Santa Clara County has renamed its main public hospital’s entrance to honor a former top official, even though his relationship with county doctors turned icy during crises. What was once Renova Drive in front of Valley Medical Center in San Jose is now Jeff Smith Way, after former County Executive Jeff Smith. The road’s namesake stepped down...
Santa Clara County candidates share plans to tackle homelessness
Candidates vying for two open seats on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors are sharing their plans for the region’s top issues: homelessness and housing. Nonprofits PATH and Destination: Home hosted a candidate forum Wednesday moderated by those with lived experience. The candidates in Districts 2 and 5 discussed a number of topics including...
Election 2024: Madison Nguyen could make history again in D2 county race
Madison Nguyen, wearing black athletic pants and tennis shoes, walks with her 12-year-old daughter Olivia Tran in scorching 93-degree heat, canvassing an East San Jose neighborhood across from Story Road. They coordinate reading out house numbers, before her daughter jogs down the street to convince residents to vote for her mom as the next Santa...
Election 2024: Betty Duong in tight race for D2 county supervisor
Betty Duong knocks on the door of an East San Jose porch wearing a big floppy sun hat and white sneakers. She chats with the man who opens the door in Vietnamese about her run for the District 2 seat on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors when suddenly the man’s wife sees her and exclaims...
Santa Clara County to allow Tasers in jails with limits
Santa Clara County leaders have agreed to arm sheriff’s deputies in the jails with Tasers despite a year of protests from civil rights activists and community groups. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the purchase of 75 Axon Tasers with a 3-1-1 vote, but with certain use conditions. Deputies can’t fire more than four...
Santa Clara County to buy Regional Medical Center
After months of fighting to save Regional Medical Center’s services, Santa Clara County leaders figured out how to stop the owner of the hospital from gutting them: they plan to buy it. County officials today announced their intent to buy the hospital from HCA Healthcare, the nation’s largest hospital corporation, for $175 million. County Executive...
Silicon Valley’s most vulnerable live in filthy homes
When Azazel Holmkvist was placed in a squalid home on East San Fernando Street, his case manager told him there was no other housing available. The 42-year-old was receiving treatment at a residential program operated by Momentum for Health, one of Santa Clara County’s largest nonprofit behavioral health service providers. Holmkvist said he’s a survivor...
Silicon Valley candidates backed by Vietnamese American heavyweights
The FBI probe into a Bay Area recycling hauler — and the showdown between its owner and another influential Vietnamese figure — has sent a ripple through one of Santa Clara County’s hottest elections. It’s also revealing how two of Silicon Valley’s most powerful Vietnamese figures are backing competing Vietnamese American political candidates in a...
Silicon Valley mayors want fair share of $20B housing bond
A group of Silicon Valley mayors want to know how funds will be divided if voters pass a measure to build and preserve affordable housing across the region. A letter signed by 12 mayors of Santa Clara County’s 15 municipalities went to the Board of Supervisors on July 5, asking the county to establish an expenditure...
Santa Clara County to increase transparency on lawsuit settlements
Santa Clara County leaders are still trying to lift the curtain on how taxpayer money is used to pay for lawsuit settlements on issues such as jail deaths. The Board of Supervisors took action to publicize such settlements last year, but reports haven’t fully delivered. Now supervisors want to include even more details for the...