After nearly a year of heated debate, the controversial Thomas Fallon statue in downtown San Jose may have found its new home: A storage locker. The city’s five-member Public Art Committee, which advises the Arts Commission on the acquisition, placement and conservation of public art, voted Tuesday to remove the statue as recommended by Mayor Sam...
San Jose Flea Market to get new life amid public market development
City leaders and San Jose Flea Market representatives say they’re a step closer to preserving the beloved public space. On Tuesday, market representatives and Councilmember David Cohen, whose district includes the flea market, said they reached an agreement to establish 3.5 acres for an urban market on the current site. The move means the Flea...
Why one in 10 Silicon Valley residents are refusing a COVID shot
One in 10 Santa Clara County residents are refusing a COVID-19 vaccine due to fear of side effects or safety concerns, misinformation and scheduling issues—a problem that county health officials are quickly trying to ameliorate. Misinformation still persists, researchers hired by the county discovered, with 19% of county residents surveyed believing vaccines can give you...
San Jose sets new goals to vaccinate hardest-to-reach residents
San Jose officials are looking to match a lofty goal set by the county: 85% of residents vaccinated by Aug. 1. City officials on Tuesday introduced a set of priorities for the next three months, including expanding to 20 mobile vaccination sites, partnering with 10 health care providers to distribute vaccines and creating a strategy focused...
Why does San Jose close Roosevelt Park during Cinco de Mayo?
Last year was the worst Cinco de Mayo that Corena Medina ever experienced. “It was a complete wreck,” said Medina, a resident of the Roosevelt Park neighborhood. “Literally, smoke filled the air from all the (tire) burnouts.” For at least the last 15 years, San Jose has fenced off Roosevelt Park during the week of...
UPDATE: San Jose City Council approves new downtown landmark
San Jose’s new iconic landmark has cleared another hurdle but will now face environmental analysis. Councilmembers on Tuesday unanimously approved “The Breeze of Innovation,” a project that won an international competition launched in 2019 for a new landmark at Arena Green, located at the southern tip of Guadalupe River Park. The council’s unanimous vote will...
Campaign season lasts year-round in Santa Clara County
In Santa Clara County, politicians can fundraise for their campaigns all year and keep the excess money to pay off incurred debt. That’s much different than campaign finance rules in San Jose, which has strict laws to prevent officials from holding year-round campaign accounts that critics say undermine politicians’ integrity. “People running for office are...
San Jose building department sees revenue decline during pandemic
One of San Jose’s most powerful city departments is just beginning to recover from a pandemic-driven decline in revenues—but some operations still lag behind. When Santa Clara County’s shelter-in-place order went into effect last year, leaders in the city’s Planning, Building and Code Enforcement Department described a chaotic situation. “Once they shut down, everybody went...
Santa Clara County puts another $350M toward affordable housing
Santa Clara County supervisors are set Tuesday to pump another $350 million of affordable housing bond money to build more low-income housing. In 2016, Santa Clara County residents approved a $950 million housing bond, known as Measure A, to fund construction of 4,800 housing units across the Bay Area. The premise of Measure A has...
Road conditions, police force most common claims against San Jose
Poorly-designed streets, excessive use of force and car accidents caused by city officials are just a few examples out of hundreds of claims made against San Jose this past year. The city spends millions of dollars in legal fees annually to resolve claims and lawsuits filed by residents and organizations. Most recently, the city faced two...