Political news, Local politics and government news reporting in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale.
The Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) has almost settled a lawsuit filed by former teacher Dominic Caserta. Pending approval from the Joint Powers Authority Board, the district along with the Joint Powers Authority will pay Caserta a one-time settlement of $1,579,000. However, the true total of the settlement is at least one million dollars … Read more
A judge has thrown out a lawsuit initiated by Santa Clara’s former city attorney. The ruling on the lawsuit against the city bars him from filing another one on the same grounds. Brian Doyle worked as the city attorney until the city council fired him in 2021. His lawsuit alleged the council fired him as … Read more
In an uncharacteristic outburst from the dais, Judge Javier Alcala, seemingly fed up with the defense, let the attorneys for Santa Clara City Council Member Anthony Becker have it. “That’s why you have four lawyers. Split the work,” said Judge Alcala when Deputy Public Defender Chris Montoya asked for a moment to review a document … Read more
Two bombshell witnesses took the stand Thursday in the perjury trial of Santa Clara Vice Mayor Anthony Becker. First, Council Member Suds Jain testified that Becker told him that he gave the civil grand jury report to The Weekly. Next, Ben Holt, an investigator for the district attorney’s office, revealed that, despite Becker’s claims to … Read more
A massive mixed-use development that came to the Santa Clara City Council nearly seven years ago has come back — with substantial changes. At its Nov. 19 meeting, the council unanimously approved the complex that adds 2,600 apartments to the city’s housing stock, but the development also includes office and retail space. Amenities featured at … Read more
The perjury trial of Santa Clara City Council Member Anthony Becker dragged into a ninth day on Wednesday as Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office criminalist Fernando Ramirez, Jr. continued his testimony at the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill. Ramirez extracted data from Becker’s electronic devices and the devices of former 49ers communications chief … Read more
The issue of what exactly makes someone an “expert” witness took up some of the time in Department 106 at the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill on Tuesday. Deputy District Attorney Jason Malinsky asked Judge Javier Alcala to recognize Fernando Ramirez Jr., a criminalist with the DA’s office, as a “digital forensics expert.” Anthony … Read more
Four witnesses for the prosecution testified Monday in the perjury trial of Santa Clara Vice Mayor Anthony Becker. The first witness was the director of a public relations firm the 49ers used during the time of the civil grand jury report leak. The second was the designer who set up the website GrandJuryReport-dot-com, a site … Read more
On day six of Santa Clara Vice Mayor Anthony Becker’s perjury trial, the jury got to hear testimony from him — although in an atypical way. In court Friday, Deputy District Attorney Jason Malinsky, assisted by fellow Deputy District Attorney Joel Gorman, read into the record Becker’s testimony to the criminal grand jury in 2022. … Read more
Another public relations person for the San Francisco 49ers and the treasurer for its independent campaign committee testified for the prosecution Thursday in the perjury trial of Santa Clara City Council Member Anthony Becker. Deliberations on the fifth day of the perjury trial of the Santa Clara vice mayor didn’t get off to a great … Read more