Apr 28, 2017
Guess which South Bay city is about to have its workers strike? Sunnyvale. It’s hard to believe given the wealth of the city that the non-public safety employees in Sunnyvale have not received a pay increase in five years, despite the fact that they agreed to generous givebacks during the recession. Negotiations, which have dragged out for almost two years,…
Apr 25, 2017
Santa Clara County Second reading and Cortese amendments to housing voucher non-discrimination policy The Board will vote on a second reading of Ordinance No. NS-507.1, which would ensure that all persons with the ability to pay for housing, whether through their own funds or using a subsidy, are considered for housing. This will prevent landlords in unincorporated areas of Santa…
Apr 19, 2017
Today, in a historic move, the San Jose City Council voted 6-5 to increase renter protections. This critical and hard-fought victory for the City’s tenants is the largest progressive win at San Jose City Hall in decades. The renter protection policies were supported by Vice Mayor Magdalena Carrasco and Council Members Sergio Jimenez, Sylvia Arenas, Raul Peralez, Don Rocha and…
Apr 17, 2017
City of San Jose MEMOs re Ellis Act Ordinance: Khamis rejects staff recs; Davis & Diep seek to remove ‘right to return’ New memo from Council Member Khamis rejects staff recommendations for both items 4.2 Amendment to the Ellis Act Ordinance Implementing Procedures for Removal of Rent Stabilized Units from the Rental Market; and 4.3 Actions Related to Tenant Protection…
Apr 13, 2017
Yesterday, a new research report released by Working Partnerships USA, Cashing In on Renters, found that a family in Silicon Valley now needs to earn $113,040 to afford the average two-bedroom apartment, and that the number of “no cause” evictions has increased by 270 percent in the past five years. In addition, it reveals that large, non-San Jose based landlords…
Apr 10, 2017
County of Santa Clara Report on RFP respondents for Santa Clara County Fairgrounds property; Brian Bumb proposing Earthquakes soccer / entertainment complex & public market The County is seeking to improve the County Fairgrounds property, one of the larger contiguous sites in Silicon Valley (approximately 150 acres). The Board will be receiving a report about the results – including individuals…
Apr 7, 2017
Earlier this week, the City of Santa Clara moved one step closer to reaching a $15 minimum wage by 2019. Led by Vice Mayor Dominic Caserta, the City Council voted unanimously to spend 90 days conducting outreach to help determine its schedule of increases. The message from the people in the packed Council Chambers was clear: to reach $15 by…
Apr 4, 2017
City of San Jose Creating new “office/R&D” development categories to reduce construction tax for applicants; new memo recommends further lowering proposed total tax rate from 2.5 to 2% Since presenting the item to the Community and Economic Development Committee on January 23, 2017, staff has obtained additional feedback from the development community and conducted additional analysis of the fiscal implications…
Apr 1, 2017
After extensive research and branding analysis, the South Bay Labor Council announced today that it now will be known simply as “The People.” The organization, which represents 100 unions in Silicon Valley, decided to change its name after polling and focus groups demonstrated that residents of the South Bay strongly identify with the idea of being people. In addition, the…