Letters from the Public - 1 of 2 — San Jose City Council, February 14, 2023

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FW: Vision Zero Action Plan
City Clerk <[email protected]>
Mon 2/13/2023 7:43 AM
To:Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Rachel Sussman
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2023 5:42 PM
To: Davis, Dev <[email protected]>
Cc: City Clerk <[email protected]>; Mahan, Ma <Ma[email protected]>; Jimenez, Sergio <[email protected]>; Foley, Pam <[email protected]>; Cohen, David <[email protected]>; Torres, Omar <[email protected]>; Orz, Peter <Peter.Or[email protected]>; Batra, Arjun <[email protected]>; Kamei, Rosemary <[email protected]>; Candelas, Domingo <[email protected]>; Doan, Bien <[email protected]>; [email protected]; shiloh Subject: Vision Zero Acon Plan

Dear Councilmember Davis,

I am the mother of three children who attend elementary and middle school at Trace and Hoover in San Jose. All three of them bike to school every day from our home just off the Alameda. I often worry about their safety because the streets near our schools are not designed to keep kids safe from inattentive or speeding drivers.

I am part of a parent group at Trace Elementary (https://www.tracepto.com/walk-n-roll/) who wants to get more kids to walk and bike to school. We have been working with the county and the city to try to get safety measures put into place around the school, including bike lanes, better crosswalk markings, and a stop sign near a busy school crosswalk. Despite a great deal of work from our parents and buy- in from our community and school administration, we have not been able to get the city to make the changes we need to keep our kids safe.

We saw too many deaths of pedestrians and bicyclists this year in San Jose, perhaps most tragically the death of a third-grader who was in a crosswalk near his school when he was struck by an SUV. I do not want to see any more children die for lack of good street design.

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I am also a primary care doctor who works for the county and Stanford at a hospital and clinic near my home, and I bike to work every day. I am scrupulous about following traffic laws, wearing high visibility clothing and helmet, and using front, rear, and side lights and reflectors. Nevertheless, I have close calls with cars on a regular basis. I don’t blame the drivers. I blame the roads which are not built to keep me safe.

I wish I could convince more of my patients, colleagues, and friends to get active by riding their bikes to get to work, shops, and school, but most of them are too scared by the unsafe roads to take the leap.

I will continue to bike for my health, for my community connection, and for the planet. I want the streets to be designed more safely so that more people can make that choice

I support the recommendations from the Mayor’s Transition Committee on Community Safety to:
- Fully fund the Vision Zero Action Plan and to ensure project delivery happens at a faster pace
- Fund new staff in the Department of Transportation and keep staffing levels so that we have enough capacity to oversee project delivery and write new grants to bring more money to the City
- Fund the Bike Plan and do so quickly!!
- And adopt a pedestrian safety improvement program

Thank you for your dedication to the City of San Jose. Please prioritize the safety of our streets for all users.

Sincerely,
Rachel Sussman, MD
San Jose Resident

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FW: Road Safety For Cycling
City Clerk <[email protected]>
Mon 2/13/2023 7:43 AM
To:Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Greg Colton
Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2023 2:49 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>; Mahan, Ma <Ma[email protected]>; Jimenez, Sergio <[email protected]>; Foley, Pam <[email protected]>; Cohen, David <[email protected]>; Torres, Omar <[email protected]>; Davis, Dev <[email protected]>; Orz, Peter <Peter.Or[email protected]>; Batra, Arjun <[email protected]>; Kamei, Rosemary <[email protected]>; Candelas, Domingo <[email protected]>; Doan, Bien <[email protected]>; [email protected] Cc: sandhya laddha
Subject: Road Safety For Cycling

Mayor et al;
I moved to San Jose four years ago, having lived all over the world. My family of five all cycle and very much appreciate the investment that has been made in road safety since we moved here. I was recently hit by a car, thankfully without incident in an area lacking improvement. We subscribe to the Merc and use it to keep track of where there are traffic fatalities related to cyclists so we can educate our family about the risks each week. I look forward to not having to do that someday. I support the recommendations from the Mayor’s Transition Committee on Community Safety to fund the City’s Vision Zero Action Plan, the Bike Plan, a pedestrian program and an increase in staff in the Department of Transportation.

Thank you.

Regards, Greg Colton

FW: Street Safety
City Clerk <[email protected]>
Mon 2/13/2023 7:43 AM
To:Agendadesk <[email protected]>
-----Original Message-----
From: Cody Seal
Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2023 9:40 PM
To: Cohen, David <[email protected]>
Cc: [email protected]; City Clerk <[email protected]>; sandhya laddha < >; Mahan, Matt <[email protected]>; Jimenez, Sergio <[email protected]>; Torres, Omar <[email protected]>; Davis, Dev <[email protected]>; Ortiz, Peter <[email protected]>; Batra, Arjun <[email protected]>; Kamei, Rosemary <[email protected]>; Candelas, Domingo <[email protected]>; Doan, Bien <[email protected]> Subject: Street Safety
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Hello Counilman Cohen,
I’m writing to you to express my support for improved street safety in San Jose.

I live here in District 4 with my wife and three young children - my oldest is a kindergartener at Orchard School, and we’re fortunate to live within walking distance of the school.

I also work here in the district, and I bike to the office almost every weekday. It’s a great way to start and end the work day! I’m grateful to have nice bike lanes for my entire commute route, but there are some areas that could be safer like the section of Brokaw Rd around the 880 ramps. In fact, I saw a cyclist struck by a car merging into the on-ramp turn lane just over two weeks ago on my ride home.

I support the Mayor’s Transition Committee on Community Safety to fund the Vision Zero Action Plan, the Bike Plan, a pedestrian program to end senseless deaths like that of 8 year old Jacob Villanueva, and increased staffing in the Department of Transportation.

I also support increased traffic enforcement to hold dangerous drivers accountable and deter the

practice while our streets safety plans are in work.

Thanks for your time,
Cody Seal
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FW: 23-257 - Homelessness Committee Report
City Clerk <[email protected]>
Mon 2/13/2023 7:44 AM
To:Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Kathryn Hedges
Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2023 10:45 PM
To: The Oﬃce of Mayor Ma Mahan <[email protected]>; District3 <[email protected]>; District1 <[email protected]>; District2 <[email protected]>; District4 <[email protected]>; District5 <[email protected]>; District 6 <[email protected]>; District7 <[email protected]>; District8 <[email protected]>; District9 <[email protected]>; District 10 <[email protected]>; [email protected]; City Clerk <[email protected]> Subject:
23-257 - Homelessness Commiee Report

Dear Mayor and Council Members:

Today I am speaking on my own behalf and not that of any community organizaons.

I agree with the goal in the report that we should be concerned about keeping unhoused people who receive housing from returning to the streets. However, the current "housing retenon" stascs are inﬂated because Abode Services has chosen to strong-arm the management (MidPen Housing and MidPen Services) into retaining tenants who either need more supports (that Abode won't provide) or need to live in a diﬀerent environment.

I live in District 3 at Donner Los. I'm not "in a program" and my rent is indexed to the Area Median Income, so I believe that means I'm in "workforce housing." When I put my name in their housing loery in 2015, and when I was picked in 2016, I thought it was a great idea to create a community with a diversity of tenants instead of segregang by class or income. People in "essenal jobs" who can't aﬀord market rate housing, rered/disabled people, and people who had been unhoused could live together. Great idea, unsasfactory implementaon.

Tenants who are unable to care for themselves independently should receive In Home Support services but they don't always receive those services. We have had ﬁres in the building when Housing First tenants who can't safely use a stove try to cook.

One Housing First tenant's cataract surgery was delayed over a year because his case managers kept canceling his appointments at Stanford Eye Center because they were quing their jobs without noce. He was nearly evicted for issues from his vision impairment during that year; luckily, Abode got him help from the Law Foundaon.

A Housing First tenant, who was sensive to noise, pulled a knife on the building's janitor for making too much noise mopping. He yelled abuse and threats at me every me he could hear me in the hallway, which made me afraid to leave my apartment. I don't know if he needs supervision, treatment, or a diﬀerent environment--but now he lives on the street again.

The Housing First tenant whose guest was shot by police on Memorial Day in 2017 had a history of explosive behavior towards others while using methamphetamine. I saw him ﬂip furniture at community events twice. He was doing meth with a friend when he set his apartment on ﬁre aer arguing with Security about a noise complaint. His apartment was full of garbage he had taken home from dumpsters.

His friend with the axe had already assaulted someone in the elevator. When SJPD held a meeng to jusfy the shoong, they were surprised to hear that tenants were so afraid of the man that they were relieved to hear he'd been shot to death. Anyway, I don't know if the Housing First arsonist is sll in jail or has been released to homelessness again.

According to the tenant grapevine, we have had 20-25 deaths in or next to the building since 2016. (A tenant was killed in the crossﬁre of a drug deal gone bad outside the building a few years ago.) We have visits nearly every day from SJPD, SJFD, and County EMS. Most of these are for Housing First tenants or their guests. A Housing First tenant ended his life aer MidPen raised his rent shortly aer he lost his job, his girlfriend dumped him, and his dog died. Another one of their tenants (he might have been a former foster youth) OD'd and died at a party here aer some other tenants talked him into trying a drug he wasn't accustomed to using. When he passed out, his "friends" all abandoned him without calling 911.

Instead of helping Housing First tenants get detox services, Abode Services protects them from evicon for selling drugs in the building to support their habits, or from evicon for meth-related aggression. We have a constant parade of people looking to buy drugs. Besides harassing residents trying to go home in peace, they also vandalize the building, urinate in the stairwells, create disturbances, smoke in the stairwells, steal laundry, and break into apartments. When I return home on foot, I have to block unwanted visitors from tailgang behind me or grabbing the door--and I will get a lease violaon if they succeed. Yet the tenants who sell drugs to them, or invite them over to "party," are protected from consequences. Abode demands that MidPen retain their tenants to keep up their KPI of "retenon in housing."

Donner Los lives up to all the negave stereotypes of aﬀordable housing in a neighborhood and Abode Services is a big part of that. This mismanaged building is fueling NIMBY arguments about aﬀordable housing. We have 10-20 Housing First tenants out of 100 tenant units, but their drug sales and errac behavior completely change the character of the building. (Five of them live on my ﬂoor and used to have ﬂoang trap house acvity at their apartments.) The rest of the tenants reject them for this behavior, so we don't have a uniﬁed community. There are always people hanging around outside and causing problems.

The Federal rules for Housing First state clearly that tenants in the program not only beneﬁt from the same rights as other tenants, they have the same responsibilies so that the community will funcon harmoniously.

Because Abode focuses on opmizing their housing retenon stats, their tenants in MidPen Housing properes are not held to the same standards as tenants who aren't "in a program." Other tenants are red of pung up with the constant nuisances and geng lease violaons for trivia. Most of the "workforce housing" tenants who leave Donner Los aer their lease is up are displaced from San Jose because they ﬁnd comparable rent in Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Portland, etc. This would seem to violate the spirit of the City's An-Displacement campaign.

Also, I hope Abode Services is paying for the restoraon and reconstrucon from the ﬁres and ﬂoods their tenants have been causing. I don't need to pay higher rent because someone broke a ﬁre sprinkler while they were high and ﬂooded mulple apartments. I also suspect they are the ones who keep tampering with the smoke detectors and causing false alarms. I'm red of having to evacuate for a false ﬁre alarm at least once a week, somemes in the middle of the night.

I have heard on social media that Abode failed to pay their share of rent on behalf of some of their tenants at other buildings. The tenants couldn't cover the whole rent payment and were evicted. It seems like paying their share of the rent is the very minimum bar for supports. hps://nextdoor.com/p/4C7H7C79RKsf?utm source=share&extras=MTY4NjIyMzg%3D

Please invesgate the details of Abode Services' actual performance, not just the KPIs. I know our Housing Department is busy with a lot of very good work, but perhaps a County Civil Grand Jury could look into their performance.

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Kind regards,
Kathryn Hedges
San Jose, CA 95112

[External Email]
FW: 23-257 - Homelessness Committee Report
City Clerk <[email protected]>
Mon 2/13/2023 7:44 AM
To:Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Kathryn Hedges
Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2023 11:52 PM
To: The Oﬃce of Mayor Ma Mahan <[email protected]>; District3 <[email protected]>; District1 <[email protected]>; District2 <[email protected]>; District4 <[email protected]>; District5 <[email protected]>; District 6 <[email protected]>; District7 <[email protected]>; District8 <[email protected]>; District9 <[email protected]>; District 10 <[email protected]>; City Clerk <[email protected]>; Webmaster Manager <[email protected]> Cc: shhaccoreteam >
Subject: 23-257 - Homelessness Commiee Report

Dear Mayor, Vice-Mayor, Council Members, and Homelessness Commiee Members:

I am a member of the Sacred Heart Housing Advocacy Commiee, and we are currently advocang for Tenant Right to Counsel in evicon cases. This is not SHHAC's oﬃcial response, but it's in accordance with views we have discussed in the group.

Thank you for including Recommendaon #2 for Tenant Right to Counsel and/or collaborave court proceedings in this report.

The Bay Area News Group just reported on evicon stascs across Bay Area counes. Although the arcle focused on the dire situaon in Contra Costa County, it was contrasted with the beer outcomes in Santa Clara County. The County and San Jose fund at least some support for tenants. Expanding these eﬀorts would reduce the number of people falling into homelessness, which our own Housing Department says is at least double the rate at which we can rehouse people.

hps://enewspaper.mercurynews.com/inﬁnity/arcle popover share.aspx?guid=0ec08ef0-9c1a-4150-991c- dbcc8b99a47e
Randolph’s case is one in a surge of more than 10,000 eviction lawsuits filed across the core five- county Bay Area since the fall of 2021, when state and local pandemic eviction protections started to wind down, according to a Bay Area News Group analysis of court data.

While court data affirms advocates’ warnings of an “eviction tsunami” in areas where protections lapsed, it also reflects the disparities in resources available to the growing numbers of tenants

facing eviction across the Bay Area. Only some have access to rental aid and legal representation, leaving many to navigate the often intimidating eviction process on their own.

Contra Costa County “does not have the same level of protections or tenant resources” as other parts of the region, said Alex Werth, policy and research director with the nonprofit East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy. “The results of this disparity are really borne out in the data.” Over the second half of 2022 — after most emergency protections had fully expired — eviction filings soared 43% above pre-pandemic levels in Contra Costa, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties combined, according to court data. Despite the distribution of a half-billion aid dollars to struggling renters across those counties, advocates expect eviction cases to remain high in the months ahead.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, where a narrow eviction protection ordinance has been in effect since July, cases rose to pre-COVID-19 numbers.

The exception was Alameda County, where strict limits on evictions dating back to March 2020 are keeping cases at historic lows. Multiple landlord groups have sued to end those protections, arguing they are no longer needed since the worst of the pandemic is over and most people have returned to work. Officials have said the safeguards could end April 30.

Last year, Contra Costa County had the highest eviction case rate in the core Bay Area, with one filing for every 116 households, according to court data. Next came San Francisco, with one for every 171 households; Santa Clara, with one for every 195 households; San Mateo, with one for every 210 households; and Alameda, with just one for every 616 households.

Between May and October, advocates with the East Bay Alliance attended and tracked 56 eviction proceedings in Contra Costa County Superior Court. They found that 86% of landlords came to court with an attorney, while only 7% of tenants had legal representation. As a result, renters lost cases they might otherwise have won had they had access to “high-quality and timely legal services,” according to a report summarizing the findings.

To shift the power imbalance between landlords and tenants, the report recommends creating a program to offer all renters facing eviction a lawyer, similar to an effort San Francisco started in 2019. Unlike in criminal cases, defendants in eviction suits have no right to counsel.

A city report on San Francisco’s program — one of the few anywhere in the country — found that during the first half of 2019, over two-thirds of households with an attorney were able to stay in their homes, compared to just 38% of households without representation.

Even though Santa Clara County doesn’t have its own eviction defense program, Todd Rothbard, a landlord attorney, said he’s seen few renters there actually forced out of their units in recent months, even as eviction cases have spiked. That’s because local government agencies and nonprofits have been stepping in to cover tenants’ unpaid rent at eviction proceedings, he said.

Housing people who have fallen into homelessness is far more diﬃcult and expensive for our social safety net and far more traumac than not losing one's home in the ﬁrst place. Children suﬀer despite having no role in whatever led to the evicon.

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Contrary to public statements by our Mayor, substance abuse and mental health issues are not the only reasons people are unhoused. It is true that the most visible unhoused people suﬀer from those issues--which make them less able to live inconspicuously and more likely to depend on panhandling in public than most unhoused people are. Most people who lose their housing are currently employed, have recently lost a job but are employable, or their disability just makes them unable to earn 3X market rents (not unable to funcon in housing). I'm sure that long COVID is playing a part in disability-related loss of income. Some people who lose their homes sll maintain their employment, parcularly if they can couch-surf instead of living outdoors, or have a movable vehicle instead of a tent. Why not give them a second chance in their current rental?

Blaming homelessness on people's behavioral health problems is oen reversing cause and eﬀect. Many people develop substance abuse issues trying to cope with life without housing, while others develop mental health issues from the trauma, or can no longer manage problems they could treat while housed and insured. This is why it's important to prevent people from losing their homes in the ﬁrst place, to avoid trauma that can trigger a downward spiral into problems that are hard to treat.

Please adopt Recommendaon #2.

Sincerely,
Kathryn Hedges
San Jose, CA 95112

[External Email]
SJ Vision Zero Plan
Teodoro Cipresso
Mon 2/13/2023 12:00 AM
To:Jimenez, Sergio <[email protected]>
Cc: [email protected] <[email protected]>;City Clerk <[email protected]>;Mahan, Matt <[email protected]>;Foley, Pam <[email protected]>;Cohen, David <[email protected]>;Torres, Omar <[email protected]>;Davis, Dev <[email protected]>;Ortiz, Peter <[email protected]>;Batra, Arjun <[email protected]>;Kamei, Rosemary <[email protected]>;Candelas, Domingo <[email protected]>;Doan, Bien <[email protected]>;[email protected] <[email protected]>
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Dear Sergio Jimenez,
I live in a neighborhood across from the Capitol and Branham light rail stations, along the Canoas Creek. I use my bike during the week to commute to work and to exercise on the weekends. I discovered cycling during the pandemic and we have since become a one car family. I work on Bailey Ave in south San Jose and it's about a 25 mile round trip to work. I take Santa Teresa Blvd all the way to Bailey and would not attempt to commute by bike if there weren't bike lanes.

Bike lanes are great, but paint is not protection. Last year I was hit from behind in the bike lane at Santa Teresa and Dunn by a car that did not stop before turning right on red. I was shaken and sore for a while, but decided to continue commuting by bike (after buying a new one) in hopes that lightning doesn't strike twice in the same spot. From the vantage point of a bike, I can see how distracted and impatient drivers are on our roads. People are busy, I understand that, but our streets should be designed in such a way that drivers are encouraged to slow down and watch for pedestrians and cyclists.

This past year, San Jose had a record number of traffic fatalities. Additionally, the amount of time and resources spent on the average of 20 crashes a day, 10 of which involve a major injury, is a complete waste of time for our first responders and police officers, not to mention the costs borne by crash victims in the form of auto-repair, medical insurance, the trauma and time taken.

All of this is a waste of time and money and we have the solutions in the form of street design.

I support the recommendations from the Mayor’s Transition Committee on Community Safety to:
- Fully fund the Vision Zero Action Plan and to ensure project delivery happens at a faster pace - Fund new staff in the Department of Transportation and keep staffing levels so that we have enough capacity to oversee project delivery and write new grants to bring more money to the City - Fund the Bike Plan and do so quick

This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. - And adopt a pedestrian safety improvement program
Thank you for your dedication to the City of San Jose. Please prioritize the safety of our streets for all users.

Sincerely,
Teodoro Cipresso

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FW: SJ Vison Zero Plan
City Clerk <[email protected]>
Mon 2/13/2023 11:31 AM
To:Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: John Hovland
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2023 11:28 AM
To: Davis, Dev <[email protected]>
Cc: Mahan, Ma <Ma[email protected]>; [email protected]; City Clerk <[email protected]>; Foley, Pam <[email protected]>; Jimenez, Sergio <[email protected]>; Cohen, David <[email protected]>; Torres, Omar <[email protected]>; Orz, Peter <Peter.Or[email protected]>; Batra, Arjun <[email protected]>; Kamei, Rosemary <[email protected]>; Candelas, Domingo <[email protected]>; Doan, Bien <[email protected]>; shiloh Subject: SJ Vison Zero Plan

Dear Councilmember Davis,
We live in Georgetown adjacent to Cahill Park near Diridon Staon. I bicycle for recreaon/ﬁtness/happiness, and when praccal for errands. I appreciate the eﬀorts that the City has made to make streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians, but more needs to be done. As you know, too many fatalies and major injuries are sll occurring in our City. Too many motorists are not safely sharing the road with cyclists and pedestrians. Soluons in the form of street design are available.

We support the recommendaons from the Mayor’s Transion Commiee on Community Safety to:

Fully fund the Vision Zero Acon Plan and to ensure that project delivery happens at a faster pace Fund new staﬀ in the Department of Transportaon to provide capacity to oversee project delivery and to write new grants to bring more funding to the City
Fund the Bike Plan and to do so quickly
Adopt a pedestrian safety improvement program

Thank you for connuing to help make San Jose a great place to live. Please make our streets safer for all.

Sincerely,

John Hovland

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[External Email]
FW: SJ VZ Plan
City Clerk <[email protected]>
Mon 2/13/2023 9:22 AM
To:Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Chrisna Salvaer <
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2023 9:15 AM
To: Torres, Omar <[email protected]>
Cc: shiloh City Clerk <[email protected]>; Mahan, Ma <Ma[email protected]>; Jimenez, Sergio <[email protected]>; Foley, Pam <[email protected]>; Cohen, David <[email protected]>; Davis, Dev <[email protected]>; Orz, Peter <Peter.Or[email protected]>; Batra, Arjun <[email protected]>; Kamei, Rosemary <[email protected]>; Candelas, Domingo <[email protected]>; Doan, Bien <[email protected]>; [email protected] Subject: SJ VZ Plan

Dear Councilmember Torres,

I live in DTSJ and ride my bike because it’s good for me and my community. Sadly, all too often, I fear riding my bicycle because car drivers have become less and less attentive. I am writing to you today because street safety should be a top City priority.

All of this is a waste of time and money and we have the solutions in the form of street design.

This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. - Fund the Bike Plan and do so quick
- And adopt a pedestrian safety improvement program

Thank you for your dedication to the City of San Jose. Please prioritize the safety of our streets for all users.

Sincerely,
Chrisna M. Salvaer

2/13/23, 3:42 PM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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23-257 - Community Safety Committee Report
Kathryn Hedges <
Mon 2/13/2023 2:26 PM
To:The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan <[email protected]>;District3 <[email protected]>;District1 <[email protected]>;District2 <[email protected]>;District4 <[email protected]>;District5 <[email protected]>;District 6 <[email protected]>;District7 <[email protected]>;District8 <[email protected]>;District9 <[email protected]>;District 10 <[email protected]>;City Clerk <[email protected]>;City Clerk <[email protected]>;Webmaster Manager <[email protected]> Cc: Jen Myhre < Kylie Clark < Christopher Logan
< Derrick Sanderlin <

Dear Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmembers, and Committee Members:

I am a Downtown resident in District 3, and a member of SURJ, RECS, and SHHAC at Sacred Heart. I am also a tenant in affordable housing with a front-row seat to the issues described in this report, and a different perspective from the members of this committee.

FY 2022-23
Recommendation #1: The community engagement strategy needs to take into account the previous work of ReImagining Public Safety (RIPS). After the widespread trauma inflicted on residents of San Jose, particularly the BIPOC communities, "community engagement" won't be effective unless the police force and its academy training change dramatically. The "military bootcamp" training methods used in the USA produce officers who see every encounter as a life-or-death threat from an enemy rather than a situation they can de-escalate with appropriate techniques they don't learn in the academy here. We see no evidence these changes will happen. Also, the success metrics should come from an outside observer, not the police department: perhaps RIPS or the IPA.

Recommendation #2: We heartily endorse the expansion of programs, such as TRUST, that allow substance use and mental health issues to be handled by experts and peer supporters in those fields. (Domestic violence and child/youth issues should also be handled by appropriate non-police experts and peer supporters.) We recommend establishing at least one more TRUST team for the City of San Jose, as half the population of Santa Clara County live in San Jose and one team is not adequate for this population across a wide area. We also demand a direct public telephone number for TRUST so that people in crisis don't have to navigate a complex phone tree to maybe get an operator who will connect them to TRUST instead of calling 911 to send an armed officer.

Recommendation #3: We do not endorse an increase in police officers. Instead, we refer to the RIPS recommendations to delegate types of calls that are not effective use of police resources to experts in those areas (mental health, substance abuse, homelessness, domestic violence, etc.)

Recommendation #4: Self-enforcing streets that reduce opportunities for reckless driving without police presence are a good idea. I attended Councilmember Torres's event this Saturday and approve of these plans.

FY 24+
Recommendation #1: Making San Jose a safer place to walk and bike is an excellent goal, and adding staff to improve grant funding is a good idea. I don't bike as much as I used to because I feel unsafe from aggressive and inattentive drivers, as well as hostile pedestrians and reckless scooter/bike riders.

The underinvested areas of San Jose are not safe for pedestrians just in terms of basic infrastructure, and this needs to be improved as an equity issue. Throughout the city, we need to make it easy to do the right thing for the climate and reduce reliance on cars.

Recommendation #2: People in some neighborhoods feel safer with more police presence, but please take into account that other neighborhoods have been traumatized by police. "Friendlier" police are still police until they have some assurance that they will not be harassed.

Recommendation #3: Delegating appropriate calls to CSOs is an excellent idea. Please ensure that CSOs are screened to prevent bias against BIPOC residents, women, LGBTQ+, disabled residents, or other disadvantaged/underrepresented communities.

Recommendation #4: We disagree with the recommendation to increase sworn staffing levels unless this is absolutely necessary after reallocating as many types of calls to CSOs and experts in substance use, mental health, homelessness, domestic violence, child/youth issues, etc. (We do not need sworn police officers assigned to schools; they create more issues than they solve or prevent.) I don't know anyone who thought it was appropriate for this committee to meet in secret and compile these recommendations without public input or comment. I will attend the meeting via Zoom if at all possible, but my comments in this email are too long for 30-120 seconds of public comment in any case.

Sincerely,
Kathryn Hedges

2/13/23, 3:45 PM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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San Jose Vision Zero for Safer streets
Ranjith Aramanai <
Mon 2/13/2023 2:40 PM
To:District 10 <[email protected]>
Cc: City Clerk <[email protected]>;Mahan, Matt <[email protected]>;Jimenez, Sergio <[email protected]>;Foley, Pam <[email protected]>;Cohen, David <[email protected]>;Torres, Omar <[email protected]>;Davis, Dev <[email protected]>;Ortiz, Peter <[email protected]>;Batra, Arjun <[email protected]>;Kamei, Rosemary <[email protected]>;Candelas, Domingo <[email protected]>;
Doan, Bien <[email protected]>;[email protected] <[email protected]>;sandhya laddha <
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Dear Arjun,
I am a resident of south San Jose and live near the intersection of Snell and Santa Teresa. I walk or ride my bicycle to close by places because it feels great for my physical and mental health. It also means one less car on the road.

In this year alone there have been quite a lot of accidents in my area and I notice these things not through the news but seeing everyday people who are in a hurry, not wanting to stop for pedestrians, not noticing pedestrians because shrubs or cars blocking the view. I feel we can take simple steps to reduce traffic accidents from solutions in better street designs.

We support the recommendations from the Mayor’s Transition Committee on Community Safety to:
- Fully fund the Vision Zero Action Plan and to ensure project delivery happens at a faster pace
- Fund new staff in the Department of Transportation and keep staffing levels so that we have enough capacity to oversee project delivery and write new grants to bring more money to the City
- Fund the Bike Plan and do so quick
- And adopt a pedestrian safety improvement program
Thank you for your dedication to the City of San Jose. Please prioritize the safety of our streets for all users.

Sincerely,
Ranjith Aramanai

2/13/23, 3:46 PM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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Support a budget that creates a San José for ALL!
Elizabeth Barcelos <
Mon 2/13/2023 2:59 PM
To:City Clerk <[email protected]>

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San Jose City Clerk Toni Taber,
As a San José resident, I am writing to ask for your support in shaping a City Budget that prioritizes the needs of working families and upholds our values as a community. In order to properly address economic, racial, and social inequality, we need a budget that ensures we are building a City for every resident, family, and neighborhood.

I am joining together with my community to ask you to prioritize the following in the City Budget:

Strengthening essential services
Building safe & strong neighborhoods
Providing homes and good jobs
Creating a healthy environment
Working towards childcare
Fighting for a city for ALL
San Jose remains deeply economically divided — nearly half of all children live in families which make too little money to make ends meet. This inequality is bad for working families, bad for our neighborhoods, and bad for San José’s regional economy.

That’s why I’m coming together with my San José neighbors to ask you to create a budget that will consider the urgent and emerging needs of all residents across the City, regardless of where we live, what we do for a living, and how much money we make.

Elizabeth Barcelos

2/13/23, 3:47 PM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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Letter to City Council from REAL re Mayor's Transition Committees Claire Kennedy <
Mon 2/13/2023 3:10 PM
To:The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan <[email protected]>;District1 <[email protected]>;District2 <[email protected]>;District3 <[email protected]>;District4 <[email protected]>;District5 <[email protected]>;District 6 <[email protected]>;District7 <[email protected]>;District8 <[email protected]>;District9 <[email protected]>;District 10 <[email protected]>;City Clerk <[email protected]> Cc: Reed, Jim <[email protected]>;Gomez, David <[email protected]>;Sandoval, Vanessa <[email protected]>;Arreola, Kiara <[email protected]>;Nguyen, Lam <[email protected]>;Madero, Angel <[email protected]>;Groen, Mary Anne <[email protected]>;Fleming, Jonathan <[email protected]>;Hughes, Scott <[email protected]>;Lomio, Michael <[email protected]>;Wilcox, Leland <[email protected]>;Hamilton, Peter <[email protected]>;Maguire, Jennifer <[email protected]>;Klein, Nanci <[email protected]>;Alan Gouig < Kyra Kazantzis < Yvonne Jimenez < City Clerk
<[email protected]>
1 attachments (166 KB)
Letter to CSJ from REAL re Mayor's Transition Committee 2023.02.13.pdf; Some people who received this message don't often get email from Learn why this is important

Dear Honorable Mayor Mahan and Members of the City Council,

Please see aached a leer prepared by the nonproﬁt Race Equity Acon Leadership (REAL) Coalion regarding the Mayor’s Transion Commiees. We look forward to your discussion around this. Thank you for your consideraon.

Regards,
Claire Kennedy
Claire Kennedy, MPA | Policy + Advocacy Fellow
Silicon Valley Council of Nonproﬁts
Web: svcn.org| Twier: @SVCN
Pronouns: she/her/hers

February 13, 2023

Mayor & City Council
City of San José
200 East Santa Clara Street, 18th Floor
San José, CA 95113
Sent via electronic mail

Re: Mayor’s Transition Committees

Dear Mayor Mahan and City Council:

This letter was prepared by members of the Race Equity Action Leadership (REAL) coalition.

Background
REAL’s Budget Justice Workgroup sent a letter to the Mayor and Council on February 1, 2023, expressing disappointment with the lack of transparency in the Mayor’s Transition Committee process, as well as the failure of the Mayor’s stated priorities and the committee charters to address important strategies and ongoing work, especially those that would further racial justice and equity. (Attached.)

Since that letter was received, no changes have been made in the process, composition, or charter of the committees, and there has been no transparency in the process. Accordingly,

● We urge Council to say no to participating any further in this undemocratic process, including voting no on directing staff to make changes to or replace the current City roadmap with committee “recommendations.”
● We urge Council and the Mayor to create a prioritization process that engages the community and is truly representative of our community, especially including people from communities with lived experiences of discrimination, poverty, and historic oppression.

Please consider this letter signed by 31 nonprofit and ally members as you decide what action to take on February 14. You can reach REAL by emailing

Sincerely,

Louis Chicoine
Abode Services

Mylinh Pham
Asian American Center of Santa
Clara County

Richard Konda
Asian Law Alliance

Sparky Harlan
Bill Wilson Center

Gregory Kepferle
Catholic Charities of Santa Clara
County

Pete Settelmayer
Downtown College Prep

Beth Leary
Family Supportive Housing Inc.

Bob Nuñez
La Raza Roundtable

Gabby Chavez-Lopez
Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley

Darcie Green
Latinas Contra Cancer

Alison Brunner
Law Foundation of Silicon Valley

Gloria Baxter
Lighthouse of Hope Counseling
Center

Quency Phillips
Lighthouse Silicon Valley

Gisela Bushey
Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen

Anjee Helstrup-Alvarez
MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y
Cultura Latino Americana

Hector Sanchez-Flores
National Compadres Network

Colsaria Henderson
Next Door Solutions to Domestic
Violence

Rhonda Berry
Our City Forest

Eva Terrazas
Pacific Clinics

Heather Cleary
Peninsula Family Service

Lauren Babb
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte

Sharon Winston
Project HIRED

Nathan Svoboda
Project MORE

Poncho Guevara
Sacred Heart Community Service

Wisa Uemura
San José Taiko

Sheri Burns
Silicon Valley Independent Living
Center and the SCC Aging Services
Collective

Kyra Kazantzis
Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits

Regina Celestin-Williams
SV@Home

Yvonne Maxwell
Ujima Adult & Family Services

Sujatha Venkatraman
West Valley Community Services

Jennifer Masuda
Yu-Ai kai Japanese American
Community Senior Service
About the REAL Coalition
The REAL community of nonprofit leaders and allies has been meeting since June 2020 to use our positional power to advocate for a more racially -just and equitable society; to establish a peer network of leaders committed to fighting white supremacy and systemic racism in ourselves and our institutions; and to hold each other accountable to the promises we made in the Nonprofit Racial Equity Pledge. The REAL coalition is broadly representative of the nonprofit community including human and community services , behavioral health and health, arts and culture, domestic violence, older adults, food distribution, education, environmental, farming, legal, disability rights, LGTBQ rights, ethnic, immigrant rights, housing and homelessness, criminal justice reform, ur ban planning, and intermediary organizations, and others. Over 125 organizations have participated in the REAL coalition.

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Budget Priorities -- Vision Zero and Bike Plan
sayanan sivaraman <
Mon 2/13/2023 3:38 PM
To:City Clerk <[email protected]>;Mahan, Matt <[email protected]>;Jimenez, Sergio <[email protected]>;Foley, Pam <[email protected]>;Cohen, David <[email protected]>;Torres, Omar <[email protected]>;Davis, Dev <[email protected]>;Ortiz, Peter <[email protected]>;Batra, Arjun <[email protected]>;Kamei, Rosemary <[email protected]>;Candelas, Domingo <[email protected]>;Doan, Bien <[email protected]>;[email protected] <[email protected]>
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Dear City Council:

My name is Sayanan Sivaraman. I live in Japantown, and I am a cycle commuter.

In the past year, San Jose drivers killed a record number of people: cyclists, pedestrians, and other road users.

As the City Council determines budget priorities, I'm writing to urge you to prioritize the following:

1. Fully fund Vision Zero.

2. Fully fund the DOT Better Bike Plan.

3. Fund and staff the Department of Transportation.

4. Adopt a pedestrian safety plan.

Sincerely
--
Sayanan Sivaraman, PhD

2/13/23, 4:15 PM Mail - City Clerk - Outlook
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Mayoral Transition Committee Report on Homelessness (2/14 Study Session) David Low < >
Mon 2/13/2023 4:06 PM
To:The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan <[email protected]>;District1 <[email protected]>;District2 <[email protected]>;District3 <[email protected]>;District4 <[email protected]>;District5 <[email protected]>;District 6 <[email protected]>;District7 <[email protected]>;District8 <[email protected]>;District9 <[email protected]>;District 10 <[email protected]>
Cc: City Clerk <[email protected]>
1 attachments (142 KB)
DH letter - Mayoral Transition Committee Report on Homelessness 02132023.pdf;

Honorable Mayor & Councilmembers,
Attached is a letter from Destination: Home CEO Jennifer Loving re: the Mayoral Transition Committee Report on Homelessness, which you all will discuss at tomorrow's Study Session.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like to discuss these issues further.

Thank you for your continued partnership to ending homelessness in our community.

Destination: Home Logo

DA VID LOW
Director of Policy & Communications
T | C
A
DestinationHomeSV .org

P: F:

DESTINATIONHOMESV.ORG

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Roger Biscay
Cisco

Jan Bernstein Chargin
Gavilan College

Louis Chicoine
Abode Services

Jacky Morales-Ferrand
City of San Jose

Dontae Lartigue
Razing the Bar

Ky Le
County of Santa Clara

Jennifer Loving
Destination: Home

Preston Prince
SCC Housing Authority

Joel John Roberts
PATH

John A. Sobrato
The Sobrato Organization

Ben Spero
Spectrum Equity Investors

Nicole Taylor
Silicon Valley Community
Foundation

Ted Wang
Cowboy Ventures

Gary Wipfler
Apple

ENDING HOMELESSNESS IN SILICON VALLEY

February 13, 2023

Mayor & City Council
City of San Jose
200 East Santa Clara Street, 18th Floor
San Jose, CA 95113

Re: Mayoral Transition Committee Report on Homelessness

Dear Mayor Mahan and Members of the City Council,

Thank you for your continued leadership in addressing homelessness in our community.

Since 2020, the City of San Jose has been one of the lead partners driving the Santa Clara County Community Plan to End Homelessness - a comprehensive strategy that focuses on: 1) addressing the root causes of homelessness through system and policy change, 2) expanding homelessness prevention and housing programs to meet the need, and 3) improving quality of life for unsheltered individuals and creating healthy neighborhoods for all. And thanks to the commitment of partners like you, we have taken important steps in curbing the growth of homelessness in our community. (You can read more about the Community Plan at: https://destinationhomesv.org/community-plan/)

I appreciate that the Mayoral Transition Committee Report on Homelessness includes several recommendations and metrics that align with the Community Plan, and I wholeheartedly support the dual focus on expanding both interim and permanent housing programs. This is the same approach taken by our Community Plan, and it will be absolutely critical to our ultimate success in reducing and ending homelessness in our community.

However, I am deeply concerned that this report focuses so heavily on the impact of encampments on neighborhoods - without putting similar emphasis on the well-being of those who are forced to live in these horrific conditions on our streets. While we absolutely need to be mindful of the impacts of homelessness in areas occupied by housed residents and businesses, it should not supersede the impacts felt by people who are currently suffering on our streets.

In particular, I am disappointed that:
• The Committee did not choose to amend Outcome #2 to be inclusive of addressing the basic needs of people living in encampments; and • The Report lacks any recommended actions or metrics related to improving the well-being of these extremely vulnerable individuals.

P: F:

DESTINATIONHOMESV.ORG

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Roger Biscay
Cisco

Jan Bernstein Chargin
Gavilan College

Louis Chicoine
Abode Services

Jacky Morales-Ferrand
City of San Jose

Dontae Lartigue
Razing the Bar

Ky Le
County of Santa Clara

Jennifer Loving
Destination: Home

Preston Prince
SCC Housing Authority

Joel John Roberts
PATH

John A. Sobrato
The Sobrato Organization

Ben Spero
Spectrum Equity Investors

Nicole Taylor
Silicon Valley Community
Foundation

Ted Wang
Cowboy Ventures

Gary Wipfler
Apple

ENDING HOMELESSNESS IN SILICON VALLEY

We cannot forget that the most severe impacts of our homelessness crisis are being felt by those without a roof over their heads.

As the City Council considers how to implement the recommendations from this report, I implore all of us to prioritize BOTH actions that will help alleviate the plight of those who have been forced to find shelter on our streets, a s well as actions to address impacts on surrounding neighborhoods, businesses and our broader community.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Loving
CEO

San Jose City CouncilFebruary 14, 2023

San Jose City Council
February 14, 2023