Mar 13, 2014
The Santa Clara County Deputy Sheriffs Association could be on its way into some hot water after having failed to file campaign contribution report for two years, and possibly longer. According to a complaint filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission, the DSA has not filed form 460 reports for contributions made to political candidates from 2010 through the end…
Mar 13, 2014
Listening to the Mayor’s State of the City Address recently, I noticed two words that did not trip off Mayor Reed’s tongue: parks and trails. For years now I have watched City leadership bypass, reduce, and exempt parks, trails and public recreation both in terms of vision and budget dollars. This has to change. Great cities have great parks and…
Mar 12, 2014
In the last seventy years, every decade or so, a new social movement emerged in the progressive community before heading to center stage in American politics. Those movements were often driven by young progressives. Now, we must gear up for the next progressive battle, the one that will define young progressives such as me and potentially our nation for decades.…
Mar 11, 2014
Have you read a book today? Waiting to the last minute, the San Jose City Council approved a resolution to place on the June ballot a Measure to extend the Library Parcel Tax. Surprisingly, the vote was unanimous. Perhaps that should be the headline from our partisan, divided, “I wanna be Mayor” City Council. Regardless, it’s good to see the…
Mar 10, 2014
As an active member of the Movement for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, I firmly believe that only comprehensive reform is the right solution to the human problem represented by the nearly 11 million undocumented workers living in our country. Therefore, I categorically condemn and disapprove the approach and strategy of the “principles for immigration reform” issued by the House Republicans on…
Mar 7, 2014
On February 25th, the Washington Post decided to wade into San Jose’s pension wars with a major article by Michael K. Fletcher. Alas, the venerable Post apparently did not even do minimal research or fact-checking before putting pen to paper. The result is a disappointing mega-whopper. Tweet
Mar 5, 2014
A new internal poll shows Sheriff Laurie Smith is headed for reelection in June. The news comes as no surprise as Smith has long been the most popular countywide elected official for years. The latest research was conducted by EMC Research whose analysis was clear; “Sheriff Laurie Smith is in an extremely strong position heading into the election year and…
Mar 3, 2014
While local school districts are implementing a new budgeting system and a new set of standards, the Santa Clara County Board of Education will spend the rest of the school year searching for a new superintendent and dealing with a lawsuit based on a 2012 vote. On March 5, the Ysleta School Board will announce that Dr. Xavier De La…
Feb 26, 2014
What do we need to know about the thousands of individuals that are released from our County jail each year before their trials? Last November, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted to retain the County’s Civil Detainer policy, which controls the cooperation between our local law enforcement agencies and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Some tried to…
Feb 25, 2014
Is there anyone among us who doesn’t believe our children are our future, or that early childhood education is key a person’s future success in life? Last week, I was invited to join the Gapbusters bus tour during its three-day, seven stop tour, from San Diego to Sacramento, to call on Gov. Brown to: Tweet