Little Saigon may be on the precipice of electing its first-ever Vietnamese American to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, and a potential key voice in decisions on homelessness, mental health services and law enforcement spending. The two candidates seen as frontrunners in the race for the District 2 seat are Vietnamese American women: Betty...
San Jose officials to crack down on social media rules
After a myriad of messy transitions including former San Jose officials impersonating their successors, holding social media accounts hostage and preventing access to mailing lists, the city is looking to create rules to ensure it doesn’t happen in the next election. District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan wants council-related websites and social media accounts to be...
San Jose employees spent millions on travel, entertainment and dinners
From Disney resorts to animal funeral services, San Jose City Hall employees spent millions with city credit cards this past year. About a quarter of San Jose employees have city-funded credit cards, known as purchase cards or P-cards. The cards are typically issued to specific department representatives with intent to streamline small dollar purchases—mostly office...
San Jose ex-politician won’t give up social media accounts
A former San Jose councilmember is posturing as an elected official on social media, despite multiple demands by the city to turn over these official accounts. Former Councilmember Maya Esparza is holding the District 7 social media accounts and associated websites hostage, even as the city attorney, manager, clerk and current Councilmember Bien Doan have requested she...
The first six months: San Jose Councilmember Bien Doan
Editor’s Note: This article is part of a San José Spotlight series examining the newest San Jose councilmembers and their first six months in office. If you have lived as many lives as San Jose Councilmember Bien Doan, it gives you a unique perspective on life. For Doan, he believes more than anything that people...
San Jose officials want to stop shady politics
San Jose is on a path to close an election loophole that former Mayor Sam Liccardo and his right-hand man used to raise more than $1.5 million to fill seats on the City Council. The city is looking to prohibit elected officials and their staff from working on political action committees (PACs) that raise money for local...
San Jose mayor’s chief of staff triggers election law proposal
San Jose is looking to strengthen its election rules, with the push targeting the mayor’s right-hand man. The San Jose City Council is considering whether to prohibit elected officials and their staff from working on independent expenditure committees that raise money for local races. This move comes after residents and city leaders questioned the extracurricular political activities of...
Op-ed: San Jose is failing at community safety and policing
In its last meeting of 2022, the San Jose City Council cemented its record as a body that has failed our city when it comes to policing and community safety. Receiving a long-overdue consultant report on whether the city has the authority to create more independent oversight and investigations of police misconduct, the council collectively...
San Jose council gets failing grade for policing
F is for failure. That’s the grade the San Jose City Council scored when it comes to decisions on policing, according to Sacred Heart Community Service’s report card. Advocates said the grades, released Monday, represent years of inaction on making meaningful police reform. “We need to make clear that our city council has failed us...
A new year, a new San Jose council
The first San Jose City Council meeting of the year feels like the first day of school. New Mayor Matt Mahan and freshman Councilmembers Rosemary Kamei, Omar Torres, Peter Ortiz and Bien Doan took pictures with loved ones in front of the dais before being sworn into office on Tuesday. Councilmember Pam Foley, who ran for reelection...