By Robert Haugh

Tonight, the City Council will review a letter they received from the State’s Judicial Council. At the urging of Reclaiming Our Downtown, the City requested a discussion about relocating the Santa Clara County Courthouse located at 1095 Homestead Road.

In a November 25, 2020 letter, Mary Bustamante, Real Estate Manager, said thanks but no thanks. Here are some key lines from her letter:

“The Judicial Council currently is not in a position, however, to make the Courthouse available for sale or redevelopment as the City is seeking.” 

“… the Judicial Council has no intent or plans at this time either to declare the Courthouse surplus or to seek special legislative authority for its sale. It is also worth noting that the Judicial Council recently completed and submitted to the Legislature an extensive reassessment of the prioritization methodology for trial court capital-outlay projects, which did not include any project related to the Courthouse.” 

t will be interesting to see what the new City Councilmembers do. Some of them made a big campaign issue about the revitalization of downtown and moving the courthouse. Here’s what candidate Anthony Becker said:

Can they deliver considering the Judicial Council doesn’t seem interested in the move?