Every campaign season, we inevitably hear a candidate making promises that even they know they can’t keep. This year, the Mercury News-endorsed candidate for San Jose mayor, Matt Mahan, is promising he will hold elected officials and top bureaucrats accountable by ending automatic raises and tying salaries to results. If you agree with that catchy campaign...

On Saturday May 14, a horrific tragedy struck a predominantly Black community of Buffalo, New York. Ten people lost their lives and three were injured during routine trips to their neighborhood grocery store, gunned down by one person, barely out of his childhood years, who acted on the racist, murderous hatred that consumed his soul....

More than any other issue, the upcoming June 7 primary elections in Santa Clara County are revolving around what to do about homelessness. The explosion of this humanitarian crisis in the richest area in the world has made it impossible to ignore, and since the majority of the unhoused are people of color, it is also...

There are many things to admire about the Miro Towers apartments, San Jose’s newest and tallest high-rise building project that occupies the north side of East Santa Clara Street between Fourth and Fifth streets. A whimsical moniker We begin with the tongue in cheek project name that pays fond, absurdist tribute to Barcelona-born Catalan surrealist artist...

I write today to highlight an example of egregious abuse of the California Public Records Act (CPRA). Since being elected in November 2020, I have received more than 69 Public Records Act (PRA) requests, including 49 from just one individual who has stated in emails that he is “fond of” Mayor Lisa Gillmor—and it’s widely...

Most voters probably have no idea what the office of Santa Clara County Assessor does, or why they should care. Some voters may think, “I haven’t heard of any scandals with this agency so I guess I’ll just go ahead and vote for the incumbent.” Don’t do it! Here’s why. The incumbent assessor, Larry Stone,...

Norm Mineta and I served locally, starting during turbulent times with the Vietnam War, the War on Poverty and social unrest as we moved closer to the millennium. Norm was mayor of San Jose; I was a Santa Clara County supervisor. We saw each other often and stayed in touch, and it seemed like we...

The impending reversal of Roe v. Wade will demolish the revered role of the Supreme Court as simply interpreting the Constitution. Citizens United, a classic example of creating a decision that insulates the dark money of the ruling class from public accountability and enables despotic interests to gain power, is held in contempt by many....

As a career prosecutor, I have seen many people change their stories. Usually, I see it in court. Career public defender Sajid Khan, who is running for DA, is changing his story by deleting many of his personal blog posts. What these recovered posts reveal, in my personal opinion, is that Sajid is unfit to...

San Jose made history on Dec. 19, 2017 as the first city in Santa  Clara County that unanimously approved an ordinance recognizing the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), also known as the Women’s Bill of Rights. Following the successful passage of the CEDAW ordinance, San Jose once...