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I want people to understand that when San Jose’s Mayor Sam Liccardo writes a Medium post patting himself on the back for “supporting efforts to save Caltrain” he never really did. If he is proposing more of the same kind of “support” for Caltrain he and his fellow Santa Clara County and San Francisco representatives...
Shaw: What it feels like to be a Black man in America
When I was asked to share what I call my Black Lives Matter experience, I was divided within myself. It is difficult to write about an experience in your past when it brings back so many different emotions. Feelings of helplessness, shame, regret, fear and hopelessness. It took me back to a time when I...
Funk: East Side schools committed to equitable access during distance learning
School districts across Santa Clara County are scrambling to put into place plans for opening school for the 2020-21 school year. Each district must apply the guidelines provided by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department and meet the specific guidelines and expectations from the state budget and trailer bills supporting the return to school,...
McEssy: AB 109 is a punishment masked as privilege for nonviolent offenders
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...
Kline: San Jose’s Boring Transit Loop
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...
Waite: Pump the brakes on the rushed ‘strong mayor’ initiative
“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...
Bramson: Shared equity at home
It’s no secret that homeownership has been a challenge, if not an impossibility, for many poor people for a long time in this valley. From the redlining of the 1930s to the current day attempts of the federal government to dismantle the protections of the Fair Housing Act, we continue to take actions that limit...
Estorga: Legitimacy lost: Why COVID-19 laws meet such resistance
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...
Gerston: The cost of harassing COVID-19 health professionals
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....
Vargas: The radical implications of the Supreme Court’s Bostock decision
The Supreme Court on June 15 handed down its historic decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held for the first time that LGBTQ+ people are protected from employment discrimination by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The decision was a surprise to many, in no small part because Chief Justice John...