San Jose aims to cut its homeless population by 20% by the end of next year through a new initiative to provide more housing and job stability. Mayor Sam Liccardo, joined by Councilmembers Sergio Jimenez, Dev Davis and Pam Foley, announced a plan called “Compassionate and Clean San Jose” Wednesday that would triple the number...
Peralez and Chavez face off in San Jose mayor forum
Two longtime labor leaders faced the first test in their mayoral aspirations Monday—though only one of them has actually announced a campaign for mayor. Downtown Councilmember Raul Peralez, who announced he’s running for the city’s top political job in April, faced off with Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez during a Democratic mayoral candidate forum....
Cindy Chavez joins mayoral candidate forum, but won’t say if she’s running
Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez keeps dodging questions about her mayoral aspirations. But that’s not stopping her from participating in a mayoral candidate forum. Chavez—who is rumored to run for San Jose mayor but has yet to officially announce—will take part in a candidate forum on Monday with downtown San Jose Councilmember Raul Peralez, who officially...
UPDATE: San Jose approves plan to spread out multi-unit affordable housing
San Jose residents could soon see affordable housing crop up in unexpected neighborhoods, thanks to a new policy that will spread out multi-unit developments in the city. The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of a plan that distributes affordable housing development in places near public transit and with upward mobility. City...
UPDATE: San Jose mandates proof of vaccination for large events at city buildings
San Jose sports fans will need to show proof of vaccination the next time they see the Sharks play a home game. After a chaotic recess and more than two hours of comments from dozens of anti-vaccination protesters, the San Jose City Council voted Tuesday to require proof of vaccination for events of 50 or...
San Jose mayoral candidate opposes state housing legislation
San Jose Councilmember and mayoral candidate Dev Davis is taking a stance against two controversial state housing bills. “Adding density in an area of the city where infrastructure improvements are not made is a recipe for disaster,” Davis wrote in a memo. “These bills could dramatically affect our neighborhoods and our ability to deliver critical...
San Jose councilmember raises concern with survey
National Night Out was one of the first opportunities for San Jose councilmembers to meet voters face-to-face since the pandemic started. But for one lawmaker, it might have been time to get a leg up on his mayoral aspirations. District 10 Councilmember Matt Mahan used some of his office employees to hand out flyers across...
San Jose Councilmember Dev Davis kicks off mayoral campaign
San Jose Councilmember Dev Davis’ streak of rustic campaign events continued Wednesday as the District 6 lawmaker launched her mayoral campaign at Hapa’s Brewing Company near Willow Glen. “We have to tackle homelessness, we have to recover from the pandemic economically and frankly as a city. And we need to clean up our city,” Davis told San José Spotlight. Wednesday’s...
San Jose mayor’s private emails spark response from watchdogs, attorney
A San Francisco law firm and a free speech advocacy group are demanding San Jose City Hall release emails from the mayor’s private account after San José Spotlight reported on his attempt to skirt public records law last month. Prominent San Francisco media attorney Karl Olson and the First Amendment Coalition separately have filed two public records...
UPDATE: San Jose continues talks on stripping felons of retirement benefits
A proposal by San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo to shut felonious city workers out of their retirement benefits will move to a future “closed session” meeting, a San Jose committee decided Wednesday. The city’s Rules and Open Government Committee ultimately decided with a 4-1 vote to move the proposal to a closed-door meeting with the...