Once a decade, San Jose redraws its political boundaries in order to achieve a level playing field. The process aims to ensure the city’s 10 council districts have equal representation. It reviews whether minorities, businesses and neighborhoods are fairly aligned. It works to ensure that those who govern do so not just for the betterment...
Vargas: Lessons from the Rittenhouse and McMichael trials
On Feb. 23, 2020, Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael and William Bryan, Jr. hunted and killed Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man out for a run in a small Georgia town. The three white men, with no evidence, believed him to be a man who broke into a nearby construction site. On Aug. 25, 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse...
Staedler: With SB 9 legislative confusion, let’s shelve Opportunity Housing
The San Jose Planning Commission held a study session last Wednesday to discuss the contentious item of SB 9 and Opportunity Housing. City staff did the best they could to describe the impacts of SB 9 and the amount of housing that potentially could be developed with this legislation. There is a long list of disappointing...
Zisser: Police reform in San Jose requires overhaul of independent civilian oversight
The San Jose Charter Review Commission’s (CRC) recommendations last month to significantly overhaul police oversight will present a major test of the question posed in a recent Spotlight article: What do San Jose commissioners actually accomplish? But the crucial test is of the City Council because the commission developed eminently reasonable recommendations it then approved...
Philbrick: What does the federal infrastructure bill mean for Californians?
A $1 trillion infrastructure bill is now coming to a local road, bridge or railway near you. The funding of this once-in-a-generation bill is history-making with some of the most significant investments in public transit, bridge repair, clean energy and passenger rail in decades—and in some cases the nation’s history. But what does the Infrastructure...
Khamis: Accessory dwelling units—a success story
While there is currently an intense debate about the densification of single-family home zoning to multi-unit zoning, a housing initiative called “Opportunity Housing,” densification of single-family lots with accessory dwelling units (ADUs) has been legal for many years. In 2017, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, along with the City Council, worked to simplify and reduce...
Arenas: Funding for the future of our children
On Tuesday, the San Jose City Council will face a difficult choice. With limited funds remaining, the council will consider whether to invest federal COVID-19 relief funds in children’s programs now, or to hold off on this funding for another year. For those following closely, you may remember that I have been pushing for this...
Sandoval: Creating communities at home
When a resident moves into a PATH apartment building, they are connected to more than a rental unit—they are joining a community. “Community” is one of those nebulous concepts that looks different for everyone. For some, community means enjoying the company of others with common interests—joining a faith-based fellowship, special interest club, a neighborhood association....
Alexander: A triumph of justice or video tape?
Every trial lawyer knows that a photo is worth a thousand words and a video of a key event is a royal flush. A bona fide winner. Cases in point: George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. Interesting that these celebrated videos originated from very different sources. Seventeen year-old Darnella Frazier won the Pulitzer Prize for incredible...
Op-ed: San Jose Airport Commission to City Council—say no to digital billboards
The San Jose Airport Commission, at its Nov. 8 meeting, voted resoundingly to reject the city report advocating the construction of four—not two—1,000-square-foot digital billboards on Mineta San Jose International Airport property near the Guadalupe River Trail. These billboards, known as off-premise signs, advertise products and services not available at the location of the sign—in...