The city of Santa Clara ended a lengthy search when it hired a new city manager this week. The City Council voted 4-1 to appoint Jovan Grogan to fill the vacancy left by the previous city manager, Deanna Santana, who was fired last year. Grogan, who is currently the city manager of San Bruno, will start his new position in Santa Clara on May 1.

With few exceptions, the grand jury report’s observations, conclusions and recommendations landed squarely on one side of the city’s political divide–led by Mayor Lisa Gillmor–that was on the losing end of the 2020 council elections, promping the 49ers to call for an investigation of the grand jury for conflicts of interest. Today, the final version of the report revealed that two members had recused themselves because of possible conflicts.

As the 2022 election season enters its final quarter, the San Francisco 49ers – whose money boosted prior campaigns in both San Jose this spring and Santa Clara in 2020 – may be staying on the sidelines.

The vote ended several months of rancor between the former city manager of Sunnyvale and Oakland and a new council majority.

Santana said she plans to “move quickly on this so that we can continue to stabilize this department.”

Councilwoman Kathy Watanabe revealed the investigation during the public meeting, and no one was more surprised than Doyle.

Mission City is ready to go to arbitration to get the $2.7 million owed. The team says that won’t be necessary.

Note: This new assessment prompted San Jose Inside to take a fresh look at two years of compensation for employees in California cities.

The $501,457 that City Manager Deanna Santana made in 2019 tops that of her counterparts in much larger municipalities.

Two of the seven individuals charged in the eBay cyberstalking case are former police captains with the Santa Clara Police Department.

Mayor Lisa Gillmor signed the “Commit to Action” initiative, led by President Obama, which calls for improved police use-of-force policies.

Organizers plan to repeat the route eight times, one for each minute George Floyd was choked to death by Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin.

If approved, the contract between the city Stadium Authority and Singer Associates would go into effect on July 1 and run through March 2022.

Former Mayor Pat Mahan is asking a state watchdog agency to investigate whether the city put taxpayer money to political use.

The city’s mouthpiece defended the cost of the trip as “reasonable” and the purpose as an overall benefit to taxpayers.

Former mayoral candidate Anthony Becker said he is embarrassed that Santa Clara failed to comply with basic transparency standards.