Public parks and gardens are designed to draw people closer to nature. They are not meant to be gated and locked to limit access to public spaces. That defeats the purpose of creating these parklands, which is why the entrance to the Vietnamese Heritage Garden should be unlocked. Within the gated garden is a bronze monument...
Editorial: Santa Clara County made the right move buying Regional
Santa Clara County never planned to buy Regional Medical Center in East San Jose. The Board of Supervisors wasn’t looking to take on more health care responsibilities. They had already saved three failing hospitals five years ago and ranked as the second-largest public health and hospital system in California. But the situation was dire. Make...
Editorial: California hospital services definition harms patient health
Santa Clara County residents who need emergency medical services should not have their treatment threatened because the closest hospital is miles away. It seems inconceivable that such a problem could exist in a county of such stature, and yet it does, because California’s definition of “general acute care hospital services” has no teeth. What it...
Editorial: San Jose mayor twists truth into scare tactics
Scare tactics are not a good look for San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who promised government transparency during his mayoral campaign. This behavior is even more disingenuous when he uses it to further his agenda by claiming this news organization spread misinformation about his efforts to eliminate an environmental problem. So let’s set the record...
Editorial: State should step in to save San Jose trauma center
Four months. That’s all the time Santa Clara County officials have to try and prevent a health care crisis in its public hospital system when Regional Medical Center shuts down its trauma center. By August, the only remaining trauma centers in the county will be at Stanford University Medical Center and Santa Clara Valley Medical...
Editorial: San Jose needs to direct more resources to 988
When 988 launched almost two years ago it had two specific goals: streamline suicide and mental health calls to a one-stop crisis hotline and take law enforcement out of the equation when possible. That’s not happening in San Jose. A recent city report shows Santa Clara County mental health teams in 2023 responded to just 2% of...
Editorial: Santa Clara County saves veterans home — but at what cost?
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors took the right action in saving an East San Jose homeless veterans complex from the wrecking ball — but the property was in total disrepair by the time it did so. The four-plus acres at 10 Kirk Ave. sits on a swatch of land that former owner, Swenson...
Editorial: San Jose primary voters could shape city government
The door for filing to run in the March 2024 primary election closed mid-December, and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has just one little-known challenger. His reelection to a four-year term should be a lock, even though his political sway may not be. That’s because the mayor is only one of 11 votes on the...
Editorial: San Jose State may have a model for teacher housing
San Jose State University might turn into an unexpected savior in the ongoing exodus of teachers from Santa Clara County. The university envisions creating public-private partnerships with K-12 school districts and community colleges to help build affordable teacher housing. SJSU leaders want schools to consider using some of their excess land for homes so teachers...
Editorial: A blueprint for the future of housing sits in Santa Clara
Numerous housing ideas have been bandied about on state and local levels over the last nine months in an effort to accelerate home construction. This aggressive push follows decades of insufficient supply and the state’s belated effort to make sure people can afford to live where they work. If the state succeeds, more homes will bring...