Nov 21, 2016
City of San Jose Approving amending the Minimum Wage Ordinance to reach $15 by July 2019 & adding exemption for youth under 18 Recommended action: Approve an ordinance amending the San José Municipal Code relating to Minimum Wage. On November 15, 2016, City Council directed staff to return on November 29, 2016 with an ordinance to modify the existing minimum…
Nov 16, 2016
Yesterday, the San Jose City Council voted to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 by 2019, three years before the state of California reaches that standard. San Jose — the 10th largest city in the nation— is the latest to join five other Santa Clara County cities in a regional effort to raise the wage. In the wake of…
Nov 14, 2016
Santa Clara County Approving authority to purchase property interest in the San Jose Marriott hotel from the former Redevelopment Agency The Property is currently comprised of a 510-room, 27-story hotel that provides many benefits to the public and the San José downtown economy, not to mention the many jobs provided to service the hotel. The Real Property Interest is being…
Nov 11, 2016
Bucking the national trend local Labor-backed candidates and measures did extraordinarily well in Tuesday’s election. Here’s a recap: In what was one of the most contested and expensive races in San Jose, Ash Kalra won his bid for Assembly District 27, surpassing his opponent Madison Nguyen by nearly 5,000 votes and counting. Charter schools, a primary funder of Nguyen’s, and…
Oct 31, 2016
City of San Jose Modifying resolution policy to limit City Council’s actions on national issues, plus letter in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe As recommended by the Rules Committee on October 19, Council will consider amending the Resolution policy to allow Councilmembers to issue letters individually or collectively representing their position, and not the Council position, on an…
Oct 10, 2016
City of San Jose San Jose: Potential changes to Affordable Housing Impact Fee; KMA report released; exempted projects so far would have brought in $112M in fees Provide recommendations to staff regarding the following recommended changes to the Affordable Housing Impact Fee (AHIF): Add an exemption to change the threshold size of rental projects to which the AHIF applies from…
Oct 5, 2016
Billions of dollars in public and private funds are pouring into our region to fuel Silicon Valley’s development boom. But the boom is a double-edged sword: without enough middle-class jobs for our community, long-time residents are being priced out. We urgently need innovative ways to leverage this development and ensure it leaves a lasting investment in expanded opportunity. The Santa…
Sep 26, 2016
Santa Clara County Creating Oversight Committee for Measure A Housing Bond; Counsel advised to not include Assessor or a housing advocate On August 16, the Board of Supervisors directed Administration to draft an ordinance to establish an independent citizens’ oversight committee for the Housing Bond. The attached ordinance meets the Board’s referral, with two exceptions. First, to ensure full independence…
Sep 21, 2016
City of San Jose Approving an additional $1.9 M for outside staffing in Planning Dept. plus 5 one-year options In February 2012, the City Council approved hiring private contractors to address temporary or “peak staffing” requirements in City departments including building inspection, plan review, planning services, and fire inspection services. A total of $5 million has been approved to outside…
Sep 16, 2016
Last week the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Board took a big step towards shrinking inequality and building an inclusive middle class. The Board voted to open up career opportunities on over $4 billion in construction projects for local community members who are struggling to find good, family-supporting jobs. This groundbreaking Community Workforce Agreement policy was a major goal of…