Arts, Culture & Creativity Month is a statewide celebration organized by arts advocates, civic leaders and artists across the state to uplift the intrinsic value of arts, culture and creativity. In 2019, Arts, Culture & Creativity Month was declared by the California Senate to be held every April to recognize the arts in California and...
Ballard: Protecting our communities from future floods
As the newest Valley Water board director for a district that includes neighborhoods in downtown San Jose — a community that remembers the devastating floods from eight years ago — I deeply appreciate Valley Water’s dedicated efforts in nearly completing the first phase of the Coyote Creek Flood Protection Project. The Feb. 21, 2017, events...
San José Spotlight and Omar Habbas launch new educational initiative to support the future of local news
San José Spotlight is delighted to announce Omar Habbas as the first major supporter of a new educational initiative to invest in the next generation of journalists in Silicon Valley. Studies show the U.S. has lost 3,200 newspapers since 2005 – more than one-third of all its newspapers. The decline in local news fosters the...
Collins: The housing market is a mixed bag — so far
The only thing consistent about the 2025 housing market so far is its inconsistency. We have had slow weeks followed by red-hot weeks. Mortgage rates have fluctuated substantially thus far and have become as unpredictable as the stock market. Home insurance, which was once an afterthought, has also become a point of contention for buyers....
Ramos: Closing the budget gap shouldn’t mean closing library doors
Our libraries are under siege — from coordinated book bans to funding cuts that threaten their very existence. Last Friday evening, the president signed an executive order to reduce funding to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, specifically threatening the Grants to States program which provides funding to local libraries. In San Jose, all...
Op-ed: Mayor Mahan’s plan hurts Black, brown and disabled communities
As civil rights advocates, we strongly oppose Mayor Mahan’s proposal to arrest homeless individuals who refuse shelter. This policy will disproportionately harm Black and brown people, including those with disabilities, who are overrepresented in the unhoused population due to systemic racism, economic inequality, and a lack of affordable, fair, accessible, and safe housing. The racial...
Perry: We need real plans, not false promises
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan recently announced a new mathematical model developed by the housing department would “enable San Jose to end unsheltered homelessness” for only 5% of the cost of previous models. Unfortunately, this claim is a gross distortion of reality and of what the new model itself actually says. For years now, the...
Silver Taube: Proposed state legislation would strengthen workers’ rights
This year there are numerous bills making their way through the state legislature that address difficulties in collecting wage theft judgments, the backlog at the Labor Commission, paid leave and human trafficking. According to the California State Auditor’s report, between 2018 and 2023, the Labor Commission was successful in collecting the entire amount owed in...
Shoor: San Jose’s general plan needs to achieve more vital outcomes
Ask almost any Silicon Valley elected official, city planner or resident in recent years what widespread issue our region needs to solve, and they’ll say the same thing: build more housing. So why haven’t we? There are many reasons, yet here’s one needing more attention: our planning process is malfunctioning. Full of good intentions, it’s...
Bramson: Punishment won’t help the unhoused
It’s a simple truth: everyone needs a safe place to sleep. But instead of working to make that a reality, San Jose’s latest proposal to arrest unhoused residents is a cruel, costly and ineffective response to one of our city’s most urgent crises. The math doesn’t add up, the approach is flawed and at the...