Jul 30, 2018
City of San Jose Placing a $950M GO bond on Nov.6 ballot Council will review the results of a community survey and may place a general obligation bond measure on the Nov. 6 ballot that would levy16¢ per $1,000 of assessed value to raise $950M, averaging $51M annually. The revenue would be used to: Upgrade 911 communications/ police/ fire facilities…
Jul 26, 2018
Santa Clara’s newly imposed election map has created one predominately minority voter district, pitting candidates of color against one another in an effort to give them a better shot at a Council seat. The remaining five districts are majority white. Of the candidates who applied for an appointment to the Council seat recently vacated by Dominic Caserta, only two are…
Jul 24, 2018
Yesterday’s decision by the Superior Court to create a six district electoral map in Santa Clara was followed-up by an amended Order, released today, that addresses the “sequencing” of district elections. The newly created districts that will be up for election are Districts 2 and 3. As with other cities that use the district-based electoral system, candidates for Santa Clara…
Jul 23, 2018
Today, Superior Court Judge Thomas Kuhnle ruled that Santa Clara will be subdivided into six electoral districts for the November 2018 election. It is anticipated that the City will appeal the judge’s order, possibly putting the current at-large election system back in play this November. The changes set forth by the ruling require the Santa Clara County Register of Voters…
Jul 23, 2018
City of Cupertino Report & input on developing a regulatory program for Short-Term Rentals The Planning Commission will provide comments for the development of a short-term rental regulation program. At the February 5, 2018 study session, Council requested that staff explore Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) collection from STRs and the development of a regulatory framework for STR compliance. Based on…
Jul 3, 2018
County of Santa Clara Approving resolution to call for ballot measure extending sales tax, with $50M annual revenue The Board may approve a resolution to place on the November ballot a measure to extend the current one-eighth of a cent sales tax on an ongoing basis, which would generate an estimated $50M in general fund revenue annually. The current sales…
Jun 29, 2018
Candidate for Santa Clara County Sheriff John Hirokawa has taken the position that racist, sexist and anti-Semitic texts by Santa Clara County deputy sheriffs are not an issue if those text were sent on their own time and on their own devices. Here’s why that’s wrong: bigotry, whether on the job or off the job, is an issue when you…
Jun 27, 2018
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito delivered the opinion in the infamous Janus case – an opinion explicitly aimed at reducing the rights and political capacity of American workers. The opinion claims to be defending free speech. In fact, true freedom of speech is the last thing the signers of this opinion have in mind. In his opinion, Alito sanctimoniously condemns…
Jun 25, 2018
City of San Jose Progress report on new Downtown EIR & Diridon Station CED will receive a progress report related to Downtown commercial and residential development, economic vitality initiatives, public life and place making, clean and safe activities, special events, and convention and cultural activities. The Downtown Strategy 2040 EIR is on track for completion this year and will evaluate…
Jun 25, 2018
Republican San Jose City Councilmembers Johnny Khamis and Dev Davis are leaving the GOP and rumored to be registering as Decline to State voters. Their decision to part ways with the Republican Party is an obvious effort to hide their conservatism from voters in upcoming elections. Khamis and Davis will announce their departure from the GOP later today. Tweet