Outcomes/Goals:
● The 5-acre market to be co-operated and managed with vendors. ● In addition to the 5-acre market, we seek a firm relocation plan and site to build out a new market co-run by vendors.
○ There should be a strategic shift in the City’s current goals/vision for the market to achieve this goal.
The City Council's vote to rezone the Historic San Jose Flea Market on June 29th, 2021, left much to be desired by the BVFA. The vendor community and thousands of San Jose residents expressed their disdain for the development plans that would erase a San Jose Staple and Cultural hub. What started as a lose-lose situation for vendors transformed into a small slice of victory for our community thanks to our raised voices. We are left hopeful of the possibilities we could achieve in collaborating with the City of San Jose and the Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs.
We are grateful for the collaboration with OEDCA since June 2021, and we appreciate the chance to speak DIRECTLY to the Community Economic Development Committee today. BFVA and the Vendor Coalition have been meeting bi-monthly to begin working towards the future of the next market.
Our work so far has been thoughtful and successful in getting resources and information to vendors. All the while, changes in the market have also gone into implementation since the Council Vote. These changes continue to be made without vendors' input or inclusion, and damaging repercussions are felt throughout the market. Despite what we believe is a synchronized effort by the owners to squeeze vendors and the community further with no investment in the market's future or a genuine good faith effort to work with the BFVA. We continue working towards a future market that vendors and partners can democratically run.
What has become more apparent is the need for a relocated market as our primary goal and most immediate need. The state in which this market has been operated since that vote in June 2021 has been harsh on vendors and our small businesses. It leaves much to be desired from the lens of vendors, and we are ready to keep working alongside OEDCA, our Coalition Partners, to achieve a great future for the vendor community and the market.
The BFVA has continued to operate and grow. At the same time, the association has been prevented from organizing efforts inside the market. We have grown into an organization that represents over 200 vendors and employees. Having monthly meetings with vendors to discuss our goals and relay information from our collaboration with OEDCA. We continue to support vendors with finding resources for their small businesses and connecting them with outside organizations for technical and personal assistance. One of our more critical functions as an organization has been to inform vendors and keep them up to date with the preliminary work that has occurred since the council decided last year. As we began organizing in 2020, spreading information to vendors was our main priority. Information that had not been easily accessible to every vendor. We continue to serve the vendor community, and they will always be our priority.
It is important to note that vendors are doing this work as they continue to tend to their stands and small businesses on top of everyday life.
Another aspect of our capacity-building activities included our leadership team taking courses on creating successful public markets hosted by Project for Public Spaces. From those courses, we gained great insight into how other cities and countries invest in markets and quantify the community benefits they bring. One thing we already knew was highlighted repeatedly during the course. And that was that vendors are the essential part of a market! Now more than ever, we believe the most successful markets are achieved when there is a collaboration between vendors, the community, and the local government. Through our capacity-building classes, we have connected with folks throughout the nation and globally that run markets. The recurring theme is the involvement and investment of their local government.
They strategically plan and work with vendor communities to create thriving markets.
This is something we would like to see developed in our situation. We already feel and know the market's economic and cultural impact on our city. We believe the studies that will begin this year will only reinforce that belief. It will quantify and put numbers on paper to what vendors and our community see every weekend when they step into our market.
It's easy to find that a market supported by the city and partners can bring immense community benefits.
The policy we pose is that the City should insist on recreating the market in San Jose. This should be a shared goal and investment. And we have hundreds of vendors who are organized and ready to commit to a new market and are willing to face the challenge of relocation.
Let our hope spark our creativity. A new market we can create that will better serve its community and bring more benefits to all. That is a goal we can achieve together.
Definition of Displacement: Although the Property Owners' quarterly Reports do not list any vendors as being displaced”, we dispute this. By raising parking rates, instituting and increasing walk-in charges, and other actions (see below for a detailed list), the owners are accelerating the rate at which vendors cannot afford to stay in business. A vendor that is driven to close their stall due to economic factors should be considered DISPLACED.
Changes in the market since the Council Vote on June 2021:
● Changing the time of free entry up 1 hour from 9 am to 8 am- September 8, 2021 ● Requiring 6-month license agreements be paid in total upfront ● Updating terms and conditions & policies without letting vendors know in advance and allowing time to review the document
● $300 deposit for every vendor.
● Increasing parking and walk-in prices of nearly 40%
○ From $3,$7,$15 to $5,$10,$20 for Friday, Saturday, Sunday Roberto Gonzalez
President, Berryessa Flea Market Vendors Association
April 25th, 2022