The potential closure of the 80-year-old Reid-Hillview Airport could have a lasting impact on San Jose, according to a new report, by straining city resources and reducing the capacity of the city’s downtown airport. Santa Clara County supervisors in December voted to explore closing the airport due to rising costs, declining revenues and growing maintenance...
Despite opposition from city planners, San Jose council supports SCU teacher housing
A Santa Clara University project that would house hundreds of teachers and staff from local Jesuit schools is one step closer to breaking ground after Tuesday’s San Jose City Council meeting. Councilors voted 9-1-1 for city officials to bring back amendments to the general plan, which helps guide future development in the city, to allow...
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San Jose leaders put off Sam Liccardo’s pay proposal
San Jose elected leaders on Wednesday put off a vote on Mayor Sam Liccardo’s request to reject his raise and allocate a portion of the pay bump to two of his social initiatives. The council’s Rules and Open Government Committee — which is chaired by Liccardo — voted unanimously to defer sending the mayor’s proposal...
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Sam Liccardo rejected his raise. What about his San Jose council colleagues?
Less than a year ago, Mayor Sam Liccardo and his council colleagues backed a measure to drop the political hot potato that threatened to burn them every two years — setting their own salaries. They supported Measure U, a Nov. 2018 ballot initiative that took the decision to approve salaries out of the City Council’s...
Initiative to align San Jose mayoral election with the presidential election fails
Despite a push from community advocates to align San Jose’s mayoral election with the presidential election cycle, the votes to make the change just weren’t there on Tuesday. Mayor Sam Liccardo, Vice Mayor Chappie Jones and Councilmembers Lan Diep, Pam Foley, Johnny Khamis and Dev Davis voted against the measure, citing concerns that the presidential...
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San Jose City Council to debate moving mayoral elections
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and Vice Mayor Chappie Jones on Tuesday will implore their City Council colleagues to make no changes to the mayoral election cycle and instead explore alternative ideas to increase voter turnout. Liccardo previously told San José Spotlight that he wouldn’t support an initiative to align the mayoral election year with...
Downtown church decided to sell to Google amid fear of eminent domain
“What would happen to us, what would happen to our church if this project had already been approved?” Zuniga told the council. “We consulted with a legal expert to give us advice on what would happen to us,” he added. “His advice was to negotiate with Google because if the city wanted to they could...
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East San Jose leaders decry San Jose planning commission appointment
When Ada Márquez stepped down from San Jose’s most powerful city commission last year, community leaders were hopeful that lawmakers would appoint another person of color from East Side to fill her spot. But that’s not what happened. “The council had a chance to embrace diversity and instead they chose to replace a seat that...
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San Jose denies contract extension for Chick-fil-A, invests in housing for poor
City Attorney Rick Doyle cautioned the council on rejecting the contract extension on the grounds of religious or political beliefs, which could be considered a First Amendment violation. Instead, they opted to reject the extension since Chick-Fil-A is not open on Sundays – one of the airport’s busiest travel days. At the suggestion of Yeager...
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San Jose City Council to mull new affordable housing funding
In an effort to spur San Jose’s dwindling housing supply, lawmakers on Tuesday will consider investing $10 million to flip market-rate apartments into affordable ones and peg 30 percent of any new housing dollars for extremely low-income housing. Housing officials this week will ask the City Council to add those two new priorities to the city’s affordable housing investment plan....