Jan 29, 2015
How does one become a leader in the community when formal education only provides part of the story surrounding some of the most critical political issues of our time: from income inequality to affordable housing, to understanding the valley’s political history and structural power? There are few courses in college that touch on these critical issues and if they are…
Jan 27, 2015
Newly elected members of Congress had barely finished moving into their Capitol offices before ramping up their attacks on access to essential women’s health care. With a list of bills lined up and ready to go—six have already been introduced —the new Congress of ultra-conservative zealots is not letting up in its anti-reproductive-rights crusade, which disproportionately affects low-income women and…
Jan 23, 2015
Inequality in the country has exceeded that of the Great Depression. Zoom in to Silicon Valley, and the crisis is magnified. Silicon Valley, the poster child of groundbreaking innovation and wealth has sadly also become the nation’s capital of inequality. With the highest per capita millionaires and billionaires in Santa Clara, a raise for the lowest wage workers is way…
Jan 22, 2015
There’s good news and bad news in the City of San Jose’s just-released Comprehensive Annual Financial Report on its two pension funds. The good news is that the investment returns for the Police and Fire Plan (which covers police and fire) and the Federated Plan (which covers everyone else) were 13.5% and 14.2% respectively. That’s well above the 7.125% and…
Jan 21, 2015
We’ve learned a few important lessons from Election Day 2014, and perhaps one of the most important is how communities of color are stacking up to become forces in local politics, particularly the Vietnamese American community. And within that theme, there is another consideration, about who might take the 25th Assembly District seat when Nora Campos terms out in 2016. …
Jan 16, 2015
You might be surprised to learn who got the most votes on Nov 4th. It wasn’t Sam Liccardo or Dave Cortese. It wasn’t Mike Honda or Ro Khanna. None of those candidates garnered even a quarter of the votes. The overwhelming winner of this election was Nobody. Tweet
Jan 15, 2015
Ro Khanna is running for Congress…again. It’s nothing new. He’s been running for Congress since he graduated law school 13 years ago. It’s what he does. Tweet
Jan 15, 2015
San Jose City Councilman Ash Kalra is expected to announce Jan. 31 his bid for the California State Assembly’s District 27 seat. The kickoff of the Indian American official’s campaign – at a yet-undisclosed location – will be preceded by a fundraising birthday party Jan. 21 at the M lounge in San Jose. Tweet
Jan 14, 2015
Our headline says it all. The Left Hook has obtained a copy of the latest staffing plan for the San Jose Police department which shows a further gutting of relevant enforcement units needed to control crime in the once -“Safest Big City in America.” Tweet
Jan 14, 2015
There’s a difference between the talk and the walk and, where Mayor Sam Liccardo is concerned, the San Jose Mercury News doesn’t seem to be able to distinguish the two. In an editorial touting the newly elected San Jose Mayor’s efforts to “reach across the aisle” to collaborate with campaign foes, what’s missing is a dose of reality. Tweet