Sep 17, 2014
At The Left Hook we feel it’s our responsibility to make sure you, the reading and voting public, are properly informed about issues so we want to set the record straight on a recent post on San Jose Inside. Jennifer Wadsworth reported the San Jose Ethics Commission “ordered” mayoral Candidate Dave Cortese to return close to $10,000 in campaign contributions…
Sep 16, 2014
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was pushed primarily as a way to extend health insurance coverage. This was and is an important goal. However another important aspect of the ACA is its impact on the labor market. The vast majority of people who are below Medicare age get their insurance through their job. This meant that tens of millions of…
Sep 15, 2014
SAN JOSE Reed, Liccardo, Khamis plan to delay Measure B As outlined in the memo from Reed/Liccardo/Khamis & recommended by Rules on Sept. 10, direct the City Manager to begin negotiations with the Police Officers Association and other applicable bargaining units to: (a) Enter into a stipulation to defer the implementation of the portion of Measure B that calls for…
Sep 12, 2014
This week we have a Galactic Whopper from George Will in the Washington Post. His column is titled “Senate Democrats Extremism on Display.” It contends that the effort by Senate Democrats to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision by a proposed constitutional amendment constitutes true extremism – an effort to radically shrink First Amendment protection of political speech. In…
ICYMI: Four former San Jose Police chiefs are speaking out about the need for strong public safety leadership in San Jose, condemning the current city administration for its lack of responsibility in dealing with the San Jose Police Department. Bill Lansdowne, Chris Moore, Rob Davis and Tom Wheatley are calling for the city to do more to support its police…
Sep 10, 2014
With all of the new worries we’ve had in San Jose in recent years…the police exodus, the rise in crime, the poor relationships between city employees and their bosses…it’s easy to lose sight of other “quality of life” issues that are really just as important. In fact, some of the issues that are getting left on the back burner, cold…
Sep 9, 2014
Santa Clara County Living Wage Forum results The Human Relations Commission will take action on a recommendation to present the final report on the “Price We Pay to Live in Santa Clara County” Public Forum to the Santa Clara County administration and the Finance and Government Operations Committee. Hundreds of people turned out to testify on the state of income inequality…
Sep 5, 2014
Journalism hit a new low Wednesday. The cover of this week’s issue of the Metro is a selfie of Jennifer Lawrence. A picture that was stolen from her personal property and posted on the internet without her permission. First, let’s lay down the obvious. This isn’t a “sex scandal” or “leaked photos”. A criminal (or group of criminals) used sophisticated…
Sep 2, 2014
San Jose When San Jose City Councilmembers meet next week (today’s council meeting was cancelled because of yesterday’s holiday) there may be another chance to revive the effort to crack down on Wage Theft in San Jose. The need for an ordinance to keep unscrupulous employers from cheating their workers has the support of a few of our more fair…