Author Archives : The Left Hook

Silicon Valley Rising Campaign Making Gains – Microsoft announces mandating sick leave for contract employees


 Microsoft announced that it will require many of its 2,000 contractors and vendors to provide their employees who perform work for Microsoft with 15 paid days off for sick days and vacation time.  This comes after months of public pressure by Silicon Valley Rising, a coalition of faith, community and labor groups, who have been working to improve the conditions of…

Rocketship Agrees to Back Down


Last night it was announced that Rocketship Education would not being using any of the 20 charters the Santa Clara County Office of Education authorized in December 2011 in the Franklin-McKinley school district.  A statement read at the school board meeting explained that the Franklin-McKinley Union School District and Rocketship Education had reached a settlement on lawsuit filed in February,…

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


San Jose  Expansion of Disadvantage Business Enterprise goals Date/time/location item will be heard:  March 25, 2015, 1:30 pm Memo from Liccardo, Herrera, Kalra & Peralez to approve the proposed overall Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) participation goal as a minimum, while making every effort to surpass the goal; Work with community stakeholders, such as the Minority Business Consortium, ethnic/minority Chambers of Commerce,…

Impact Fees Spreading to Ease Housing Crisis


Affordable housing advocates won another battle on the local level with the passage of a housing impact fee in one of the valley’s fastest growing cities.  Earlier this week the Sunnyvale City Council voted to support staff’s recommended level of $17/sf. It was a good discussion that had only one member line up against the fee at all (Jim Davis).…

Rosenberg Heads for Cloudier Skies


He couldn’t bear to watch Levi’s stadium host it’s first Superbowl now that the 49’rs don’t have a chance. So he’s moving to Seattle to root for the Seahawks as a 12th man.  (Even though he’s really a Pat’s fan, being from Boston and all.) The Mercury News should be announcing the replacement of its San Jose City Hall reporter…

Ro Khanna’s Republican Support


Former Congressman Ernie Konnyu dashed the hopes of sexist, old white guys by announcing that he will not be running for the U.S. Senate next year.  You may remember that Konnyu faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment during his one term in Congress.  Fortunately, for old guard Republicans, Konnyu is thinking about the next generation of conservative leaders. Tweet

City Unions Ready to Re-Engage in Pension Negotiations


City unions are on their way back to the negotiating table with the City Administration, after reaching a compromise on how to approach Measure B. In a public announcement from the San Jose Police Officers Association, the union states: “In response to our pleas we received the attached letter from Mayor Liccardo that details a clear new direction from the City…