Politics

Two candidates seeking to become Santa Clara County’s next Assessor emphasized their contrasting backgrounds and visions for modernizing the office during a Meet the Candidate forum Sept. 8 at the Morgan Hill Grange. Yan Zhao, a Saratoga city council member and two-term mayor, and Neysa...

A union of physicians earning up to $1 million a year is the biggest funder of the ballot measure to raise local sales taxes. A week after the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to raise county taxes, the county’s largest...

Santa Clara County officials and partnering nonprofits convened an emergency townhall meeting in South County Friday to warn residents about potential impacts from recently passed federal legislation that could slash healthcare funding and force difficult choices for local services. The meeting at the Valley Health...

Santa Clara County supervisors voted unanimously today to ask voters to approve new sales taxes that will place half the county in the double digit bracket. The higher taxes are needed to close a projected billion-dollar budget shortfall they say is the result of...

Brad Kilger, a former city manager for multiple communities in northern California, is the new Interim City Administrator for the City of Gilroy.  The Gilroy City Council appointed Kilger to the position at the July 28 meeting. He began his new role July 29.  Kilger replaces...

About 100 people gathered in downtown Morgan Hill Thursday, then marched to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office about a mile away to protest federal immigration policies and practices.  The protest was organized by local activists including South County siblings Rebeca and Reymundo Armendariz,...

After nine years of service to the Gilroy community, City Administrator Jimmy Forbis today announced his retirement.  His retirement is effective as of July 31, says a statement from the city.  During his tenure in Gilroy—previously as the city’s finance director—Forbis “played a key role” in...

Millions of people in cities and towns throughout the nation joined the “No Kings” protest on June 14—a crowd that included several hundred protesters in west Gilroy.  The event was organized in 2,000 cities in the U.S. to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, and...

The Gilroy City Council approved a $207.2 million budget June 2 that provides funding for new pickleball courts but will “delay” the hiring of three new recreation staff, according to city officials.  The 2025-26 budget includes a general fund of $75.6 million, and a full-time...

Following a failed effort to protest the dissolution of the South Santa Clara County Fire District, county officials are preparing to consolidate fire protection services in unincorporated areas into the Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District.  Voters and property owners had an opportunity to...