Silicon Valley Voice is the local voice for Silicon Valley, covering Santa Clara and the surrounding communities. We are committed to providing our community with reliable and relevant information daily.
According to the City of Santa Clara’s hiring description for entry level Fire Fighter 1 and Recruit Police Officer, applicants must provide proof of professional license, certifications, associate or higher-level college degree, and other documentation before they can even be considered for the job advising: “Meeting the minimum qualifications does not guarantee admittance into the … Read more
Last weekend, someone pasted a sign on the St. Clare statue outside Santa Clara City Hall saying: “Mayor Gilmore [sic] Supports Genocide.” (Editorial advice: The correct spelling is G-i-l-l-m-o-r.) Although we cannot know for a fact the spelling-challenged defacer of public property’s reasons for this offensive screed, we’re guessing that it’s because the Mayor declined … Read more
This morning, I woke up with a heavy heart recounting the loss of last night’s attempt to introduce a resolution in Santa Clara to call for a ceasefire. Ceasefire: to stop fighting. Stop the bloodshed. To stop the collective punishment. Stop the blockade medical aid, fuel, water, and other supplies to the people of Gaza. … Read more
Along with a few other cities in the whole United States, the City of Santa Clara has kept the pre-civil rights tradition of electing police chiefs. Back then, the practice was rooted in the need for a more rural public to have a voice in the selection of a police chief and the absence of … Read more
What a difference a few years make. This week, Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Council Member Kathy Watanabe fell all over themselves to welcome Taylor Swift to Santa Clara, or as it is now known, Swiftie Clara. Yet it was only four years ago that the two couldn’t do enough to ensure that Taylor Swift was … Read more
Three years ago, retired Santa Clara police officers Brian Gilbert and Phil Cooke pled guilty to a criminal harassment campaign against the publishers of an e-business newsletter critical of Gilbert & Cooke’s post-retirement employer, online auction giant eBay. The two were creative and enthusiastic participants in this loathsome campaign, which featured deliveries of cockroaches and … Read more
On Jan. 12, Summit Schools management announced that Summit Denali will be closing its operations after the current academic year ends in June 2023. The news ripped apart the schools’ close-knit communities and left 5% of Santa Clara County’s charter school students scrambling to find new schools. Without the immediate strategic intervention of the Summit … Read more
Suppose next week you got a city bill for $750 as the premium for having Lisa Gillmor as your mayor for the last six years. We suspect that most people would be outraged and express that outrage at the next city council meeting. Since 2016, one way to evaluate Lisa Gillmor’s administration is to look … Read more
People of Santa Clara, it is time for concern. The City is being led by someone who believes she is above the law and above reprisal. On the surface, the Aug. 30 closed session of the City Council that resulted in a he said/she said involving the Council majority and the Council minority may seem … Read more
Yesterday, Tom Shanks burst into the spotlight with a Mercury News broadside attacking the ethics of Santa Clara City Council Members not named Lisa Gillmor or Kathy Watanabe. Mr. Shanks was a paid consultant to the City of Santa Clara until 2015, during which time we do not recall him customarily finding that the conduct … Read more