Monthly Archives : June 2015

Policy Watch: Your weekly tip sheet for what’s going on in your community


  Happy almost 4th of July readers.  City of Santa Clara Public surveys on proposed Minimum Wage Ordinance The steady roll out of municipal minimum wage ordinances continues in Santa Clara with outreach for public opinion on their recent prioritization of a local wage ordinance. The ordinance includes increasing the minimum wage to $11 on January 1, 2016 and linking…

San Jose

San Jose Moves to Create Good, Local Jobs in Construction


If you live, work or play in the South Bay, chances are you’ve recently passed by a construction site. Cranes are in the air all over Silicon Valley.  Tens of billions of dollars are being invested in development.  But did you ever stop to think about where all that money ends up? Does it create good jobs and careers for…

El Camino Hospital

El Camino Hospital: Springboard for Political Ambitions


Something strange happened at El Camino Hospital last week.  The publicly elected board that oversees the hospital appointed 36-year-old Lanhee Chen to the corporate board of directors for the hospital.  The appointment raised some eyebrows because, unlike other applicants for the job, Mr. Chen has almost no experience in healthcare and hospitals.  Two unsuccessful candidates for the board position had…

Free Postage for Mail-in Ballots


In a move designed to address the problem of abysmally low voter turnout, yesterday the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted to pay postage for vote-by-mail ballots.  The change will go into effect in the November 2015 elections, at a cost of $31,000.  For the two elections scheduled in 2016 the estimated cost to the County is $198,000, about…

Raise Wages, Raise Hopes in the City of Santa Clara


Santa Clara is the heart of Silicon Valley, where some of the world’s biggest companies began in cramped garages. These cramped garages used to symbolize resourcefulness that led to some of the greatest innovations in the world. But now, these same garages where billion-dollar companies were founded represent something darker: they are home to individuals and families that can’t afford…

Artwork Encourages Healthy Eating


What better way to get the community involved in a healthy routine than to express it with a larger than life visual?  Working Partnerships USA recently partnered with the Health Trust and Empire 7 Studios to paint a mural on the side of the First Street Market. As part of the Healthy Corner Stores initiative, this project focused on getting…

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