Mar 6, 2015
In San José’s pension wars, the truth has often been a casualty, and former Council member Pete Constant was often the trigger man. What a pleasant surprise to find the City has begun to set the record straight. Tweet
Feb 23, 2015
City of San José Ethics Commission & Planning Commission Appointments The City of San José is looking to appoint some new commissioners. The Council will interview five applicants for the Ethics Commission and appoint up to three members to terms expiring in 2019. Tweet
Jan 5, 2015
Happy New Year readers, it’s good to be back. City of San José Supersized committees Mayor Liccardo is adding a member to each of the Council’s standing committees, bringing the total from 4 to 5, while eliminating the Ad Hoc Economic Competitiveness Committee and the Ad Hoc Airport Competitiveness Committee. Instead of the Airport Competitiveness Committee, all airport-related issues will…
Dec 8, 2014
City of San José Interim Appointment Mayor Reed and Mayor-elect Liccardo have jointly issued a memo to the Rules and Open Government Committee seeking an interim appointment for Council District 4 until a new council member can be elected in the upcoming special election. Tweet
Dec 1, 2014
County of Santa Clara Citizens’ Advisory Commission on Elections The Citizens’ Advisory Commission will be meeting in the wake of a very interesting election cycle. Right or wrong, the Registrar of Voters was foisted into the hot seat on election night with the technical difficulties, a perceived slow counting process and personnel changes in the heart of the lineup. Some…
Nov 24, 2014
City of San Jose District 4 Vacancy Assemblymember-elect and current Councilmember from District 4 Kansen Chu is currently orienting himself to his new gig representing Assembly District 25 in the state’s capitol. With the Assemblymember-elect’s swearing in scheduled for December 1, the San Jose City Council is poised to decide how to fill the newly created vacancy for District 4.…
Nov 18, 2014
Santa Clara County Living Wage Policy The County Board of Supervisors will vote on whether to adopt a living wage policy for the County’s procurement process. The proposed policy will be the most comprehensive living wage for the $2.5 billion in contracts and around 16,000 workers employed by the County. While the Administration is still working out a plan to…
Aug 21, 2014
Just like the Harlem Shake meme that was hot for a second and then died faster than Michelle Bachman’s presidential bid, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge appears to have won the internet and is bordering dangerously on the saturation limit before we all get bored and move on. While it’s still fresh in most people’s minds, I want to share…
Aug 20, 2014
The New Yorker featured perennial Congressional candidate Ro Khanna in an article titled “The Disruption Candidate. Right. Disruption – aka moving fast and breaking sh*t – is how we got the Patriot Act. Also this last line: The last page of ‘The Great Gatsby’—I forget the line, about looking at the dock and moving toward the future and all that. The Valley is…
Readers: It’s another light agenda week. Please enjoy some summer reading inequality and the minimum wage. Paul Mason writes in the Guardian that the best of capitalism is over for rich counties by painting a bleak picture of what a continuation of “more of the same” means by 2060. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/07/capitalism-rich-poor-2060-populations-technology-human-rights-inequality Tweet