On Oct. 27, the San Jose Planning Commission struck down recommendations from city staff and the San Jose General Plan Task Force to protect Coyote Valley from future development. I cannot express how disappointing this vote was for me. I have long advocated for the conservation of Coyote Valley, before my time in the State...
Op-ed: An open letter to San Jose State University on unhoused students
The Silicon Valley Faith Leaders Collaborative, a collective of clergy representing multiple faith communities, urges the administration of San Jose State University to keep the promises they have made to address the collegiate homelessness problem. An education is one of the best ways to end the cycle of poverty, for an individual with a college...
Vargas: Public employees, private speech
The First Amendment guarantees the right of “free speech” to every American, however, that promise is often more secure for some than others. In Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court (in)famously held that a corporation could not be singled out as a “disfavored speaker,” but in the same opinion, the court expressly approved a...
EGD: What is predictive policing and why is it dangerous?
Predictive policing is an increasingly popular tool among law enforcement. According to the RAND Corporation, it was initially envisioned in 2008 by William J. Bratton, police chief of the Los Angeles Police Department at the time. Bratton began to speak publicly about how data analytics had helped his department anticipate gang violence throughout L.A. Soon,...
Nuñez and Garza: Ending an epidemic of hate
“Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity.” These words by one of our nation’s most iconic and impactful crusaders against hate and injustice, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., have never been truer than in this moment of gross...
Bramson: The words that leave people out in the cold
A friend recently recommended I check out a popular podcast where a person was being interviewed about a book he wrote on homelessness in California. The author was a controversial climate change writer who had wandered out of that arena after some particularly harsh public criticism and then decided to start delving into the lives...
Zisser: Community is the common denominator in criminal justice reform
The goal for this monthly column, which starts today, is largely the same as it has been in my work as a federal civil rights attorney and police oversight professional, including as San Jose’s Independent Police Auditor (IPA): to carve out a platform for working with community members to identify, remedy and prevent abuse by the...
Mallon: The untold story of VTA
I’m Monica Mallon, a new transportation columnist for San José Spotlight who will contribute columns on first Thursday every other month. For my first column, I’d like to tell you about Santa Clara County transportation from the perspective of a rider. I’m a lifelong transit rider and advocate with professional experience in transportation demand management....
Allen: Why the county executive should stop gaslighting critics of ‘hero’ pay
Having watched the volleying between San Jose mayoral candidate Matt Mahan and the taxpayer-funded Santa Clara County CEO and his union allies on ‘hero’ pay, I felt it was time for somebody old and objective to step in and make a few observations. County Executive Jeff Smith embarrassed himself in his Mercury News op-ed that...
Breland: How the COVID pandemic is affecting college students
A recent article published by San José Spotlight highlighted some of the struggles local college students have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. While this article focused primarily on the experiences of students at San Jose State University, it is important to note that recent reports indicate that adult students and students of color—two populations disproportionately...