The COVID pandemic has put in sharp relief the weaknesses, inequities and complexities of our patchwork system of health care. Our nation’s for-profit private insurance model has garnered billions in windfall profits for insurance companies while patients and small health care providers suffer. Twenty-eight million people were uninsured in the U.S. in 2020. Another 31...

What is synonymous with the American Dream? Of course, the first thing that comes to the minds of many is a house or home. A home is a place where children play, families eat and life happens. Our fondest memories, loving relationships and reprieve from the outside world occur inside our homes, thus making it...

Over the course of the past few weeks, our communities have come together to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, including a Mexican Flag raising ceremony we all attended on Sept. 16 at San Jose City Hall to commemorate Mexican Independence Day. It was a beautiful event honoring the culture, traditions and values of Mexican people and...

As advocates for small business, the San Jose Chamber of Commerce continues to work on the safe reopening of our economy so we can get our residents, neighbors and friends back to work. San Jose businesses have been hit hard by the economic slowdown related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and those challenges continue, but...

For 36 years San Jose has prohibited new billboards, but soon we may see new super-sized billboards at Mineta San Jose International Airport near Highway 101 and the Guadalupe River Trail, as well as on other city properties. While the Airport Commission often approves proposals suggested by staff, its value is in exercising independent judgment...

Last year, San Jose was named among the country’s top 10 most welcoming and inclusive cities in the New American Economy Cities Index, which examines the relationship between welcoming immigration policies and municipal economic health. As the index found, proactive welcoming plans make cities more competitive for business and economic investment. While we take great pride in being...

Safety is the top concern of any parent with children in our community. When I became a mom I finally understood that protective “mama bear” instinct that everyone kept talking about. When you have a child, you grow to love that little human more than you ever thought was possible, and of course, you want...

As Santa Clara County emerges from COVID-19, workers are returning to their jobs, which means drive-time traffic jams are returning, too. And that means air pollution is also returning to normal levels. Steep declines in air pollution were noticed early on in the pandemic, with the Environmental Protection Agency reporting in March 2020 that Bay...

Eighteen years have passed since California first recalled an elected governor. That 2003 Republican coup, culminating in a global movie star without administrative experience ascending into the state’s highest official position, was somehow less extraordinary than the GOP takeover attempt we face today. The current recall election looms large as the deadline to vote in...

As many students return to their classroom this season, parents, educators and legislators are rightly focused on efforts to address learning loss experienced during the pandemic. But responding to academic impacts brought on by the pandemic is only part of what is needed in our educational recovery. There is no question that distance learning has...