In my nearly two decades as a restaurant franchise owner, I was always grateful for my community and the passion they had for supporting local family-owned businesses. Locally-owned businesses, whether franchises or independent, are the backbone of our local and statewide economies. Small business creates a majority of jobs in any local community and that...

Last month, the San Jose City Council voted on a new electoral district map—carving out boundaries that will impact how our communities are represented for the next 10 years. While the district map adopted by the City Council attempts to address a legacy of racial segregation that continues to impact our region in areas like...

Last month, amid the largest outbreak in the jail since the start of the pandemic, a man being held in our county jail died from COVID-19. Now, as omicron surges, people in custody are more vulnerable than ever. The COVID pandemic has highlighted what epidemiologists have known for decades—correctional facilities concentrate disease and spread it to...

We’ve seen the headlines and news reports, the social media posts and countless podcasts. COVID-19 has shined light on the existing gaps in our systems that have left us all exposed. But for decades before coronavirus was part of our lexicon, these gaps began to manifest on our streets, in our schools, in our neighborhoods...

The front page New York Times article on Nov. 11 graphs out the huge impact on the nation’s inflation caused by the 50% plus jump in fuel, oil and gasoline costs in the past year. Three of the top four inflation influencers are petroleum products. Each of those could be reduced or eliminated by the...

In San Jose’s enthusiasm to bring us digital billboards, city staff have ruthlessly dismissed one of the biggest accomplishments of the man for whom San Jose International Airport is named: Norman Y. Mineta. While mayor of San Jose in 1972, Mineta supported the ban on new billboards on public property and helped usher in policies...

Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Los Altos) has proposed much needed changes to the VTA board that support the recommendations of the 2018-19 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury (CGJ). Berman’s proposed AB 1091 would significantly reshape the makeup of the board, as recommended in the CGJ report “Inquiry Into Governance of the Valley Transportation Authority.” The...

It was February 2018 when I began my journey into labor activism. I started working for Santa Clara County at this time and noticed a discrepancy in my very first paycheck. I reached out to an SEIU 521 steward in my office who vigorously, yet subtly, addressed my pay discrepancy with management and solved my...

The tragic story of Santa Clara, the only Bay Area city to destroy its downtown, began and ended with its City Hall. In August 1957, Santa Clara City Manager Lloyd Brady applied for urban renewal funds for “The (Downtown) Franklin Street Facelift.” The city received grants and loans totaling $65 million in 2021 dollars.  The...

How do you measure political malfeasance and cowardice? What is the yardstick to best tick off moral failings like one would measure the growth of their children? Bodies. Dead bodies. As temperatures have stayed in the 30s at night, as torrential rains pound the South Bay, as flood warnings have been issued, advocates implore cities...