San Jose Berryessa Flea Market vendors say a city-owned landfill is their best option for a new home, but a state law is stopping the idea from becoming a reality. The 90-acre Singleton site, a former landfill, is the favored location. It’s close to freeways and residential neighborhoods — making it the top option out...
Lawsuit: Silicon Valley water CEO pushed funding his private group
A new lawsuit alleges Valley Water CEO Rick Callender pushed to have his agency sponsor the NAACP California-Hawaii State Conference — a private group he personally oversees — with public dollars. The conflict of interest claim comes from a civil complaint filed March 20 by Salena Pryor, an NAACP colleague who worked under Callender in his...
San Jose mayor wants to clear homeless camps near freeways
San Jose has been clearing homeless encampments along city waterways, and is looking to do the same for people living under freeways. Mayor Matt Mahan is exploring a partnership with Caltrans to accelerate sweeps near freeways through state legislation and a city pilot program. State freeways, highways and underpasses are under Caltrans’ jurisdiction. But due...
San Jose mayor and county clash over homelessness crackdown
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan wants Santa Clara County to scale up shelter and health treatment options in response to the city’s renewed crackdown on homelessness. During Tuesday’s City Council discussion on Mayor Matt Mahan’s 2025-26 March budget message, Councilmembers David Cohen and Domingo Candelas sought to involve county officials in the mayor’s “Responsibility to...
San Jose policy gives housing developer millions in tax breaks
City leaders have agreed to give a San Jose housing developer multimillion-dollar tax breaks as part of a recently-passed program meant to win over builders. The San Jose City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to approve a seven-story, 345-apartment complex at 905 North Capitol Ave., signing off on $4.9 million in construction tax cuts and fee...
San Jose tenants protest poor living conditions
San Jose tenants are fed up with years of longstanding problems at their apartment complex — and took their complaints to the property owner’s front door. A dozen tenants from Summerwind Apartments near the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Jose gathered Friday at an upscale neighborhood in Saratoga to protest issues in their complex such...
San Jose leader made unusual move to change staff email addresses
A San Jose politician directed the city to change the email addresses of three staffers who went to work for a colleague, an unusual move that comes after she was accused of turning a blind eye to child sex abuse allegations against a former councilmember. District 1 Councilmember Rosemary Kamei has seen an exodus of...
North San Jose business takes hit as insurance bails
San Jose small businesses dependent on liability insurance have fallen on hard times as insurance carriers exit California or increase premiums by double digits. Laine’s Bait and Rentals, one of the most recognizable family-owned storefronts in North San Jose’s Alviso neighborhood, is one of those businesses. The mom and pop shop opened in the 1950s...
San Jose council approves mayor’s budget plan
San Jose officials have signed off on the mayor’s plan to reallocate a majority of funding meant for affordable housing and put it toward temporary homeless shelters. The City Council voted 7- 4 in a contentious meeting Tuesday to accept Mayor Matt Mahan’s March budget message for the 2025-26 fiscal year — with the elimination...
San Jose mayor’s proposals criminalize homelessness, advocates say
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is taking a hardline approach in his budget plan to get homeless people off the streets. Community advocates are calling it unjust. Mahan’s upcoming 2025-26 budget message proposes several ways to tackle homelessness, including reallocating more Measure E funding toward temporary shelter, encampment services and homelessness prevention. While proponents say...