As part of a slew of sweeping measures aimed at strengthening tenant protections, San Jose lawmakers on Tuesday voted 9 to 2 in favor of adopting a law that bars landlords from discriminating against renters with housing subsidies such as Section 8 vouchers. After more than three hours of back and forth deliberations, the City Council...
Audit: San Jose needs to strengthen reimbursement policy
San Jose misspent $24,000 in taxpayer funds by paying mileage costs of employees who were ineligible to receive such payouts because they violated a city policy, according to a critical new audit of the city’s reimbursement processes. The reimbursement audit of city employees’ expenses detailed major flaws in the city’s reimbursement process, which led to...
San Jose mayor proposes mandatory gun liability insurance
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo unveiled a gun safety proposal Monday that he knows won’t “suddenly end gun violence” — but will ensure the nation’s 10th largest city will stop paying for it. Liccardo is suggesting San Jose require gun owners in the city to carry mandatory liability insurance for weapons or pay an in-lieu...
San Jose: Internal complaints against police officers spiked
While citizen complaints against the San Jose Police Department steadily decreased for the last five years, the number of internal complaints increased and allegations tied to excessive use of force spiked by 39 percent, according to an annual report conducted by the city’s police auditor. On Tuesday, San Jose lawmakers will hear the findings of...
San Jose among five cities splitting $3.75M to combat car break-ins
Five Bay Area cities, including San Jose, will split $3.75 million from the state to increase coordination among law enforcement agencies tackling the escalating scourge of smash-and-grab car burglaries in the region. Leaders in the Fremont, Milpitas, Newark, Santa Clara and San Jose police departments say their cities have each seen a significant uptick in...
Santa Clara County residents prepare for all-mail election in 2020
Dozens of South Bay residents gathered at Rookies Sports Lodge this week to learn more about the sweeping changes to the Santa Clara County voting system ahead of the consequential 2020 elections. With prominent social issues like the housing crisis front and center, Mario Lopez, a civic engagement manager at Silicon Valley At Home, stressed...
Residents brace for 8×8’s move next to busy Campbell intersection
Campbell officials celebrated the day San Jose-based 8×8 announced it would become the city’s largest employer by moving its headquarters to a busy part of the small South Bay city in the new year. But rather than excitement, some residents or neighbors can only muster anxiety about the news of the move. The office it’s set...
Meet San Jose’s new City Hall watchdog
San Jose City Hall has a new watchdog and he vows to hold government officials accountable — including himself. The city auditor, one of the most important jobs at City Hall, was recently filled by a veteran of the department, Joe Rois, who joined the City Auditor’s office in 2008. Rois earned a couple of...
Youngest contender emerges in San Jose Council race
Marshall Woodmansee is expected to become the youngest candidate in the 2020 local elections after he filed papers on Wednesday to run for San Jose City Council. In an interview with San José Spotlight, Woodmansee said he wants to inspire the youth in his community to know they hold the power in deciding their future....
San Jose council approves more workforce protections, new billboards
San Jose lawmakers are cracking down on enforcing stricter workforce protections for construction workers almost two years after the shocking discovery of an unlicensed contractor harboring undocumented immigrants in slave-like conditions at the former Silvery Towers site. On Tuesday, the City Council passed a law that requires contractors to pay workers a prevailing wage while...