Small businesses in Santa Clara County can likely expect to get a break on permitting fees in the latest effort to give a boost to the local economy. Supervisors Tuesday voted unanimously to take the first step to temporarily cancel a host of fees on small businesses, including restaurants, swimming pools and body art salons....
Silicon Valley lawmakers approve plans for distributing rent relief funds
Renters make up nearly half of the Bay Area’s largest city, and many face an eviction time bomb after eviction bans end and back rent is due, prompting Silicon Valley lawmakers Tuesday to take steps to protect the most vulnerable tenants. Lawmakers at the city and county level approved a “hybrid” plan to distribute millions...
San Jose police introduce ‘less lethal’ weapons in place of guns, rubber bullets, batons
In a direct response to criticism during last year’s Black Lives Matter protests, San Jose police officers have been trying new tools meant to reduce harm and injury. In a report coming before the San Jose City Council today, Acting Police Chief David Tindall said new TASER models, pepper gel and tether launchers — used...
Post-scandal, former SVO leader Matt Mahood launches San Jose consulting firm
Rising from the ashes of scandal, former Silicon Valley Organization CEO Matt Mahood has a new gig — working for himself. The business executive founded a consulting firm called MRM strategies in January, three months after a racist attack ad was published on SVO’s website under his watch. The ad sparked outrage from lawmakers and community members alike...
Top questions about Opportunity Housing in San Jose answered
Opportunity Housing is the city’s latest strategy for solving San Jose’s housing crisis — but critics fear the policy may plummet property values, increase traffic congestion and destroy single-family neighborhoods. Supporters, however, say densifying those neighborhoods will boost San Jose’s affordable housing stock — which is much-needed in a city where the median cost of a single-family home...
Rent relief on its way to Silicon Valley — eventually and for select few
San Jose and Santa Clara County are preparing to decide how to spend more than $117 million in federal rent subsidies. That’s probably not enough to cover everything tenants owe their landlords since the beginning of the pandemic. And it hasn’t been decided exactly who will be allowed to collect their fair share of the...
Homeless families get keys to new tiny houses in Santa Clara County
For most, a 100-square-foot room would be barely enough space for a closet or a knick-knack storage room. For others, it now means getting off the street. “My daughters are very excited to have their own tiny home and are grateful to be here,” said Arely in Spanish through a translator. She did not want...
Survey finds opposition to high-density zoning in San Jose but critics say poll is flawed
Roughly half of San Jose residents surveyed in a new poll oppose an initiative to boost the number of homes allowed in single-family neighborhoods. According to initial survey results, 48% of San Jose residents are opposed to Opportunity Housing, while 24% of residents support the initiative. Roughly a quarter of residents polled said they need...
Santa Clara County calls on federal government to double COVID-19 vaccine allocation
South Bay health officials are calling on the federal government to increase COVID-19 vaccine production and distribution amid a sluggish vaccine rollout that led to thousands of canceled appointments. “We’re only seeing probably less than half of the vaccine that we need at this point,” said Marty Fenstersheib, Santa Clara County COVID-19 testing officer, at a town hall hosted by...
San Jose poised to pay homage to Filipino farmworkers with new park
San Jose activist Daniel Lazo used to take the bus in the early 2000s to Welch Park in East San Jose. There, Filipino organizers hosted history workshops to educate young people about Philippine-born labor leaders. On his way home, Lazo would occasionally pass an empty lot on Gimelli Way. That lot, Lazo learned last month,...