The San Francisco 49ers have now poured millions more into a campaign to unseat Mayor Lisa Gillmor’s allies on the Santa Clara City Council — drawing the ire of the city’s police union. The NFL team initially invested $250,000 into a PAC to help elect Anthony Becker, Suds Jain, Harbir Bhatia and Kevin Park. The...
Kevin Park pushes for more collaboration on the Santa Clara council
Santa Clara City Council hopeful Kevin Park hopes to improve collaboration in the Mission City — rather than take the limelight. Park compared his mindset to that of Los Angeles Lakers guard Alex Caruso, his favorite player on his hometown basketball team. “(Caruso’s) the engineer on the team. He’s not there to make the spotlight plays,”...
Santa Clara lawmaker calls herself environmental candidate but owns lucrative oil and coal stock
Teresa O’Neill has touted herself the environmental candidate for Santa Clara City Council but a review by this news organization found the councilmember owns up to $1.02 million in stocks in oil and coal-mining companies, according to her recent Form 700 disclosures. On her ballot statement and in various interviews, O’Neill has cited fighting climate...
Residents tell San Jose what they want in new police chief as search begins
In its quest to hire its next police chief, San Jose hosted its first virtual community meeting to see what residents are looking for. After months of heated debate surrounding police reform at city council, residents came to the Oct. 21 meeting with a unified message: San Jose needs a police chief who will engage...
San Jose asks voters if card room measure is worth the gamble
San Jose is betting on Measure H to boost its coffers by millions. Measure H would increase the gross revenue tax for Bay 101 Casino and Casino M8trix to 16.5 percent from 15 percent. Officials say the ballot measure is a byproduct of legal battles between the city and Bay 101, and San Jose recently approved...
Alum Rock Union School District candidates face off in new forum
East San Jose parents on Tuesday heard from three candidates vying for two seats on the Alum Rock Union School District. The half-hour long virtual forum, hosted by neighborhood group District 5 United, came three days after another Alum Rock candidate forum hosted by SOMOS Mayfair was canceled because only one candidate — Corina Herrera-Loera...
Santa Clara County scraps new jail plans for mental health facility
After pushing for construction of a new county jail in downtown San Jose for years, Santa Clara County supervisors are now putting the project on hold and proposing a mental health facility instead. When 2020 began, the tumultuous year became an unintended pilot program in reduced incarceration in the county. With a third of the...
Balance of power on San Jose council hangs on November election
San Jose voters face a critical decision this election: vote in the new progressive candidates promising to shake the status quo on the City Council, or maintain the current leadership which has faced a number of split votes between business versus labor interests. Over the past four years, the council has voted 6-5 on many...
UPDATE: San Jose approves plan to keep homeless sheltered through winter and beyond
More than 200 San Jose residents seeking shelter this winter will be guaranteed meals and a place to rest following a decision by city leaders to keep emergency shelters up and running. The San Jose City Council is also looking beyond temporary solutions and unanimously voted Oct. 20 to purchase a 72-unit hotel to use...
UPDATE: Supervisors approve $1 million to review sex discrimination policies at county schools
After emotional and contentious debate about federal changes to campus sex discrimination laws, supervisors agreed to spend up to $1 million to study the issue in Santa Clara County schools. The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Oct. 20 to begin the process of reviewing county compliance with Title IX and other laws regarding sexual harassment...