Between wildfires, a mass shooting and an unprecedented pandemic, VTA and other Bay Area transit agencies face constant threats to long-term stability. Some transit advocates are concerned agencies aren’t prepared for the next catastrophe. “They’re not ready for when the big 8.0 (earthquake) hits the Hayward Fault and takes out BART,” Silicon Valley Transit Users founder...
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San Jose business group floats fee for homeless trash solutions
Fed up with trash and vandalism downtown, one San Jose business group wants to lobby the city and county to help with its cleanup efforts. Scott Knies, executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association, a consortium of businesses located in the heart of the city, floated what he calls a “clean community fee” on...
Food benefits increase as need in San Jose continues to soar
As food insecurity has dramatically increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, CalFresh and local nonprofits have ramped up services to meet this need. Starting Oct. 1, recipients of CalFresh, a federal nutrition program, received about 22% more in benefits compared to pre-pandemic levels—bringing a family of four up to an extra $155 per month. Coincidentally, an...
South Bay voters to decide extending taxes for schools
Parcel taxes for schools and library services are about to expire in two local school districts. Residents will decide in a special election next month whether to extend them. In the Berryessa Union School District, Measure A would renew a $79 parcel tax to maintain its level of services for the next eight years. “This...
San Jose VTA approves changes to how residents can speak at meetings
Residents hoping to speak at future VTA board meetings might find themselves waiting until the end of the night. On Thursday, VTA’s governance and audit committee unanimously approved guidelines for public comment that will go into effect in January. Public comment for items not on the agenda will now be split between the start and...
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San Jose State University president resigns
San Jose State University’s president is resigning in the wake of a massive sexual abuse scandal that has consumed the school for months. Mary A. Papazian announced Thursday that she will resign as president on Dec. 21. California State University Chancellor Joseph Castro will meet with campus stakeholders before naming an interim president. “The best...
Santa Clara County sets conditions for removing indoor mask mandate
Santa Clara County has set the stage for lifting health orders that require face coverings in most indoor public places. Public health officers announced on Thursday that nine Bay Area jurisdictions can remove their indoor mask mandates under certain conditions. “Whenever possible, our aim was to adopt a metric that would be easy for the...
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San Jose Police Department struggles to staff up
Staffing the police department for the largest city in Northern California is proving to be a headache. The San Jose Police Department currently has 1,153 budgeted positions with 20 vacancies, according to spokesperson Christian Camarillo. But he said this doesn’t reflect the true number of sworn officers working because at any given time there are people out...
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Some skeptical of San Jose’s plan to ‘end’ homelessness
Santa Clara County has a lofty new goal to “end” homelessness by 2025 but some unhoused residents aren’t convinced. The effort, called “Heading Home,” is part of a multipronged approach by Santa Clara County, San Jose, the Santa Clara County Housing Authority, tech company Cisco and homeless policy nonprofit Destination: Home—some of the region’s biggest...
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Where is affordable housing located in San Jose?
San Jose squeezes more than half of its affordable housing in areas with some of the lowest household incomes in the city. About 57% of all below market rate rentals in the city, including some in the development pipeline, are in downtown, central and east San Jose, a San José Spotlight analysis of city data shows. Six districts...