More than a decade ago, Mayor Sam Liccardo was among several officials sued over their use of private emails to conduct public business. Now, the attorney who successfully argued the case against the city worries Liccardo is at it again. San Francisco attorney Karl Olson, representing San José Spotlight, sent a letter last Friday to...
Investigative
Investigative
San Jose mayor’s private emails spark response from watchdogs, attorney
A San Francisco law firm and a free speech advocacy group are demanding San Jose City Hall release emails from the mayor’s private account after San José Spotlight reported on his attempt to skirt public records law last month. Prominent San Francisco media attorney Karl Olson and the First Amendment Coalition separately have filed two public records...
San Jose mayor uses private email to skirt public records law
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo appears to have skirted public records laws by directing a resident to contact him on his private Gmail and deleting their correspondence from his public government account. The email thread, obtained by San José Spotlight, shows the mayor promising to delete the conversation from his official email. None of the messages in question—which...
San Jose’s low-income schools see large share of police calls
In the last five years, police logged at least 9,200 calls for service to schools in San Jose. A disproportionate amount came from high schools with high populations of minority students or students living in poverty, a data analysis by San José Spotlight found. Seven of the 10 schools with the most police service calls to...
UPDATE: San Jose to conduct another search, release a log of emails on mayor’s advocacy group
In response to an appeal from San José Spotlight over a denial of public records, San Jose will conduct a more thorough search for Mayor Sam Liccardo’s emails related to an advocacy group and produce a log explaining why certain communications are being withheld. The decision came Wednesday after the Rules and Open Government Committee...
Behind closed doors: These are San Jose’s top 10 lobbyists
In the heart of Silicon Valley, local policies and laws, especially on land use and the economy, shape our way of life. But key policy discussions don’t always happen in public. Despite a global pandemic shuttering in-person meetings for more than a year, a data analysis by San José Spotlight found lobbying remains to be...
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