Political news, Local politics and government news reporting in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale.
In Sunnyvale, housing developments containing only below-market-rate apartments will no longer need to include retail along El Camino Real. The city’s specific plan for El Camino Real mandates that housing developments include retail. However, at its Tuesday night meeting, the Sunnyvale City Council eliminated those requirements for projects that contain 100% below-market-rate units, provided they … Read more
On Sept. 9, The Weekly sent questions to candidates for public office in Sunnyvale. Candidates had until Sept. 24 to respond to the questionnaire. Below are the responses provided by District 2 candidate Jim Davis. His opponent, incumbent Alysa Cisneros, did not respond to multiple emails soliciting her responses. Responses are presented verbatim. What are … Read more
On Aug. 30, The Weekly submitted the following questions to District 4 candidates — Kevin Park, the incumbent, and challenger Teresa O’Neill. Candidates had until Sept. 13 to reply. Below are the answers The Weekly received from Park. O’Neill, who Park unseated to get on the council, replied that she was “swamped with campaign requirements” … Read more
Concerns over the health effects of electromagnetic fields caused the Santa Clara City Council to delay approving a power transmission project. At its meeting Oct. 7, the Council opted to continue an item that would have added 2.4 miles of power lines between the city’s receiving stations on Kifer Street and Scott Boulevard. The 115-kilovolt … Read more
The San Jose/Santa Clara League of Women Voters will host a trio of remote candidate forums later this month. The forums are scheduled for 6 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. Oct. 16, Oct. 17 and Oct. 22. The forums will be held via Zoom. The first forum will feature District 1 and District 4 candidates; the … Read more
These numbers are as of the reports filed by 7 a.m. Monday, Oct. 14. The four 49ers independent expenditure committees added $5,000 to their committees, boosting their total donations to $1,574,000. The PACs spent another $243,000, to total $771,000. All donations to these committees come from the 49ers. The police union PAC received another $70,000, … Read more
The judge overseeing the perjury trial of Santa Clara City Council Member Anthony Becker ruled on several motions on Oct. 9, giving the public a better idea of what evidence and arguments will be presented in court. Defense’s Motion to Dismiss Denied Judge Javier Alcala first heard a motion to dismiss at the South County … Read more
California has designed civil grand juries to hold city and county governments accountable. However, who holds the civil grand jury accountable is murkier. For several months, The Weekly has sought better insight into the Santa Clara Civil Grand Jury’s inner workings, specifically, the recusal process. The civil grand jury is transparent with its list of … Read more
On Aug. 30, The Weekly submitted the following questions to District 1 candidates — Albert Gonzalez, Harbir Bhatia and Satish Chandra. Candidates had until Sept. 13 to reply. Below are the answers The Weekly received from Bhatia and Gonzalez. Chandra did not respond. Answers are presented verbatim. What are the biggest resident concerns in your … Read more
As of Oct. 6 at 8 p.m., we have new numbers for the money that has rolled into Santa Clara candidate committees. Fired city manager Deanna Santana — a Sunnyvale resident — donated to Mayor Lisa Gillmor’s slate of council candidates, as did the Sacramento political committee, the Peace Officers Research Association Issue Political Issues … Read more