Mar 26, 2014
I have 17 million reasons for wanting to increase the minimum wage. Yes, 17 million—the number of children whose lives would be a little more secure if their moms and dads earned at least $10.10 an hour. When I was in junior high, my daddy had a heart attack. He was home for a while, the medical bills piled up,…
SJPOA exposes false claims from Sam Liccardo that San Jose has help coming to deal with skyrocketing crime. New city projections released at a Willow Glen community meeting show 100 less officers in San Jose by June of 2016. Tweet
Mar 20, 2014
We live in an incredibly labor-friendly area, where workers are respected for what they do, and are generally compensated quite well for their hard work. That’s not always the case though, especially when greedy, out-of-state employers operate in our area. Workers need to have safeguards in place that protect them from being exploited by these types of employers. Tweet
Mar 19, 2014
It’s been a year since San Jose voters overwhelmingly decided to raise the City’s minimum wage to $10 an hour, and guess what? Not only has the sky NOT fallen, as critics warned, but the economy and low wage workers are better off than they were a year ago. Some of the major supporters of Measure D, as it was…
Mar 18, 2014
We are in the midst of what Anti-Choice bullies call the “40 Days for Life” protests, which began on March 5 and run through the end of Lent on April 13. The word “life” is apparently open to interpretation by these people because the lives of women don’t seem to be included. Across the country, extremist demonstrators are protesting at health clinics…
Mar 17, 2014
In a unique gathering of civic leaders, civil rights advocates and cultural artists — Silicon Valley De-Bug held a forum on the growing economic disparities facing Silicon Valley. The event, packed shoulder to shoulder, took on an innovative approach by premiering a music video at Camera 12 Movie Theater to engage the community around an urgent economic, social, and political…
Mar 14, 2014
Mayor Chuck Reed has suspended efforts to qualify a statewide ballot initiative to attack the retirement security of public workers in California. The measure would have changed the California Constitution to eliminate the constitutional protections for public workers, who have a vested right to their pensions. Tweet
Mar 13, 2014
The Santa Clara County Deputy Sheriffs Association could be on its way into some hot water after having failed to file campaign contribution report for two years, and possibly longer. According to a complaint filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission, the DSA has not filed form 460 reports for contributions made to political candidates from 2010 through the end…
Mar 13, 2014
Listening to the Mayor’s State of the City Address recently, I noticed two words that did not trip off Mayor Reed’s tongue: parks and trails. For years now I have watched City leadership bypass, reduce, and exempt parks, trails and public recreation both in terms of vision and budget dollars. This has to change. Great cities have great parks and…
Mar 12, 2014
In the last seventy years, every decade or so, a new social movement emerged in the progressive community before heading to center stage in American politics. Those movements were often driven by young progressives. Now, we must gear up for the next progressive battle, the one that will define young progressives such as me and potentially our nation for decades.…