More. Bigger. Higher. These are the words crammed into the press releases of Silicon Valley’s largest employers. The pace of development is startling. It all sounds so exciting, but we should temper that excitement and realistically examine the impacts of development. There’s an old adage, “failing to plan, is planning to fail.” It’s sage advice...
Community leaders plan to bring little free libraries to East San Jose
Little Free Libraries — those birdhouse-like structures used for sharing free books — are cropping up everywhere in San Jose. Everywhere, that is, except for East San Jose and Evergreen neighborhoods, some of the city’s most vulnerable communities. The newly-formed Evergreen Valley Rotary Club is looking to change that and its Community Service Chair Jeannette...
Alex Lee outraises competitors in Assembly District 25 race
In the competitive race for an open seat in State Assembly District 25, newcomer Alex Lee is leading the pack in fundraising. A gaggle of candidates are competing for the seat, which covers Newark, Fremont, San Jose, Santa Clara and Milpitas, and is being vacated by Assemblyman Kansen Chu who decided to instead run for county...
San Jose lawmakers feared Google might build elsewhere, private transcripts show
San Jose’s negotiations with Google have dominated headlines over the past two years, but only a handful of the City Council’s conversations about selling key pieces of land near Diridon Station happened at public meetings. The rest — 14 of them — happened behind closed doors where city leaders got down to the brass tacks...
Khamis: State legislators propose impediments to parking enforcement
My office has fielded numerous complaints of vehicles stored or abandoned on city streets, plus occupied motor homes settling into neighborhoods for stays that exceed the 72-hour limit. It’s not just an issue in District 10, but throughout the City of San Jose. Our Department of Transportation personnel responded to 55,000 vehicle abatement requests in...
Comic Con Councilmember lets “nerd” flag fly at City Hall
To herald the arrival of Silicon Valley Comic Con this week San Jose officials gathered in front of City Hall Tuesday afternoon to raise its official flag over municipal plaza. But what’s that in the sky? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive!...
San Jose approves law to curb Section 8 housing discrimination
As part of a slew of sweeping measures aimed at strengthening tenant protections, San Jose lawmakers on Tuesday voted 9 to 2 in favor of adopting a law that bars landlords from discriminating against renters with housing subsidies such as Section 8 vouchers. After more than three hours of back and forth deliberations, the City Council...
Santa Clara County OKs building low-income housing on vacant county land
There are nearly 80 acres of county-owned land sitting vacant – near hospitals and public transit – and now county lawmakers will look at turning it into apartments for homeless residents. Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez presented a proposal at the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday to look into building extremely low-income housing on that...
Audit: San Jose needs to strengthen reimbursement policy
San Jose misspent $24,000 in taxpayer funds by paying mileage costs of employees who were ineligible to receive such payouts because they violated a city policy, according to a critical new audit of the city’s reimbursement processes. The reimbursement audit of city employees’ expenses detailed major flaws in the city’s reimbursement process, which led to...
Gerston: On hospital purchases, county residents win, employees lose
For most of us, the purchase of O’Connor Hospital and St. Louise Hospital is a fabulous benefit for Santa Clara County. The $235 million package has already proven its worth, given the quick response and treatment of 13 victims from Gilroy’s July 28 mass shooting. Moreover, the county is investing heavily in bringing the hospitals...