Gig economy companies should be doing more to protect their workers and meet requirements under Assembly Bill 5 during the coronavirus pandemic
Cortese: Support our foster youth in a post-coronavirus world
We are living in an unprecedented time that has forced a paradigm shift upon us. There is an understanding among many across the globe that we are all dealing with the same obstacle. For most of us, life has been stalled by the COVID-19 virus. Daily luxuries, which may have been taken for granted, have been replaced by...
Ellenberg: Childcare should be at the center of recovery efforts
We are into our seventh week of sheltering in place in Santa Clara County. We have been told that we are flattening the curve, that our hospital systems are not overwhelmed, that we are continuing to procure PPE and that we are developing a plan to put in place widespread contact tracing. The public health...
Law: This landlord supports freezing rents and evictions
We have lived in San Jose for 16 years, six as renters and 10 as landlords. Our family occupies half of a duplex in a small enclave of duplexes and our kids were born here, play with the neighbors and attend public schools. We love our community and take pride in caring for our home....
Dryer: Pivot towards joy and gratitude amid the pandemic
For 45 years, Alum Rock Counseling Center (ARCC) has worked with low-income, predominantly Latinx youth and families in some of the most underserved schools and neighborhoods in East and Central San Jose. The agency serves 10,000+ people annually, through 13 mental/behavioral health programs, including a 24/7 crisis hotline, individual and family counseling and services in...
Khamis: Lessons from COVID-19 can make business more efficient
It has been five weeks since Santa Clara County leaders issued the first shelter-in-place order and asked all nonessential workers to stay home. I applaud their efforts that are successfully, and dramatically, slowing the spread of the deadly coronavirus, and I welcome their continued expertise on how to keep us safe. It is clear that...
Diridon: Good cars, bad cars
California, New York, and 15 other progressive states asked auto makers to help fight rapidly worsening climate change by meeting cleaner Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Last year the federal government inexplicably cut that requirement. Four auto makers agreed with those 17 states to voluntarily continue to meet the more healthy CAFE standards. To...
Lopez: How we can help Silicon Valley’s small businesses survive the pandemic
In 2007, my family owned our own business, a local restaurant. It was supposed to provide the funds to fulfill my family’s dream of allowing me to be the first to graduate college. Instead, in the wake of the ensuing recession and financial crisis, it became our ruin. As business dried up, we struggled to...
Kalra: Farmworkers deserve workplace protections too
Today we celebrate the birthday of the visionary labor leader and community activist, Cesar Chavez. His contribution to the fight for economic and social justice for California’s farmworkers underscores the fact that we still have much to accomplish to ensure fair and safe working conditions for these workers. As our state addresses the overwhelming task...
Witkowski: Aggressive telecommunications deregulation key to crisis response
In times of great crisis, it becomes necessary to set aside bureaucratic burdens and do what is necessary to solve problems. America, and indeed the world, has set aside their differences and declared war on SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus). As the world works to limit the spread of the pandemic and flatten the future curve of potential...