Political news, Local politics and government news reporting in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale.
An agreement securing additional energy for an Amazon data center could chart a path for other energy customers to do the same. At Tuesday night’s city council meeting, Manuel Pineda, chief electric utility officer, detailed a power purchase agreement with Bloom Energy. That agreement — essentially two agreements: one with Bloom and another with Amazon … Read more
Santa Clara City Council members agree that the council needs to get along better, but many disputed civil grand jury findings that point fingers at specific council members. The council narrowly agreed to revisit whether to have the council attend ethics training. The most recent civil grand jury report, “Irreconcilable Differences,” made several recommendations. Among … Read more
The Sunnyvale City Council remained optimistic that it could meet its environmental goals amid skepticism that some aspects of its most recent plan are unachievable. At its most recent meeting last week, the council adopted its climate action playbook. The plan takes a serious look at various aspects of the city and aims to nudge … Read more
A former judge and mouthpiece for the California Civil Grand Jury Association hassled Santa Clara’s vice mayor nearly two months before the release of a civil grand jury report. Quentin Kopp, a retired judge who penned the foreword to the 2022 edition of “California’s Civil Grand Juries,” sent menacing letters to Santa Clara Vice Mayor Anthony Becker … Read more
The Santa Clara Planning Commission dealt with a number of items at its June 12 meeting, including turning a former convent into dormitory-style housing. The project is a joint venture between Santa Clara University’s (SCU) ExCEL program for graduate students and St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish. The site at 2001 Lawrence Court has been vacant … Read more
Just as with the 2022 civil grand jury report lambasting the Santa Clara City Council majority, the most recent report’s timing also reeks of politicking. The report, titled “Irreconcilable Differences,” goes after the Council majority for a parade of misconduct. Criticisms include behavior up and down the spectrum, all of which are unsavory. Examples in the … Read more
After months of updates, several studies, a county inspection and much discussion among one another, the Santa Clara City Council has decided to funnel money into reopening the George Haines International Swim Center (ISC). The topic ate up a good chunk of the Council’s Tuesday night meeting. When the dust settled, the Council agreed to … Read more
With the zoning code updates approved in December, the Santa Clara Planning Commission was tasked on May 22 with approving zoning changes for individual parcels of land and making minor tweaks to the code’s language. It was supposed to be an easy fix without much debate, but it turned into a lot more. State law … Read more
Less than 24 hours after it released its report “Irreconcilable Differences,” the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury launched another volley into Santa Clara politics, this one aimed at the San Francisco 49ers with a little splash back on the Santa Clara City Council majority. The title of the report says it all: “Outplayed: Measure … Read more
Here we go again. A new grand jury report takes aim at Santa Clara City Council dysfunction. However, the tactics are strangely familiar to one released in 2022. That is to say, the conclusions have a political bend, one that stridently singles out the “49er Five,” a derisive label given to Council majority Raj Chahal, Suds … Read more