Jul 18, 2014
My daughter, Eliza, has forever changed my view of what it means to feel vulnerable. As Elizabeth Stone says, “Making the decision to have a child – it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” Since Jeremy and I welcomed her into our world three years ago this month, we…
Neighborhood safety in San Jose has deteriorated. Potholes riddle our streets. Businesses struggle to have their applications and permits processed. Libraries are shuttered more hours than they’re open. In the video above, San Jose engineers, architects, supervisors and mid-managers detail the challenges that they and their coworkers face as residents question why city services have been cut. Check out the…
Jul 14, 2014
My friends in the Liccardo-for-Mayor camp keep telling me that Sam will not be like Chuck Reed. It’s hard to believe. Sam has voted with the Mayor on every major economic justice issue. The two of them opposed the minimum wage increase, voted to undermine the City’s living wage policy, imposed work conditions on most of the City’s employees and…
Jul 14, 2014
Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission leads forum on Living Wage The Resource Development and Outreach Committee of the Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission will hold a special meeting regarding its role in the Living Wage proposal. Specifically the Committee wants to host a forum in August to gather input and feedback from the public on the proposed concept…
Jul 11, 2014
Last Sunday at 7pm, the small business my family spent 30 years building was taken away from us. We lost our retirement security, dozens of our employees lost their jobs, and the government lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue when McDonald’s forced us to close our franchised restaurant. McDonald’s says it did not renew our franchise agreement…
Jul 8, 2014
The recent California Superior Court ruling of Vergara vs. California addressed the constitutional rights to an equitable education. But what about the constitutional rights of teachers to due process? On June 10th, a judge in southern California decided that legislation created to prevent teachers from being victimized by unaccountable and capricious employers in a highly politicized profession is now a…
Jul 7, 2014
Summer’s here and many of our elected officials are on recess. With the exception of Cupertino’s Master Plan Study Update (7/7) and Mountain View’s study session on the San Antonio Precise Plan (7/8), not much is on deck in the way of policy. The picture of Clint Eastwood is just cool. Ahhh, summer! Tweet
Jul 3, 2014
To many people Brazil consists only of Rio De Janeiro and São Paulo. Conflicting images persist of beautiful beaches, Carnaval, and vibrant music or the favelas of the poor and the impoverishment of the rural landless and indigenous. Throw into the mix a month of the World Cup simultaneously enjoyed by many and despised by some. This grand mixture reflects…
Jul 3, 2014
It’s been made startlingly clear this week that U.S. Supreme Court justices are playing politics with the health and well-being of women. The Court’s recent rulings have curtailed women’s rights to enter health centers without harassment and hindered affordable -access to the most effective birth control methods. If you were wondering whether we can trust this Supreme Court to dispense justice…
Jul 2, 2014
One of the most bizarre political web sites to pop up recently attempts to defend Sunnyvale Council member Patrick Meyering against a recall campaign by comparing Meyering with both Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. The comparison is both absurd and offensive. Elected in 2011, Meyering has spent his partial council term fabricating accusations of corruption against city workers, citizens,…