It was almost paint-by-numbers during a Santa Clara City Council meeting responding to findings of the civil grand jury report that alleged the Council majority are puppets for the 49ers. In a special meeting Wednesday, Nov. 16, the Santa Clara City Council picked apart a scathing grand jury report released in October. Less than a … Read more
A divisive housing development for the poor ignited a firestorm of public comments at the Santa Clara City Council meeting Tuesday night. The Council heard nearly two hours’ worth of public testimony from proponents and opponents alike. The two camps were divided on whether the proposed 108-apartment complex, set to be located at 1601 Civic … Read more
Mayor Lisa Gillmor got on her soapbox about ethics at the Council’s most recent meeting, saying her Council colleagues — who were subject of a Civil Grand Jury report that accuses them of suspect dealings with the San Francisco 49ers — should not be “policing” themselves. Gillmor lobbed the accusation several times at Tuesday night’s … Read more
Editor’s Note: In this article, we mistakenly labeled City Clerk Hosam Haggag as a Gillmor ally. Mr. Haggag correctly pointed out that he is an elected official. It has been corrected. Just because the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) logs a complaint doesn’t mean that the commission is investigating the complaint, found it has … Read more
Santa Clara Police Chief Pat Nikolai has asked the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office to investigate the accusations made against a portion of the Santa Clara City Council by the Civil Grand Jury. In a memo [Nikolai Memo to Rosen] issued on Monday evening, following the release of the report, Nikolai wrote, “The report … Read more
The Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury has called out some members of the Santa Clara City Council, saying, “…the actions and inaction of certain council members are not consistent with the duties owed to the constituents they were elected to serve, causing severe dysfunction in City governance.” The Weekly has obtained a copy of … Read more
Santa Clarans could decide whether to have their police chief and city clerk remain elected or turn over their appointment to the City Council. At its meeting Tuesday night, the Council opted to put an item on a future agenda to discuss a ballot measure that would eliminate the clerk and police chief as political … Read more
Allegations of chicanery regarding a planning commissioner’s residence caused the Council to ax him from that position. At its first meeting in a month, the Council removed Ron Patrick from the Planning Commission mere months after appointing him. Councilmember Anthony Becker previously raised the topic and spearheaded a campaign to discuss the issue at a … Read more
At the May 24, 2022 Santa Clara City Council meeting, the Council discussed whether to allow PAL to continue managing the City’s BMX track. It also looked at garbage rate increases and a petition from Reclaiming Our Downtown to return City Hall to the Downtown area. A status report on the situation with the Santa … Read more
The first and primary commandment required by and applied to any elected leader is: “Do no harm.” Sounds good, looks good and makes good sense. When evaluating the actions and events of an elected leader, applying this axiom is a great indicator of their success or, in some cases, failure. It doesn’t matter if the … Read more