Counties put heads together ahead of 2020 Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian recently convened up to 150 people from around the state to talk about the many 21st-century election security challenges California’s 58 counties confront with less than a year before the state’s 2020 presidential election primary. Reports of Russian interference in the 2016…
County opens nation’s second LGBTQ shelter
Yeager: About 30% of homeless people identify as LGBTQ Santa Clara County has opened the nation’s second homeless shelter that focuses on serving the needs of the LGBTQ population. The New Haven Inn located in central San Jose, just south of downtown, has housing and services for up to 20 adults. The first LGBTQ-focused homeless…
Library Fines, Fees Waived In April Food Drive
Fight hunger, save a bundle at 8 Santa Clara County locations A depressed T.S. Eliot deemed April the cruelest month, but that’s not so for patrons who have fines and fees hanging over their heads in the Santa Clara County Library District. In fact, it may be the kindest month. That’s because the district will…
Thank You America monument on fast track
Leaders of the Vietnamese community celebrate a tentative agreement to site a planned Thank You, America monument at the Vietnamese Heritage Garden at Kelley Park. The proposal by new San Jose City Council member Maya Esparza, in the red vest, was also backed by Santa Clara County Supervisors Dave Cortese, second from left, and Cindy…
Power tools: Strong Girls, Strong Women
It was a cold, rainy Saturday morning, but that didn’t stop nearly 400 enthusiastic and energetic high school girls and their mothers from gathering in East San Jose on March 9 to learn from their peers and to hear from policymakers. The seventh annual Strong Girls, Strong Women Conference was organized by the County of…
County youth fight vaping, nicotine
‘Urgent priority’: E-cigarettes erode decades of effort Public health officials have spent millions of dollars over many decades trying to curb tobacco use, much of it designed to discourage kids from ever taking up the nicotine habit. After all, quitting is great, but never starting is even better. In Santa Clara County, as elsewhere, these…
State of the County 2019: ‘Healthy’ but more to do
Simitian: 94 percent insured, but ‘let’s keep pushing’ The County of Santa Clara, with its $7 billion budget, funds countless programs through dozens of departments and agencies. Boil it all down, though, and the County has pretty much one job: promoting the health well-being of its nearly 2 million residents. That’s why board President Joe…
Health center to honor Vietnamese culture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2IIUD3umBI Vietnamese-American Service Center’s design packed with meaning Hundreds of people gathered recently in the Board of Supervisors Chamber to revel in an engaging architectural presentation of what will one day open as the Vietnamese-American Service Center. A range of culturally relevant health and human services will be available when the center opens in summer…
Challenge at Women’s Policy Leadership Summit 2019
Supervisor Cindy Chavez: Change the World Supervisor Susan Ellenberg County of Santa Clara Supervisor Cindy Chavez. Hundreds of women and their allies gathered recently to bone up on what they’ll need to know as leaders to further efforts to curb domestic violence, protect workers from sexual assault, and advance other parts of the County’s women’s…
Valentine’s Day at County Building
Clerk-Recorder’s civil marriage still popular The most popular service the County of Santa Clara’ Clerk-Recorder’s Office offers is marrying people at the County Government Center in San Jose. So Valentine’s Day is rather busy for the clerks who perform civil marriage. But it used to be more popular than it is now, says Louis Chiaramonte,…