Hundreds of North San Jose parents, students and teachers are joining forces to fight school closures in their community. The Berryessa Union School District board met Tuesday night to discuss the potential closure of three schools due to declining enrollment and decreased federal and state dollars. The schools on the chopping block have not been...
Santa Clara mayor may have violated city rules serving another term
Eight years ago, Santa Clara approved a policy to prohibit anyone from serving more than two terms on the city council or as mayor. But the city’s top political leader — Mayor Lisa Gillmor — might have broken that rule. New questions are swirling about whether Gillmor was eligible to run for reelection in 2022,...
Op-ed: Billboard environmental impact reports are a sham
If ever there was a case where there would be serious environmental impact, it’s San Jose’s plan to install enormous digital billboards on buildings downtown and at sites along freeways. These publicly-owned locations include The Tech Interactive, San Jose Center for Performing Arts, San Jose McEnery Convention Center and several city-owned garages. The proposed billboards...
Downtown San Jose road could close for new pedestrian mall
San Jose officials want to recreate the success of downtown gathering spaces like San Pedro Square and Paseo de San Antonio by permanently closing off vehicle traffic in a third location. The San Jose City Council voted on Nov. 5 to extend the closure of Post Street, which began during the pandemic when the Al...
Bramson: Losing the path home
Last year, the U.S. government spent $67 billion on housing assistance for low-income residents. That’s approximately 1% of the total federal budget. This disproportionately small slice of the pie is nothing new. In fact, with the exception of a spike during COVID, the trend of drastic underinvestment actually continues a long-standing practice of little to...
Santa Clara County veterans still need housing
Santa Clara County has made strides to house homeless veterans, but the work isn’t over. The county reached a milestone of “functional zero” among homeless veterans in 2020, where the number of veterans getting housed exceeded the number falling into homelessness. That was due to the concerted effort to end veteran homelessness through a campaign launched in...
Here’s who’s vying to be downtown San Jose’s next councilmember
San Jose officials are at a crossroads over how to fill the City Council seat left vacant by Omar Torres’ stunning Election Day arrest and resignation — and several potential contenders want to take his place. City leaders in the next several weeks will decide whether to replace Torres in a special election or appointment,...
San Jose vice mayor warned about Omar Torres — and did nothing
Another top San Jose political leader was contacted about Councilmember Omar Torres — now facing charges of molestation and child sex crimes — more than a year before his downfall. Screenshots obtained by San José Spotlight shows a tipster — who had been in a sexual relationship with Torres — sent Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei...
Wald: Sports fields need to be ‘safe’ for professionals and everyone else
All Santa Clara County residents should be proud that one of our own, Edwyn Mendoza, will be playing for the Earthquakes and using this opportunity to advocate for other youth to have “safe fields to play on” in a San José Spotlight opinion piece. Sadly, the “deal” the Earthquakes are forging with the county and...
North San Jose development includes affordable housing
A proposed development with hundreds of apartments in North San Jose has housing advocates and nearby residents cautiously optimistic. San Jose-based developer Valley Oak Partners recently submitted a detailed plan to the city planning department for 637 apartments and 100 townhomes that goes beyond the 15% minimum affordable housing requirement. The proposal designates 132 apartments...