Jul 24, 2017
Alum Rock Union Elementary School District Contract with Fagen Friedman & Fulfrost Law Firm for legal service in response to FCMAT audit report The agreement would support ARUESD in responding to an audit report that found the district to be susceptible to fraud and misappropriation of funds due to close ties with a particular construction contractor. Board President believes this…
Jul 19, 2017
Last night, the Santa Clara City Council voted unanimously to enact a $15 minimum wage by 2019, three years before mandated by the State of California. Santa Clara joins Cupertino, Los Altos, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose and Sunnyvale in the first region-wide approach to raising the wage to $15 in the US, a concerted effort to ease…
Jul 10, 2017
City of Santa Clara Raising minimum wage to reach $15 by 2019; Mayor recommends one week deferral NOTE: Mayor Gillmor has released a memo recommending this item be continued one week to July 18 due to the length of the July 11 agenda. Staff are recommending that the Council pass to print an amended ordinance establishing the City’s local minimum…
Jun 30, 2017
Tomorrow, San Jose’s minimum wage is set to increase to $12, a $1.50 bump an hour for the City’s lowest paid workers. This increase is part of an effort that began in 2012 when San Jose residents voted to increase workers’ wages from $8 to $10. Then, in 2016, as surrounding cities were committing to raises wages at a rate…
Jun 21, 2017
Yesterday, the San Jose City Council voted to enter into an Exclusive Negotiation Agreement (ENA) with Google for the sale of the City-owned properties in the Diridon Station Area. Included as part of the ENA was the requirement that the developer implement a transparent community engagement process, which should include local residents, small businesses, faith-based and local organizations. Additionally, the…
Jun 19, 2017
County of Santa Clara Considering adoption of an affordable housing impact fee for unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County Administration is recommending that the Board consider recommendations related to the Silicon Valley/Alameda County Nexus Study, including taking the below possible actions: Receive report relating to Affordable Housing Nexus Studies prepared by Keyser Marston Associates. Direct Administration to conduct outreach to…
Jun 13, 2017
City of San Jose Approving ENA w/ Google for gigantic potential development in Diridon Station Area Adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with Google for the acquisition of properties owned by the City of San José and properties owned by the Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency (SARA) in the Diridon…
Jun 5, 2017
Santa Clara County Update on nonprofit Living Wage Policy & Ariba project The County has held two public forums on developing a Living Wage Policy for Community-Based Nonprofit Contractors. At the second forum, Supervisor Chavez presented the Administration’s draft policy provisions, including: $1/hr wage credits each for nonprofits that provide substantial tuition reimbursement/professional development benefits and/or vision & dental insurance;…
May 30, 2017
City of San Jose Council Member Diep proposing “Shield our City” ordinance to require ICE agents to obtain permission from City Attorney before conducting enforcement actions in specified locations Councilmember Lan Diep is recommending that Committee members agendize the proposed “Shield Our City” ordinance for the June 6, 2017 City Council meeting, so that the Council may direct staff to…
May 23, 2017
Has the U.S. Constitution passed its useful life? There are certainly signs that it no longer effectively routes political disorder through democratic channels: Political and economic polarization have reached extreme levels and are worsening. Political parties are weak and have lost the ability to moderate political differences. The President rules by executive order, undermines democratic institutions, like the press, demonizes…