Five months ago at the height of Black Lives Matter protests, San Jose leaders created a racial equity office, a proposal that was shot down just two years earlier. Some critics, including civil rights leaders from Silicon Valley De-Bug, said lawmakers created the office to pacify protesters demanding the city defund the police. They said...
Santa Clara County moves forward with job cuts in face of deficit
Despite calls from county employees and labor advocates to reconsider, Santa Clara County continued on its path to lay off employees in anticipation of balancing its 2021-22 budget. In a 3-2 vote Nov. 20, the Board of Supervisors pushed through the elimination of 170 county positions. Supervisors Cindy Chavez and Dave Cortese cast the dissenting...
San Jose talks campaign finance after dramatic and costly election
As San Jose winds down from a feisty and expensive election season, Councilmember Sergio Jimenez asked lawmakers to rethink campaign finance regulations to help restore public trust in local government. “We’ve seen an astonishing amount of money spent on negative, divisive and often — as we all recall — misleading or outright false advertisements,” Jimenez...
Silicon Valley Turkey Trot goes virtual for 16th annual race
Thanksgiving Day in Silicon Valley means more than family dinners, touch football and volunteering. For the past 15 years, families across the Bay Area have flocked to downtown San Jose to participate in the Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot. This year, the race is taking another page from 2020: it’s going virtual. Since its...
Watch: A live chat with VTA General Manager Nuria Fernandez
The need for reliable public transportation has never been greater, especially amid the pandemic. Valley Transportation Authority, the South Bay’s largest transit agency, is on the edge of transformation with several critical projects — such as BART to San Jose and a light rail extension to Eastridge — while grappling with unprecedented budget challenges. What...
Reform at Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office moving slowly, report finds
Just two weeks after the Board of Supervisors moved toward issuing subpoenas for Sheriff’s Office records, a report shows more obstacles may be in the way to achieve law enforcement reform in Santa Clara County. OIR Group, a consulting firm that provides independent review of law enforcement practices, offered 10 recommendations in August for the...
South Bay Latinx community starts push for immigration reform in Biden administration
While President-elect Joe Biden plans how to meet the challenges facing the nation, San Jose’s Latinx community is creating a strategy for immigration reform. The Si Se Puede Collective will be asking local officials to sign a list of demands, which include a pathway to citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, ending...
San Jose starts talks on police misconduct under Measure G
Now that voters overwhelmingly passed Measure G to expand the authority of the independent police auditor, city leaders are charging forward with plans to take police misconduct investigations out of the hands of the San Jose Police Department and ensure officers are fired or disciplined following abuses of power. The city’s Rules and Open Government...
Santa Clara County eyeing more job cuts to balance next year’s budget
Santa Clara County supervisors are set to approve more layoffs across county government to prepare their 2021-22 budget for shortfalls due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Supervisors on Nov. 18 discussed eliminating about 170 county jobs. They will cast a final vote Nov. 20 on the layoffs, which are part of a broader plan to...
San Jose hospital pleads for donations to help with COVID-19 surge
As COVID-19 cases continue to climb in the South Bay, hospitals are struggling to keep up with the demand for resources. San Jose-based Valley Medical Center Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center hospital system, is pleading with charities across the valley for donations to help deal with the pandemic. Foundation...