Last year we called workers essential. This year let’s treat them like they are. The pandemic has made clear what we’ve known for a long time: the most important jobs in our society aren’t the billionaire investors and corporate executives. Rather, we rely most on the people whose labor keeps our society running: the farmworkers,...
Roberts: No homeless count: Are we counting them out?
I sit on two regional Continuum of Care (CoC) boards in California — Santa Clara County and San Diego County — and in both bodies I voted to not count people who are homeless this year. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) created the Continuum of Care Program in order to funnel their resources through...
Rosen: Elder fraud and the pandemic
Alone in their homes, elders are valiantly trying to protect themselves and others against the virus. In doing so, they are at enhanced risk from another threat — scammers sneaking into our grandparents’ isolated lives through the phone, the mail or the internet. Across the nation, elders lose billions of dollars annually to fraud. Since...
Slonaker: What the American flag means to me
The presidential inauguration ceremony on Jan. 20 imbued in me a feeling almost like a purge—a weight off the shoulders, the shrugging off of a cross to bear, the removal of a screwdriver in the eyeball. Aside from the obvious significance of the ceremony, and the blessed absence of shrillness that accompanied it, I was...
Funk: Let’s use COVID-19 lessons to revamp public education system
When I reflect on the last eight months of leading a school district during this pandemic, I think about a quote from Rahm Emanuel, “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that: it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” All of us...
Diridon: Trump’s military dictatorship foiled by top military leaders
Any crackpot, Third World dictator could have told President Trump the military was needed for a successful coup d’état. Looking back, Trump’s administration removed the USS Theodore Roosevelt’s courageous Capt. Brett Crozier for standing up for his COVID-19 ravaged crew. Trump incessantly and crudely, criticized war hero and distinguished statesman John McCain even while the...
Sanderlin, Khan, Hall: An open letter to SJUSD about police in schools
Dear Community and San José Unified School District Board of Trustees, The San José Unified Equity Coalition—a culturally diverse collection of district parents, students, educators and concerned community members—formed in June 2020 in response to the police and vigilante killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. We are advocating to remove police from...
Vargas: Expanding the federal judiciary is necessary
Eight years ago, I worked for U.S. District Court judge Susan Richard Nelson in St. Paul, Minnesota. My first project involved a procedural issue, in which the judge had to decide whether to grant a motion to move a case to Wisconsin. One of the most persuasive arguments for Judge Nelson was the fact that...
Myers-Lipton: Dr. King’s teachings apply in Silicon Valley now more than ever
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would have turned 92 years old this Friday, January 15th. Much has changed in these United States since he was so violently taken from us in 1968, but much remains the same. And while all Americans should be proud of the gains made toward racial justice since the late 1960s,...
Bramson: No easy answers for poverty in a pandemic
Amid all of the chaos of the past few weeks, I find myself dumbfounded by the raging national debate over the amount of stimulus checks. Whether it’s $600, $2,000, or any other one-time denomination, part of the discourse feels like our leaders are agreeing that we should be allowed to eat cake, but still not...