Dozens arrived early and waited patiently to shake his hand. The room was thick with excitement, as the crowd gathered in a small, packed auditorium Friday night at a town hall in Alviso to hear Rep. Ro Khanna, the second-term Democrat from Silicon Valley, give his monthly address to voters. The congressman was met with...
San Jose lawmakers fundraised nearly $3.7M last year. Here’s where it went.
Contact Grace Hase at [email protected] or follow @grace_hase on Twitter.
San Jose: Lawmaker calls for public discussion about displacement
San Jose officials spent nearly a year studying displacement with a national research institute and now one lawmaker is ready to make the findings public. East San Jose Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco on Wednesday asked her colleagues to schedule a study session in late August on the topic. The city is expected to unveil a citywide...
San Jose committee pushes to designate murals as historic landmarks
Decades old art can be painted over in a matter of hours. This is what an emergency committee, assembled after the covering of the historic “Mural de la Raza” in East San Jose last year, is trying to avoid. Neighbors were outraged after the beloved mural on Story Road, which was more than three decades old,...
San Jose: Audit highlights need for gang task force improvements
A recent city audit suggests that San Jose Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force — a city-wide coalition aimed at addressing gangs and gang-related crime — is failing to meet expectations and could use some improvements. Formed in 1991, the task force is run by the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services and works with...
San Jose: Law enforcement leaders denounce ICE policy
Law enforcement officials condemned the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in a news conference Wednesday, following a vote Tuesday to not allow local authorities to notify ICE when detainees are released. The unanimous decision sparked outrage amongst police officers, who have been advocating for a change in policy for years. “We cannot protect our...
In split vote, San Jose lawmakers decide to study potential 2020 tax measure
Despite warnings from Councilmembers Johnny Khamis and Sergio Jimenez that San Jose residents are becoming overtaxed, a split City Council on Tuesday decided to move forward with researching a 2020 ballot measure to help build affordable housing and shelter the city’s homeless. Last month, San Jose administrators studied three potential tax measures – two of them were...
Santa Clara County lawmakers make no changes to ICE detainer policy
A nail-biting 56 days have passed since the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted to explore changes to the county’s sanctuary city policy, but on Tuesday it voted unanimously against a notification policy preventing law enforcement from cooperating with ICE officials. Emotions ran high among the public at April’s grueling and nearly eight-hour long meeting...
San Jose mayor focuses on equity and blight in budget message
As San Jose lawmakers prepare to approve next year’s budget, Mayor Sam Liccardo announced in his budget message Monday that he wants to distribute public dollars equitably – focusing limited funding and resources on areas with the greatest needs. “All of us should agree that across several city program areas, high-poverty neighborhoods need greater resources,” Liccardo wrote. “In some...
A day after Virginia Beach shooting, Bernie Sanders pushes gun control in San Jose stop
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democrat from Vermont and a 2020 presidential candidate, talked health care, prison reform, free college and unseating President Donald Trump during a campaign stop in downtown San Jose on Saturday. “The message of our campaign is us, not me,” Sanders told a crowd of several hundred supporters at San Jose’s Arena...