A City of Trust doesn’t exist yet — not in Santa Clara, and, as best we can tell, nowhere else. It’s an idea: that public ethics is an organizational commitment, not a matter of personal virtue. Most cities never reach it. Santa Clara built that kind of trust once — and could lead the way again. Read more
Santa Clara’s Charter rewrite is a real chance to restore public trust — but it leaves out the Santa Clara Stadium Authority entirely. Why the body that governs the city’s biggest financial entanglement with the 49ers can’t be left out of the Charter. Read more
Biases Revealed in Santa Clara’s Grand Jury Responses By Dr. Tom Shanks | Public Trust Now | May 6, 2026 There’s an old story about an emperor who hired tailors to make him a magnificent suit of clothes. The tailors were con artists. They told the emperor the fabric was so fine that only wise … Read more
PTN looks at City decisions through an ethics and public trust lens. In this post, we want to show you what we see when we ask: Applied to the proposed replacement Ethics Code, these questions lead to clear concerns. What the City Has Done: The Facts On July 11, 2023, the City Council approved a … Read more
Working to improve the ethics quality of local government decision-making — toward a city government of, by, and for the people.