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After being kicked out of their homes by San Jose, a group of tenants is receiving relocation payments from their former landlord, as well as temporary housing from the county. The owners of a cluster of un-permitted mobile homes near Spina Farms in South San Jose paid $30,000 to two households made homeless on July 15 after San...
Will San Jose’s Vietnamese Heritage Garden ever blossom?
When a group of Vietnamese leaders came up with the idea of a heritage garden almost 40 years ago, the vision was grand. The Viet Heritage Garden in San Jose was supposed to be a cultural oasis featuring mini-replicas of different historical Vietnamese landmarks, a reflection pond and a pathway to a community center. Today, the garden...
Can San Jose’s segregated housing be fixed?
Housing in San Jose is racially segregated, and it’s not going to be easy figuring out how to integrate it. “The challenge is how do we integrate these spaces, and not whether or not they should be integrated,” said Mathew Reed, policy manager at housing advocacy nonprofit [email protected] “We have a moral foundation and a...
Powerful developers, lobbyist helped hire San Jose planning director
San Jose’s new planning director was chosen by powerful developers and lobbyists—many of whom have projects pending at City Hall. San José Spotlight has learned that developers, real estate companies and land use lobbyists comprised a large portion of a committee that interviewed and recommended hiring Chris Burton, the city’s new planning director. The interviews took...
San Jose neighborhood bus stops struggle with upkeep
Spartan-Keyes neighborhood resident Aurelia Sanchez won San Jose’s Litter Volunteer of the Year award in 2012. But despite her best efforts, Sanchez says the neighborhood’s litter has only gotten worse. The latest complaint among locals is dirty bus stops. “As a longtime park volunteer and litter volunteer, it’s overwhelming, it’s very discouraging,” Sanchez told San...
San Jose mayor uses private email to skirt public records law
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo appears to have skirted public records laws by directing a resident to contact him on his private Gmail and deleting their correspondence from his public government account. The email thread, obtained by San José Spotlight, shows the mayor promising to delete the conversation from his official email. None of the messages in question—which...
San Jose fire captain looks to unseat progressive councilmember
San Jose firefighter Bien Doan says his 21 years as a firefighter taught him to never back down from a challenge. Now he’s embarking on his biggest one: knocking Councilmember Maya Esparza off her council seat. Doan, a captain with the department, confirmed he will challenge District 7 incumbent Esparza, who is up for re-election...
San Jose airport receives more federal funding for COVID-19 recovery
After facing one of the highest drops in passenger traffic in the country, San Jose’s airport is getting a big break — nearly $55.5 million from the federal government to help it recover from COVID-19. The grant funding, which comes from the American Rescue Plan, was announced by Silicon Valley Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren. “For more than a...
‘In love with San Jose’: Gary Dillabough’s vision for revitalizing downtown
Baltimore-born venture capitalist Gary Dillabough wasn’t always involved in development—like many people in Silicon Valley, he worked in the tech industry. “I was getting ready to leave (eBay) around six or seven years ago and my boss said, ‘Hey, listen. I know you care about the environment, I know you care about construction and real...
San Jose’s urban forest plan baffles, angers stakeholders
An ambitious plan laying out the future of San Jose’s urban forest is riddled with errors, omissions and a lack of vision, according to stakeholders who say they were left out of the process. In March, the city published a draft of its community forest management plan. The document, which reflects two years of work...