California is set to audit how San Jose spends its homeless funding, following a request from state Sen. Dave Cortese. The state’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee voted unanimously Wednesday to approve the audit proposed by Cortese last year. The California State Auditor will review the success rate of various state and local programs—including Project Homekey—in...
San Jose council meeting starts with drag performance
San Jose is sending a clear message it stands by the LGBTQ community as other parts of the country double down on outlawing drag shows. The San Jose City Council started its Tuesday meeting with a performance by local drag artist WooWoo Monroe—a first in city history. Councilmember Omar Torres invited Monroe to protest anti-drag legislation proposed in Republican-majority states...
San Jose desperately needs more crossing guards
Rain or shine, crossing guards guide students to class at the beginning and end of every school day. But a swath of San Jose districts are missing that familiar face. School districts across the city are struggling to hire crossing guards in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials and school leaders said the shortage...
San Jose adopts mayor’s budget plan amid calls for more funding
In his first major test as mayor, Matt Mahan won unanimous support for his budget plan — but not before his critics had their say. Mahan and the city council dug into his March budget message on Tuesday — a roadmap that will shape the city’s budget for the next fiscal year. The document is...
How San Jose could save $23 million
The city could save millions of dollars if a decade-long backlog of auditor recommendations is implemented, a recent analysis shows. The city auditor’s biannual report released this month found more than 180 recommendations have not been fully implemented over the past 10 years, which could save the city an estimated $23 million. Some of those...
Santa Clara County doctors celebrate new management
Santa Clara County will not renew a contract with an Ohio-based medical group overseeing emergency department doctors at Valley Medical Center in San Jose, one year after workers protested against the company. The county Board of Supervisors voted earlier this month to let the contract with US Acute Care Solutions (USACS) expire at the end of June....
15 women who broke barriers in Silicon Valley
San Jose was once known as the “feminist capital of the world”—paving the way for women to enter politics and hold other positions of power usually reserved for men. And while the region still struggles to ensure equity for women, especially in tech, women have shaped San Jose’s rich history and continue to do so...
Will San Jose greenlight new affordable housing policy?
An affordable housing proposal that would enable community groups to buy multi-family homes could finally make it back to the San Jose City Council next month. The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, or COPA, would give qualified nonprofits the ability to make the first offer on multi-family residential properties in San Jose. These nonprofits would then...
East San Jose lake restoration loses funding
Things got heated at Tuesday’s San Jose City Council meeting when councilmembers reversed a prior decision to use more than $3 million of Measure T funds for the restoration of Lake Cunningham in East San Jose. This week, councilmembers voted 8-3 to divert the remaining $3.2 million in funds from the environmental protection budget into...
Petition demands San Jose school district support LGBTQ students
A community petition calling on Santa Clara County’s largest school district to support LGBTQ students has garnered hundreds of signatures. Eli Dinh, a part-time art teacher and parent at the district who is transgender, started the petition to protect LGBTQ students at San Jose Unifed School District. More than 250 signatures have been collected demanding...