A labor organization suing San Jose for public records has expanded its suit. It wants to determine if the city singled out a compliance director for trying to get information about a public works project. The South Bay Piping Industry Labor Management Trust filed an amended lawsuit last week in Santa Clara County Superior Court. The original suit...
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In annual speech, San Jose mayor says homelessness is city’s ‘biggest failure’
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo painted a realistic picture of the city’s failures while highlighting a hopeful future at his State of the City address on Thursday. In his seventh annual address, and second virtual speech, Liccardo discussed the city’s biggest issues. He focused on homelessness, public safety, community resiliency and environmental improvements. The city’s biggest failure...
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‘Miserable’: San Jose homeless brace for cold, wet winter ahead of Christmas
Standing near her tent in San Jose’s Columbus Park with two dogs in her arms, Carole Roberts said the holiday season is not a joyful time of year. “It’s the worst time of the year, with the cold and the wind,” Roberts, who has been homeless for 13 years, told San José Spotlight. “Christmas is...
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Evans Lane gives San Jose homeless a reason to celebrate the holidays
Christmas came a few days early at Evans Lane. The roughly 15 families staying at the interim housing site in West San Jose were invited to a Christmas celebration on Wednesday by the site’s provider, PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) services, and Councilmember Dev Davis. They were met with festive decorations, a masked-up COVID conscious...
Smaller construction projects covered under San Jose labor agreement
San Jose is expanding a labor agreement to smaller public works projects, raising questions about how the city measures worker protections against business interests. The City Council voted last week 8-3 to approve amendments to San Jose’s Project Labor Agreement (PLA), which applies rules about working conditions and the type of labor that can be...
Memorial honors 250 homeless deaths in Santa Clara County
Kelly Tasker, a grandmother at the age of 44, battled homelessness for nearly a decade. Through the help of the Compassion Center in Gilroy, Tasker found her first permanent apartment that would have given her a chance to get help with her chronic illness and lift her partner off the streets. But for Tasker, along...
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San Jose nonprofits rally behind anti-displacement housing policy
A coalition of local nonprofits and residents are pushing for a policy to prevent displacement and create a pathway to homeownership for low-income renters, amid a growing housing crisis that is pricing many out of the region. The proposed policy, named the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), would require rental property owners to offer first...
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Where can San Jose homeless residents warm up this winter?
San Jose is opening two temporary overnight warming centers to provide shelter for unhoused residents as temperatures continue to dip. The City Council voted unanimously this week to restart the annual program. The city picked two new locations this year, the Evergreen Branch Library on Aborn Road and the Leininger Center on Senter Road—both located in...
Landlords use scare tactics as Santa Clara County evictions grow
Since the statewide eviction ban ended in September, Santa Clara County landlords have been kicking tenants out of their homes in growing numbers. A total of 365 eviction lawsuits have been filed in Santa Clara County from September through Nov. 30 of this year, according to data from the Santa Clara County Superior Court. Of those,...
Homeless deaths soar in Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County saw a record high number of homeless deaths this past year, a somber reminder of the exacerbating housing crisis and inequality in one of the wealthiest regions in the nation. The number of people who died on the street in the region has grown in the last few years. In 2020, the area...