“Vote No on Measure A” isn’t about “survival.” It’s about accountability and sustainable planning. It’s about protecting Santa Clara County from financial collapse. This isn’t the time to slip a tax hike through quietly in the middle of the night, just because next year’s ballot is already crowded with new tax proposals. Measure A is...
Cantrell: Black life, leadership and power in Silicon Valley
There’s a particular ache familiar to many Black residents in San Jose and across Silicon Valley: the uneasy realization that when you enter a room, you will likely be the only one who looks like you, while your story fades into the background as others take center stage. For decades, as new communities have thrived...
Lee: Maternity services return to Regional Medical Center
Five years ago, I stood with nurses on a picket line when Regional Medical Center (RMC) announced the closure of its Labor and Delivery Ward. Despite public outcry, the unit closed in 2020 — a devastating loss to the East San Jose community. After taking office as a Santa Clara County supervisor, RMC informed us...
Stroll: Trump will be gone in 2029, but gerrymandering will be here to stay
I’ve been canvassing in downtown San Jose against Proposition 50. People who are for it counter my pitch as either: “You have to fight fire with fire” or “It’s only until 2030, and then we’re back to a fair system of congressional districting.” No one I know actually likes getting rid of an independent commission...
Bramson: A measure for community health
When people talk about ending homelessness, the conversation almost always starts with housing. And for good reason—without a safe, stable home, it’s nearly impossible for anyone to rebuild their life. But there’s another piece of this crisis we don’t talk about enough: health. You can’t recover from homelessness if you can’t access health care. You...
Ramirez: If ending homelessness is the goal, punishing the poor isn’t the answer
Across the country, policymakers are criminalizing homelessness. The intent, they say, is to attend to the unhoused and revitalize public spaces. But service providers know enforcement-based approaches won’t solve homelessness — they will make it worse. The federal administration recently issued an executive order that contradicts proven best practices for tackling homelessness. It even deployed...
Park: Why we need a new Marshall Plan for the next generation
Across America, young people are discovering the old promise of “go to college, work hard and you will find a good job” no longer holds. Hiring rates for recent college graduates fell by more than 20% in the past year, according to BBC News. For the first time in more than 40 years, graduates now...
Santos: South Bay shoreline project hits milestone
On Sept. 25, I stood alongside our partners and community members at the newly constructed coastal flood protection levee between Alviso Marina County Park and the Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge to celebrate a deeply personal milestone: the completion of Reaches 1 through 3 levees of the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Phase I Project. I...
Paz-Cedillos: Measure A is a lifeline for Santa Clara County
The moment we are in is unlike any I’ve experienced as a nonprofit leader. The so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” signed into law this summer, will devastate communities like ours. It strips billions of dollars from the social safety net, cutting Medicaid and other federal programs that have kept millions afloat. For Santa Clara County, the...
Op-ed: Protect grieving families from coercive police interrogations
We strongly urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to pass Assembly Bill 572, a bill to protect grieving families from coercive interrogations by law enforcement, after the violent police killing of a family member. As sisters who lost our father to law enforcement — and experienced the coercion ourselves — this bill is deeply personal to us....