Judge Patricia Lucas, meanwhile, has asked the plaintiffs to return to court next month with a new appraisal on the property in question.

After announcing two separate bids for higher office, Milpitas Mayor Rich Tran has decided to renew focus on his beloved hometown.

After years on the defensive, the Milpitas mayor is flexing his political muscles, threatening to make good on a threat to oust a political foe.

With 55 percent of the ballots counted Thursday, Milpitas Mayor Rich Tran is on track for an easy victory.

A mailer painting Rich Tran as a communist backfired by drawing fierce condemnation on whoever sent the offending literature.

State political watchdogs unearthed suspicious activity from the 2012 campaign of former Milpitas Mayor Jose Esteves.

We’re still 16 months from the 2018 primary, but a huge group is already lining up to run for two county supervisor seats.

The election provided an injection of youth to Milpitas’ elected offices, and the city has a chance to move beyond its entrenched establishment.

Tom Williams, city manager for Milpitas, sent out a navel-gazing press release Monday praising his work following a personnel investigation.

A special election took place in Santa Clara County last week and something unusual happened—it went smoothly. Well, maybe not that smooth for one candidate.

Failed Milpitas council candidate and patent attorney Rajeev Madnawat freaked people out in October when he threatened to leave an outgoing councilman “lifeless” and embarked on a social media rampage. But it appears Milpitas Mayor Jose Esteves is willing to look past all of that.

Gadfly
noun ˈgad-ˌflī
1: any of various flies (as a horsefly, botfly, or warble fly) that bite or annoy livestock
2: a person who stimulates or annoys especially by persistent criticism

This story involves definition No. 2, but we’re not here to make fun of a strident citizen in the snarky manner you might expect. No, this Story of the Week focuses on a gadfly getting the best of an elected official. The whole deal is pretty absurd, so, of course, it happened in Milpitas.

Iowa just held its Republican Primary to ring in the New Year, which means two things: It’s officially election season from now through Nov. 6, and the opinions of Iowans no longer matter. Much was made about the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which, according to the court’s interpretation of the First Amendment, means the government can’t limit spending on elections by companies and nonprofits. A battle is now being fought at the local level in Milpitas, where community activist Ed Riffle is challenging the constitutionality of a new ordinance passed by the City Council that limits campaign contributions to $500 per election.

The winter of discontent continues unabated for the Milpitas Monarch, Jose Esteves, who complained at last week’s City Council meeting of feeling harassed by Public Records Act requests. (Message to Mayor Esteves: If you already feel harassed, stop reading here.) It would be one thing if the PRA requests were coming from an angry citizen, but almost half of the 66 requests—which ask for phone records, emails, video surveillance, and dates and times the mayor used a key card to enter City Hall—came from Councilmember Debbie Giordano. It turns out the mayor, whom critics accuse of holding an unauthorized wedding on City Hall property earlier this year, may be up to more than just connubial biz.

Back in August, Fly detailed the sordid tale of fear and loathing taking place within the Milpitas Planning Commission. Mark Tiernan, a veteran in organizing local campaigns, felt he was kicked out of his commission chair position in a coup partly orchestrated by fellow commissioner Noella Tabladillo. Tiernan said loudly in a commission meeting that Tabladillo couldn’t be trusted, and she in turn called him an asshole. Tiernan then made a bold claim to Fly that he thought Mayor Jose Esteves was behind the whole thing. Esteves is now having Tiernan removed from the commission, but there could be an even bigger things happening behind the scenes.

At a July meeting of the Milpitas Planning Commission, Mark Tiernan, the recently ousted chair, was heard hissing at fellow commissioner Noella Tabladillo, telling her (and anyone within earshot) that she couldn’t be trusted. Tiernan is convinced that Tabladillo was part of a “coup” that forced him out three weeks ago, and that Mayor Jose Esteves orchestrated the whole thing.