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With the statewide eviction moratorium terminated, thousands of San Jose residents brace for a wave of ejections. The state ban that protected renters from being booted from their homes for not paying rent due to COVID-19 expired last Thursday. Now tenants have to pay at least 25% of their owed rent from the past year or...
UPDATE: Homeless housing site coming to San Jose police headquarters
San Jose’s quest to find more affordable housing sites has brought it to approve an unorthodox piece of real estate: a San Jose police parking lot. The San Jose City Council unanimously approved Tuesday a prefabricated housing project in a parking lot at the San Jose Police Department headquarters along Guadalupe Parkway. It will include...
Santa Clara County approves COVID hazard pay for workers
Santa Clara County employees can likely expect a bonus in their paychecks come December in recognition of their hazardous work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a request to pay more than $76 million to help each of the county’s 22,000 employees by Dec. 3. Employees will receive $2,500 for...
San Jose mayoral contests could coincide with presidential elections
For the first time since San Jose residents got the power to vote for mayor in 1966, the city’s top elected official could be decided on the same ballot as the president. The San Jose Charter Review Commission on Monday voted to recommend the city move its mayoral contests from midterm election years to presidential...
San Jose pushes ahead to convert hotels to housing
San Jose wants to pay $113 million to convert four hotels into housing to help solve its homelessness crisis. Funding is expected to come from the state’s Project Homekey program, which subsidizes emergency housing run by local governments and nonprofits. Applications opened Sept. 30, and individual funding may be awarded as soon as 45 days after...
San Jose building height limits come with price tag
Dan Connolly warned San Jose officials in 2019 that pushing up the height limits on downtown buildings could cost airlines money. They didn’t listen to him. Two years later, his predictions have held true—and he’s not happy about it. “We chose a scenario where the airport and airlines lost and the developers won,” he told...
What does Santa Clara County’s transit agency lobby for?
VTA’s priorities were dramatically shaken following a mass shooting in May, but the transit agency continues to lobby for its bread-and-butter projects. In the first two quarters of 2021, VTA paid $86,000 to its state lobbyist, California Advisors LLC. VTA paid $80,000 to its federal lobbyist Van Scoyoc Associates for the first half of 2021. Neither...
San Jose school district using counselors as substitute teachers
Facing a substitute teacher shortage, the San Jose Unified School District is calling on its counselors to step in. The unusual move has raised concern for advocates, who worry students will lose out on much-needed mental health services and face anxiety after returning to classes following months of distance learning due to COVID-19. Starting this...
State orders San Jose to halt implementing hotel rent
San Jose’s Housing Department violated a state agreement by setting monthly rents too high for formerly unhoused residents living at the SureStay Hotel. Now the city needs to recalculate. In April 2020, homeless residents vulnerable to COVID-19 received free emergency shelter in hotels across Santa Clara County through Project Homekey—the state program subsidizing emergency housing run by local governments and nonprofits. After...
San Jose extends COVID vaccination deadline for city workers
San Jose made a last-minute change to its COVID-19 vaccination policy that gives reluctant employees more time to get the jab before punishments start. Thursday was the deadline for city employees to be vaccinated, but Mayor Sam Liccardo said workers will be given a one-week grace period to get their first shot before being placed...