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It’s been roughly 20 years since San Jose leaders voted to build a new City Hall, rotunda, plaza and parking garage at Fourth and Santa Clara streets in the heart of the city’s downtown. It’ll be nearly another two decades before the full tab is paid. Even before the idea became a reality, city leaders...
San José Spotlight defends reporting amid legal threat
Following San José Spotlight’s reporting that revealed Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor lobbied the governor to help a major real estate firm save money on a massive project months before it cut big checks to support her reelection campaign, attorneys for the developer are pushing back. In a letter sent to San José Spotlight this...
Santa Clara County lags on homeless count
Nearly nine months after volunteers finished surveying the local unhoused population, Santa Clara County is blaming a technical issue for delaying its release of a comprehensive survey of homeless residents. Santa Clara County conducted a biennial tally known as the “point in time” count in February to fulfill a federal requirement to receive funding. Officials published the...
San Jose homeless handed lifesaving tools
Fire extinguishers, Narcan and headlamps aren’t gifts that typically elicit a giddy reaction, but the cruel reality of living on the streets of San Jose can change that. For homeless residents in Santa Clara County, encampment fires, drug overdoses and collisions between people and vehicles are part of life, and with that comes death. Homeless deaths...
Downtown San Jose gets Google — and a power grid
Google is coming into San Jose and bringing its own electrical grid. The tech behemoth is opening a massive complex in downtown San Jose and wants to construct its own electric distribution system, or microgrid, to power the 80-acre site. By the end of this year, San Jose will approve a business plan to make...
East San Jose theater planned as community nexus
For East San Jose, introducing a performing arts space means more than theater. It’s a window into the community’s future. As part of a redevelopment project, a mostly vacant block of stores on Alum Rock Avenue is being reimagined. Part of the plan is a theater that will bring vibrancy to the neighborhood, provide jobs,...
San Jose preps sweep of migrating homeless camp
San Jose spent September sweeping homeless people from a large encampment near Columbus Park—now it’s clearing out another growing camp nearby. More than 100 people living in a baseball field at the corner of Asbury and Irene streets—many who moved over from last month’s sweep—are finding themselves in a familiar situation. Dubbed the “field of...
Santa Clara council questions mayor’s ethics
Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor is facing scrutiny and ethical questions from her colleagues after she lobbied Gov. Gavin Newsom to help a major developer skirt paying higher wages—months before the firm began a spending spree to support her reelection. The Santa Clara City Council voted 6-1 to direct its governance committee to discuss whether councilmembers should be...
San Jose to sweep homeless from ‘Field of Dreams’
Homeless residents living near Mineta San Jose International Airport are in a panic knowing that in just a few days they will have nowhere to live. Starting Friday, San Jose will disband a makeshift homeless RV camp where more than 100 people are living. City officials estimate more than 140 RVs, trailers, campers and cars—many inoperable—have moved...
San Jose homeless motel changes hands
Dirty water pouring out of faucets, and mold and holes in the ceiling have finally convinced San Jose to remove itself and a service provider from a hotel-turned-housing project. The Santa Clara County Housing Authority and Jamboree Housing Corporation are taking over the day-to-day services of SureStay Motel from the city and Abode Services, after...