While industries across Silicon Valley are slowly recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline industry is having a tougher time. Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport saw a 53% drop in passengers in early April of this year compared to before the pandemic. Nearby San Francisco International Airport saw a 60% drop in passengers during the...
How much do Silicon Valley nonprofits pay their executives?
In Silicon Valley, leading a nonprofit fighting for a noble cause can be a profitable business. Many of these organizations receive millions of dollars in public funding to solve homelessness, feed the needy, build shelters, help troubled youth and alleviate other social problems. Earlier this year, San Jose authorized $11.3 million to pay for homeless...
San Jose unites to support undocumented immigrants, workers
At San Jose’s May Day march on Saturday — organized in tandem with Papeles Para Todos, a campaign to secure rights for the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants — one message resounded above all: unity. “Everybody comes here for the opportunity for a better life,” said Mauricio Carrera, who attended the downtown rally. “Unless you’re indigenous...
San Jose Legends: Norm Mineta—from council to cabinet
Editor’s Note: San Jose Legends is a new series that tells remarkable stories of the historic and legendary people who helped shape and transform our city. The morning after Norm Mineta broke barriers by becoming San Jose’s first Asian-American mayor, he woke up to a racist message sprawled on the garage door of his Japantown...
Neglected downtown San Jose to get greener
San Jose is looking to fill empty downtown lots with three new parks in an effort to revitalize a long-neglected part of the city. City officials proposed two new parks Tuesday, tentatively called Basset Park and North San Pedro Park. Both are approximately two blocks away from San Pedro Square centered around North San Pedro and...
The Podlight: San Jose’s Google campus clears major milestone
The Podlight is a podcast collaboration by San José Spotlight and Silicon Valley Synergy. The Podlight features a weekly look at the top headlines and in-depth conversations with San José Spotlight reporters about South Bay policy, politics and government, delving into critical issues such as housing, technology, business, homelessness, land use and development. In this...
San Jose RV dwellers fear displacement
As county leaders push plans to revitalize the barren Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, dozens of RV dwellers could soon be pushed out. Tenant Pam Eisenbarth said staff from the nonprofit running the RV park, Fairgrounds Management Corporation, told her and husband Joe Rodriguez in December 2019 that the park would soon close. The corporation was...
San Francisco 49ers won’t meet with city official after ‘tirade’ and threats
The San Francisco 49ers are refusing to meet with Santa Clara’s city attorney after his “wild” tirade during a recent meeting. The tense exchange—which unfolded over a recent Zoom call—ended with Santa Clara City Attorney Brian Doyle saying the team wanted him to “sleep with the fishes” and questioning the “thugs” team officials work for....
Can San Jose reduce its pension debt by issuing bonds?
As San Jose prepares its annual budget proposal, one factor looms larger than any other: Pensions. As of June 30, San Jose had $3.5 billion in unfunded liability—pension debt owed to city retirees that’s not covered by the return on investments made by the city’s two retirement plans. The city’s retirement plan for police and firefighters...
Silicon Valley trans community faces workplace discrimination, harassment
As the LGBTQ community mourns the murder of Natalia Smüt and pushes back on violence, some say transgender people face a more subtle form of violence and hostility—workplace discrimination. Roxanne built a decades-long career as an attorney and judge, then she went public with her identity as a transgender woman. “I haven’t even been able to...