Author Archives : The Left Hook

May 18, 2015

Poilcy Watch: Your weekly tip sheet for what’s going on in your community

San Jose Recommendation to defer salary increase for City Council members The Mayor and three councilmembers: Rocha, Kalra, and Carrasco are asking that the council defer action on giving themselves a raise until the City has finished its contract negotiations with City unions.  The City’s Salary setting commission recommended raises for the Mayor increasing his salary from $114,000 to $125,000…

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May 14, 2015

Mayor’s New Press Secretary Cut Her Political Teeth in the Reagan Administration

Whoever said “Politics is a contact sport” probably didn’t mean it was literally a “sport,” but Mayor Sam Liccardo seems to have tapped the sports world for his new Public Information Officer.  Michelle Schmitt Young, a registered Republican,  spent the last four years as the Assistant Athletic Director in charge of Public Relations at Santa Clara University. (Go Broncos!)  Prior…

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May 11, 2015

Policy Watch: Your weekly tip sheet for what’s going on in your community

San Jose Renters’ rights and affordable housing Two proposals are being put forward addressing the crisis facing renters in San Jose. From Council member Peralez:  A prohibition against discrimination based on source of income (Section 8 and other housing subsidies).  Recommendations on improvements and a comprehensive analysis of the data and effectiveness of the City of San Jose’s Rental Rights…

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May 7, 2015

Santa Clara Headed for Minimum Wage Hike

 The City of Santa Clara could have a new ordinance raising its minimum wage by midsummer.  Council member Dominic Caserta led the effort to raise the wage to $11 an hour starting next January, with a plan to work with Sunnyvale and Mountain View on a regional $15 dollar an hour wage by 2018. Tweet

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May 7, 2015

Kamei Appointed to Fill Vacant County Board of Education Seat

Rosemary Kamei is the newest member of the Santa Clara County Board of Education.  Last night’s vote wrapped up a 5-hour examination of the five candidates who applied for appointment to the vacant seat created when Leon Beauchman left to focus on other responsibilities.  It ultimately came down to two very well qualified candidates: Kamei and former City Council member…

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May 5, 2015

Wage Theft Issue Gains Momentum

It’s a story not too many other media outlets seem to be paying attention to, (except us and NBC Bay Area )yet it’s critical to thousands of Silicon Valley workers.  The San Jose City Council voted to move forward with a proposal to strengthen wage theft laws in San Jose.  The tally that put the close vote over the line…

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May 5, 2015

After 6-Week Vacancy, Mercury News Hires City Hall Beat Reporter

The new San Jose City Hall beat reporter is home grown SJSU grad Ramona Giwargis, whose last gig was at the Merced Sun Star newspaper for three years.   Giwargis describes herself as a “Broadcast media professional” on LinkedIn.  That was most likely from the days when she worked in TV in Salinas, Eureka or as an intern at NBC…

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May 5, 2015

Lots of Job Openings at City of San Jose

San Jose City leaders will face a sobering statistic next week with the Employee Hiring Audit that shows some 600 vacancies among City jobs.  The Audit makes recommendations on what to do about it, now that Measure B seems to have effectively emptied out hundreds of posts.  Tweet

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May 1, 2015

Morgan Hill Files Suit Against County Office Of Education, 6th District to Sue the County

The Morgan Hill Unified school district filed suit against the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) in the county’s superior court.  The beleaguered County Office of Education, who carries a mission of serving and supporting local school districts, has now been sued by six of the county’s local school districts over its unprecedented approval of 43 charter schools.  Tweet

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Apr 30, 2015

Workplace Deaths on the Rise Among Latinos

Following up on our Worker Memorial Day post, new statistics show workplace deaths for Latinos are on the rise.  According to the AFL-CIO annual report “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect,” workplace deaths among Latinos in America rose from 748 in 2012, to 817 in 2013.  The majority were men, and the overwhelming majority were immigrants: 542. Tweet

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