Ten days into fighting the SCU Lightning Complex fires east of San Jose, the “arrows are going in the right direction,” but there’s still months left to go before the fires are fully quelled. The most recent public safety Q&A with San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Fire Department Chief Robert Sapien and Deputy City Manager...
More than 6,000 people last year were homeless in San Jose — a number that keeps rising amid the coronavirus outbreak— prompting city leaders to set a goal of housing 20,000 people and doubling the number of shelter beds within the next five years. The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Aug. 25 to endorse...
At the height of Black Lives Matter protests this spring, Breanna Contreras was marching among the crowds in downtown San Jose when chaos suddenly broke out. People scattered and started running past her in the opposite direction, many with eyes streaming from tear gas. A moment later, Contreras heard “Pop! Pop! Pop!” and felt something...
The San Jose City Council unanimously endorsed California Proposition 16, the divisive ballot measure that would repeal the state’s 24-year prohibition on race- and gender-based affirmative action. Assuming voters approve it in November, supporters on the City Council say Prop. 16 will allow the city to “revitalize” its affirmative action programs from the 1990s. “Eliminating...
As the county’s shelter-in-place order shuttering the local economy puts more residents at risk of losing their homes, San Jose leaders voted unanimously to extend the city’s eviction to Oct. 17. The moratorium now coincides with the local emergency declaration, also set to end Oct. 17. Still, the debate about how to balance challenges faced...
Driverless vehicles zooming through underground tunnels and electric mini trains could be in San Jose’s future. City leaders voted unanimously on Aug. 25 to advance projects connecting Diridon Station, Stevens Creek Corridor and the Mineta San Jose International Airport. Councilmember Maya Esparza was absent. Many of the proposals — including one from Elon Musk’s The...
Residents near the outskirts of San Jose are advised to pack their bags as wildfires sparked by last weekend’s lightning storm continue to surround the valley. But while evacuation orders are still east of city limits, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo announced Aug. 23 more than a dozen local hotels are offering discounted “San Jose...
After celebrating a recent retirement and two decades of service to San Jose, former City Attorney Rick Doyle died Aug. 23 at age 65 from cancer. “San Jose has lost one of its greatest champions in Rick Doyle,” Mayor Sam Liccardo said. “Rick made a career out of fighting for our city, but through the...
When Uber and Lyft threatened this week to stop operating in California over a state law to reclassify gig workers, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo joined ranks with a Republican counterpart to take a stand. Liccardo said he entered the debate because departure of the ride-sharing giants in the state would hurt workers even more during the present...
San Jose took the first step to approve “opportunity housing,” an initiative to increase housing density in single-family neighborhoods — and it could be enacted citywide. “We are voting to explore a process,” said task force member Juan Estrada, who called the motion that was voted on hours later. “We can do better to undo...
