Political news, Local politics and government news reporting in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale.
Nearly ten years after the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) was passed into law, CVRA lawsuits and threats of lawsuits have cost California taxpayers over $8 million. When the 2002 law was enacted, municipalities didn’t recognize its implications, Fresno County schools superintendent Larry Powell told the Fresno Bee in 2009. Things changed in 2003, when … Read more
In the August 31 piece, “Tale of Three City Budgets: Where the Income Comes From.” we incorrectly said that city of Sunnyvale is using reserve funds to balance the city budget. The story should have said that Sunnyvale has a balanced budget thanks to the city’s budget stabilization fund. “To assist us in balancing our … Read more
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
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
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
Maybe California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission needs a geography lesson. Apparently the commissioners think the city of Santa Clara is in the middle of Alameda County. The “preliminary final” district maps published last Friday shocked Santa Clara officials by putting the city in state senate and assembly districts with East Bay cities. “We firmly believe that … Read more
There’s No Place Like a Historic Home Historic preservation is always a work in progress. At one time, allowing historic structures to be zoned for commercial use was a key tool in city preservation. Today, some owners – 24 at the moment – of such historic properties are looking to turn them back into homes. … Read more
The above statistic is: The result you get if you divide Santa Clara’s employee compensation/benefits ($142,341,810) by the number of full-time employees (924). An illustration of the adage, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” An accurate representation of what the city pays individual employees. A factoid in an emerging class … Read more