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Faced with the tough choice of building a giant fence to keep homeless people out of a public park, San Jose lawmakers took no action — despite an upcoming deadline to clear the encampment. The controversy centers around a 40-acre encampment at the Guadalupe River Park in downtown San Jose where nearly 200 homeless people...
What’s next for the controversial Thomas Fallon statue
The controversial Thomas Fallon statue is one step closer to removal. The city’s Arts Commission unanimously voted Monday night to recommend the City Council remove the sculpture from downtown—with an addendum. The addition allows the statue to be available to museums and places of higher education at the approval of the Public Art Committee, Arts...
San Jose could expand to 14 council districts
San Jose could expand to 14 council districts and change how councilmembers are elected. The San Jose Charter Review Commission voted Monday in favor of two recommendations: one that paves the way for four additional council districts and another to implement ranked-choice voting. Ten districts have anchored the city since it last expanded from seven...
‘A historic moment’: Santa Clara County unveils landmark Vietnamese service center
After nearly a decade of planning, the $33-million Vietnamese American Service Center near the heart of San Jose’s Little Saigon will welcome residents in for the first time Saturday. “This is such a huge moment for our community to get a service center that is dedicated to us, especially coming out of COVID,” Christina Johnson,...
Santa Clara County labor leaders demand apology from councilmember
Labor leaders demand a San Jose councilmember apologize for criticizing county officials who gave workers a COVID bonus. Silicon Valley Rising and members of several local unions gathered in front of City Hall on Monday and asked Councilmember Matt Mahan to retract statements he made last week about Santa Clara County workers getting hazard pay....
San Jose leaders eager to renew special downtown commercial district
A special district that provides extra cleaning and security to downtown San Jose property owners is up for renewal next year, and local stakeholders are eager to keep it running for another decade. San Jose’s downtown property-based improvement district (PBID) expires in December 2022, and the San Jose Downtown Association and local businesses are making...
Fed up with ‘serial’ ADA lawsuits, San Jose business owners seek legislative help
Cesar Pascal, owner of San Jose Mexican restaurant Plaza Garibaldi, got hit with a disability lawsuit six years ago. Attorney expenses piled up. Pascal says his landlord didn’t help with any of the bills. Pascal had to pay $17,000 to settle the lawsuit. “These attorneys group around our small businesses that know they can’t afford...
San Jose redistricting angers downtown residents
The redrawing of city lines has some residents in an affluent downtown neighborhood fired up. And the county’s redistricting process — happening simultaneously — is raising questions in a highly-contested supervisorial race. In the city’s process, a redistricting map being floated by the city’s consulting group would move residents from the historic Naglee Park neighborhood...
San Jose lawmaker who criticized county bonuses approved them for city employees
A San Jose councilmember who criticized county officials for awarding government workers COVID bonuses approved similar payments for city employees. The San Jose City Council earlier this summer approved a one-time pandemic bonus of $1,000 for each full-time employee in Unit 99—a category of city workers that includes department heads and senior staff, such as...
Two San Jose economies: Downtown tanked, Santana Row thrived
With a lack of tech workers and foot traffic, downtown San Jose became a ghost town during the pandemic, but five miles away high-end Santana Row flourished. These two destinations linked by San Carlos and Stevens Creek boulevards and Interstate 280 are worlds apart socioeconomically and the COVID-19 pandemic made that schism wider. Downtown was hit...