San Jose Inside

City and county governments must operate with less money, while citizens still expect the same level of services. Two recent partnerships show great work can still be done in this new paradigm.

Usually, the race for California’s highest public school office lacks suspense. This year is a notable exception.

Deadly encounters between police and citizens have increased in recent years. And while officer-involved shootings are nearly always ruled justified, mistakes are costly—both in lives and in the millions that the public pays to victims and their heirs.

When the next big earthquake strikes, hundreds of buildings in Silicon Valley are prone to collapse. Yet unlike other major Bay Area cities that have adopted policies to incentivize seismic retrofitting—namely Oakland, San Francisco, Berkeley and Fremont—San Jose has done nothing to fix the problem. A group of City Council officials want to create a program, similar to those in Oakland and San Francisco, encouraging property owners to make their buildings sturdier.

Santa Clara County announced that it "released" John Vartanian from his position of director of the Department of Child Support Services.

An op-ed by a former San Jose police cadet touched off a debate about whether the head of the Police Officers Association committed an ethical violation by encouraging recruits to drop out. Jim Unland, president of the police union, has denied the allegations.

The city of Santa Clara’s success is largely due to its political leadership. Elected leaders in Cupertino, on the other hand, have been an embarrassment, and none of those incumbents should be allowed to return to office.

San Jose may update its procurement card policies to keep employees in check, after a recent audit found several examples of overspending.

A report about the cost of living in Silicon Valley goes before the Board of Supervisors next week. Also on the agenda: a "living wage" ordinance, pro bono legal help for migrant children and a digital security program proposed by Supervisor Joe Simitian.

Santa Clara County Board of Education trustee Joseph DiSalvo examines how Silicon Valley's public schools routinely fail to secure grant funding for STEM education.

Silicon Valley needs to lead the discussion in Congress, and Ro Khanna offers the best chance to start a new dialogue.

Closing time has come and gone for about 30 pot clubs in San Jose since the city passed a sweeping regulatory program over the summer. Judging by a database of permit applications from the city, at least a couple-dozen more will fall under the axe in the coming months.

One of the most overlooked races this election cycle focuses on one of our most precious resources: water. Gary Kremen, founder of Match.com, has taken the fight to enviro nerd Brian Schmidt, the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s North County trustee. And it’s getting expensive.

May Esparza has spent a lifetime in the communities she would represent, and much of her career has been spent working for socially relevant non-profits.

Charles “Chappie” Jones should fill San Jose’s District 1 City Council seat, and not just because he isn’t Paul Fong.