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Top ten Santa Clara County political stories of 2021

This year was a tumultuous one for Santa Clara County politics. Records revealed San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo hiding emails, Sheriff Laurie Smith is battling multiple political scandals and a prosecutor is simultaneously suing District Attorney Jeff Rosen and gunning for his job. Here’s a look at some major political developments that happened in Santa Clara...

Final congressional map splits San Jose into four districts

In a surprising upset, the state commission charged with redrawing California’s political boundaries drew San Jose into four districts after briefly considering an option that would have limited it to three. The California Citizens Redistricting Commission voted Monday night to approve a map that places San Jose in four congressional districts: 16, 17, 18 and...

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...

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...

Here’s where San Jose lawmakers traveled during the pandemic

Three San Jose officials spent at least $8,000 in tax dollars on trips this past year—a fraction of what the city used to spend on business travel prior to the pandemic. Lawmakers traveled to Washington, D.C., Ohio and nearby cities like Sacramento for conferences and White House events—with taxpayers footing the bills, according to city documents. These...