Political news, Local politics and government news reporting in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale.
Last month the Santa Clara-based Council on American-Islamic Relations of the San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA) had more to celebrate than just the organization’s 19th anniversary at its annual dinner and fundraiser at the Santa Clara Marriott. Little more than a month before, the civil rights group announced the settlement of a three and a … Read more
Higher Power Transmission Costs Drive 2014 SVP Rate Increase A five percent increase in electric rates, driven by an increase in Silicon Valley Power’s operating costs, got the go-ahead from the Santa Clara City Council at its Oct. 29 meeting. Final approval is slated for the Nov. 19 meeting. The increase will bring the utility … Read more
Concepts for Montana, Related Northside Developments Unveiled With the 49ers new Levi’s Stadium coming closer to completion by the day, the stars could not be better aligned for adding a missing link to Santa Clara’s landscape: an urban shopping and entertainment destination on the City’s Northside. That’s the message that Santa Clara City Manager Julio … Read more
Re-Visioned Santa Clara Square Project Features Lower Height and Denisity More than a year after collecting feedback from a series of community outreach meetings, Santa Clara Square developer Essex Property Trust returned to a City Council study session last month with a new design for the 12.6-acre site at 3700 El Camino Real, adjacent to … Read more
New Residential Development Project on Drawingboard for Saratoga & Buckingham Development proposals are coming before the public and City Council at special study sessions prior to regular Council meetings. This is part of Planning Department efforts to bring projects before the Council in earlier stages of project design, Planning Director Kevin Riley explained at last … Read more
The supporters of the Northside Library have endured a storm of uncertainty ever since this summer, when the county issued a temporary restraining order requiring construction on the nearly complete library to stop. While the city refutes the claim that it misused redevelopment agency funds to build the library, Northside Library’s doors remain locked. On … Read more
Proposal to Shutter Franklin Post Office is Trickle-Down Politics The legendary House Speaker Tip O’Neill famously said that all politics are local. Santa Clarans are getting a first-hand lesson in that principle as they face the prospect of losing their historic downtown 1930s post office. Quite simply, it’s a logical consequence of over 30 years … Read more
When documents get put into record books there’s a small team of people in the City of Santa Clara in charge of making sure they’re available for generations to come. The team, which includes City Clerk Rod Diridon, Jr., Assistant City Clerk Jennifer Yamaguma, Office Records Specialist Jose Armas, Office Specialist to the City Clerk … Read more
The ongoing controversy over the delayed Northside Library is starting to feel like a trip through Alice’s famous looking glass, where you can have jam yesterday and jam tomorrow but never jam today. The five county appointees to the Santa Clara RDA Successor Agency Oversight Board insist that they are powerless to designate the nearly … Read more
RDA Dissolution Oversight Board Approves Stadium Payment Agreement and Affordable Housing Asset Transfers to City Although the Northside Library discussion took the spotlight at the Santa Clara RDA Successor Agency Oversight Board’s Sept. 23 meeting, the board took action on several other items of business. The first was unanimous approval for a new payment agreement … Read more