Mar 12, 2015
This week marks the two-year anniversary of implementing a $2 increase in San Jose’s minimum wage. At the time, this 25 percent increase was one of the largest jumps in minimum wage in the nation’s history. Proponents said it would help low-wage workers pay for the basics with little harm to the economy, while opponents warned of economic catastrophe. As…
Mar 12, 2015
The politically influential Vietnamese-American Voters Political Action Committee (known more simply as “Viet Voters”) is chafing over being ignored by two of the 4 Vietnamese American candidates vying for San Jose’s District 4 council seat. Tweet
Mar 11, 2015
In late 2013, activists in San Francisco began protesting against “Google buses” – large commuter shuttle buses that ferry high tech workers from all over the Bay Area to Silicon Valley under contract with companies such as Apple, Google, and Facebook. The protests quickly spread to other cities including Oakland and Seattle. And what it brought to the forefront is…
Mar 10, 2015
Collective bargaining and good public policy is needed for California’s tech corridor to foster widely shared prosperity Silicon Valley is the center of innovation in our economy. But are the profits it generates helping to bolster a strong middle class? This question is as relevant today as it was in the 1990s, when the dot-com boom began. In fact, tech…
Mar 9, 2015
San Jose SB 3, Minimum Wage Fairness Act vote NEW MEMO: Councilmember Chappie Jones states his support to SB3 if it is amended with the following exemptions: 1) non-profits with job training programs; 2) small business with fewer than 15 employees; and 3) youth employment and job programs. Tweet
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
Mar 2, 2015
San Jose SB 3 – Minimum wage fairness act vote SB 3 will raise the state’s minimum wage to $11 per hour on January 1, 2016; to $13 on July 1, 2017; and beginning on January 1, 2019 and every January 1 thereafter, the minimum wage would be adjusted by the California CPI to keep pace with inflation. 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 18, 2015
Speculation is already hot on who will run for two South Bay open State Assembly seats in 2016. In the seat that covers the area from Morgan Hill and Gilroy down to the Central Coast, District 30 Assembly Member Luis Alejo terms out in a year and a half. Karina Cervantez, current Watsonville City Council member and Alejo’s wife, is…