County of Santa Clara Government News

Two projects in Santa Clara County are receiving federal funds to renovate housing for farmworkers and homeless veterans.

Santa Clara County wants to purchase a tiny home village for homeless residents from San Jose and use it to house formerly incarcerated people — sparking safety concerns from nearby homeowners.

Regional Medical Center is owned by for-profit HCA Healthcare, which earlier this month closed East San Jose's only Level II Trauma Center, citing financial pressure. The county pledged to keep it open if the hospital becomes part of the Santa Clara Valley Healthcare System.

Santa Clara County landlords are dodging a decades-old law that requires they pay to relocate evicted tenants. To combat that, county leaders could give unincorporated neighborhoods stronger eviction protections than surrounding cities.

Santa Clara County health officials on Aug. 14 reported the first local death attributed to West Nile virus, a mosquito-borne illness.

The death this month of an immunocompromised adult at a local hospital “after experiencing West Nile virus symptoms” is the county's second reported human case of the potentially deadly mosquito-borne virus. The other patient is recovering at home.

For years, shelters in Santa Clara County have been rife with violence, theft, mistreatment of residents by workers and unsanitary living conditions, based on interviews with residents living in shelters and advocates.

The race for Santa Clara County’s most powerful governing body has candidates pulling in hundreds of thousands of dollars to represent San Jose and the West Valley on the Board of Supervisors.

The Campbell City Council unanimously supported a $100,000 West Valley shelter feasibility study earlier this month using some of its remaining American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds. The study is one of the first in the West Valley to explore creating a local shelter for the more than 200 unhoused people in the area, according to the 2023 point-in-time count, which advocates said is often an undercount.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office launched a public data dashboard last week to support what they said will promote “transparency, accountability, and community engagement” within the criminal justice system.

The for-profit company feeding water to six Santa Clara County cities may agree to walk back its plan for a 22% water rate hike over three years.

The total assessed value of all properties in Santa Clara County has increased, but revenue isn't enough to keep up with cost of services.

Driven by increasing residential values and despite a “troubled” commercial real estate market, Santa Clara County’s overall property assessment roll grew by $35.6 billion, or 5.4% in the last year, according to Assessor Larry Stone’s office.

Eight years ago, Santa Clara County had less than 300 affordable apartments that served homeless individuals with disabilities. Thousands of homes have been built since then due to an affordable housing bond measure.

Santa Clara County leaders are still trying to lift the curtain on how taxpayer money is used to pay for lawsuit settlements on issues such as jail deaths.

Construction workers broke ground on BART’s expansion in Santa Clara this week, and officials are banking on federal funding to help finish the job.

Santa Clara County’s top elections official is bowing out four months before the November election and shortly after her office landed in the hot seat over a historic recount.

The California Supreme Court has blocked an anti-tax ballot measure that faced fierce opposition from local officials, unions and activists in Santa Clara County.