Sunnyvale officials may have found a new source of revenue, with a green light from residents to place a proposed tax measure on the November ballot. A city survey collected responses from 444 Sunnyvale voters, 63% of whom supported a possible property transfer tax measure after hearing the pros and cons. The details in the poll mirror a 2022 proposal to add a 0.75% tax on all property transfers of $4 million or more. The poll had a 4.9% margin of error. City officials have been considering a real property transfer tax for the November ballot since last December, when Mayor Larry Klein and Cou ..read more

Dozens of affordable homes near Sunnyvale’s downtown are ready to welcome hundreds of residents. City officials celebrated the opening of Meridian Apartments on Tuesday. The 1.44-acre all-affordable 89-home project is a mix of apartments — from studios to three-bedrooms — and seven townhouses located within walking distance of the city’s downtown and Caltrain station. Rents range from $1,515 to $1,827 a month for a studio, up to $2,227 to $3,619 for a three-bedroom apartment. Developer Related California, the Santa Clara County Housing Authority, the county’s Office of Supportive Housing, Goog ..read more

The Congressional District 16 recount being tawdrily funded by an independent expenditure close to candidate Sam Liccardo is a huge mistake. The genesis is apparently a poll that showed Liccardo would benefit from a two-person race. As the survey hasn’t been released, we don’t know what those results show. But apparently it was concerning enough to warrant Liccardo’s friends to form a PAC and fund the recount. But I wonder if the following question was asked, “Would you be more or less likely to support a candidate who funded a recount in an effort to remove one of his opponents from the ballo ..read more

A pedestrian attacked San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s security detail after a verbal altercation turned physical. The altercation occurred on Tuesday around 6 p.m. while Mahan gave an on camera interview with KRON4 after attending a restaurant opening near South First and East San Fernando streets in downtown. Video of the incident shows a man on the phone speaking loudly and becoming angry after being told he’s interrupting an interview. The pedestrian then threatens to slap Mahan’s security guard — a San Jose police officer who was dressed in a suit — and punches the guard’s head. The mayor was ..read more

Santa Clara County is experiencing a surge of domestic violence cases, spreading county prosecutors thin and holding up court hearings at a time when a looming budget deficit will cut District Attorney resources. The DA’s office has pulled prosecutors from other teams to handle a 142% increase in family violence cases over the last five years, from 76 cases in 2019 to 184 in 2023. The challenges are colliding with a post-pandemic drop in courtroom capacity and a rise in survivors seeking help after being pent-up in households during lockdown. The consequence is a ballooning number of dome ..read more

The new leader of a once-powerful San Jose business group is determined to rebuild the organization after years of controversy. Bay Area native Leah Toeniskoetter began her role as CEO of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce in January. She is the third CEO in roughly three years — a result of the fallout from its checkered past. Her predecessor, Derrick Seaver, resigned last August for a high school teaching job in Oakland. The chamber, renamed from the Silicon Valley Organization in 2021, dissolved its political action committee (PAC) in 2020 after backlash for racist political ads. Th ..read more

A homeless housing project is coming to South San Jose, and city officials want to clear the area of unsheltered encampments before it’s built. The San Jose City Council this month unanimously approved a 10-year lease for $1 annually from prolific philanthropist John A. Sobrato to construct Via del Oro, a 150-bed temporary housing development. It will be built on land Sobrato owns at the southeast corner of Via del Oro and San Ignacio Avenue. The approval also includes the right for homeless residents living within a 1.5-mile radius of the site to be first in line for housing, while two-block ..read more

Team San Jose was proud to host NVIDIA GTC 2024 last month. We want to thank all the partners who made our city shine for the largest convention that San Jose has seen since the pandemic and, quite possibly, the most important tech event yet. For reference, it was on par or bigger than any of the global conferences that we hosted prior to the COVID shutdown. It was a great success for the entire city. The direct revenue generated through the San Jose McEnery Convention Center alone is estimated to be close to $10 million. Of note, and as you’ve heard me mention before, this is most relevant be ..read more

A week after an expensive and highly-criticized recount of ballots began in a tied congressional race, the California Secretary of State says the requester will not get his money back. Santa Clara and San Mateo counties jointly sought guidance from the state about whether the recount requester, Jonathan Padilla, would get reimbursed if the Congressional District 16 recount changes the results of the March 5 primary election. Padilla, a tech CEO and former campaign staffer of ex-San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo — the frontrunner in the race — requested the recount. Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe ..read more

San Jose councilmembers are supposed show who they’re meeting with behind closed doors — but their public calendars lack vital details and skirt the spirit of transparency. San José Spotlight has reported on inadequate lobbyist disclosures for years, but a recent review shows the public is still in the dark due to incomplete and delayed documentation on elected officials’ calendars. Councilmembers blame lack of oversight, time constraints and limited staff for outdated calendars. But that violates the city’s sunshine policies, giving the public an incomplete and untimely picture of what e ..read more