San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has announced his choice for vice mayor is first-term Councilmember Rosemary Kamei, in hopes of bringing together a divided governing body. “San Jose residents don’t care about labels, they care about results,” Mahan said Friday. “Rosemary Kamei is collaborative, thoughtful, independent, has a ton of common sense and is a...
Who’s applying for two vacant San Jose City Council seats?
With less than two weeks to go, a dozen people have applied to become the next councilmember in San Jose’s Districts 8 and 10. As of Wednesday, the latest list of candidates includes 11 people interested in the District 10 seat: Gabriel Gomez, Sandeep Chaparala, Nooran Bayzaie, Greg Holsen, Maylyne Ho, Mike Wilson, Forrest Williams,...
2022 in review: San Jose City Council’s major decisions
San Jose policymakers marked 2022 with major votes that will have lasting impacts for years to come. Amid a consequential election that ushered in a new mayor and four councilmembers, the San Jose City Council made notable decisions on homeless solutions, filling council vacancies and police oversight. Here are the top policy decisions of 2022:...
VTA couldn’t stop San Jose mass shooting, report claims
An independent investigation into whether VTA could have done more to prevent the 2021 mass shooting in San Jose has found the organization did not have enough information to prevent the attack. At a last-minute Monday news conference at VTA headquarters, VTA Chief of External Affairs Jim Lawson said a 17-month investigation conducted by San...
How San Jose’s new policymakers prepare for City Hall
The incoming San Jose mayor and councilmembers have different political leanings, but they agree on one thing: they’re only as strong as their staff. With less than a month before the newly-elected leaders fill the San Jose City Council chambers, dozens of interviews are happening to hire staff for Districts 1, 3, 5, 7 and...
VTA disputes San Jose’s plan for tiny homes
San Jose plans to move forward with building housing for homeless residents on VTA property, but there appears to be disagreement over the inevitability of the project. The City Council voted unanimously last week to pursue tiny home projects at the Cerone and Cottle VTA sites, located in North and South San Jose, respectively. Tiny...
San Jose leaders lobby for transparency in homeless spending
San Jose officials want to make it easier for residents to track how the city is spending money on its growing homelessness crisis. Mayor Sam Liccardo, Vice Mayor Chappie Jones, Mayor-elect Matt Mahan and Councilmember David Cohen want to launch a webpage showing the city’s efforts in solving homelessness. The site would include where funding comes from, which...
Silicon Valley officials shut down their Twitter accounts
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen recently deactivated his office’s Twitter account, but he isn’t the first South Bay politico to leave the social media site—and he likely isn’t the last. Rosen deactivated the DA’s official Twitter account earlier this week, noting the recent takeover by billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has resulted...
UPDATE: San Jose council to appoint two members amid backlash
Cheers, boos, middle fingers and the banging of a gavel filled the San Jose City Council chambers on Monday night as officials decided how to fill two vacancies. After five hours of heated public comment from more than 500 people, councilmembers voted 7-4 late Monday to fill the vacancies through an appointment process by the...
VTA to push out San Jose property owners for BART extension
The Valley Transit Authority will move forward with its plan to force out the owners and tenants of two buildings in downtown San Jose to make room for the future BART extension. In a meeting this week, VTA’s board of directors voted to allow the agency to assume ownership of the buildings on East Santa...