Lack of affordable housing in the state’s urban areas is a well-documented phenomenon. However, Assemblyman Robert Rivas — who represents a central California district extending south from Morgan Hill — wants to see housing concerns addressed in the state’s rural pockets as well. “Housing is probably the most important issue of the moment,” Rivas said...
San Jose approves prevailing wages for private construction projects
While the unlicensed Silvery Towers subcontractor Job Torres Hernandez received his sentence in federal court for harboring undocumented workers in slave-like conditions, San Jose lawmakers on Tuesday passed a law to prevent construction companies from exploiting low-wage workers on private construction projects that receive tax breaks. Spurring from negotiations with labor unions more than a...
Santa Clara Police Chief Mike Sellers will retire before term ends
Santa Clara Police Chief Mike Sellers will retire on Sept. 1, more than a year before his term ends in December 2020, Sellers told San José Spotlight on Tuesday. Sellers has been Santa Clara’s elected police chief for the past seven years, but he’s worked full-time for the city’s police department for more than three...
Santa Clara County ambulance contract changes raise concern
It’s rush hour when a middle-aged man walking down East Santa Clara Street collapses with a stroke. A few minutes later, a firefighter trained as a paramedic gets on scene. The firefighter takes the patient’s vitals, gives him an IV and stabilizes him. But he can’t take the man to a hospital — only the county’s ambulance provider...
Adobe vows to nix fossil fuels in new San Jose office tower
When Adobe’s new office tower in downtown San Jose is complete in 2022, it will be completely electric, meaning it won’t use any fossil fuels like gas to operate, company leaders said Monday. The announcement came as part of a ceremonial groundbreaking event for the company’s fourth San Jose office tower, called the North Tower....
San Jose celebrates return of nostalgic dancing pig
A spirited crowd gathered near the San Jose Diridon station Thursday in eager anticipation to see the Stephen’s Meat Products iconic neon pig dance again — after a more than 10-year hiatus. “I woke up with a smile on my face thinking the pig is going to dance again,” said Kim Walesh, San Jose deputy...
San Jose lawmakers to address ‘missing middle’ housing, prevailing wages
Housing officials had originally deferred the missing middle housing debate earlier this month. Since that time, they pulled together more information about a recent homebuyer downpayment assistance proposal from Councilmember Pam Foley, as well as a backyard unit proposal from Mayor Sam Liccardo and Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco, Sylvia Arenas and Foley. Foley’s homebuyer assistance program proposal, which...
Funk: How to ensure students don’t fall behind this summer
I had the extraordinary opportunity to attend six of our East Side Union High School District graduation ceremonies last month. In fact, I also had the opportunity to attend my niece’s high school graduation. It is an amazing time for our graduating seniors, their families and friends. However, for an educator who oversees a large...
Montoya and Patron: A case for transparency, autonomy and community in San Jose
The work of dismantling oppressive structures and dreaming up new, more just futures is crucial on both global and local scales, and San Jose is no exception. What does it take to imagine, nurture, and sustain this kind of work, and who is doing it? What role should institutions and nonprofits play, and where does...
Santa Clara City Council to vote on operations-focused budget
Santa Clara city officials say they’ve balanced the city’s $954.8 million budget ahead of the City Council’s expected vote on the financial forecast on Tuesday. City officials have tried over the past 18 months to find their way out of what was projected to be a $46.4 million deficit over the next two years as...