In 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 109 after the Supreme Court ruled California’s overcrowded prisons violated inmates’ 8th Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment. It was and has continued to be portrayed to the public as a good thing. A “reward” for nonviolent and non-serious offenders. While the law may allow inmates to...

It is just a day business trip to San Jose, but a good opportunity to check out the new Boring Transit Loop from the airport to downtown. I read it was built in under a year and for $100 million. Sounds like a lot of money, but peanuts for a transportation system. As I exit...

“Never waste the opportunity offered by a good crisis.” – Niccolò Machiavelli On July 1, the San Jose City Council voted 6-5 to place a ballot measure amending the City Charter on the November ballot. The proposal would move the mayoral election to the presidential election cycle, enact certain campaign contribution restrictions and increase the...

The crisis of authority is not unique to California or COVID-19. The question is not even new to government itself. In fact, the question about if, when and how an authority shall govern dates back to the origins of human life. This conundrum is not about Dr. Sara Cody, it’s about trust in an imperfect...

California is facing a crisis of authority. Increasing physical threats against health officers over their COVID-19 rules reveal a fracture between the public and its leaders. Rules are staples of democratic societies that emerge from those we choose to govern us. We stop at traffic lights, pay taxes and wait in line to purchase groceries....

All students and families in Silicon Valley deserve access to high quality education and a pathway to college and viable careers. Such is not the case today in the areas of San Jose that encompass the poorest and least affluent neighborhoods, such as East San Jose, where income is at the poverty level and families...

In the midst of a scandal over Facebook posts made by current and former members of his city’s police department, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo pushed back against calls to defund the police by posting and later deleting a tweet that compared racist cops to teachers. “And when teachers are caught saying vile things,” the...

Today a constitutional convention will take place, proposing changing how people are represented and how government operates. A frenzy of proposals contemplating complex restructuring, an extension of current leaders’ term-limited time in office, the value of neighborhood representation, consolidation of power and increasing voter participation will be considered in a 12-hour political showdown. This affront...

The rush to change the City Charter to a strong mayor form of government is a rush that is driven not as much by need but by political expediency by special interests. The voters, if the measure goes to the November ballot, will be asked to lengthen the term of the current mayoral office holder,...

A house divided can fall and the city of San Jose is barely standing. The infighting, regionalism and special interests are tearing the city apart and preventing the approval of policies that could move us forward together. From business opportunities, homelessness, natural and manmade emergencies, the operations of city government is slow, lethargic and often...