Dec 24, 2014
The Left Hook will take a break over the holidays, but we wanted to give you a brief look back at our inaugural year. From the launch of this now “go-to” source for local progressive news, to the wins for working families, 2014 was a fascinating and hopeful year. January, 2014: TLH kicks off and the Rise of Citizen Journalists…
Dec 23, 2014
Even after 26 years, the feeling of giving holiday gifts to thousands of children in need never gets old. “You just can’t match it,” says Steve Preminger, Director of Working Partnerships USA’s Community Builders program and the Ring Leader of the Holiday Party for Kids. Tweet
Dec 22, 2014
Most government offices are slowing down or closing down for the holiday week, but here’s what’s coming up after the holidays: San Jose Special holiday closed session The San Jose City Council loves working together so much, they’ve scheduled a special meeting for December 30th, when they would ordinarily be snowboarding or something cool like that. The special closed session…
Dec 19, 2014
After five hours of what many called a “charade”, 6 San Jose City Council members decided to appoint former City Council rep. Margie Matthews to fill the vacant District 4 seat. Council Member Pierluigi Oliverio surprised many in the audience ready to object to the anti-democratic, unethical process of rushing through a pre-determined appointment with his own version of torture…
Dec 17, 2014
This just in…It looks like Mayor-elect Liccardo is continuing with his power play. The latest victim is City Manager Ed Shikada, who tried to put forth an effort to repair the destroyed relationship between City leaders and workers. Shikada released this letter to City workers today, leaving the way open for Liccardo to hand pick his own City Manager in…
Dec 16, 2014
There was an eloquent and well thought-out argument by Council Member Ash Kalra. A substitute motion by Council Member Don Rocha to hold off on an appointment until January even drew the support of oft-opponent Council Member Pierluigi Oliverio. But Mayor-elect Sam Liccardo was determined to ram through his plans to appoint a campaign supporter as a temporary replacement for…
Dec 16, 2014
After months of research and public discussions, Santa Clara County Supervisors have officially passed the most comprehensive Living Wage ordinance in the nation. A week ago, Supervisors approved the progressive details of the newly proposed law, which include: requiring county contractors to pay employees a living wage, with health and retirement credits, paid sick leave, a voice on the job…
Bowing to pressure from those who support an open, Democratic and transparent government, San Jose Mayor-elect Sam Liccardo is now pulling the reins, a tiny bit, on rushing to appoint a campaign supporter of his as a replacement for the open District 4 seat. But it’s not enough. Community leaders and good government advocates are outraged at the way the…
Dec 15, 2014
San Jose: Reed/Liccardo seek to ram D4 Council replacement through, waiving Sunshine rules. As recommended by the Rules and Open Government Committee on December 10, 2014, the council is being asked to appoint an interim representative for Council District 4 to serve until a new council member has been elected. (Mayor/Liccardo). Reed and Liccardo recommend appointing former Council member Margie…
Dec 12, 2014
UPDATE: Memo madness. Two more memos were added to Tuesday’s San Jose City Council agenda, in an attempt to pull the reins on Mayor-elect Liccardo’s rush to appoint an ally on the dais. While nevertheless expressing his great respect for likely appointee Margie Matthews, Councilman Don Rocha called for a longer application process with the Council taking up the option to…