COUNCIL AGENDA: 5/3/2022
ITEM: 7.1
Memorandum
TO: CITY COUNCIL FROM: Mayor Sam Liccardo
Vice Mayor Chappie Jones
Councilmember Raul Peralez
Councilmember David Cohen
Councilmember Dev Davis
SUBJECT: GUADALUPE
GARDENS PROJECT
UPDATE
DATE: April 29, 2022
APPROVED:
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Return to Council in June with a month -by-month workplan that includes measurable outcomes related to:
a. The proposed housing plan and expected accomplishments between now and September 30 th (e.g. the number individuals that will be housed in June, July, and August)
b. Working with the 27 unhoused residents who have not yet completed a VI -SPDAT assessment , and residents who attempt to encamp at the site who weren’t captured in HomeFirst’s latest census
c. Removing inoperable vehicles and debris, continuing vehicle repairs, and scaling down encampment footprints to 12’x12’
d. Installing additional cameras to deter illegal dumping e. After residents have been rehoused, securing the site using k-rail or other temporary physical barriers until construction of the prototype park commences, and activating the site with maintenance workers, Resilience Corps members, SJ Bridge participants, and/or regular police bike patrols.
2. Direct the City Manager to produce a Manager’s Budget Addendum that identifies the resources needed to rehouse the 40+ individuals living along the Guadalupe River Trail between W. Hedding and Santa Clara St. This work should not interfere with the proposed schedule or be cause for additional delays.
BACKGROUND
Despite our best efforts to rapidly rehouse individuals living in Guadalupe Gardens, multiple factors – including the negotiation of agreements with the County and Housing Authority - compel us to defer an abatement. In February, Council dedicated an additional $2 million towards housing solutions for unhoused residents living underneath the flight path to SJC, but between negotiations with our partners, it’s beco me clear that limited housing inventory hinders our ability to move people indoors quickly. As more housing options emerge, we will have a better opportunity to move 131 people into stable housing over the next four months. If we simply abated the encamp ments today, those same people would necessarily disperse into nearby neighborhoods and business corridors. We urge the following recommendations to make our approach and progress more transparent, in our ongoing efforts to be accountable to the general public, and to a lesser extent, to the FAA.
We understand that the County has expressed concerns about prioritizing additional rehousing resources for individuals living along the Guadalupe River Trail based on equity concerns. We would urge the County and others focused on such issues to look closely at the data. First, the Guadalupe River Trail has served as a key commute route for many workers —with more than 1,000 daily commuters prior the pand emic, and we have long prioritized encampment removal along key transportation corridors for safety reasons. Second, this trail connects many neighborhoods throughout the Downtown, and along its spine to the south and to the northernmost parts of the cit y. Communities ranging from Washington Guadalupe to Alviso rely upon this trail for daily exercise and recreation —or at least they did before the pandemic— and those communities have some of our greatest diversity and need. Contrary to common belief, District 3 for many years had the highest number of high-poverty census tracts of any council district—though other districts have more residents in poverty —although we’ll learn more through the latest census.
The signers of this memorandum have not had, and will not have, any private conversation with any other member of the City Council, or that member’s staff, concerning any action discussed in the memorandum, and that each signer’s staff members have not had, and have been instructed not to have, any such conversation with any other member of the City Council or that member's staff.