Apr 24, 2019
Last night, the Mountain View City Council voted on its policy priorities for the year. More than 50 community advocates and local leaders showed up to testify before Council, and there was a strong sense of solidarity between labor and community allies, both of whom backed prioritizing displacement and wage theft issues. The top priority voted on by Council was…
Apr 23, 2019
When Sam Liccardo was elected Mayor in 2014 he had an opportunity to bridge the gap that divided the City. He had been elected by a bare majority composed of the whiter, more affluent parts of the City. People of color in less affluent neighborhoods, largely on the eastside, voted for his opponent Dave Cortese. During his first term, Liccardo…
Apr 22, 2019
Santa Clara County Approving RFP for $128M Phase II of West Tasman Drive TI project On June 19, 2018, Item 9, the Board approved the establishment of Capital Project 263-CP19011 “Tenant Improvements at West Tasman Drive” to provide design funding for the renovation of the interior space of the existing buildings accommodate the relocation of County staff and equipment. On…
Apr 19, 2019
Mayor Sam Liccardo and Vice Mayor Chappie Jones are trying to mitigate the intense backlash that came from their decision to appoint Pierluigi Oliverio, yet another white person from Willow Glen, to the Planning Commission. With the appointment of Oliverio, currently four out of the seven Commissioners are from affluent District 6. Liccardo and Jones have been feeling the heat…
Apr 17, 2019
The San Jose City Council had the opportunity to dramatically improve how local democracy represents the people of San Jose. Moving San Jose’s mayoral election to take place in the same years as the nation’s presidential elections could dramatically increase voter turnout, increase representation of marginalized groups, and improve the strength of the city’s democracy. But yesterday, a majority of the…
Apr 15, 2019
County of Santa Clara Update on Stanford Univ. General Use Permit application negotiations At the October 16, 2018 (Item No. 9) Board meeting, the Board of Supervisors considered proceeding with a process to negotiate a possible development agreement with Stanford University relative to its General Use Permit (GUP) application. At the same October 16, 2018 (Item No. 9) Board meeting,…
Apr 10, 2019
The Mayor and a majority of the San Jose City Council appointed former colleague Pierluigi Oliverio to the city’s Planning Commission. Despite the fact that Oliverio was accused of sexually harassing and verbally abusing his female Chief of Staff while he was serving on City Council, Mayor Sam Liccardo, Vice Mayor Chappie Jones and Councilmembers Dev Davis, Johnny Khamis, Lan…
Apr 9, 2019
The Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits (SVCN) has announced its new CEO, Kyra Kazantzis. Kazantzis, who previously served on the SVCN Board of Directors for five years, is currently a Senior Policy Advisor to Mayor Sam Liccardo, tackling San Jose’s the housing and homeless crisis. Prior to joining the city, she served as a directing attorney at the Law Foundation…
Apr 8, 2019
The release of recent poll findings that people would rather tax themselves than have wealthy corporations pay raised eyebrows all over the South Bay. TLH consulted several pollsters who all expressed doubt about this finding. The poll was commissioned by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG) and the Bay Area News Group and conducted by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz &…
Apr 8, 2019
Santa Clara County Wasserman referral to update policy allowing notification to ICE for serious or violent felonies Sup. Wasserman recommends approval of a board referral to update the County’s current policy to reflect the current law on detainer requests, to reaffirm that the County has and will honor all judicial warrants, and to allow notification to ICE of those individuals…