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In one of his first major decisions in office, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan picked a newcomer as his vice mayor, a position that often signals an ally. But when he needed the votes, she went against him. During two crucial votes this week to fill the empty San Jose City Council seats in Districts 8 and...
State housing law fizzles in San Jose
One year after a state law aimed at increasing housing supply went into effect, the destruction of single-family neighborhood character that many of the bill’s opponents raised alarms about has not yet come to pass. Senate Bill 9 effectively ended exclusionary single-family zoning statewide, allowing homeowners in some long unchanged neighborhoods to subdivide their lots...
UPDATE: Arjun Batra wins last seat on San Jose City Council
A retired tech worker is San Jose’s newest councilmember in District 10 – filling the final vacancy on the dais. The San Jose City Council on Thursday voted to appoint Arjun Batra to the open seat after he earned six votes in a multi-round voting process. Batra has worked in leadership roles at IBM and...
Audit shows sloppy San Jose gun shop inspections
San Jose police are not inspecting gun shops properly, with officers failing to conduct surprise inspections, missing paperwork and leaving reviews incomplete. That’s according to a recent city audit showing inconsistencies in police inspections at three of San Jose’s nine gun shops to ensure compliance with local laws. The three shops are unnamed in the report. Auditors found...
San Jose mayor supports public records reform
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan agrees with his predecessor that some public records requests burden the city, but says City Hall shouldn’t limit what journalists ask for. The newly-elected mayor also wants to make technology part of the solution to reduce the workload and costs of providing records. San Jose is in the process of...
UPDATE: Domingo Candelas is San Jose’s newest councilmember
From five down to one: After a nine-hour marathon council meeting, San Jose has a new councilmember in District 8: Domingo Candelas. “I am feeling very emotional,” Candelas told San José Spotlight moments after winning the appointment. “Meeting with the community, setting up an office and making sure that we’re diverse, that we’re engaging, we’re...
Will San Jose’s homeless count be higher than last year?
Hundreds of volunteers are searching San Jose streets to get an updated count of its homeless population. Across Santa Clara County, roughly 300 volunteers, elected officials and unhoused people ventured out in 30-degree weather Tuesday morning to scour under bridges, along creeks and outside businesses to tally up homeless people living in the region. The...
Silicon Valley’s outdoor dining an obstacle for disabled community
For lifelong San Jose resident Michelle Mashburn, there are parts of the city where she can never go. That includes streets like San Pedro Square or Lincoln Avenue in Willow Glen, where sidewalks and parking spots have been converted for outdoor dining which isn’t wheelchair friendly. “I just avoid it altogether,” Mashburn told San José...
San Jose commuters losing time in traffic
San Jose commuters spend roughly three days a year sitting in rush-hour traffic, and local advocates worry it will get worse. Residents are seeing their daily trips between work and home extended by more than 17 minutes each day because of rush-hour traffic—nearly 7 minutes in the morning and more than 10 in the evening. That translates to an...
San Jose school districts need to foster parent involvement
San Jose school districts should encourage more parents to attend board meetings and become involved in the work they do, community advocates said. School board members are responsible for hundreds of thousands of students across Santa Clara County school districts. They’re in charge of allocating millions in funding, from federal stimulus monies to bond measure...