Jan 5, 2015
Happy New Year readers, it’s good to be back. City of San José Supersized committees Mayor Liccardo is adding a member to each of the Council’s standing committees, bringing the total from 4 to 5, while eliminating the Ad Hoc Economic Competitiveness Committee and the Ad Hoc Airport Competitiveness Committee. Instead of the Airport Competitiveness Committee, all airport-related issues will…
Dec 24, 2014
The Left Hook will take a break over the holidays, but we wanted to give you a brief look back at our inaugural year. From the launch of this now “go-to” source for local progressive news, to the wins for working families, 2014 was a fascinating and hopeful year. January, 2014: TLH kicks off and the Rise of Citizen Journalists…
Dec 22, 2014
Most government offices are slowing down or closing down for the holiday week, but here’s what’s coming up after the holidays: San Jose Special holiday closed session The San Jose City Council loves working together so much, they’ve scheduled a special meeting for December 30th, when they would ordinarily be snowboarding or something cool like that. The special closed session…
Dec 16, 2014
There was an eloquent and well thought-out argument by Council Member Ash Kalra. A substitute motion by Council Member Don Rocha to hold off on an appointment until January even drew the support of oft-opponent Council Member Pierluigi Oliverio. But Mayor-elect Sam Liccardo was determined to ram through his plans to appoint a campaign supporter as a temporary replacement for…
Bowing to pressure from those who support an open, Democratic and transparent government, San Jose Mayor-elect Sam Liccardo is now pulling the reins, a tiny bit, on rushing to appoint a campaign supporter of his as a replacement for the open District 4 seat. But it’s not enough. Community leaders and good government advocates are outraged at the way the…
Dec 12, 2014
UPDATE: Memo madness. Two more memos were added to Tuesday’s San Jose City Council agenda, in an attempt to pull the reins on Mayor-elect Liccardo’s rush to appoint an ally on the dais. While nevertheless expressing his great respect for likely appointee Margie Matthews, Councilman Don Rocha called for a longer application process with the Council taking up the option to…
Dec 11, 2014
UPDATE: Two candidates have thrown their names into the pot to be considered for a temporary appointment to serve in District 4: David Hernandez, and former City Council member Margie Mathews, according to the City Clerk’s office. Anyone else interested has until noon today to apply for consideration, and the City Council is expected to make an appointment Tuesday Dec.…
Dec 2, 2014
If you’re diverting your attention to more mundane issues now that the General Election is over…not so fast. San Jose City Council members decided to call a special election to fill the seat in District 4 left vacant when Kansen Chu was elected to the State Assembly. Tweet
Nov 20, 2014
Everyone’s talking about it. The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters is a mess. Now the Board of Supervisors has ordered an investigation into the “processes, procedures, and technologies used by the Registrar of Voters that may have impeded the timely delivery of a secure and accurate vote tally.” County Executive Jeff Smith has until January to get back to…
Nov 14, 2014
The polls are closed, ballots cast, and votes tabulated, and I am proud to say California Public Education won two major victories on Election Day both statewide and locally. At the state level, Tom Torlakson was successful in his reelection bid as State Superintendent of Public Instruction. On a personal note, the portion of Tom’s message that resonated most with me was, “Every…