Mar 6, 2015
In San José’s pension wars, the truth has often been a casualty, and former Council member Pete Constant was often the trigger man. What a pleasant surprise to find the City has begun to set the record straight. Tweet
Mar 4, 2015
Silicon Valley is an area of contrasts. When you stop at a traffic light in Silicon Valley you will often find a Maserati or Tesla on one side of you and a beaten up, 15-year-old Accord on the other. It seems there are more high-end Mercedes, Jaguars, Bentleys or the occasional Maybach than in other areas. Tweet
Feb 23, 2015
City of San José Ethics Commission & Planning Commission Appointments The City of San José is looking to appoint some new commissioners. The Council will interview five applicants for the Ethics Commission and appoint up to three members to terms expiring in 2019. Tweet
Feb 11, 2015
County leaders hope a program to create summer jobs for teens will help cut down on the crime that traditionally rises that time of year. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted yesterday to create 500 paid summer internship and job opportunities for at-risk and low income youth. Tweet
Jan 23, 2015
Inequality in the country has exceeded that of the Great Depression. Zoom in to Silicon Valley, and the crisis is magnified. Silicon Valley, the poster child of groundbreaking innovation and wealth has sadly also become the nation’s capital of inequality. With the highest per capita millionaires and billionaires in Santa Clara, a raise for the lowest wage workers is way…
Jan 22, 2015
There’s good news and bad news in the City of San Jose’s just-released Comprehensive Annual Financial Report on its two pension funds. The good news is that the investment returns for the Police and Fire Plan (which covers police and fire) and the Federated Plan (which covers everyone else) were 13.5% and 14.2% respectively. That’s well above the 7.125% and…
Jan 12, 2015
Getting out ahead of Mayor Liccardo’s plan for immigrant residents, a new memo by Councilmembers Ash Kalra, Tam Nguyen, Magdalena Carrasco and Raul Peralez calls for funding to help immigrants take advantage of President Obama’s recent executive order on immigration. Last November, the President declared, through an executive order, various forms of temporary relief from deportation and work authorization for…
Dec 24, 2014
The Left Hook will take a break over the holidays, but we wanted to give you a brief look back at our inaugural year. From the launch of this now “go-to” source for local progressive news, to the wins for working families, 2014 was a fascinating and hopeful year. January, 2014: TLH kicks off and the Rise of Citizen Journalists…
Dec 16, 2014
After months of research and public discussions, Santa Clara County Supervisors have officially passed the most comprehensive Living Wage ordinance in the nation. A week ago, Supervisors approved the progressive details of the newly proposed law, which include: requiring county contractors to pay employees a living wage, with health and retirement credits, paid sick leave, a voice on the job…
Dec 15, 2014
San Jose: Reed/Liccardo seek to ram D4 Council replacement through, waiving Sunshine rules. As recommended by the Rules and Open Government Committee on December 10, 2014, the council is being asked to appoint an interim representative for Council District 4 to serve until a new council member has been elected. (Mayor/Liccardo). Reed and Liccardo recommend appointing former Council member Margie…