For the fourth year in a row, less than half of San Jose residents surveyed by the city would rate their quality of life positively or recommend San Jose as a place to live, according to the 2019 National Community Survey. The new report found only 44 percent of those surveyed would recommend San Jose...
San Jose City Council candidate involved in a fatal collision
San Jose City Council candidate Jenny Higgins Bradanini revealed late Wednesday night that she was involved in a collision that killed a 66-year-old man. “Monday morning in Los Gatos, I was involved in a tragic car accident that resulted in a fatality of a man,” Higgins Bradanini wrote in the email. “I am heartbroken and...
UPDATE: San Jose approves purchase of affordable Curtner Studio Apartments
The San Jose City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the purchase of an apartment complex to convert it to a 100 percent supportive housing development at its last meeting of the year, securing nearly $15 million in funds for the project from Santa Clara County. Mayor Sam Liccardo was absent from Tuesday’s meeting. The councilmembers...
By discussing past, San Jose officials aim to temper racial bias in future
With an eye toward building a more equitable San Jose, the City Council last week re-examined San Jose’s history and discussed racial inequities that have kept hundreds of immigrants — predominantly of Mexican descent — from keeping up economically with white residents. A panel of three top experts on race and equity — Stephen Pitti,...
2019 was the year of housing in San Jose
If the San Jose City Council’s policy work this past year could be summarized in one word it would be housing. In 2019, San Jose passed a slew of housing initiatives meant to increase the city’s housing supply, while also tweaking crucial rent control and tenant protections, which housing officials enforce and implement through the city’s Rent...
San Jose earned perfect score for LGBTQ equality, despite some shortcomings
For the fifth year in a row, the Human Rights Campaign gave San Jose a perfect score for equality in services, laws and protection for its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer residents. The eighth annual Municipal Equality Index researched 49 criteria for local communities, including hot-button issues such as actions against conversion therapy and...
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo raises eyebrows with Mike Bloomberg endorsement
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s announcement Tuesday that he’s endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg, just one week after his last pick, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., dropped out of the race is raising eyebrows from critics. Some are questioning the Silicon Valley mayor for backing a billionaire after Harris dropped out because she didn’t have enough capital...
UPDATE: Lawmakers approve San Jose mayor’s spending plan for proposed tax
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s support for a real property transfer tax has been gaining more traction, as several community leaders, housing advocates and formerly homeless people lined up to speak next to the mayor at a news conference Tuesday to support using the funds generated from the tax toward affordable housing projects and homeless...
San Jose lawmakers to discuss transforming BART stations into transit communities
The Valley Transportation Authority has spent years developing a plan to create new, vibrant communities around transit hubs, especially at a time when BART is expanding its reach in Silicon Valley. On Tuesday, the San Jose City Council will hear a report highlighting VTA’s major goals for Phase II of BART’s Silicon Valley expansion project, just...
San Jose leaders consider backing mayor’s plan for PG&E ratepayer takeover
With growing support from a host of 114 elected leaders in 58 cities and 10 counties, Mayor Sam Liccardo recently announced that his vision of turning PG&E into a customer-owned utility has received widespread recognition statewide. Nearly a month after introducing the proposal to the California Public Utilities Commission — which will ultimately decide on...