TO: HONORABLE MAYOR FROM: Councilmember Bien Doan
AND CITY COUNCIL
SUBJECT: SEE BELOW DATE: 3/21/2023
Approved Date 3/21/2023
SUBJECT: APPROVAL OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2023-2024 MAYOR’S MARCH
BUDGET MESSAGE
RECOMMENDATION
1. Accept the Mayor’s March Budget Message for Fiscal year 2023-2024
2. Accept the memorandum from Councilmembers Davis, Torres, Ortiz, Doan & Batra
3. Acknowledge the below as commentary, not direction, to use as guidance for crafting the FY 2023-2024 budget:
a. Memorandum from Councilmember Candelas
b. Memorandum from Councilmember Cohen
c. The commentary in this memorandum
COMMENTARY
Thank you to the Mayor, city staff, community members, volunteers and more who spent countless hours getting us to this point and working hard to identify the top issues in our city.
It is an amazing experience to be a part of this body, with this group of amazing colleagues up here. We differ in some areas, but what I have seen is a community of leaders dedicated to making our city safer, healthier, cleaner, and better for everyone. Our debates and discussions have helped us all come together a little bit more and focus on the areas our city wants and needs the most. It is an honor to serve with all of you.
An essential part of being a councilmember is listening to our constituents and doing our best to not just listen to the voice of the community, but to act upon it and represent it. The transitional committees have improved that process as has our outreach to different neighborhoods in underserviced communities areas. My thanks goes to our Mayor and his team for ensuring our District Seven residents were able to ask questions and participate first hand at the Seven Trees Community Center.
NSE AGENDA:
FILE:
3/21/2023
23-405
ITEM: 3.5
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
March 23, 2023
Subject: APPROVAL OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2023-2024 MAYOR’S MARCH BUDGET MESSAGE
The Mayor’s message stated we need to “invest in the greatest opportunities in specific districts, including unique and important cultural facilities such as the Vietnamese Heritage Garden.” I couldn’t agree more.
The Vietnamese Heritage Garden is envisioned as a place where the culture and history of Vietnam are represented in art and architecture. It was promised almost three decades ago to the residents of San José as a 4-acre grand destination for all San Joséans. All structures and gardens on the site will replicate or interpret important Vietnamese historical buildings and artifacts.
The master plan calls for two large buildings consisting of a 7,000sqft cultural museum and a 4,500sqft exhibition hall which was to be used for community meetings, weddings, and more.
Currently my office is working with staff to deliver on the “Thank You America” Monument which is to be finished sometime next year as the first main improvement to the vacant parkland in quite some time.
Our Vietnamese population in San Jose has steadily increased over the past 48 years and has been a great contributor to our city economically and culturally, especially in the arts, food, and technological innovation. It is time to deliver on the promises made to our San Jose residents:
we must update the original Vietnamese Heritage Garden master plan for improved community use as a near-term goal and develop a pathway to fund its construction and use as a future goal.
The signer(s) 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.