“Never waste the opportunity offered by a good crisis.” – Niccolò Machiavelli On July 1, the San Jose City Council voted 6-5 to place a ballot measure amending the City Charter on the November ballot. The proposal would move the mayoral election to the presidential election cycle, enact certain campaign contribution restrictions and increase the...
Good Samaritan nurses in San Jose protest unsafe staffing, COVID-19 risks
At war with the hospital. That’s how a top nurses union leader outside Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose on Monday described a dispute over working conditions at the hospital. Roughly 50 nurses cheered in agreement. “And by God, we have to win it, because if we don’t win it, we could end up dying...
Santa Clara County education trustee faces censure for gender harassment
The Santa Clara County Board of Education will vote Wednesday night on whether to censure trustee Joseph Di Salvo after an investigation substantiated allegations of gender discrimination against him. Two board members and two employees accused Di Salvo of engaging in “gender and racial harassment” in January, according to the resolution summarizing the investigation. The resolution did not...
San Jose police killings leave taxpayers footing a ‘blank check’
For the families of more than a dozen people killed by San Jose police since 2003, the cost of losing a life is immeasurable. But the financial cost of police killings in San Jose lies on the shoulders of taxpayers. A public records request from San José Spotlight revealed police killings have cost the city’s...
Ben Field, head of South Bay Labor Council, resigns
After nine years leading Silicon Valley’s powerful labor council, Ben Field is resigning from the South Bay Labor Council. “It was a tough decision to make but in the end it became clear to me that this was the right time for me to move on both for my family and the institution,” Field told...
Hours after reopening, Santa Clara County businesses will have to close again
Just hours after reopening Monday under Santa Clara County’s new health order, hair and nail salons, gyms, tattoo parlors and other personal care services have to close yet again. During his noon briefing, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced immediate closures for indoor operations of restaurants, wineries, tasting rooms, movie theaters, card rooms, family entertainment centers, zoos and...
Silicon Valley leaders want employees to mostly work from home
Notably grueling Silicon Valley commutes have been slashed dramatically as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. While working from home presents its own unique challenges, Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez wants to transition this aspect of social distancing into the post-COVID-19 life, a move she says will maintain productivity while decreasing climate impacts. Chavez announced a...
Cruel and unimaginable: South Bay students, universities react to policy changes for international students
An abrupt change this week to the policies governing international students in the United States has sent students and universities in Silicon Valley scrambling to make sense of the new rules. “It’s almost unimaginable; the cruelty of this decision,” said Susan Popko, the associate provost for international programs at Santa Clara University. “We are outraged...
Bramson: Shared equity at home
It’s no secret that homeownership has been a challenge, if not an impossibility, for many poor people for a long time in this valley. From the redlining of the 1930s to the current day attempts of the federal government to dismantle the protections of the Fair Housing Act, we continue to take actions that limit...
San Jose mayor hires Washington consultant to boost national profile
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo hired a Washington-based public image strategist to boost his national profile in 2018, according to public records obtained by San José Spotlight, and the PR firm scored three contract extensions and a pay bump that adds up to a six-figure compensation package over several years. It started out as a...