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San Jose came closer to banning Styrofoam and expanded polystyrene (EPS) food containers after the City Council voted 9-2 Tuesday to move forward with a phase-out. Councilmembers Johnny Khamis and Pete Constant opposed a ban.
Read More 4San Jose Inside (https://www.sanjoseinside.com)
ABV News’ sixth issue hit digital news racks Monday, this time with a little less sensationalism and a little more transparency. Robert Braunstein, high school sportscaster and defeated District 10 City Council candidate, now signs his name at the end of the newsletter, which includes news links and a brief editorial.
Read More 7San Jose released its annual list of city salaries late last week, reminding us once again where the bulk of the municipal budget goes. Like most municipalities, payroll accounts for the city’s single highest expense. San Jose shelled out $596 million, or 62 percent of this fiscal year’s budget, on payroll for its 5,500 employees. This year, retired Sgt. John M. Seaman topped the list, receiving total compensation in the amount of $308,345.
Read More 7A phone survey found that San Jose residents wouldn’t mind paying more taxes if it improved public safety and city services that have been cut in recent years. City leaders will hear a report of those findings at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Also on Tuesday, the council will discuss a disputed $350,000 bonus for Team San Jose and whether or not to join San Francisco’s Prop 8 amicus brief that is going before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read More 5San Jose’s fire chief, William McDonald, will present a verbal report along with a 46-page written report about the department’s response times—and failure to accurately report them—at Thursday’s Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support Committee meeting. Also on the agenda is a survey that finds San Jose police officers are about as racist as the rest of local citizens—which isn’t a good thing—and a report on crime around the city’s two casinos.
Read More 12New laws pass almost every week in San Jose, often several of them at a single City Council meeting in the form of an ordinance that revises municipal code, enacts a ban, raises fees or changes policy. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how anyone—even you—can take a good idea from the concept phase and make it a reality.
Read More 5While everyone and their mom-in-law weighs a run for mayor of San Jose in 2014, Councilmember Don Rocha is considering calling it quits at the end of his first term. He insists no decision has been made, but the Cambrian councilmember has publicly and privately voiced his displeasure with some of his colleagues and their constant focus on pension reform, as opposed to public safety, libraries, community centers and street paving.
Read More 11Any day now, the 2014 San Jose mayoral race is expected to start, with two Sicilian-Americans from wealthy families and a Vietnamese immigrant vice mayor formally declaring their intent to run. But in the coming months, several unexpected candidates could join Sam Liccardo, Dave Cortese and Madison Nguyen.
Read More 6An examination of DFR forms, or Disclosure of Fundraising Reports, filed in the last two years by San Jose city councilmembers shows that many not only spend their time soliciting contributions for community events, but also partisan organizations and even family members in two particular cases.
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