In an effort to fill hundreds of job vacancies at San Jose City Hall, city employees will soon see a threefold boost in their job referral bonuses. Elected leaders last week unanimously increased the city’s hiring referral bonus from $500 to $1,500. The increase will be in effect from Feb. 20 to June 30. The...
San Jose mall workers say new parking fees are wage theft
“Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Parking fees have got to go,” chanted workers protesting in front of the Westfield Valley Fair mall on Sunday. Employees of Westfield Valley Fair are fighting over newly-enacted parking fees at the high-end retail center announced by mall management in January. Employees are forced to pay $3 per day or $40...
Misleading notice scares San Jose homeless residents, may skew headcount
Homeless advocates worry that a misleading cleanup notice has prompted homeless residents along Guadalupe River to leave their camps—days ahead of an important census count. On early Friday morning, San Jose officials and contractors pulled up in trucks at the sprawling encampment along the Guadalupe River Creek near Columbus Park to haul away trash, tents...
Former San Jose sports reporter fights restraining order in court
A San Jose court is considering whether to impose a restraining order against a former Mercury News reporter, following two days of testimony about an incident that happened last summer. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Carol Overton heard closing arguments on Friday for a restraining order hearing against former sports reporter Paul Gackle requested by the...
San Jose could toss its COVID vaccine mandate
A new proposal to switch from a COVID-19 booster vaccine mandate to a testing requirement is making its way through San Jose. The discussion was poised to happen during Wednesday’s Rules committee meeting. It moved to closed session after guidance from City Attorney Nora Frimann, who said personnel issues should be discussed in private. The...
San Jose council review: Billboards, cannabis
Pot dispensaries expand. Digital billboards are approved. The new mayor’s term could be shorter and then extended. Here’s what went down at the Feb. 15 San Jose City Council meeting. Mayoral election ballot measure San Jose voters will soon decide if mayoral elections should take place in presidential election years. The City Council voted 10-1 to...
‘They’re everywhere’: Rats plague San Jose’s largest homeless camp
At the epicenter of a humanitarian crisis in San Jose where hundreds of people sleep outdoors, another crisis is festering: rats. “They’re everywhere,” Luke Eblieg, an unhoused person living at the sprawling encampment near Columbus Park, told San José Spotlight. “And they are nothing like I have ever seen.” Brown rats are chewing through electrical wires...
San Jose voters to decide on moving mayoral elections
San Jose voters will soon be tasked with deciding if mayoral elections should take place in presidential election years. On Tuesday, the City Council voted 10-1 to put the decision before voters for the June 7 primary election. If the measure passes with a simple majority, it will shift the timing of the next mayoral...
More billboards proposed near San Jose airport
As San Jose leaders consider allowing two digital billboards to be built at the airport, three more may be quietly coming to the city. Documents obtained by San José Spotlight show the city signed a notice of intent for billboards at Highway 87 and West Mission Street, as well as 1404 Mabury Road and another at...
Food truck brings hot meals, essentials to San Jose homeless
In an effort to serve more unhoused people, one nonprofit sends a food truck out to encampments to meet people where they are. Dubbed “Hope on Wheels,” the food truck visits at least three encampments every week to bring hot meals and essential supplies such as jackets, tarps and hand sanitizer to unhoused people across the South...