Our libraries are under siege — from coordinated book bans to funding cuts that threaten their very existence. Last Friday evening, the president signed an executive order to reduce funding to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, specifically threatening the Grants to States program which provides funding to local libraries. In San Jose, all...
Op-ed: Mayor Mahan’s plan hurts Black, brown and disabled communities
As civil rights advocates, we strongly oppose Mayor Mahan’s proposal to arrest homeless individuals who refuse shelter. This policy will disproportionately harm Black and brown people, including those with disabilities, who are overrepresented in the unhoused population due to systemic racism, economic inequality, and a lack of affordable, fair, accessible, and safe housing. The racial...
Perry: We need real plans, not false promises
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan recently announced a new mathematical model developed by the housing department would “enable San Jose to end unsheltered homelessness” for only 5% of the cost of previous models. Unfortunately, this claim is a gross distortion of reality and of what the new model itself actually says. For years now, the...
Silver Taube: Proposed state legislation would strengthen workers’ rights
This year there are numerous bills making their way through the state legislature that address difficulties in collecting wage theft judgments, the backlog at the Labor Commission, paid leave and human trafficking. According to the California State Auditor’s report, between 2018 and 2023, the Labor Commission was successful in collecting the entire amount owed in...
Shoor: San Jose’s general plan needs to achieve more vital outcomes
Ask almost any Silicon Valley elected official, city planner or resident in recent years what widespread issue our region needs to solve, and they’ll say the same thing: build more housing. So why haven’t we? There are many reasons, yet here’s one needing more attention: our planning process is malfunctioning. Full of good intentions, it’s...
Bramson: Punishment won’t help the unhoused
It’s a simple truth: everyone needs a safe place to sleep. But instead of working to make that a reality, San Jose’s latest proposal to arrest unhoused residents is a cruel, costly and ineffective response to one of our city’s most urgent crises. The math doesn’t add up, the approach is flawed and at the...
Pendyala: Why San Jose State University deserves a UC future
In a time when higher education is being increasingly threatened by federal budget cuts and other policies, the state government should do all it can to bolster it. San Jose State University is now officially recognized as a national research university with an R2 designation awarded by the Carnegie Foundation and the American Council on Education. SJSU’s research expenditure is $83.4...
Mallon: Transit projects require patience
As someone who’s spent nearly a decade advocating for transit, patience is one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned. When I first got involved, I was a young college student who wanted everything to happen as quickly as possible. However, as time has progressed, I’ve learned big ideas, major projects and even service improvements often...
Urbanowski: United through arts and culture
Arts are embedded and integral in every culture, in our spiritual practices and in our community traditions. When we talk about supporting arts and culture, one of the things we are talking about is empowering the culture bearers and artists who preserve our traditions, capture our yearnings, help us find meaning in the inexplicable and...
Op-ed: No downtown Santa Clara, no Super Bowl dollars
For the second time in a decade, the city hosting the Super Bowl — Santa Clara, California — was entirely ignored during the official Super Bowl 60 news conference. At the kickoff event on Feb. 10, there was no speech from Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor. Instead, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan took center stage,...