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The city of Santa Clara is bleeding red, and big business may be at the center of its new strategy for economic recovery. Santa Clara is facing a nearly $20 million budget deficit in the upcoming fiscal year and needs to find new revenue streams. Under a newly proposed business license tax structure, the city...
Santa Clara workers reach tentative agreement, avoid strike
Santa Clara field operations and maintenance workers say they’ve reached a payment agreement with the city to avoid a strike set for Monday. Santa Clara officials proposed new contract terms in a special closed City Council meeting on Thursday. The contract, valid until Dec. 31, 2024, covers about 125 employees, according to Gary Ferraris, president...
UPDATE: Santa Clara city workers ready to go on strike
Some Santa Clara city employees plan to strike if negotiations toward a new labor contract continue to stall. Gary Ferraris, president of the union AFSCME Local 4911, told the City Council Tuesday the city’s Unit 6 field operations and maintenance workers will strike on May 1—International Workers’ Day—if a resolution isn’t reached. There are about...
Going to Santa Clara’s Central Park? Watch where you step
Santa Clara’s Central Park has a goose problem. More specifically, a goose poop problem. The park is home to—by one count—about 176 Canada geese, and each one drops roughly a pound of excrement every day. Over a year, that adds up to more than 63,000 pounds of feces dropped at the park, according to a...
Santa Clara residents miss opportunity to make home upgrades
Even though Santa Clara had more than $1 million available for residents to upgrade their homes, only a small number of homeowners took advantage of the opportunity. Now Santa Clara is putting those dollars to other uses. The city planned to spend about $1.2 million in federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and...
Santa Clara hires temporary city manager
After more than a month without a city manager, Santa Clara officials are turning to a former employee to take the lead. The City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday to name former interim City Manager Rajeev Batra as Santa Clara’s new interim city manager, with Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Councilmember Kathy Watanabe opposed. His contract, with...
Santa Clara sees demographics shift over the last decade
Santa Clara’s population has grown substantially over the past decade, and with those changes come new challenges. 2020 census results show the number of people who identify as Asian in Santa Clara has risen by more than a third in the past decade. But even before this demographic shift in the city, pressure was put...
What’s happening at Santa Clara City Hall?
Santa Clara has no city manager or city attorney after both were fired this year by a councilmember majority. Now one is looking to sue and another is getting a massive severance to not sue. With the council majority cleaning house at City Hall and ousting two top administrators and allies of Mayor Lisa Gillmor,...
Santa Clara police answer calls for crisis intervention
When Santa Clara police go out on a call involving mental health, specially trained officers respond. Santa Clara launched its Crisis Intervention Specialist (CIS) unit more than a year ago, and the program is having a positive impact. It has reshaped how the police department responds to individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. “The majority of calls...
Santa Clara developer scales back project plans
A developer looking to redevelop 46 acres of northern Santa Clara has scaled back its plans by more than half. Mission Point is a proposal to build a new mixed-use neighborhood by developer Kylli at 3005 Democracy Way in Northern Santa Clara. It was first submitted in 2019 after collecting feedback that began in late 2017....
