Nov 5, 2014
San Jose is a city divided. And there is perhaps no better illustration of that than the Santa Clara County Registrar’s map which shows where mayoral candidates Dave Cortese and Sam Liccardo drew support. The East Side, made up of working class families and people of color, went largely to Cortese. The West Side, which is whiter and wealthier, voted…
Nov 4, 2014
There’s been a lot of confusion out there about Prop 45—and much of it has been the intended result of an extremely well-financed opposition. When you have a ton of money, you can effectively flood the airwaves, the internet and folks’ mailboxes with an ocean of misinformation. Proposition 45 is quite simple. Here’s the precise verbiage from the ballot as…
Oct 24, 2014
The plot thickens in the ethics scandal involving Mayor Reed’s political strategist Victor Ajlouny, with a tacit admission from Ajlouny that he did in fact encourage former Officer Aaron Ettinger to lie about whether the head of the police union was telling cadets to quit the department. Tweet
Oct 24, 2014
In politics, bringing different points of view together can sometimes be like herding cats. But after two years of pushing, pulling, negotiating and educating, a diverse coalition that deeply cares about San Jose’s affordable housing crisis could be making some real progress. If all goes as planned. But this week, Mayor Chuck Reed turned that little if, into a big…
Oct 23, 2014
What did Mayor Reed know and when did he know it? Those are the questions now arising from an ethics scandal set off by the Mayor’s longtime political strategist, Victory Ajlouny. Former San Jose Police Officer Aaron Ettinger is speaking out about being approached by Ajlouny and asked to falsely claim he was encouraged to quit the San Jose Police…
Oct 22, 2014
On June 18, the Santa Clara County Board of Education voted unanimously to overturn the decision of the Alum Rock School Board and approve Rocketship #9. I’m sure the individuals and corporations behind the movement to privatize public education will rejoice in this misguided decision. Under the guise of parental choice, county trustees have further endorsed and supported what amounts…
The following is a letter sent to the members of the San Jose City Council from Silicon Valley De-Bug: Dear San Jose City Council, We are writing this letter to urge the San Jose City Council to support Councilpersons Ash Kalra’s memo to amend the recommended city position on Proposition 47 from Oppose to Support. Proposition 47, a voter initiative on…
Support Prop 47 Council hero Ash Kalra wants to try and change the misguided minds of his dais foes on Proposition 47, the state measure that would reduce the classification of most “non-serious and nonviolent property and drug crimes” from a felony to a misdemeanor. Tweet