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Have you checked your mailbox recently? A vote-by-mail ballot will arrive soon if you’re registered to vote. More than 940,000 ballots were mailed Monday to voters across Santa Clara County for the March 3 presidential primary election. As part of the Voter’s Choice Act, which was approved last year, this is an attempt at simplifying the election...
San Jose approves new anti-graffiti efforts and Diridon Station design
San Jose elected leaders Tuesday unanimously approved beefing up anti-graffiti efforts with a new policy that reduces the time it takes to paint over tagging on private property when more than one complaint has been filed. The new shortened process means city officials can re-inspect a private property site where graffiti was previously reported and immediately issue...
San Jose: Tensions run high as Larry Stone speaks out against Prop. 13 measure
Tensions around an upcoming statewide ballot measure reached a high point during the Santa Clara Unified School District meeting last week, when advocates and detractors of the initiative to reform Proposition 13, pled their cases to the board. Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone, a vocal opponent of the measure, faced off with advocates of the...
Rule change prompts San Jose lawmakers to reduce travel
San Jose lawmakers have significantly reduced city-funded travel, a San José Spotlight analysis found, and some say it’s because of a trip five elected officials took to Japan nearly two years ago. The city has since implemented a new travel policy, which restricts how many councilmembers can travel at a given time. The policy, approved in...
South Bay leaders react to the defeat of ambitious housing bill
South Bay lawmakers and advocates are reacting with mixed feelings after one Bay Area Senator’s attempt to tackle the housing crisis was evicted from the Senate floor this week. Sen. Scott Wiener’s Senate Bill 50 is officially dead, as the debate between regulating city housing requirements, maintaining local control and ensuring tenant protections proved to...
Santa Clara leaders set slew of priorities for 2020
Santa Clara lawmakers spent nearly six hours Thursday identifying priorities they consider essential for Santa Clara’s growth in 2020 — touching on everything from Levi’s Stadium, public transparency and community-sourced development. In the first of a two-day session, Councilmember Teresa O’Neill summed up the goal of the meeting: “I think if we can … try...
Santa Clara County supervisors approve new homeless task force
Last year, 161 homeless people died on Santa Clara County streets but some immediate solutions might be on the horizon. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved creating a new task force to help alleviate homelessness countywide by focusing on providing shelter and transitional housing options. In 2015, a similar task...
Santa Clara approves new affordable housing complex, higher city manager pay
During Santa Clara Councilmember Patricia Mahan’s final City Council meeting Tuesday, lawmakers unanimously approved a new 65-unit affordable housing project, but delayed discussing development near the upcoming BART extension until the end of the week. Mahan last week resigned her position due to medical issues, effective Feb. 1. The longtime lawmaker attended the first half...
San Jose lawmakers vote against supporting Measure B funds reallocation
Silicon Valley climate activists are urging the VTA to declare a climate emergency and reallocate funds from a 2016 half-cent sales tax to public transit projects in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But the San Jose City Council on Tuesday, which has five directors on the VTA board that includes Mayor Sam Liccardo...
Major changes coming to San Jose’s upcoming elections
WASHINGTON. D.C. — Preparations are underway across California for the upcoming March 3 primary election, which for the first time since 2008, will allow California voters to participate near the beginning of the presidential primary process. Plus, a new law called the California Voter’s Choice Act takes effect in Santa Clara County this year. That...