May 10, 2019
Yesterday’s surprising announcement that Assembly Member Kansen Chu will make a play for Supervisor Dave Cortese’s open seat instead of seeking re-election has left folks wondering who will step up to be the next Assembly Member. Anna Song, the most seasoned member of the Santa Clara County Office of Education, is rumored to be interested. Song, with years of experience…
May 9, 2019
The race to replace termed-out Council Member Johnny Khamis is getting a little more crowded. Jenny Higgins Bradanini, President of the Bay Area Women’s March, was the first to announce her campaign in March of this year. Most recently Higgins Bradanini served as former Council Member Rocha’s policy director and previously worked on a number of local candidate campaigns. Rumored to be throwing…
May 8, 2019
Yesterday, the Milpitas City Council rejected both rent control and an emergency just cause eviction ordinance. Council Members Anthony Phan, Carmen Montano and Bob Nuñez voted against asking staff to draft rent control and just cause eviction policies for the city, while Mayor Rich Tran and Vice Mayor Karina Dominguez supported moving forward with the tenant protections. The rent control…
May 7, 2019
Santa Clara County Direction on Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking, incl. Chavez rec for $5M funding to address gender-based violence On April 15, the County’s Children, Seniors, and Families Committee (CSFC) and City of San José’s Public Safety, Finance, and Strategic Support Committee (PSFSSC) convened a joint Special Hearing on Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking to…
Apr 29, 2019
City of San Jose REPLACEMENT MEMO 4/29 – 4 affordable housing exemption programs will lead to $138M+ in public subsidies for developers REPLACEMENT MEMO 4/26 – The “replacement memo” reflects changes to Attachment E, which lists projects that have not completed the exemption process or are no longer eligible for an exemption. Among the projects listed is Google. Within Attachment…
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…