans — but stopped short of tying portions of councilmembers’ pay to their perceived performance. The City Council voted Tuesday to approve a $5.5 billion proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2025-26. Several of the mayor’s proposals moved forward, including reallocating Measure...
Before opening El Bazar Azteca in San Jose three years ago, Teresa Saldana was selling her imported Talavera pottery on street corners out of a van. Even then, the bright colors of the ceramics, instantly recognizable as symbols of Mexican culture, were almost impossible to resist. “I am probably one of her first customers,” devoted...
Santa Clara needs to bolster its city budget — and public parking fees could be on the menu. Small businesses aren’t on board and worry customer traffic could drop because they won’t want to pay. Although the proposed 2025-26 city budget anticipates a $9.3 million surplus, the following five years are projecting red ink. To...
Santa Clara leaders are raising concerns about how the city’s dozens of data centers affect residents and the environment. Santa Clara has more standalone data centers than any other California city — 55 in operation and three in the pipeline, according to the city. Demand is growing as more people use the internet and digitally...
Campbell is dedicating millions of dollars to improve quality of life for residents in spite of a budget shortfall. The Campbell Planning Commission unanimously agreed Tuesday that more than $100 million in public projects aligns with the city’s goals for the next five years, including a $12 million proposal to redo the community center pool....
A massive structural budget deficit is forcing Santa Clara County leaders to get creative in finding ways to avoid hits to critical social safety net services. A San José Spotlight review of County Executive James Williams’ budget recommendations for fiscal year 2025-26 shows four main takeaways about what services could be eliminated, reduced, saved and...
As President Donald Trump headed over to his Virginia golf course for a gala with the 250 top buyers of his $TRUMP “memecoin,” Democrats are trying to find ways to push back on the president’s incursions in the cryptocurrency market. Sen. Chris Murphy said Thursday that Democrats will demand a vote on an amendment prohibiting...
Rats shutting down a grocery store are never a good thing — unless regulars from that market end up boosting businesses in the surrounding area. The Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health shut down the Cupertino Whole Foods at the end of April after finding rodent droppings in the receiving bay, deli, juice bar...
San Jose economic officials want to allow the sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks outside downtown’s most popular plazas and public streets during next year’s major sports events. With the economic impact from the 2026 FIFA World Cup and Super Bowl 60 in nearby Santa Clara, the San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to...
Bay Area residents who emailed their officials in the past few years may be surprised to learn their correspondence could train a company’s AI for future use. Mountain View-based company GovernmentGPT filed 90 California Public Records Act requests with multiple cities across the Bay Area for emails from residents addressed to mayors, councilmembers and city...
