In a heavy-hearted conversation on sexual assault Tuesday, the City Council unanimously approved the findings of two reports from the San Jose Police Department on the spike in rapes and child molestation across the city, where at least half of the reported victims are children under the age of 14. Councilmembers Johnny Khamis, Dev Davis,...
Immigrants in Washington and San Jose await fate amid Supreme Court hearing
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Supreme Court Justices on Tuesday heard oral arguments from lawyers on behalf of government and immigration advocates over the legality of President Donald Trump’s decision to rescind DACA, the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals program. Members of the public who wanted to witness the highly-anticipated hearing started forming a line outside the...
San Jose officials propose new property transfer tax for affordable housing
San Jose lawmakers next week could approve drafting an affordable housing tax ballot measure for the March 2020 ballot, another step to help raise revenue to tackle Silicon Valley’s growing housing and homeless crises. According to a new memo, the city manager’s office is recommending a real property transfer tax, which would apply to the...
In a historic vote, San Jose approves $93M deal to preserve Coyote Valley
For generations, San Jose has been divided on whether to preserve or develop Coyote Valley, the 7,400 acres of land between the Santa Cruz mountains and the Diablo range. But for the first time in the city’s history, the conversation was finally put to rest–for good — after city leaders unanimously voted on Wednesday to...
A split San Jose City Council votes to weaken rent control law
Housing was at the forefront of Tuesday’s City Council meeting, as San Jose lawmakers weighed making changes to several crucial housing laws. Among them was amending the city’s Ellis Act, where lawmakers voted 6-5 in favor of reducing the number of units developers have to put back under rent control after redevelopment. Councilmembers Sergio Jimenez,...
San Jose expected to preserve northern part of Coyote Valley
For more than five decades, San Jose has been divided on whether to preserve or develop Coyote Valley, the 7,400 acres of land between the Santa Cruz mountains and the Diablo range. This week, city leaders are expected to make major moves toward preservation. San Jose elected officials on Wednesday will vote on whether to...
Major housing policies top San Jose City Council agenda
For months, some San Jose lawmakers have wanted to amend the city’s Ellis Act ordinance by tweaking how many units would have to be put back under rent control after redevelopment — a move spurred by a fear that the current law’s requirement is halting housing production in the region. Now, the City Council on...
San Jose to receive $500,000 from state for PG&E power outages
Following a tumultuous month of power outages and fire warnings, San Jose lawmakers announced on Friday that San Jose, alongside other California cities, will receive half a million in state funds to help cover costs accumulated as a result of last month’s recent set of blackouts. In addition to San Jose, other large cities including...
San Jose: Crackdown on fireworks ramps up with new law
The use of illegal fireworks in San Jose has exploded in recent years primarily because of law enforcement and fire personnel shortages and a lack of enforcement across the city. But on Tuesday, fire and police officials assured local lawmakers on the city’s widespread efforts to beef up enforcement for illegal fireworks. The City Council unanimously...
San Jose votes to expand overnight warming centers for homeless
For the first time since San Jose declared a “shelter crisis” in 2015, lawmakers on Tuesday unanimously approved expanding an overnight warming location program for homeless residents to operate every night for the next six months — a major expansion considering the centers previously opened for a few months, based on inclement weather conditions. Councilmember...