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
Jun 21, 2018
Today, a civil grand jury released a report calling out the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District for years of poor leadership and fiscal misconduct, and advocated for the resignation of the three-trustee bloc which has controlled the District for years. The report states that the “three Trustees who frequently vote as a bloc have lost the community’s trust…The Grand…
Jun 19, 2018
Recent elections in the South Bay continue to show that late returns have favored progressive, labor-backed candidates and measures. This last Primary Election was no exception. The late returns in the hotly contested Santa Clara County District 4 Supervisor race decided the outcome of that race. With Susan Ellenberg advancing to the runoff, Election Day left Labor-endorsed San Jose Councilmember…
Jun 18, 2018
County of Santa Clara Direction on Inclusionary Housing Ordinance & Housing Impact Fee for Stanford development HLUET will review two related items that apply to new development at the Stanford University campus: the draft policy framework for an Inclusionary Housing Ordinance that would create new affordable housing units when new market-rate units are constructed, as well as an Affordable Housing…
Jun 12, 2018
As the results for the Supervisor District 4 race came in on Tuesday, June 5th, San Jose Councilmember Don Rocha, endorsed by the South Bay Labor Council, was more than a percentage point, about 200 votes, behind Pierluigi Oliverio, leaving the two candidates uncertain about who would face Susan Ellenberg in the November runoff. In the early days of counting,…