Author Archives : The Left Hook

A tale of two cities


After a contentious and bitterly close election, one in which homelessness dominated voters’ minds, a new mayor came to power promising to deliver immediate results where previous administrations had fallen short. The newly-elected mayor launched a program aimed at moving people out of encampments and emergency shelters, with the goal of providing temporary housing to 4,000 previously unhoused residents within…

Advocacy by Tantrum


With all the critical issues facing the city of San Jose – thousands of unhoused residents living in abject poverty, a lack of affordable housing, rising violent crime rates, ever-growing inequality – Mayor Matt Mahan took to Twitter last weekend and blasted the federal government for its slow response.  Finally, for the first time in his tenure, Mayor Mahan showed…

Tech Bro Can’t Tech


During his run for mayor in 2022, Matt Mahan played down his political inexperience by hyping up his business background – specifically his founding of two social media companies. He promised voters he would leverage his experience within the technology industry to implement new tools to enhance community engagement, streamline city operations, and provide better service to businesses and residents. …

The Audacity of Sam Liccardo


Following an 8-year mayoral tenure defined more by his crises than successes, Sam Liccardo appears ready to try his luck running for the U.S. House of Representatives.  Recently, an opinion poll began circulating testing former San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo‘s viability in a hypothetical race against incumbent congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, who has represented San Jose in Congress for nearly 30…

You say you want a revolution?


Last week at San Jose City Hall, the mayor and city council held a pair of special meetings to make appointments to two vacant council seats. Political observers throughout the city rightly saw the appointments as the first big tests of Mayor Mahan‘s administration – would he be able to cobble together the necessary votes to appoint much needed allies…

Another Chapter in the Jim Reed Saga


In a last-ditch effort to reverse a previous City Council decision, Mayor Matt Mahan and his chief of staff, Jim Reed, rolled out the results of a poll showing overwhelming voter support for holding special elections to fill two vacant Council seats. Who funded this last-minute poll? Solutions for Silicon Valley, a political advocacy group founded by none other than…

No Qatar for You


Today, the San Jose City Council voted against Mayor Liccardo’s request to travel later this week to Qatar. The item was pulled from consent by Councilmember Dev Davis. It’s unclear if he was planning to travel with staff or family. Qatar embraces discriminatory policies that are anti-worker, anti-gay, and misogynistic. In addition to the women on the city council, Mahan…

District 7 Illegal Campaign Mail


Campaign mail sent to voters in District 7 by an organization called the National Association of Realtors Fund is missing legally required disclaimer language. Political mail must list the top 3 contributors and none were provided. Whose sloppy work is this? The return address on the mail is for the local Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, a regular ally…

Hero Pay Hypocrite?


Why is Matt Mahan throwing flames at the Board of Supervisors for their recent vote on Hero pay? County employees worked collectively to keep families safe and reach a vaccination rate of over 85%. So did City employees, which is why Mahan voted YES to support the same policy in San Jose. Read all about his hypocrisy here! Tweet

Will the Racist Ads Return?


In a surprise to no one, Sam Liccardo continues to hitch his political future to buddy Eric Jaye. The mayor’s new organization exists to advance his pro-business neoliberal agenda and help his friends. Let’s hope his next move with Eric doesn’t mirror their past efforts with the SVO. Tweet

Follow

Get every new post on this blog delivered to your Inbox.

Join other followers: