When it comes to raising the money that supports public services, Santa Clara provides a contrasting picture to its neighbors to the north, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto. The largest single contributor to Sunnyvale’s and Palo Alto’s revenues is property tax – 18 and 32 percent respectively. Santa Clara’s biggest revenue source is sales tax, which … Read more
In the face of a threatened California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) lawsuit, Santa Clara has established a charter review committee to evaluate the fairness of the city’s at-large City Council elections and to recommend alternatives. Historically in California, municipal at-large elections were considered the progressive alternative to the Northeast’s pervasively corrupt ward systems. Until 1955, … Read more
The city’s Charter Review committee will be evaluating several alternatives to Santa Clara’s current at-large method of electing its City Council, including district-based seats and proportional representation methods. Steve Chessin, President of Californians for Electoral Reform will be addressing the Charter Review Committee on proportional voting systems on Thursday, Sept. 1. Also on the agenda: … Read more
Today it’s hard to imagine a newspaper headline, “Santa Clara City Council Has Explosive Session” referring to the Santa Clara City Library. But in the late 1930s, library politics was merely another front in the tug-of-war between defenders of the status quo and those with a more progressive civic vision. Today Santa Clarans are justifiably … Read more
Supported by retired SCUSD teachers and administrators and the West Valley Kiwanis Club, the Employer-School Council (ESC) sponsors scholarships for graduates of SCUSD’s alternative high schools – Wilson and New Valley. A few months ago the ESC held its 28th annual lunch at the Santa Clara Elks Club, honoring graduates and scholarship winners. The ESC … Read more
If there’s any doubt that the U.S.’s founding fathers welcomed all the world’s religions, consider Benjamin Franklin’s remarks (mid 18th century) at the opening of a non-denominational religious meetinghouse in Philadelphia. “The design in building not being to accommodate any particular sect, but the inhabitants in general; so that even if the Mufti of Constantinople … Read more
Today I heard a song I haven’t heard in many years: Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin.” It certainly matched the day Libyan rebels, looking more like schoolteachers and skateboarders than soldiers, marked their victory with a ride in Moammar Qaddafi’s golf cart. Mentally, I add Qaddafi’s fall to my “things I never thought … Read more
In the Feb 1, 1950 Toledo Blade, Darr Construction Company advertised new two-bedroom bungalows for $450 down. The homes featured automatic gas heat, copper plumbing and Owens Corning Fiberglass insulation. Sixty years later, the Darr Construction Company is long gone from Toledo, but Owens Corning (www.owenscorning.com) is still a household name and its trademarked pink … Read more
To those who thought that “citizen commissioners” would draw fairer electoral districts than elected officials, the August 15 report from the California redistricting commission (wedrawthelines.ca.gov) was a rude awakening. It turns out that the difference between election districts created by appointee commissioners and those designed by elected officials is that politicians’ motives are easier to … Read more
We know how severe our operating budget problems have been in Santa Clara. But how are neighboring cities faring? Using Sunnyvale and Palo Alto for comparison, the good news is, we’re all in the same boat. The bad news is, we’re all in the same leaky budgetary boat. All three Bay Area cities have cut … Read more