Under the current economic slowdown, most Americans have spent time thinking about how they will cut personal spending, how they will pay their rent or mortgage, and some are also asking themselves how long they can endure this economy that is hanging on by a thread. Our local small business owners have worked hard to...
San Jose housing advocates: No thanks, Commissioner Oliverio
In a recent op-ed in the Mercury News, Planning Commissioner Pierluigi Oliverio launched into a tirade against Opportunity Housing, a proposal to allow four-plexes on lots currently zoned for one home. The bulk of Oliverio’s piece consists of cartoonish fear-mongering that Opportunity Housing will be akin to “an anvil…falling from the sky about to demolish a house” and...
Silicon Valley AAPI: Don’t scapegoat mental illness in hate crimes fight
The solution to bigotry against one group cannot be bigotry against another. In a Feb. 14 op-ed in the Mercury News, Daniel Chung, a deputy district attorney for Santa Clara County, blamed California criminal justice reforms like mental health diversion for the recent, horrific attacks on people of Asian descent. His baseless assertion fans the...
Ellenberg, Chavez: A plan to support small business
This month marks the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic arriving in Santa Clara County, but this March looks very different than last. We have many reasons for optimism in 2021 that we did not have in 2020 because of the enormous sacrifices and tenacious work that has been undertaken by our entire community to fight back –...
Chavez: The prosecutor Gov. Newsom should appoint as attorney general
When Jeff Rosen first ran for Santa Clara County District Attorney in 2010, I did not endorse him. He won. When I first ran for county supervisor in 2013, he did not endorse me. I won. Jeff and I are not natural political allies. We’re a bit of an odd couple. He is a centrist...
Cortez, Velasquez: California’s next attorney general — not Rosen
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen has premised his bid to be appointed Attorney General of California on the false notion that he is a progressive prosecutor. What’s true is that Rosen would be the wrong person for the job. Governor Gavin Newsom will appoint a new attorney general soon, following Xavier Becerra’s expected...
Kremen, Santos, Varela: Valley Water gathering public feedback on proposed expansion of Pacheco Reservoir
The first few months of this rainfall season were below average across California, with drought conditions evident statewide. Although the Golden State received a much-needed soaking in late January, moderate drought conditions remain across Santa Clara County. Valley Water remains focused on preparing for future wet and dry years through various projects and programs, including...
Levitt: Electronic billboards may work for Denver but they should not define San Jose
In 2015, city leaders seeking to define the future of San Jose went on a junket to Denver and became mesmerized by the digital signs that Rocky Mountain city decided would make its downtown Theater District more “exciting.” The bright, shiny digital billboards and seductive promise to Denver’s government of revenue from advertising started a...
Rocha, Yamamoto: San Jose was intentionally planned as a racially segregated city
San Jose was intentionally planned as a racially segregated city. Single-family zoning, which originated in Berkeley, Calif. in 1916, reserved exclusive communities for wealthier and whiter neighbors and deliberately excluded hardworking people of color. This practice spread to other cities. Today, because we know better, we are held accountable to dismantle this racist planning tool...
Hobbs: Major parties provide obstacles to immigration reform
The Republican Party. The right-wing anti-elite populism of the base of the Republican Party, its disdain for civility and compromise during the past 12 years, the accommodation and then subservience of the Republican Party to Donald Trump, and Trump’s inflaming the fear and racism of his base with lies all led to the Jan. 6...