Editorials

Editorials

Editorial: San Jose families—lock up your firearms to prevent tragedy

Over the last couple months, children in the San Jose Unified School District have been subjected to lockdowns and Code Red alarms triggered by potential danger. The source of this heightened fear is students bringing firearms to campus and making social media threats to kill classmates. Parents are terrified, and the lack of succinct and swift information from the...

Editorial: What will it take to revive downtown San Jose?

For decades, mayors, developers and business owners have claimed to know the secret for helping downtown San Jose come of age. Builders erected high-rise apartments, condominiums and office towers, and as the skyline changed city officials proclaimed the people would follow. The tech sector went on a tear, conferences sold out at the convention center and hotels...

Editorial: San Jose shouldn’t bulldoze the past to build the future

Downtown San Jose is in the middle of a transformation. Cranes are changing the skyline from its once low-rise persona to towers of steel and glass. CityView Plaza will reshape the landscape across from Cesar Chavez Plaza and the Icon and Echo Towers will rise kitty-corner from San Jose City Hall, as the downtown core marches ahead...

Editorial: San Jose council was right to appoint members

When the San Jose City Council appointed two new members last week, it felt like a snub of democracy for some. It was the culmination of a heated and lengthy debate over how to fill two open seats on the 11-member council. District 10 became vacant after former Councilmember Matt Mahan became mayor and District 8 opened...

Editorial: San Jose ‘landmark’ is a waste of time and money

For decades San Jose has tried to find its identity through an iconic landmark. The latest quest is an art installation called Breeze of Innovation, culled from nearly 1,000 international submissions. The 500 flexible, 200-foot rods are designed to sway in the wind and light up the sky at night. In renderings the idea looks like...

Editorial: Why did Santa Clara County rush its CEO hiring?

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors had a rare opportunity to right a wrong after twice violating state transparency rules in a closed-door meeting, and they blew it. After San José Spotlight this month exposed Brown Act violations linked to a secretive decision to appoint a new county executive and questioned the rush to hire, officials admitted...

Editorial: Silicon Valley candidates behaving badly

As we enter the final stretch to election day, nasty campaigning has reached full throttle. No matter the rationale behind this negative form of vote-getting, none of it provides any value to a voter’s decision-making process, unless sensationalism is the new guidepost. Attacking a candidate’s character offers no insight into a candidate’s platform, or how...

Editorial: No vote equals no voice in San Jose’s elections

The second Tuesday in November has all the makings of becoming one of the most significant midterm elections in San Jose history. Still, that history making moment could be a washout if voter participation is low. We won’t know how San Jose fares until the final results, but surprises can happen when voter engagement is...