Morgan Hill Mayor Rich Constantine has joined the contest for Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman’s seat. Constantine joins former councilmember Johnny Khamis, County Board of Education President Claudia Rossi and Los Gatos Vice Mayor Rob Rennie in vying for the District 1 seat on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Wasserman’s term will...
Mansion proposal obstructs Santa Clara Valley ridgeline
A proposed Morgan Hill mansion is the target of a complaint claiming its construction will obstruct ridgeline views—something the county’s decades-old General Plan says should be avoided. “The whole idea is that ridgelines are the most aesthetically sensitive parts of the county, because everyone can see it,” said Brian Schmidt, advocacy director for environmental organization Green...
Santa Clara County seeks redistricting advisory commission members
Fifteen county residents will soon help reshape Santa Clara County government’s political power. Santa Clara County supervisors are creating a new advisory commission to complete redistricting obligations by the end of the year, in light of census data delays. Every county is required to redraw its supervisorial boundaries in 2021 according to federal, state and...
Garbage rates to increase in East Santa Clara County
Residents and businesses in East Santa Clara County will see their garbage rates go up this summer. Officials say that’s largely due to the rapidly changing international recyclables market. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved the 5.5% increase, effective July 1. The increase will affect about 5,000 customers in eastern unincorporated Santa Clara County,...
Why one in 10 Silicon Valley residents are refusing a COVID shot
One in 10 Santa Clara County residents are refusing a COVID-19 vaccine due to fear of side effects or safety concerns, misinformation and scheduling issues—a problem that county health officials are quickly trying to ameliorate. Misinformation still persists, researchers hired by the county discovered, with 19% of county residents surveyed believing vaccines can give you...
Campaign season lasts year-round in Santa Clara County
In Santa Clara County, politicians can fundraise for their campaigns all year and keep the excess money to pay off incurred debt. That’s much different than campaign finance rules in San Jose, which has strict laws to prevent officials from holding year-round campaign accounts that critics say undermine politicians’ integrity. “People running for office are...
Santa Clara County puts another $350M toward affordable housing
Santa Clara County supervisors are set Tuesday to pump another $350 million of affordable housing bond money to build more low-income housing. In 2016, Santa Clara County residents approved a $950 million housing bond, known as Measure A, to fund construction of 4,800 housing units across the Bay Area. The premise of Measure A has...
How much do Silicon Valley nonprofits pay their executives?
In Silicon Valley, leading a nonprofit fighting for a noble cause can be a profitable business. Many of these organizations receive millions of dollars in public funding to solve homelessness, feed the needy, build shelters, help troubled youth and alleviate other social problems. Earlier this year, San Jose authorized $11.3 million to pay for homeless...
San Jose RV dwellers fear displacement
As county leaders push plans to revitalize the barren Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, dozens of RV dwellers could soon be pushed out. Tenant Pam Eisenbarth said staff from the nonprofit running the RV park, Fairgrounds Management Corporation, told her and husband Joe Rodriguez in December 2019 that the park would soon close. The corporation was...
Silicon Valley trans community faces workplace discrimination, harassment
As the LGBTQ community mourns the murder of Natalia Smüt and pushes back on violence, some say transgender people face a more subtle form of violence and hostility—workplace discrimination. Roxanne built a decades-long career as an attorney and judge, then she went public with her identity as a transgender woman. “I haven’t even been able to...