San Jose Inside has learned that the Santa Clara County Office of Education cut tutoring services for foster youth and filed questionable federal grant reports while wasting more than a half-million dollars that could have helped the county's most needy children.
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County Moves to Regulate E-Cigarettes, Vapes
Santa Clara County supervisors want to bring electronic cigarettes and vapes under the purview of existing anti-smoking laws.
Report: San Jose Falls Far behind Affordable Housing Targets
While San Francisco commands more headlines for its exorbitant rental prices, San Jose has struggled to meet affordable housing goals of its own.
County Supervisors Consider Minimum Wage Increase
More than a year after San Jose upped its minimum wage to $10 an hour and as the conversation around pay increases for low-paid workers ramps up on a national scale, Santa Clara County is starting to look at enacting a similar measure for unincorporated parts of the region. Supervisor Dave Cortese, who’s also running for mayor of San Jose, will lead the discussion when the Board of Supervisors meets on Tuesday. A county ordinance comes with many more challenges than a citywide measure, Cortese notes.
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed Takes Long View in Final State of the City Speech
Chuck Reed spent much of his eighth and final State of the City speech thanking his predecessors while noting that a mayor’s work goes on long after he or she leaves office. Noting that he and past elected officials in San Jose have stood “on the shoulders of giants,” Reed said the work he and the council have carried out in recent years must be viewed outside the prism of four-year term limits. “We have to think in much longer timeframes,” he said.
Learning from the Brenden Tiggs Tragedy
On Sunday, Brenden Tiggs, an 18-year-old African American student at San Jose State, committed suicide in his dorm room. According to local media, his dad did not believe the coroner’s ruling, because his son was doing well and seemed happy. While it’s a topic we often don’t like to talk about, suicide rates for young men in the United States are especially troubling.
Wasserman’s State of the County Speech Highlights Social Services, Healthcare
The stink of ex-Supervisor George Shirakawa Jr. has dissipated, and Santa Clara County is focused on a fresh start for 2014. “Scandal is no longer in the air,” Supervisor Ken Yeager said after Tuesday’s State of the County speech, delivered by recently sworn-in Board President Mike Wasserman. “We certainly spent most of last year changing and improving public outreach and creating much more transparency than there was before.” Wasserman’s address focused on the county’s role as a safety net for the most vulnerable, while also highlighting the little-known services it provides for residents.
County Combines Addiction Treatment, Mental Health Departments
Given that clientele often overlaps, Santa Clara County will integrate its departments of Drug and Alcohol Services and Mental Health. Also, on the agenda for Tuesday’s county Board of Supervisors meeting: a new name for the South County Airport, making campaign disclosure forms available online and funding an anti-terrorism law enforcement communications network.
Fake Signatures Kill Attempt to Repeal Styrofoam Ban
An initiative to reverse a San Jose-wide ban on polystyrene food take-out containers failed after election officials found that more than half the signatures endorsing the measure were made-up or otherwise unusable.
Xmas in Park Calls Cops on Food Trucks
While families bit into churros and navigated the winter carnival that is downtown San Jose during the holidays, the season of giving became a little less magnanimous around Christmas in the Park. And no, we’re not talking about the shooting. Ryan Sebastian, the entrepreneur behind Moveable Feast, approached organizers months ago about providing some food options for the December event. They—well, specifically Christmas in the Park director Jason Minsky—apparently blew him off.
San Jose Considers New Tax to Pay for Affordable Housing
Business groups worry that San Jose could scare away developers if it imposes a fee on new home construction to pay for more affordable housing, an effort to recoup a fraction of the money lost when the state closed all redevelopment agencies. The City Council, which was supposed to talk about the inclusionary housing fee in December, decided to table the discussion until the new year.
2013: The Year in Review
The year 2013 will be remembered for its political turmoil, local and nationwide. A former county supervisor went to jail and the spotlight subsequently landed on his political buddy, a San Jose councilman. The Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to get married, and the president lied to the nation about domestic spying. San Jose Inside runs down the list of stories that caught our attention this year.
Plan to Fix Broken Streetlights Goes before Rules Committee
Copper wire theft and other problems leave hundreds of streetlights dark, creating a public safety problem in several neighborhoods. But what if the city leases these poles to telecom companies as cell stations to expand their 4G network? Councilmembers Rose Herrera and Sam Liccardo proposed the idea, saying the lights get fixed, courtesy of Philips, and San Jose receives better cell phone service while residents aren’t left in the dark.
Charter, Public Schools Can Coexist
Two events I attended this week provide some optimism about traditional public and charter schools’ ability to coexist. Stories of eliminating inequality in public education are playing out in real time all over the valley. We should stand proud of how the region is rising up to form powerful coalitions to lobby elected officials and public leaders.
Dave Cortese Running for Mayor of San Jose in 2014
Dave Cortese made a long-expected announcement Wednesday that he will run for mayor of San Jose in 2014. The District 3 county supervisor, who made an unsuccessful run in 2006 while serving as a San Jose councilmember, plans to file papers with the Registrar of Voters on Wednesday afternoon.
County to Discuss Measure A Spending
The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will decide how to allocate a third of this year’s Measure A revenue, or $15.3 million. They’re expected to spend the bulk of it on affordable housing and healthcare for the uninsured. Other items on the include guidelines for a 55-acre civic center in downtown San Jose, rapid re-housing for the homeless and downsizing a tobacco prevention and control program.
