May 14, 2015
Whoever said “Politics is a contact sport” probably didn’t mean it was literally a “sport,” but Mayor Sam Liccardo seems to have tapped the sports world for his new Public Information Officer. Michelle Schmitt Young, a registered Republican, spent the last four years as the Assistant Athletic Director in charge of Public Relations at Santa Clara University. (Go Broncos!) Prior…
May 11, 2015
San Jose Renters’ rights and affordable housing Two proposals are being put forward addressing the crisis facing renters in San Jose. From Council member Peralez: A prohibition against discrimination based on source of income (Section 8 and other housing subsidies). Recommendations on improvements and a comprehensive analysis of the data and effectiveness of the City of San Jose’s Rental Rights…
May 9, 2015
Fueled by a booming Silicon Valley, California’s economy is making tremendous strides since the Great Recession hit in late 2007. However, throughout the state, Californians have witnessed an era of vast income disparity. Too many individuals and working families have not experienced the wage growth needed to keep up with the cost of living. Tweet
May 7, 2015
The City of Santa Clara could have a new ordinance raising its minimum wage by midsummer. Council member Dominic Caserta led the effort to raise the wage to $11 an hour starting next January, with a plan to work with Sunnyvale and Mountain View on a regional $15 dollar an hour wage by 2018. Tweet
May 7, 2015
Rosemary Kamei is the newest member of the Santa Clara County Board of Education. Last night’s vote wrapped up a 5-hour examination of the five candidates who applied for appointment to the vacant seat created when Leon Beauchman left to focus on other responsibilities. It ultimately came down to two very well qualified candidates: Kamei and former City Council member…
May 6, 2015
There is a lot of talk about the homeless these days. Why are there so many homeless people in this area? Why are so many of them living outside in the parks and by the creeks? Why aren’t they in shelters? Tweet
May 5, 2015
It’s a story not too many other media outlets seem to be paying attention to, (except us and NBC Bay Area )yet it’s critical to thousands of Silicon Valley workers. The San Jose City Council voted to move forward with a proposal to strengthen wage theft laws in San Jose. The tally that put the close vote over the line…
May 5, 2015
The new San Jose City Hall beat reporter is home grown SJSU grad Ramona Giwargis, whose last gig was at the Merced Sun Star newspaper for three years. Giwargis describes herself as a “Broadcast media professional” on LinkedIn. That was most likely from the days when she worked in TV in Salinas, Eureka or as an intern at NBC…
May 5, 2015
San Jose City leaders will face a sobering statistic next week with the Employee Hiring Audit that shows some 600 vacancies among City jobs. The Audit makes recommendations on what to do about it, now that Measure B seems to have effectively emptied out hundreds of posts. Tweet
May 5, 2015
Too often, policy decisions are made on narrowly focused considerations, such as politics or special interests, and do not give proper weight to the true benefits of a proposal. Last Tuesday, the Mountain View City Council bucked that trend by voting in favor of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). Tweet