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One of the needed paths to recovery from California’s housing tragedy hit another legislative brick wall. Senate Bill 50, authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, failed to get enough votes last week. In short, SB 50’s intent was to undo California’s decades long housing policies of single-family housing and suburban sprawl by inducing development near transit and job...
Chavez: We must double down on our affordable housing investment
In my recent State of the County address, I highlighted the county’s success with the voter-approved Measure A housing bond. Measure A is ahead of schedule, almost halfway to building more than 4,000 new permanent homes for the homeless. This week, I called for the county to double down on Measure A — to put...
Navarro: The Mercury News’ failure to mention me in editorial
I was very disappointed that the Mercury News failed to mention me as a San Jose City Council candidate for District 6 in its Jan. 21 endorsement editorial. By not mentioning the only District 6 candidate who grew up in the lower-income neighborhoods of District 6, in which income disparity, affordable housing, public safety and...
Ganesh: Measure E deserves support from San Jose voters
In a San José Spotlight op-ed published on Jan. 16, Pat Waite argued that Measure E — a property transfer tax on properties worth over $2 million which is slated for the March ballot — represented a money-grab by the city that would fail to deliver on its promises of increasing the city’s capability to...
Roberts: Put housing first, character second
This is the first of a three-part series on Housing First. They are people who are broke, and broken. They have insufficient resources to sustain housing, and tattered lives with barriers that sometimes seem insurmountable. Some are dependent on substances that misdirect, others are overcome by mental demons. All are unable to stand on their...
Peralez: Breaking silos to solve homelessness
Last year, the city of San Jose’s point-in-time count, a federally mandated count of the area’s homeless population, showed that homelessness spiked 42% in the last two years. Today, for every one person we house, three more become homeless. On any given day, there are more than 5,000 residents living on our city’s streets, however,...
Perry: SB 50 will worsen renters’ displacement crisis
On Jan. 7, an inspired group of homeless working mothers called Moms 4 Housing boldly disrupted a press conference by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and other Democratic Party leaders promoting state Senate Bill 50. The moms spoke out because they saw SB 50 as a ploy by speculators like Wedgewood Properties, which was...
Cortese: My plan to provide temporary housing and shelters
The painful evidence of our current housing crisis is in full view in our neighborhoods, on city streets and along creeks as homeless camps continue to grow out of a desperation caused by the lack of affordable housing and temporary shelter. At government meetings and community gatherings, we often hear, “Why isn’t somebody doing something...
From the editor: Santa Clara, stop the attacks on the press
In an increasingly divisive political climate, our job as journalists is to tell stories of power and privilege. And by virtue of our jobs, journalists and government officials often clash. We fight City Hall for answers. We fight for documents to shed light on what’s really going on. We fight to question powerful politicians, sometimes...
Larson: Snake oil solutions to homelessness and a child’s lesson in empathy
Becoming a mother a few decades ago and a grandmother recently, I’ve come to appreciate considering the world through the eyes of a child and listening to words out of the mouths of babes. We could all learn a few things if only we would take the time to listen. But listening deeply is easier...