The trio that sued Santa Clara over the text of a ballot measure on appointing the city’s police chief — Measure B — got coal in their Christmas stocking this week when Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Thomas Kuhnle denied their eleventh-hour request to change the ballot text. The petitioners brought their case on Dec. … Read more
Nearly a week after the county deadline for filing ballot resolutions, opponents of appointing Santa Clara’s police chief are threatening to sue over the March 2024 ballot measure. They say the language is misleading when it asks voters whether the City’s police chief should be an appointed position. The complainants make no similar complaint against … Read more
Santa Clara City Hall appears to be delegating enforcement of campaign reporting laws — and even its own Dark Money ordinance — to the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). In September, City Council Members Anthony Becker, Kevin Park and Suds Jain filed City and state complaints against the unregistered political committee Stand Up for Santa Clara … Read more
Former City Manager Deanna Santana is threatening to sue Santa Clara, claiming that the City has failed to pay the compensation and benefits specified in her contract when she was dismissed in February 2022. Santana also claims that she was dismissed as retaliation for whistleblowing and has suffered “monetary damages and emotional distress as a … Read more
Last month, San Francisco’s De Young Museum opened its triennial showcase for local artists, DeYoung Open. This year the museum received 7,766 submissions; of which 884 were chosen for the show, which runs through Jan. 7, 2024. So far, this sounds like a pretty typical art show. But it’s far from typical, says Timothy Anglin … Read more
Stand Up for Santa Clara has answered the City’s request to explain its failure to report political spending. Stand Up for Santa Clara official Dana Caldwell wrote the City on Nov. 1 and claimed, “Stand Up for Santa Clara was incorporated as a 501(c)3 in 2022.” Despite its insistence on its 501(c)3 status, Stand Up … Read more
Santa Clara City Hall has acted on a complaint that charged Stand Up for Santa Clara with violating the City’s campaign finance reporting rules. On Oct. 23 – five days after The Weekly published an article about the city clerk’s apparent inaction – City Clerk Hosam Haggag sent a letter to Burt Field, a founder … Read more
During her three-time battle with metastatic breast cancer, former Santa Clara Mayor Patricia Mahan never let her illness stand in the way of living a full life. During her first bout with cancer, she participated in the 2012 Levi’s Stadium groundbreaking despite being in the middle of chemotherapy. In 2014, she excused herself from a … Read more
Santa Clara City Clerk Hosam Haggag has responded to a request for comment from The Weekly about the City’s handling of a dark money complaint filed against Stand Up for Santa Clara, however, not by conventional methods. Instead of replying to an email sent to the official City Clerk email account and Haggag’s City email … Read more
The 2023 Santa Clara Charter review committee wrapped up its work on Oct. 17, finalizing its recommendation for two ballot measures to change the positions of city clerk and police chief to appointments by the city manager from the present election system. If the city council approves the recommendation, the measures to change the city … Read more