Despite the economic tumble following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic more than a year ago, San Jose homeowners are still forking over hundreds of thousands of dollars to build backyard homes. Some people build backyard cottages for rental income, while others reserve them for housing older relatives. The small units are art studios and work-from-home offices. Whatever the...
Former Santa Clara County nonprofit leader accused of bullying staff
Katherine Harasz won praise from Silicon Valley’s biggest politicos for her work, but some current and former employees characterize her as a leader who created a hostile environment during her time as executive director of the Santa Clara County Housing Authority. Some of the complaints about Harasz’s leadership are outlined in a 140-page document filed...
San Jose purchases land for new police academy
San Jose could soon get a new police training facility for an $18.5 million price tag. The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to purchase 4.7 acres of land with a 97,831 square foot warehouse. The property will become a police academy, which police officials say is needed to replace current smaller, subpar training...
Bay Area’s first bicycle superhighway to connect San Jose, Santa Clara
Continuous. Connected. Safe. And joyful. This is what the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority aims to achieve with its Central Bikeway project, a roughly 10-mile bicycle superhighway through San Jose and Santa Clara that would be the first of its kind in the Bay Area. “It will set a lot of precedents for hopefully future...
San Jose police department insider named top cop
San Jose officials on Tuesday announced their pick for the top police job—department insider Anthony Mata will be the city’s new police chief. Five of the candidates were either current or former officers with the SJPD, with four of them, including Mata, still with the department. Mata replaces former Police Chief Eddie Garcia, who retired...
San Jose City Council adds encampments, COVID recovery to its priority list
The San Jose City Council picked its new priorities Monday—deciding what topics to focus staff time on from many proposals delayed by the pandemic, including items to regulate the use of surveillance technologies to allowing marijuana dispensaries in retail centers. Two items rose to the top: implementing a plan to help deal with the city’s...
What Santa Clara County renters, landlords should know about evictions
Renters affected by the pandemic likely took a sigh of relief when, early this year, California lawmakers extended the statewide ban on evictions for those facing financial hardships until the end of June. The law also created a rental assistance program to help lift lower-income renters out of rental debt. The program started taking applications...
San Jose activists, councilmember push surveillance regulation
Like many parents of young children in this pandemic age, Ethan Gregory Dodge is at the mercy of technology when it comes to his daughter’s education—sometimes the connection will lag, sometimes homework isn’t entirely clear through a screen. But what Dodge hasn’t left to chance is how technology interacts with him and those around him...
Wage theft, hazardous conditions claimed at San Jose homeless site praised by Newsom, Liccardo
A homeless housing project praised by state and local leaders during the pandemic is the site of wage theft and hazardous conditions, according to interviews and documents obtained by San José Spotlight. “This was by far the worst I’ve ever seen in regards to violations from A to Z,” said Mauricio Velarde, director of compliance...
How progressive is Silicon Valley? The answer might surprise you
Among the seemingly solid-blue picture of the Bay Area, pockets of a more conservative population are growing. When former President Donald Trump first ran for office in 2016, roughly 20% of Santa Clara County residents, or 144,514 people, voted for him. As hundreds of thousands turned out to vote again last year amidst the rampant...