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...
San Jose airport grapples with fewer passengers
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...