San Jose Inside

A judge ruled that the city of San Jose should be on the hook for union attorney fees in the ongoing battle over Measure B pension reforms, according to a NBC report. But the legal battle isn't over yet.

Some 200 attendees—many of them former San Jose police officers—met at the California Theatre on Thursday to honor the life of Joseph McNamara, the city's former police chief and “father of community policing.”

The source that provided emails for San Jose Inside’s recent stories on pay-to-play coordination between Mike Honda’s office and his re-election campaign has decided to come forward, after new information surfaced about his relationship with former co-workers.

Summer is officially over and it seems like an appropriate time to reflect on the activities, challenges and accomplishments of the past few months, along with the people who really distinguished themselves by their work.

The San Jose mayor’s race has been unfortunately distilled down to a contentious debate on public safety, crime and pension reform. But if the next mayor focuses on one different issue, he will be able to address all of the aforementioned topics.

Four former San Jose police chiefs got together last month for an orchestrated media event. While they blamed the city's pension reforms for driving officers away, none bothered to mention that their huge pension payouts boost the argument as to why pensions needed to be scaled back.

San Jose may try to settle a spat with Santa Clara County to free up some $20 million-a-year that could pay for affordable housing and homeless shelters.

Rep. Mike Honda’s office denies it engaged in a pay-to-play scheme to grant campaign contributors and prospects access to government events, despite internal emails released last week by Metro and San Jose Inside that suggest otherwise. An additional, previously unseen email could make Honda’s claims of strict separation more difficult.

California made history this month by ending its "Wild West" policy of allowing uncontrolled groundwater pumping by nearly any landowner in the state.

Five weeks from Election Day, the San Jose mayor's race—expected to be the most expensive race in city history—is ramping up. Attack ads are in the mail, media attention is intensifying and candidates are squaring off in public debates. Here's a list of upcoming events.

San Jose Police Chief Larry Esquivel has recommended the city dramatically raise fines for violating the new cannabis club regulations.

Ro Khanna and two locally elected officials held a press conference Friday calling on the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate the pay-to-play coordination between Rep. Mike Honda’s staff and his re-election campaign, which San Jose Inside first reported this week.

Did someone pull off the perfect crime last week in San Jose? Consider the elements: The house in question, including the address, was published in many news accounts. The occupant was publicly known to be traveling during the break-in. Police in San Jose, due to a lack of officers, do not respond to crimes in progress unless bodily harm is imminent. Oh yeah. And they don't investigate burglaries after the fact.

A high-ranking Santa Clara County official was placed on paid leave Thursday in the wake of a report that pointed to widespread dysfunction under his watch. Don Moody, the public administrator/guardian/conservator, was escorted out of his office, sources tell San Jose Inside.

I have been to Chicago many times, but while visiting in August I was given a special tour of several parks, courtesy of Gia Biagi, chief of staff for the Chicago Park District. San Jose would do well to model its park system after the Windy City.