Local Government
Latest reporting from the Local Government desk.
Local Government
Latest reporting from the Local Government desk.
Local Government
Latest reporting from the Local Government desk.
Local Government
View MoreCommunity organizer Raymond Goins enters Palo Alto council race
Raymond Goins, a community organizer and Democratic Socialists of America member, filed as the eighth candidate in Palo Alto's November council race, running on a platform of housing equity and representing marginalized residents.
Local Government
View MorePalo Alto votes Monday on tripling overnight shelter nights
Palo Alto's City Council votes Monday on a $50,000 expansion of its overnight weather shelter program after a pilot at the Downtown Library turned away nearly three people per night across 16 activations.
Local Government
View MoreGamble Garden clears key hurdle for $8M renovation
Palo Alto's Historic Resources Board voted Thursday to recommend approval of Gamble Garden's roughly $8 million renovation plan, sending the project to Planning Director Jonathan Lait for final determination ahead of a 2027 construction start.
Local Government
View MorePalo Alto's Glass cuts 3 jobs, saves $748K
New PAUSD Superintendent Jason Glass is proposing to eliminate three central office positions and restore an in-house general counsel at his first board meeting Aug. 18, projecting nearly $580,000 in net legal savings and $748,000 in salary cuts.
Local Government
View MorePalo Alto tax dollars fund new BART tunnel contract
VTA and contractor Kiewit Shea Traylor signed a consolidated target-price contract Aug. 12 for the roughly $3 billion tunnel portion of the $12.7 billion BART Silicon Valley Phase II extension, reversing a 2025 plan to replace the contractor after repeated over-budget bids.
Local Government
View MoreNew regional tax could hit Palo Alto's 2028 ballot
A Bay Area regional authority is advancing a stakeholder process that could put a new housing tax measure, potentially including parcel taxes, head taxes or real estate transfer fees, before Palo Alto voters in November 2028.
Local Government
View MoreVeenker's State of the City arrives amid PSB dispute
Mayor Vicki Veenker will deliver Palo Alto's 2026 State of the City address Wednesday, Aug. 19, while the city signals progress on the long-delayed Public Safety Building move-in that has kept police at their old headquarters since a contractor dispute stalled the project.
Local Government
View MoreCalifornia budget delivers $450M lifeline to Santa Clara hospitals
California's state budget includes $450 million in one-time emergency hospital funding, but county officials say it falls far short of covering the $1 billion annual hit from federal Medicaid cuts that will strip coverage from 130,000 Santa Clara County residents by 2028.
Local Government
View MoreER doctor Gechlik joins crowded Palo Alto council race
Emergency physician and Stanford Law graduate Gary Gechlik entered the crowded race for three open Palo Alto City Council seats on Aug. 10, filing two days before the deadline with a platform opposing downtown high-rises and favoring housing near Highway 101.
Local Government
View MorePalo Alto Council votes tonight on removing commissioner Peterson
The Palo Alto City Council votes Monday night on removing Planning Commissioner Forest Peterson over a towing dispute, but Peterson frames the effort as a proxy fight over the city's pro-housing direction and SB 79 development near Caltrain stations.
Local Government
View MorePalo Alto quiet zone delayed after cars block tracks
Caltrain's LiDAR-based Rail Sentry system detected cars backing up from El Camino Real onto the Palo Alto Avenue rail crossing, forcing the city to pursue additional safety measures before federal quiet zone authorization can proceed.
Local Government
View MoreSB 569 would lock in El Camino bike lanes
SB 569, advancing in the California Legislature, would prohibit removal of bikeways built with state funds for up to 20 years — effectively taking the El Camino Real parking-versus-bike-lanes debate off the table for Palo Alto businesses and city officials.
©2026 Palo Alto Ledger
Powered by Surround Sound Media
©2026 Palo Alto Ledger
Powered by Surround Sound Media
©2026 Palo Alto Ledger
Powered by Surround Sound Media