Council to Discuss Cost of Homeless Camp Cleanups in Fiscal Year’s Last Meeting
Jun 17, 2013 by Jennifer Wadsworth Politics, Business, Culture Comments (2)
Residents of a homeless encampment in San Jose. (Photo by Chip Scheuer)
The city expects to clear up 40 to 60 homeless encampments a year—indefinitely. Annual cost for the cleanups will range around $550,000, and possibly more, if the city approves a contract with Tucker Construction, Inc., at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Other agenda items for the last council meeting of the fiscal year include a settlement for a man struck by a police car, a renewal agreement with the city’s Sacramento lobbying firm and a potential shift to store city data through cloud computing.
County Finalizes 2013-14 Budget with Hearings This Week
Jun 17, 2013 by Jennifer Wadsworth Politics Comments (0)
County Executive Jeff Smith proposes a three-pronged approach to balancing the 2013-14 budget.
After 11 years of shortfalls and $2 billion of gap-closing, Santa Clara County plans to adopt a budget that maintains services and even restores some debilitating cuts. The Board of Supervisors will spend four days this week hammering out last-minute details of the $4.6 billion 2013-14 budget, which must balance a $67 million shortfall.
Attorneys Union Meeting Reveals ‘Deep Division’ on Admin Leave, Union Leadership
Jun 14, 2013 by Josh Koehn Politics, Culture Comments (1)
Max Zarzana, president of the Government Attorneys Association, may have miscalculated how to address the use of admin leave in the District Attorney’s office, as the county now wants to take back money from some GAA members.
The Government Attorneys Association (GAA) held a special meeting Friday, and sources tells San Jose Inside that if the county attorneys agreed upon anything, it’s that a “deep division” exists amongst the membership. The big question is how can this be resolved when the union’s leadership continues to focus on scoring fleeting political points.
‘Patient Dumping’ Victim Files Lawsuit with Help of ACLU
Jun 14, 2013 by Jennifer Wadsworth Culture Comments (2)
Mentally ill patients in Nevada were allegedly bused out of state with no one to help them upon arrival. (Photo by neovain, via Flickr)
A schizophrenic man bused with a one-way ticket, no cash and a few-days-supply of meds from Las Vegas to Sacramento earlier this year has filed a federal class action lawsuit against the state agencies he says abandoned him and at least 1,500 other mentally ill patients. Those patients were bused to nearly every state in the nation, many to major cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Jose.
San Jose Fire Chief Leaving for Las Vegas
Jun 13, 2013 by Christiana Cobb Politics Comments (10)
The San Jose Fire Department will have to find a new chief now that William McDonald will be leaving to take over Las Vegas’ fire department.
San Jose Fire Chief William McDonald will step down from his position after he was selected to serve as the head of Las Vegas’ fire department. His appointment is expected to be approved by the Las Vegas City Council in July.
Graveyard Dig Reveals 1,400 Bodies, Personal Items at Valley Medical Center Site
Jun 13, 2013 by Jennifer Wadsworth Culture Comments (2)
The potter’s field dig Thursday turned up almost 1,400 bodies as researches carefully tried to preserve the remains of San Jose’s poor and indigent between the late 1800s and 1920s.
Archaeologists and osteologists unearthed skeletal remains in unmarked redwood caskets from a pauper’s graveyard Thursday morning. In final excavations to ready the site for Valley Medical Center’s expansion, they found a clay smoking pipe, a wool jacket, an assortment of pocket knives and spectacles, among other personal items buried with the 1,400 or so bodies in the unmarked potter’s field, according to a county spokesperson.
San Jose State Lecturer Accused of Sexual Battery No Longer with School
Jun 13, 2013 by Christiana Cobb Culture Comments (2)
San Jose State University’s police department has received seven sexual assaults reports since June 2012, one of which involved a former faculty member.
San Jose State University no longer employs a lecturer accused of sexual battery by a student, according to SJSU President Mohammad Qayoumi.
The SONGS Remains the Same
Jun 13, 2013 by Peter Allen Business, Culture Comments (1)
The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) will finally close after a lengthy and expensive effort to keep the power plant operational.
Last Friday, Edison International—one of the largest investor-owned utilities in the country—announced that it would permanently retire the troubled San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The decision ended 18 months of uncertainty for Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) customers, after a January 2012 leak caused the plant to be shut down. The shutdown and now retirement of the plant has made our state’s energy future uncertain.
County Makes Correct Call on Jail Letters
Jun 13, 2013 by Rich Robinson Politics, Culture Comments (10)
County jails are studying how to handle the mail of inmates to keep out contraband. (Photo courtesy of National Geographic)
Most people do not consider jail inmates to be an empathic interest group. But many in custody are innocent, as they have not yet been proven guilty, and as a matter of law and right they must be treated justly. That’s why the Santa Clara County Department of Corrections (DOC) was right in halting a new proposal to limit mail in county jails.
Shirakawa Shadow Still Looms over Campos
Jun 12, 2013 by The Fly Politics, The Fly Comments (3)
San Jose Councilman Xavier Campos is already under investigation by the Fair Political Practices Commission, and a new charge against his buddy, former county Supervisor George Shirakawa Jr., could make matters worse.
Will Xavier Campos ever break free of George Shirakawa Jr.’s shadow? Last week, District Attorney Jeff Rosen announced a new felony charge against Shirakawa after the former county supervisor’s DNA was found on a stamp affixed to a 2010 political hit piece against Magdalena Carrasco, Campos’ San Jose council opponent that year. Campos released a statement that failed to deny involvement. A look back at some of his 2010 campaign disclosure forms has now created some intriguing new questions.
Mission Statement: This site is designed to encourage political debate, discussion and change in our city, started by people who value San Jose and are interested in her future and in this valley’s place in the state and nation.
Disclaimer: All views expressed on this site are solely the opinion of the individual writer.
Comment Policy: Please read our comment policy before posting.
© 2013 San Jose Inside. All rights reserved. Contact us
