Imagine that you have no electric power during a long and intense heat wave. You can’t run a fan and your refrigerated food is spoiling. Air conditioning (if you have it), cell phones and the internet don’t work. Now imagine elderly folks, those with medical and mobility challenges, and families with babies and young children...

The Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) poses significant risks to our local businesses, consumers and the vitality of small financial institutions in our community. While the legislation claims to promote competition, it creates conditions that unfairly disadvantage our local economy, primarily benefiting large retailers through reduced fees. The CCCA threatens popular credit card rewards programs,...

The headlines are depressingly similar. Month after month, we see stories about long-time small businesses closing their doors forever. It has been four years since the pandemic devastated California, yet many of our legacy businesses have never recovered.  First hit by closures, they have also been severely impacted by inflation, rising commercial rents, and slow...

In a recent San José Spotlight opinion piece, columnist Monica Mallon accuses me of posing as a pro-transit expert while trying to undermine public transportation. While I welcome the attention she has brought to my writing, I think Mallon and other transit advocates would benefit readers more by addressing my critiques rather than dissecting my...

The increasing number of homeless individuals in downtown San Jose is a pressing issue that requires targeted and comprehensive measures. As the heart of Silicon Valley, our city is renowned for its high-tech industry, commerce and prosperity. However, the growing population, increased mobility and proliferation of tech companies have led to higher living and housing...

Silicon Valley is ready to “Build Back Better” with a transportation infrastructure project that will generate 75,000 jobs, provide housing for 76,000 people and reduce carbon emissions by 50 tons a year. We have secured more than half the funding for the project. All we need to make this shovel-ready project happen is for the...

A thriving economy relies upon the rule of law, the assurance that fairness, equity and justice will prevail. It drives investment decisions around the globe and here at home. And for the tens of thousands of victims of wage theft who are still waiting to be paid, it is well past time for San Jose...

Back in 2018 the ban on new billboards was unceremoniously repealed by the San Jose City Council at the urging of billboard industry lobbyists. Since then, our group has been asking questions but getting few direct answers. For example, one of the claims made by proponents is that billboards that go up on public property...

Every 49ers game last October, CBS cut away to a “location of interest” in Santa Clara. On Oct. 9, they showed Mission Santa Clara. During the Oct. 29 game, CBS’s satellite truck searched for anything resembling a downtown. The Domino’s commercial faded into an aerial shot of what appeared to be a downtown. Sportscaster Jim...

California is grappling with a harsh reality as the state’s budget deficit is expected to hit a staggering $73 billion in the next fiscal year. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year outlines severe cuts across education, health and human services. For the millions of citizens who depend on these vital social services, California’s...