In a year, Silicon Valley officials will hit the streets to begin counting people for the 2020 U.S. Census, which happens every 10 years. Beginning on April 1, 2020, census officials, volunteers and a multitude of Silicon Valley-area organizations will begin counting the region’s residents. They gathered Tuesday morning at San Jose’s Mexican Heritage Plaza to begin...
San Jose Unified School District approves layoffs in 37 positions
The San Jose Unified School District will lay off employees in 37 classified positions — ranging from administrative aides to secretaries and student services techs — a reduction in force administrators say will fund raises to existing employees. The school board last week unanimously approved a resolution to eliminate the positions, a decision board leaders...
Silicon Valley housing shortage worsens for lowest-income earners
Only 22 out of every 100 households in California’s lowest income bracket have access to available and affordable housing, according to the most recent annual report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. That means the state’s poorest people can’t find a place to live — something which the report points out is a pattern...
Staedler: Just be yourself, San Jose
“Doesn’t San Jose want to be San Francisco?” That’s the question I’ve been asked repeatedly over the last 20 years from people outside of the Bay Area. This is usually asked in a well meaning and earnest manner. Most people have little knowledge of the area and think of San Francisco as the shining example...
San Jose to tackle noisy trains and gas leaf blowers
Noisy leaf blowers and blaring late-night trains. San Jose legislators will take them both on during a meeting this week. A San Jose City Council committee on Wednesday will accept a report from city officials about funding a buy-back program for gasoline-powered lawn equipment, which environmentalists say create air pollution and health risks. The council twice...
Corruption allegations at Silicon Valley’s Hispanic chamber; board members ousted
Six prominent Latino leaders were kicked off the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Silicon Valley board of directors, a shakeup five of them say happened after they questioned the chamber’s financial standing and demanded to see its budget. In separate interviews, multiple ex-board members claim they’ve never seen the chamber’s annual budget, expenditures or other financial...
March for Our Lives draws hundreds to downtown San Jose
A few hundred residents flocked to Downtown San Jose Saturday to rally against gun violence and engage Silicon Valley lawmakers in discussion about gun reform. The focus of the event was galvanizing young voices in the fight against gun-related deaths. “I’m fed up with people saying ‘a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a...
Who earned the highest salary in San Jose last year?
Which San Jose public official earned the biggest bucks last year? It wasn’t Mayor Sam Liccardo. It wasn’t the city’s powerful department directors or its City Manager Dave Sykes. It was a police officer. Police officers are among the highest paid government officials in San Jose, earning almost $400,000 a year with at least 60 percent of...
Breland and Lease: SJECCD to explore employee housing
As cost of living in San Jose continues to escalate, employers are finding it more and more difficult to attract and retain qualified and highly skilled employees. The primary driver of the increased cost of living is housing, which has seen unprecedented cost increases in recent years. In order to ensure that San Jose City...
They wear bright shirts and clean downtown. Who are the Groundwerx crews?
You’ve probably seen them out before, in bright colored t-shirts and rubber gloves, pushing wheeled trash cans through the quiet streets of downtown during the day. The concept behind the work — to regain a sense of purpose, after years of living on the streets have left them with little hope. There aren’t many waitlists...