A nonprofit group dedicated to securing land for affordable housing is asking the Santa Clara Valley Water District to donate some of its public land for low-income housing — beginning with San Jose’s Mayfair district. The South Bay Community Land Trust, the region’s first land trust for affordable housing, launched in late April and its leaders...
Santa Clara receives $6.2M from San Jose following bitter lawsuit
Santa Clara officials are deciding how the city will spend $5 million earmarked for affordable housing that the city has received from San Jose this week as part of a lawsuit settled last year. Though the money will go toward affordable housing, the city hasn’t yet identified specific projects or initiatives for the funds. San...
Remember the Sonic Runway at San Jose City Hall? It could be coming back.
For nearly four months, more than a million people flocked to San Jose City Hall to catch a glimpse of the jaw-dropping “Sonic Runway,” a light-art installation that converted music into light patterns on 25 giant arches that stretched an entire city block. The art installation was so wildly popular that city leaders are now...
Mayor Sam Liccardo unblocks hundreds on social media after Trump ruling
A federal appeals court upheld a ruling last month that President Donald Trump violated the First Amendment by blocking critics on Twitter — prompting San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo to begin reinstating hundreds of social media users he’s blocked on Twitter and Facebook, a move that one good government advocate said is “better late than...
San Jose council to mull workforce standards and new billboards
After a month-long summer recess, San Jose lawmakers on Tuesday will discuss initiatives that strengthen a recently-approved wage law for workers on projects that receive tax breaks and a plan to place two new billboards on city property. Headlining next week’s City Council meeting is a proposal that adds protections for construction workers on city-subsidized...
San Jose police union cancels gun raffle after Gilroy shooting
After several years of raising money by raffling firearms, San Jose’s police union leaders have decided to cancel the raffle indefinitely in the wake of a mass shooting in Gilroy last weekend that killed three people and injured more than a dozen others. “This was planned well in advance of the tragedy in Gilroy,” said...
Santa Clara County supervisorial candidates release fundraising hauls
The newly-released fundraising totals in the Santa Clara County supervisor’s race show a few unexpected front-runners as the candidates bolster their war chests. Five candidates are vying to replace Supervisor Dave Cortese and represent a district that spans San Jose, Alviso, Sunnyvale and Milpitas. According to the latest county finance reports, former Sunnyvale Councilmember Otto...
San Jose, nonprofits wait for ruling on Google negotiations lawsuit
San Jose officials and two groups suing the city over an alleged lack of transparency in its negotiations with Google for a massive new downtown campus presented their cases to a Santa Clara Superior Court judge on Thursday morning. Now they’re all waiting to see what she’ll decide. “The decision could come tomorrow or two...
Republican businesswoman enters San Jose council race
The fight for San Jose’s District 10 City Council seat — being vacated by outgoing Councilmember Johnny Khamis — just got a little more crowded. Helen Wang, a longtime business owner and registered nurse, told San José Spotlight she’s running for the Almaden Valley seat to “protect and enhance” the district’s safety, public services and...
San Jose measure to shift mayoral elections moves forward
Top labor leaders from the South Bay gathered in front of San Jose City Hall Wednesday morning to push support for a proposal they say will put a cap on money in local politics and boost voter turnout by shifting mayoral elections to presidential election years. Leaders are racing to enact the sweeping reform called...