Santa Clara County property values are seeing their lowest growth in more than a decade due to economic uncertainty and stalled development. Yet the total net assessed value of all real estate and personal property – known as the assessment roll – reached a new height of nearly $726 billion, County Assessor Larry Stone announced...
San Jose to add more multifamily affordable housing
The construction of nearly 200 affordable apartments will break ground next month in South San Jose. San Jose City Council unanimously approved a $73.7 million multifamily housing revenue bond on June 10 to close the remaining gap needed to finance the $160-million affordable housing development with developer Affirmed Housing. The 191-apartment complex will be 100% affordable...
California lawmakers celebrate AI moratorium stripped from bill
Lawmakers from both parties are celebrating the Senate’s decision to cut a provision that would have put a 10-year pause on state-level regulation of artificial intelligence from the reconciliation bill hours before it passed. California lawmakers are among those who are most relieved that they narrowly avoided this provision getting tucked into the legislation. The...
Lawsuit ties up millions of dollars in Campbell revenue
An anti-tax group is fighting to end Campbell’s sales tax hike, tying it up in the courts and putting the city in a multimillion-dollar bind. The Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association, along with Campbell resident David Wolen, is suing Campbell over Measure K, a half-cent sales tax hike. The measure raises the sales tax to 9.875%,...
Santa Clara County sheriff’s office struggles to probe misconduct
A new report from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s oversight office said the county is lagging on internal affairs investigations into deputy misconduct. Over the course of 2024, the Sheriff’s Office of deputy misconduct investigations were routinely completed just days or weeks before the one-year statute of limitations had expired, according to the June 17...
Scozzola: Santa Clara VTA frontline workers need better safety standards
I walked the picket lines a few months ago speaking to VTA drivers on strike. These proud members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 had overwhelmingly voted in favor of going on strike, but the impression I got was they were not eager to do so. They felt compelled to strike after many of...
Santa Clara County fights to stop homelessness
As Santa Clara County starts to plan what the next five years of tackling homelessness will look like, officials have reviewed the past five years — what worked and what continues to be a challenge. The county connected 17,485 homeless individuals to permanent housing as of 2024, and is on track and may even exceed...
Silicon Valley officials rally to defend immigrants from ICE
San Jose resident Adilene Alvarez never expected her husband to be grabbed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while driving their two young children to day care in April. She never expected him to be held in the Bakersfield Federal Detention Center or to be threatened by federal agents that her children would be...
Santa Clara County revisits building a new jail
After wobbling on the idea for years, Santa Clara County leaders are struggling with how big the new jail should be when the incarcerated population has starkly declined since the pandemic. But they’re certain something will rise from the ground — even as they’re strapped for cash. The county has started gathering community input on...
San Jose nonprofits threatened by federal funding cuts
Santa Clara County nonprofits serving the region’s vulnerable residents are facing funding cuts coming down from the Trump administration. Among proposed cuts is the planned elimination of the $3.3 billion Community Development Block Grant program tied to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. San Jose distributes millions of dollars annually through the program...