To make guaranteed basic income a reality, Santa Clara County leaders turned to a real world trial. Now their efforts are making strides, but it couldn’t come at a darker time for the county’s social safety net outlook. A historic set of four simultaneous pilot programs is providing $1,200 in guaranteed basic income per month...
Santa Clara County may ditch camera vendor amid privacy issues
Cities across Silicon Valley may be on the cusp of cutting ties with a surveillance company linked to local police departments’ cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Santa Clara County officials this week signaled growing distrust with Flock Safety, a company that sells license plate reading cameras to cities across California, over concerns the...
Will Santa Clara County arrest ICE agents at Super Bowl?
As the clock ticks toward the Super Bowl, one Santa Clara County leader’s vow to arrest ICE agents may force officials across the valley to confront their own rhetoric — pitting local cops against federal ones. There was no mistaking Board of Supervisors President Otto Lee’s emotional threat Tuesday. Now some city and public safety...
Citizen group to oversee Santa Clara County’s Measure A spending
Santa Clara County leaders promised their voter-approved sales tax increase would save local public hospitals from closure. That commitment will now be tested. The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to form a citizen oversight committee to ensure that $330 million in Measure A revenue will be spent as advertised. County leaders last year vowed Measure...
Santa Clara County looks to consolidate independent boards
Santa Clara County leaders are asserting stronger authority over key services and public land in the region. While the proposed changes have come with explanations, they haven’t gone through without friction. The county has moved to take direct control of various agencies under independent boards over the past two years. Officials want to replace the...
Santa Clara County may shake up volunteer disaster aid efforts
Santa Clara County wants to make changes to the region’s disaster aid pipeline — raising alarms for the nonprofit that has run it for decades. Emergency resource leaders are scratching their heads at the county’s efforts to restructure the region’s state-recognized Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. The network of community groups is managed by Collaborating Agencies Disaster Relief Effort (CADRE),...
Santa Clara County to lose millions in funding for permanent housing
Santa Clara County is scrambling to figure out how to make up for millions of dollars lost in federal housing funds due to a shift in President Donald Trump’s priorities. The U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) plans to move Continuum of Care grants from funding rental subsidies and permanent housing programs to transitional housing....
Santa Clara County struggles to keep mental health workers
Santa Clara County is struggling to retain its behavioral health workforce. A recent report from the University of California, San Francisco examines the gaps in the county’s Behavioral Health and Services Department. It shows that between February 2024 and February 2025, 28% of behavioral health workers employed by the department and contracted agencies are no...
Santa Clara County nixes rezoning on horses and wineries
Santa Clara County leaders have slammed the brakes on a rezoning plan that South County farmers, winery owners and equestrians warned could threaten their businesses and the future of Silicon Valley’s iconic — but vanishing — rural vestige. After hundreds of written letters of opposition, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted to order...
Santa Clara County will create ICE-free zones
Santa Clara County leaders will establish ICE-free zones throughout Silicon Valley — raising physical barriers and locking gates to prevent federal immigration agents from unlawfully using county properties for surveillance and arrests. The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to follow Chicago’s lead and create an inventory of vacant lots, garages and other county-owned spaces...