Nov 26, 2018
City of San Jose Ethics Commission to give input on proposal to hold Mayoral Elections concurrent with Presidential Elections The Rules Commission voted to recommend to City Council to adopt a resolution calling for a ballot measure asking the voters of San Jose to move San Jose mayor elections to years concurrent with national Presidential elections (currently they are held…
Nov 19, 2018
County of Santa Clara Consider Resolution to approve purchase of Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy, CA On November 6, 2018, the Board approved the acquisition of Saint Louise Regional Hospital, currently owned by Verity Health System of California—a nonprofit public benefit corporation that has declared bankruptcy. Adhering to standard due diligence and public notification procedures for a purchase of…
Nov 15, 2018
In the hotly contested race for the San Jose City Council District 7 seat, challenger Maya Esparza is on pace to oust current Councilmember Tam Nguyen. Election night saw Nguyen leading Esparza by 10 points, but as the Registrar continued to count votes, Nguyen’s lead shrank. Five days after the election, Esparza surpassed Nguyen by more than 500 votes, and…
Nov 13, 2018
Today, a community organization and government transparency advocates sued the City of San Jose over its handling of a deal to sell valuable public land to Google. Working Partnerships USA, a San Jose based community organization, and the First Amendment Coalition, a nonpartisan, non-profit dedicated to free speech and government transparency, filed suit at Santa Clara County Courthouse this morning.…
Nov 5, 2018
San Jose’s newest PAC, the Business San Jose Chamber PAC, just sent their first mailer, and the PAC is already embroiled in controversy. San Jose Chamber PAC, which broke off from the Silicon Valley Organization PAC (which confusingly enough is run by the real Chamber of Commerce), sent a mailer that features a quote implying that Sacred Heart Executive Officer…
Nov 1, 2018
Robert Varich, Republican candidate for Campbell Union High School has, for years, been promoting racist and hateful messages via his social media. Varich posted on his Facebook what appears to be a letter to the editor likening individuals who receive food assistance to animals who, if fed, will not learn to take care of themselves. The post is captioned, “Enough…
Oct 30, 2018
City of San Jose Direction on North SJ Area Development Policy; staff proposes advancing development of up to 8,000 housing units & funding transportation improvements The North San Jose Area Development Policy was first adopted in 2005, and in 2016 the Council directed staff to analyze the possibility of amendments to the plan. These amendments focused on increased residential development,…
Oct 23, 2018
Carl Guardino, head of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, is putting his campaign committee, Innovation for Everyone, to use. So far in the general election, Guardino has spent more than $40,000 on his candidate for Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg. Most recently, Innovation for Everyone sent out a mailer attacking her opponent Don Rocha for being backed by special…
Oct 23, 2018
City of San Jose Direction on North SJ Area Development Policy; staff proposes advancing development of up to 8,000 housing units & funding transportation improvements The North San Jose Area Development Policy was first adopted in 2005, and in 2016 the Council directed staff to analyze the possibility of amendments to the plan. These amendments focused on increased residential development,…
Oct 19, 2018
Last week, the Silicon Valley Organization (SVO), formerly the Chamber of Commerce, came under fire when its PAC sent out a mailer with an image that had been manipulated to appear as though San Jose Council candidate Kalen Gallagher was flipping off the camera, instead of pointing to the “I voted” sticker that they had removed from the altered photo.…