RULES COMMITTEE: 3/15/2023
Item: B.1
File ID: ROGC 23-114
TO: Honorable Mayor & FROM: Toni J. Taber, CMC
City Council City Clerk
SUBJECT: The Public Record DATE: March 15, 2023
March 2 – March 9, 2023
ITEMS FILED FOR THE PUBLIC RECORD
Letters from Boards, Commissions, and Committees
1. Letter from the Library and Education Commission, dated February 15, 2023, regarding:
Library & Education Commission Budget Message to the Mayor and City Council.
Letters from the Public
2. Letter from Santa Clara Valley Water District (Carmen Narayanan), dated March 6, 2023, regarding: Santa Clara Valley Water District Annual Report on the Protection and Augmentation of Water Supplies, February 2023.
3. Letter from Blair Beekman, dated March 7, 2023, regarding: Blair Beekman. Tuesday, March 7, 2023.....BAUASI Approval Authority Public Meeting. 3.9.23. ____________________________
Toni J. Taber, CMC
City Clerk
TJT/tt
150 E. SAN FERNANDO STREET SAN JOSÉ, CALIFORNIA 95112-3580 TEL. 408.808.2355 FAX 408.808.2133 www.sjlibrary.org February 15, 2023
Dear Honorable Mayor and City Council:
On behalf of the City of San José Library and Education Commission, I would like to thank you for your continued support of the San José Public Library (“Library”) and the many essential services it provides to our community.
As the City and Library continue to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, with ongoing challenges for economic recovery, the Library continues to thrive as a community resource hub, providing safe spaces, educational support, technology access, and many other services, all at no cost. The Library aims to provide free accessible resources, training, and support for literacy and education, as well as workforce development and many other skill building opportunities, especially important as we transition out of pandemic recovery.
In Fiscal Year 2022-2023, the Library continued driving towards the restoration of weekly public operating hours to pre-pandemic levels and unanimously received Council support to pilot the expansion of hours to seven days a week. The addition of operating hours at 16 branches on Sundays has expanded library access to working professionals, families, and students who would not have access to the libraries critical services during the work week.
As we look towards Fiscal Year 2023-2024, the Commission respectfully asks the City Council for the resources to provide our residents with the necessary services with support for the following priorities:
• An ongoing full restoration of hours at all library branches to pre-pandemic levels and expansion of hours to include Sunday hours at all library branches: permanently fund 47 weekly hours of service at all library branch locations and maintain the 24 weekly hours at the Mount Pleasant Neighborhood Library; permanently fund the 77 weekly King Library hours, children, and youth services hours inclusive; expanding branch schedules to allow Sunday hours at all library branches.
• Fully fund Education and Digital Literacy Initiative and the SJ Access Digital Equity program staff positions and programming funding ongoing, including the continuation of publicly available hotspots and devices, as well as digital literacy programming. • An ongoing increase to the Library’s budget for collections materials, including print materials, language materials, and Electronic Resources (eResources) to meet the increased demand, cost increases, and to prevent the San José Public Library from falling further behind other Bay Area libraries in materials collection per capita. • Expand Library juvenile material fines-free to fines-free for all materials. • Right-size public safety resources for current operating needs to ensure safe spaces for library staff and all members of our community
In FY 2021-2022, the Council prioritized access to lower-resourced branch communities by funding 47 hours of service on a one-time basis and in the current fiscal year these hours were made permanent. In FY 2021-2022, the Council prioritized access to lower-resourced branch
LIBRARY AND EDUCATION COMMISSION
Public Record: 1
communities by funding 47 hours of service on a one-time basis and in the current fiscal year these hours were made permanent. In FY 2022-2023, the Council prioritized Sunday hours at branches supporting lower resourced and high use communities. For FY 2023-2024, the Council should restore hours throughout the remainder of the Library locations and expand Sunday public service hours to all library branches. Reductions to public service hours at any level most heavily burden more vulnerable, high-need communities that rely on the Library for services.
Further, a full restoration of hours at all library branches to pre-pandemic and an expansion of Sunday hours at all library branches communities would reduce barriers at very little additional cost. We support ongoing restoration of public open hours, and the expansion of Sunday hours to all branches.
The Commission is thankful for the City Council’s continued support of the Library’s role as the citywide lead of Education & Digital Equity Roadmap priority. This work has provided critical support and resources to the community, as well as accountability and assurance that the programs offered by the City are of high-quality. In FY 2022-2023, the Council provided continued funding for existing positions and hotspot connectivity on a one-time basis. The need for connectivity solutions is still high: census data tells us that residents are still under connected and device usage at 100% utilization at all times. For FY 2023-2024 we support the proposal to continue funding for positions and hotspot connectivity on a permanent basis. It is critical that the Library be able to continue to remove barriers and develop programs that are responsive to changing needs around equity and we support the request to annualize positions to sustain and build on this work.
The Commission supports an increase to the Library’s budget for collections materials, which provide critical access to knowledge and learning resources for all residents. As the cost of print materials, language materials, and Electronic Resources (eResources) continues to increase, the Library’s budget must be adjusted accordingly. The Library’s current budget for purchasing eResources, eBooks, and eMedia is not sufficient to meet the significantly increased demand that has occurred since the onset of the pandemic. The Library continues to fall further behind other libraries of similar size in number of resources and available content. In comparison to nearby library systems the San José Public Library serves a larger population but offers 13% fewer eResources than Santa Clara County Public Library and 230% fewer eResources than San Francisco Public Library. Additionally, due to inflation, sales tax increases, and lack of library capital budget resources, the Library’s materials collection per capita continues to be well below the California state median as well as below other libraries in the Bay Area.
The Commission is grateful for the Mayor and City Council’s action that made the Juvenile Fine-Free Pilot permanent in FY 2020-2021, thus removing barriers for the Library’s youngest users and restoring access to the many educational opportunities the Library provides. In the current fiscal year, the Commission was excited to have the Council’s recommendation and approval of a one-time elimination of library fines for Seniors as well as a commitment to evaluate the ongoing impacts as part of a future budget cycle. However, Library fines and the fear of accruing them continues to keep many adults from using the Library. Libraries in the Bay Area have joined the 500 national library systems that have gone Fines Free including Santa Clara County, Alameda County, San Francisco, Oakland Public, Redwood City, Mountain View, Los Gatos, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Hayward Public, Berkeley Public, and San Mateo County. In alignment with the City’s “Budgeting for Equity” process, the Commission believes that the ability to implement Fines-Free for all will be well worth the diminishing revenue from late fines to support recovery of highest-need communities from the pandemic.
The Library has prioritized the safety of staff and visitors and continues to invest in resources to increase security capacity in all facilities. A Branch Security/Safety Assessment was conducted in FY 2022-2023 for recommendations on best practices, staffing levels and equipment needs.
According to the assessment, the Library’s security staffing levels are far below industry standards. In FY 2022-2023, the Library increased in-house security staffing adding one security supervisor and two senior security officer positions based on the recommendation and expanded hours. The proposed budget request would add six additional positions that would meet the assessment recommendation for full coverage of current systemwide operations for the 23 library branches, Mount Pleasant Neighborhood Library, and coordination of security efforts at the Main Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. For FY 2023-2024, the Commission recommends the increased investment in both security staffing, branch manager positions, as well as an increase in funding for ongoing contract security support for high incident branches to ensure safe spaces for library staff and all community members.
The Commission respectfully asks the Council to continue to support the Library’s mission of providing every resident from childhood to adulthood the opportunity to attend programs, obtain career coaching, earn a high school diploma, learn to use technology, or do their homework with their family, regardless of where they live, their financial status, or the barriers they may face on a daily basis. We appreciate your consideration of the important, relevant services provided by our public libraries and the benefits they offer when prioritizing the City’s budget for the coming fiscal year.
Thank you for your vision and leadership.
Best Regards,
/s/
Wendi Mahaney-Gurahoo
Commission Chair
On behalf of the San José Public Library and Education Commission 3/9/23, 8:24 AM Mail - Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas - Outlook https://outlook.office365.com/mail/[email protected]/inbox/id/AAQkADhhYzk3NTk1LTBmZDAtNDc4Yi1hN2Q0LTZjNmZjNTk5MT… 1/2 You don't often get email from . Learn why this is important [External Email]
FW: Santa Clara Valley Water District Annual Report on the Protection and Augmentation of Water Supplies, February 2023
City Clerk <[email protected]>
Mon 3/6/2023 3:04 PM
To: Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]> From: Carmen Narayanan < >
Sent: Monday, March 06, 2023 1:30 PM
To: Carmen Narayanan < >
Subject: Santa Clara Valley Water District Annual Report on the Protection and Augmentation of Water Supplies, February 2023
Good afternoon,
For your information, the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s (Valley Water) 52nd Annual Report on the Protection and Augmentation of Water Supplies (PAWS), February 2023, can be viewed online at:
https://www.valleywater.org/GroundwaterChargeProcess. The report describes the activities of Valley Water to provide a reliable water supply and the associated groundwater production charges recommended to fund those activities.
Public hearings on this report will be conducted on April 11, 2023, and April 25, 2023, at 1:00 p.m., in person at Valley Water’s Boardroom as well as via a teleconferenced Zoom Board Meeting:
https://valleywater.zoom.us/j/84454515597. A public hearing will also be conducted on April 13, 2023, at 7:00 p.m., in person at the City of Morgan Hill Council Chambers as well as via a teleconferenced Zoom Board Meeting:
https://valleywater.zoom.us/j/84454515597.
For more information contact Carmen Narayanan, Financial Planning & Revenue Manager, at or Thank you,
CARMEN NARAYANAN
FINANCIAL PLANNING & REVENUE MANAGER
Office of the Chief Executive Officer
Tel.
Public Record: 2
3/9/23, 8:24 AM Mail - Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas - Outlook https://outlook.office365.com/mail/[email protected]/inbox/id/AAQkADhhYzk3NTk1LTBmZDAtNDc4Yi1hN2Q0LTZjNmZjNTk5MT… 2/2 This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
SANTA CLARA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT
www.valleywater.org
Clean Water . Healthy Environment . Flood Protection
3/9/23, 8:25 AM Mail - Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas - Outlook https://outlook.office365.com/mail/[email protected]/inbox/id/AAQkADhhYzk3NTk1LTBmZDAtNDc4Yi1hN2Q0LTZjNmZjNTk5MT… 1/2 [External Email]
Fw: Blair Beekman. Tuesday, March 7, 2023.....BAUASI Approval Authority Public Meeting. 3.9.23.
City Clerk <[email protected]>
Tue 3/7/2023 2:54 PM
To: Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]> From: b. beekman < >
Sent: Tuesday, March 7, 2023 2:30 PM
Subject: Blair Beekman. Tuesday, March 7, 2023.....BAUASI Approval Authority Public Meeting. 3.9.23.
Dear BAUASI,
In San Diego, where I am now living, there are important community meetings this week, about how to develop, an open community process & dialogue, about the future placement, of smart street lights, alpr's, and other surveillance tech, in the future of local San Diego neighborhoods.
This is a process, that takes time, patience, and care, as how to develop trusting dialogue, for all parts of a community. So I will not be able, to make a special trip, to personally attend, the BAUASI approval authority, bi-monthly, public meeting, on Thursday, March 9th 2023, as I have been doing, the past year.
I will be very interested, in upcoming, Approval Authority agenda items 4&5, about FY2023 Grant Allocations, and national priority projects. I will write again, in the next few weeks, to be sure, the audio transcript, can be available, soon after, the March 9, public meeting.
A reminder, that some of my most important words, in letter writing, to BAUASI, in the past six months, is that after 18 months now, of developing stronger law enforcement practices, in the SF Bay Area, to address, recent violent crime situations - we may be at a place, to again begin to better address, the initial good intentions of reimagine, along with, good human rights & civil protections ideas, openness, and health & human services practices.
These are the sort of concepts, that newly elected officials, in the city of Oakland and Alameda county, will be dedicated to, and wanting to build, in the next few years.
Public Record: 3
3/9/23, 8:25 AM Mail - Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas - Outlook https://outlook.office365.com/mail/[email protected]/inbox/id/AAQkADhhYzk3NTk1LTBmZDAtNDc4Yi1hN2Q0LTZjNmZjNTk5MT… 2/2 This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
And from this, to also remind, new Oakland mayor Sheng Thao and councilperson Noel Gallo, are trying to develop new plans, to better organize Oakland neighborhood law enforcement concerns, And from this, how to better organize, state of California govt entities, can be more involved, in this new organizational process.
I felt, BAUASI, may have a very good role, to help facilitate, this sort of new process.
But it has to be done, in a spirit of openness, cooperation, and to work with everyday community persons & agencies. These new organizational ideas, of Oakland Mayor Thao, has to practice, peaceful neighborhood dialogue, and health and human services, before more strong arm, long enforcement tactics, and the overuse of surveillance technology.
Sincerely,
Blair Beekman