San Jose officials have implemented a hiring freeze and are reviewing funding cuts across departments to soften the blow of a larger than anticipated budget shortfall. The San Jose City Council will discuss the 2024-25 mid-year budget Tuesday, after receiving a memo from City Budget Director Jim Shannon advising officials to rebalance the budget as sales...
San Jose
San Jose
San Jose funds program to boost day care capacity
As the need for child care centers in San Jose grows, a new city partnership may help boost day care slots. To alleviate some ongoing challenges with day cares staying afloat, San Jose gave $1 million to Upwards to help child care centers streamline their operations and be more efficient. Its Boost program will provide...
San Jose mayor sees ADUs as housing crisis quick fix
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said the Los Angeles wildfires created a rare opportunity for the state to build tens of thousands of new homes for displaced residents while simultaneously tackling the housing crisis. Mahan made his proposal to the state housing and community development department in an opinion piece published last week where he advocated...
San Jose wants to retrieve thousands of abandoned shopping carts
San Jose wants to “piggyback” off a partnership with Milpitas and a private company to tackle thousands of abandoned shopping carts. The San Jose City Council voted 10-1, with Councilmember Pamela Campos voting no, to find an abandoned shopping cart retrieval service to recover about 2,000 carts citywide per year. Not only would a private company potentially help...
San Jose State could help manage Google journalism investment
A coalition of California colleges including San Jose State University could manage a landmark investment by Google and the state to fund local newsrooms. The director of San Jose State’s journalism school signed onto an informal proposal submitted last month by department leaders across several other CSU campuses. The idea could place the Cal State...
Another San Jose district plans to close schools
Another San Jose school district is set to close several campuses due to an extensive budget deficit. A consolidation advisory committee in the Franklin-McKinley School District is recommending closing three of the district’s 16 schools because of declining student enrollment, the depletion of one-time COVID funding and an almost $23 million budget shortfall. The schools...
Meet the candidates running for District 3 San Jose City Council
San Jose voters living downtown will decide in April who they want to represent them on the City Council for the next two years. Seven candidates are running for the District 3 seat, including San Jose Planning Commission Chair Anthony Tordillos, Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley Executive Director Gabby Chavez-Lopez, mayoral staffer Matthew Quevedo, pro...
San Jose police to retest hundreds of rape kits
The San Jose Police Department is hoping to generate new leads in sexual assault cold cases by resubmitting hundreds of rape kits for testing. The department has approximately 900 partially-tested rape kits from victims used to obtain DNA evidence to identity suspects. These kits have been previously tested under an outdated system. To get more...
San Jose council appointment helps mayor’s agenda
The mayor of the Bay Area’s largest city may have scored a limited window to push through his agenda with the temporary appointment of District 3 Councilmember Carl Salas. Salas — San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s pick during last month’s appointment process — potentially secures the business-backed mayor a six-vote majority amid the City Council’s...
Silicon Valley officials limit public expression
Audiences at Silicon Valley government meetings are running into an increasingly common rule: no applause. Local governing bodies like the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and San Jose City Council are telling people to avoid cheering or booing other speakers during public comments before major votes. The rule comes up when large crowds show up to...