Sharon Erickson, the city leader tasked with keeping local government honest through independent audits, announced she’s retiring next month. Erickson served as the city auditor for more than a decade, probing into controversial topics such as the city’s billing systems, lack of oversight in environmental services, rent control, taxi regulations and towing services. Her office...

A divided San Jose City Council voted Tuesday to study the effects of a law that’s designed to maintain rent-controlled units if a landlord closes down a property and redevelops it. City elected leaders received an update on San Jose’s Rent Stabilization Program, which enforces and implements rent control policies and tenant protections, among other...

Mayor Sam Liccardo’s top spokesman is leaving City Hall after nearly four years on the job to work at the nonprofit Destination: Home. “I’d like to thank each and every one of you for your partnership, support and friendship during my time here at City Hall,” Low said in an email to his colleagues Monday....

At the beginning of the year, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo called housing one of the most “daunting” challenges facing the city. On Tuesday, Liccardo and his council colleagues will tackle the crisis once again as they review a host of affordable housing projects. If the lengthy list is approved, San Jose could add hundreds of new...

Prosecutors declined to file criminal charges against eight people jailed in December for chaining themselves to chairs to protest Google’s expansion into San Jose. The news comes days before the group planned a protest to urge the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office not to pursue charges against them. District Attorney Jeff Rosen said Friday that...

Some Bay Area federal workers say they won’t get a penny of back pay after being forced off the job during the longest government shutdown in history. “It’s a big impact on us, I was delayed on my rent. I asked my landlord to just give me a delay,” said Angelina Mariano, one of 43...

San Jose lawmakers on Wednesday stopped a discussion on wage theft protections for construction workers because of a violation of the state’s open-meeting law. The Brown Act prohibits a majority of any legislative body to discuss public business privately. For San Jose’s 11-member City Council, six or more members cannot talk about city business behind...

San Jose’s campaign watchdog commission is at serious risk of dissolving after city leaders say no one has applied to fill four vacancies on the panel. The city is scrambling to find commissioners in the next few weeks or be forced to turn over local election law enforcement to the state FPPC, which means no...

The San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services department on Monday launched the first of two public hearings on the city’s Police Activities League, which has long been a bridge between local communities and their police officers but recently struggled with serious mismanagement and financial problems. Since 1968, San Jose police officers and kids in...