Despite passionate and eloquent pleas from the City Hall audience, the Dec. 5 San Jose City Council decision wasn’t about taxpayers’ money, or voters’ rights. Cash, political power and private conversations not streamed on Zoom won the night.

The vacancies were created by the November election, when District 8 Councilmember Sylvia Arenas was elected as the District 1 representative on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and District 10 Councilmember Matt Mahan was elected mayor.

County Supervisor Cindy Chavez–-financially backed by the police union in her mayoral campaign–repeated the union's warnings of doom through robocalls, text messages and social media.  All of this would be very alarming, of course, if it were true. It's not true.

A week ago, we lost a 25-year-old resident Diego Castanon to another tragic roadway fatality. According to news accounts, Diego rode his Yamaha motorcycle off Story Road near Capitol Expressway and collided with an electrical box and light pole on the curb. Our families have lost loved ones in traffic-related deaths at an unprecedented rate in recent months–23 such deaths in 2022 alone.

Celebrated Silicon Valley lawyer Allen J. Ruby readies pre-trial arguments for Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith as her case likely will extend into the 2022 political season.

An investigation by Electronic Frontier Foundation found that of the 1.6 million plates scanned by SJPD last year, only 1,509 led to a successful match of a vehicle of interest to law enforcement.

Sen. Bob Wieckowski endorsed Wahab as his successor, but if campaign coffers are any sign, it’s still going to be a close race.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo hopes the City Council will this year approve a first-in-the-nation requirement that gun owners insure their weapons or pay fees to keep them.

The bill, SB 7, will take effect immediately, as it was approved as a so-called emergency statute.

Starting July 1, the average county resident will pay an additional $4.30 to $4.82 per month in their water bill. 

The East San Jose Covid Relief Fun has raised about $50,000 to give no-strings-attached grants to small businesses.

The mayors want $4 billion per-year for five years in flexible funding as part of the state budget. 

A volunteer commission working to change the way San Jose is governed is getting $110,000 from San Jose to improve outreach.

Google’s generosity toward San Jose has appeased some critics but has not addressed all concerns over long-term housing affordability.

The clock's ticking on San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo's final term, which ends in 2022, and candidates are lining up.

The development agreement outlines what Google wants to build in San Jose and the $200 million community benefits package for the project.