Valley Water provides safe, clean water to homes, businesses and farms throughout Santa Clara County. A dependable water supply is something we rely on every day, even if we don’t always think about it. Safe, clean water is essential to our health, economy and the innovation that drives Silicon Valley. However, much of our water...
Percival: Tackling homelessness requires government agencies to collaborate
Last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in City of Grants Pass v Johnson ruled city governments could sweep homeless encampments without violating individuals’ rights. Before this ruling, cities were prohibited from removing unhoused people from public spaces if they had no shelters available. In Silicon Valley, the debate following the Grants Pass decision focused on...
Editorial: Silicon Valley college board should look elsewhere for student housing
The Foothill-De Anza Community College District wants to help house its students struggling to find affordable rent. The district’s solution displaces Cupertino residents. The board of trustees had five years to come up with a plan after district voters passed Measure G in 2020 — a $898 million general obligation bond to help upgrade college...
Bramson: What does quality of life really mean when we’re all suffering?
While it might seem unprecedented, we’ve been here before. The economy wobbles, markets panic and policymakers start sharpening their red pens. Budgets shrink. Programs are cut. And the people who always seem to take the hardest hits — the ones living on the edge — get shoved even further into the margins. Now, with federal...
Silver Taube: Workplace immigration enforcement expected to increase
“Worksite enforcement is coming back in a big way,” said Thomas Homan, President Donald Trump’s “border czar” responsible for border security and immigration enforcement. During Trump’s first term, there were 5,981 audits of work authorization form I-9 in 2018 and 6,450 in 2019. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) set a goal of 12,000 audits...
Slack: San Jose city management’s half-billion-dollar sleight of hand
Sleight-of-hand. It’s the trick of making something appear and disappear without the object traveling anywhere. You may have experienced your grandfather pulling a quarter out of your ear when you were a kid or watched a skilled magician pull a rabbit out of a hat at a circus. But neither your grandfather or a magician...
Urbanowski: Federal actions impact local access to arts
Over the past two weeks, I have received numerous calls and emails from local arts organizations reporting on late-night email notifications informing them of the cancellation of existing federal grants. The most recent was a blanket email on May 2 indicating multiple National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants have been terminated. Just like the...
Paz-Cedillos: Stabilize, protect, build — why nonprofits need you
A couple weeks ago, I had the privilege of stepping away to unplug at the S.H. Cowell Foundation Grantee Retreat. Those three days were a welcome reprieve from the chaos of today’s world. On a personal level, I’m exhausted — and from the shared stories of nonprofit leaders in the room, I know I’m not...
Kumar: New Bay Area heating equipment standards will help us breathe easier
When it comes to the Bay Area’s air quality report card, there’s little to smile about. The grades show failure across the board. Again. The American Lung Association has ranked the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland metropolitan area among the nation’s worst for air pollution: 14th for ozone pollution, 11th for short-term particle pollution and sixth for year-round particle...
Mallon: How the VTA strike affected people who rely on public transit
The 17-day VTA union worker strike in March stopped Santa Clara County’s bus and light rail system for the first time in decades. I primarily rely on VTA to get to work and everywhere else I need to go. When the sudden disruption hit, my simple commute turned into, at times, an 11-mile walk. Instead...