Candidates Forum Holds Few Surprises Last week’s City Council Candidates Forum, presented by the League of Women Voters, was eminently predictable – reliably centrist, un-ideological and pragmatic. The evening’s only surprises were the political debut of Northsider Bill Collins and a breath-takingly tactless mis-step by candidate John Mlnarik. Candidate Alma Jimenez wasn’t present, reportedly called … Read more
Few people have been more fittingly named than Geof Goodfellow. That was abundantly clear at a touching memorial service last week for the longtime Santa Clara Director of Planning and Inspection, who died at his Santa Clara home on September 5 after a long fight with ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease. His survivors include his wife of … Read more
In our media saturated age, some people still believe that grassroots campaigning can elect candidates. One of them is Santa Claran ArLyne Diamond; a long shot candidate for the California State Assembly who’s already beat the odds with her second-place finish in last June’s open primary. Running to represent District 25 – newly created by … Read more
Federal Grants Fund $1.8 Million in City Streets’ Safety and Improvement Santa Clara is moving forward with two projects to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety and visibility, thanks to two federal grants the city applied for over two years ago. The first, a $1.3 million Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant from the U.S. … Read more
Santa Clara Teacher Helps Advance Science, Technology and Math Education St. Lawrence Academy high school math and computer teacher Natalie Murphy was one of 165 lucky local teachers to spend the summer as an Industry Initiatives for Science and Math (IISME) fellow, developing education plans for enhancing K-16 math and science education. Murphy spent six … Read more
Do the subtraction. If neither of the two tax increases on the November ballot – Propositions 30 and 38 – pass, Santa Clara Unified School District faces $6.5 million in budget cuts, according to SCUSD Assistant Superintendent, Business Services Jim Luyau. That’s about five percent of the district’s $125 million budget. As of July, California’s … Read more
Some of my readers may know that I’m a collector of mid-century women’s magazines. An accompanying interest is brand name cookbooks. But while a 1963 Joys of Jell-O first edition enjoys pride of place in my collection, it isn’t the brands, the vintage, or even the recipes that draw me like a trout to the … Read more
RDA Shutdown Goes On..and On At the current pace of operation, it feels like unwinding the state’s RDA program will take as long as the agency was in operation. At two meetings last week, the Santa Clara RDA Successor Agency Oversight Board, first, approved an agreement about the disputed $30 million of stadium construction funds; … Read more
About a year ago, California Governor Jerry Brown proposed changes to California’s 80 year-old public employee pension plan. One provision of that proposal is investment-risk sharing. The U.S.’s largest pension fund, CalPERS manages retirement benefits for about 1.5 million California employees and retirees. The current defined benefit pensions mean that employers – ultimately the taxpayers … Read more
Nobody really cared Saturday afternoon that Willie Brown was a no-show at the Santa Clara County Democratic Club’s John Vasconcellos Day held in the historic garden at the Harris-Lass Museum. Plenty of other local political heavyweights were on hand to honor the veteran state assembly member and, later, state senator. These included most of Santa … Read more