RULES COMMITTEE: 4/19/2023
Item: B.1
File ID: ROGC 23-159
TO: Honorable Mayor & FROM: Toni J. Taber, CMC
City Council City Clerk
SUBJECT: The Public Record DATE: April 19, 2023
April 6 – April 13, 2023
ITEMS FILED FOR THE PUBLIC RECORD
Letters from Boards, Commissions, and Committees
Letters from the Public
1. Letter from Emily O'Connell, dated April 6, 2023, regarding: Downtown Vibrancy Mayoral Transition Committee Report.
2. Letter from Karla Baesa, dated April 6, 2023, regarding: Support for Recommendations Downtown Vibrancy.
3. Letter from Frank and Mary Beth Lamont, dated April 7, 2023, regarding: Activities of the San José Police Officers Association.
4. Letter from Mark Baker, dated April 9, 2023, regarding: LED Streetlights Are Unapproved, Unregulated, and Hazardous.
5. Letter from Emmanuel Abello (LAFCO), dated April 10, 2023, regarding: LAFCO of Santa Clara County is Hiring a LAFCO Clerk.
6. Letter from Rosario Consiglio, dated April 11, 2023, regarding: Agenda Number:
Neighborhood Services.
7. Letter from Michael Klein, dated April 11, 2023, regarding: Support a San Jose budget for All!.
Rules and Open Government Committee
April 19, 2023
Subject: Public Record
____________________________
Toni J. Taber, CMC
City Clerk
TJT/tt
4/13/23, 10:49 AM Mail - Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas - Outlook https://outlook.office365.com/mail/[email protected]/inbox/id/AAQkADhhYzk3NTk1LTBmZDAtNDc4Yi1hN2Q0LTZjNmZjNTk5MT… 1/1 You don't often get email from Learn why this is important [External Email]
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Fw: Downtown Vibrancy Mayoral Transition Committee Report Agendadesk <[email protected]>
Fri 4/7/2023 9:43 AM
To: Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]> From: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, April 7, 2023 8:40 AM
To: Agendadesk <[email protected]>
Subject: FW: Downtown Vibrancy Mayoral Transition Committee Report From: Emily O'Connell <
Sent: Thursday, April 6, 2023 6:30 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Downtown Vibrancy Mayoral Transition Committee Report I strongly support the recommendations set forth by the Downtown Vibrancy Transition Committee. I have lived downtown for 34 years, and have always had high hopes for our area. The recommendations make a lot of sense and address the issues I have always felt are the most important.
Let's make these changes actually happen.
Thank you.
Emily O'Connell
Public Record: 1
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Fw: Support for Recommendations Downtown Vibrancy
Agendadesk <[email protected]>
Fri 4/7/2023 9:43 AM
To: Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]> From: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, April 7, 2023 8:52 AM
To: Agendadesk <[email protected]>
Subject: FW: Support for Recommendations Downtown Vibrancy From: karla baesa <
Sent: Thursday, April 6, 2023 8:16 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Support for Recommendations Downtown Vibrancy
Hi,
I support the vibrancy plan. Please also include refacing the corner liquor stores into more neighborhood markets/mercados.
Please let me if there is a committee in this area that I can join.
Thank you,
Karla Baesa
Public Record: 2
RECEIVED
April 7, 2023 San Jose City Clerk
AVS VALU
City Council Members 7023 APR 13 AM 9:49
City of San Jose
200 E. Santa Clara St.
San Jose, CA 95113
Dear San Jose City Council Members:
It is with disgust and disappointment that we read of the nefarious activities of the San Jose Police Officers Association. We read that the long time executive of some 20 years has been caught and arrested for drug distribution. To make a grave and horrible matter even worse, we read that she has been using San Jose Police Officers Association equipment, facilities, location, time on duty, and even the Association's UPS shipping account and labels to facilitate unlawful and destructive distribution of drugs with either approval or negligent oversight.
We object to such a nefarious organization to be acknowledged as a legitimate business or negotiating partner for the city's police force.
It is obvious that the situation is out of control and we request that you cease all communications on behalf of the public and the city's residents, business owners, and taxpayers with this illegitimate and destructive organization incapable of positive benefit.
Frank and Mary Beth Lamont
cc: Board of Directors
San Jose Police Officers Association
Public Record: 3
4/13/23, 10:47 AM Mail - City Clerk - Outlook
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LED Streetlights Are Unapproved, Unregulated, and Hazardous Mark Baker <
Sun 4/9/2023 9:23 AM
To: CAO Main <[email protected]>
Cc: 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]>;
<
< Shani Kleinhaus <
< plynam < NO DIGITAL BILLBOARDS IN SAN JOSE
<
1 attachments (226 KB)
San Jose, CA - LED Streetlights.pdf;
Dear Nora Frimann, City Attorney, San Jose, California, Please find attached our letter to San Jose detailing the hazards and liability issues related to the installation and operation of unvetted, unapproved, unregulated, hazardous, and discriminatory LED street lights and our warning to San Jose.
Sincerely,
Mark Baker
President
Soft Lights Foundation
www.softlights.org
Public Record: 4
1 of 4
April 9, 2023
BY EMAIL
Nora Frimann, City Attorney
San Jose, California
[email protected]
Re: LED Streetlight Hazards
Dear Nora Frimann,
The Soft Lights Foundation advocates for the protection of the natural night resource and for the protection of citizens from the harms of Light Emitting Diode visible radiation. We are writing to you now to alert your office of the need to stop and undo the LED streetlight conversion project in San Jose due to fundamental health, safety, and federal legal issues.
In December 2021, Cree Lighting published a white paper that alerts government officials to the fact that “None of the existing metrics [for LED street lighting] takes into account the non-uniform emitting surface of a LED luminaire.”
1 Cree went on to say that LED streetlights are dangerous. Thus, the installation of LED streetlights poses a liability for San Jose.
In March 2022, the US Department of Energy signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Illuminating Engineering Society to develop “needed metrics and standards for solid-state lighting (SSL) 1 https://online.flippingbook.com/view/702884488/
2 of 4
technology.”2 The IES standard for street lighting IES RP-8-18 is not applicable to LED streetlights, and thus cannot be used by San Jose to ensure safe, uniform illumination patterns for LED street lights.
LEDs emit an unnatural type of visible radiation with spatial, spectral, and temporal properties that are known to be hazardous to human health.3,4 The Food and Drug Administration is the sole agency with regulatory authority for LED products. This authority was vested in the FDA by the 1968 Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act and the FDA has confirmed that they have this regulatory authority.5 No other federal agency has regulatory authority for LED products, including LED streetlights, and agencies, companies, and organizations such as Pacific Gas and Electric, California Energy Commission, California Public Utilities Commission, and US Department of Energy have no legal ability to authorize the use of LED products. To date, the FDA has not published the necessary comfort, health, or safety standards for any LED product and has not vetted LED streetlights. Thus, San Jose has no legal authority to install or operate LED streetlights, which creates a significant liability and economic risk for San Jose due to the known hazards of LED visible radiation. When a public official knows, or should have known, of the hazards and lack of legal authority for a project, and yet ignores those hazards and information, the public official may no longer be protected by qualified immunity.
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination and requires equal access to city services. LED streetlights create discriminatory conditions for the class of individuals who cannot neurologically tolerate flat surface, directed energy LED visible radiation. LED streetlights have been documented to trigger photosensitive seizures, debilitating migraines, anxiety, nausea, and numerous other adverse neurological reactions.6 Because the FDA has not vetted LED streetlights and their impacts on the disability community, there are no existing federal guidelines or requirements that San Jose can refer to. Since LED streetlights have been proven to be dangerous and discriminatory for certain individuals, San Jose is required by the ADA to remove the barriers to access created by the LED streetlights. The undue burden and reasonable accommodation claim typically used by cities cannot be used in this situation because the installation of LED streetlights is a modification of an existing program, and this modification did not receive approval from the FDA.
In addition to the major legal obstacles discussed above, recent research proves that the switch to LED lighting has drastically increased light pollution due to the directed energy nature of the LED light source, and due to the use of high energy blue wavelength light.7 Due to the rollout of LEDs, light pollution is now increasing at a rate of 10% per year, up from the previous 2% per year. Artificial light at night is a major contributor to risk of human diseases such as prostate cancer, breast cancer, mood disorders, diabetes, obesity, and premature births.8 A February 8, 2023 press release from the French National Academy of Medicine states, “Light is an electromagnetic radiation that carries energy capable, by interacting with ocular tissues, regardless of age, of damaging retinal photoreceptors.” and “Chronic exposure to LEDs induces photochemical cell damage that is particularly harmful to the macular retina 2 https://www.energy.gov/eere/ssl/us-department-energy-and-illuminating-engineering-society-partner-advanceindustry 3 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9420367/ 4 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7830240/ 5 https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCBP/bulletins/1a00f8a 6 http://www.softlights.org/stories/
7 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq7781
8 http://www.softlights.org/human-health/
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located in its center and ensuring fine vision, reading, writing and colored vision.” 9 LED streetlights
present a significant ocular and circadian rhythm hazard and safety risk to citizens and thus the installation or operation of LED streetlights cannot be justified. A March 16, 2023, study shows a direct correlation between artificial light at night and human mortality.10 LED streetlights will literally kill the residents of San Jose over time.
Often, the installation and operation of streetlights is based on the desire to keep residents safe.
However, research studies show that property crimes increase due to street lighting and also show that streetlights do nothing to improve safety.11 Due to the serious adverse health impacts of artificial light at night, the installation and operation of LED streetlights is making San Jose residents sick and unsafe, and therefore LED street lights do not meet the goals of protecting public health and safety.
The Soft Lights Foundation petitioned the FDA to regulate LED products on June 12, 2022, and this petition is currently under review.12 Due to an inquiry by US Senator Maria Cantwell into the FDA’s lack of regulation of LED products, the FDA responded that they are still investigating the issue, because the petition “raises issues requiring further review”.13 The FDA’s lead investigator, Dr. Robert Ochs, sent a similar letter, making clear that the FDA has not yet approved LED streetlights.14 The city may contact FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health Director Jeffrey Shuren ( to learn more about the hazards and lack of regulation of LED radiation devices.
In our experience, cities are most sensitive to cost issues and liability issues. To avoid additional expense and significant future liability, we urge San Jose to stop the current LED streetlight conversion until the FDA publishes performance standards restricting peak luminance, dispersion characteristics, spectral power distribution, and square wave flicker, and until the FDA approves LED streetlights as safe.
Once the FDA publishes the necessary regulations for LED streetlights, San Jose might then be able to restart the conversion in a legal, safe, nondiscriminatory manner. However, it is also possible that the FDA will conclude that LED visible radiation is too hazardous to be used for street lighting and that all existing LED streetlights would need to be removed to protect public comfort, health, safety, and civil rights.
Protecting the natural night as a resource is a critical function of city government. We urge San Jose to reassess this entire situation with the goal of protecting starlight, moonlight, and human and ecosystem health.
Sincerely,
/s/ Mark Baker
President
Soft Lights Foundation
9 https://www.academie-medecine.fr/loeil-et-le-cerveau-des-enfants-et-des-adolescents-sous-la-lumiere-desecrans/ 10 https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-023-02822-w 11 http://www.softlights.org/crime-and-safety/
12 https://www.regulations.gov/document/FDA-2022-P-1151-0001 13 https://www.softlights.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Maria-Cantwell-Letter.pdf 14 https://www.softlights.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-917-reply_edited.pdf 4 of 4
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FW: LAFCO of Santa Clara County is Hiring a LAFCO Clerk City Clerk <[email protected]>
Mon 4/10/2023 2:16 PM
To: Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]> From: Abello, Emmanuel <
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2023 2:11 PM
Subject: LAFCO of Santa Clara County is Hiring a LAFCO Clerk Dear City Clerks and Special District Clerks:
Please help us distribute this information to those who might be interested to apply.
Santa Clara LAFCO is seeking a highly organized and detail-oriented individual to manage administrative functions and support the Local Agency Formation Commission. Responsibilities include maintaining records, coordinating meetings and hearings, assisting with budgeting and financial management, communicating with stakeholders, ensuring compliance, and supporting commissioners. Strong communication, organizational, and administrative skills are required. Applications are accepted at
https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/santaclara/jobs/3974105/lafco-clerk.
Thank you,
Emmanuel Abello
Associate Analyst, LAFCO of Santa Clara County
| Mobile: | Twitter: @SantaClaraLAFCO | www.SantaClaraLAFCO.org Public Record: 5
4/11/23, 4:37 PM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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FW: Agenda Number: Neighborhood Services
City Clerk <[email protected]>
Tue 4/11/2023 10:22 AM
To: Agendadesk <[email protected]>
From: Rosario Consiglio < >
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2023 10:18 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Agenda Number: Neighborhood Services
Dear Council,
Please support Matt Loesch in modifying contractor rules. In my district we have a project in Fontana Park that is simply tearing up sod, put down metal mesh, then replace the sod. This project has been ongoing for almost a year waiting for public works to finish a very easy job. In the meanwhile the labor costs go up due to inflation and we the public do not get full use of our park. Why not have a contractor finish this basic project? Our animal shelter SJACS has a problem keeping and hiring full time people to keep the kennels clean. If we didn't have the contractors from Pride janitorial, the place would be all over the new again due to dirty conditions.
Please stop making overly restrictive rules that preclude participation of family owned and minority owned small businesses. Please give Mr. Loesch the tools he needs to get projects done.
thank you
Rosario Consiglio
Almaden Valley
Public Record: 6
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Fw: Support a San Jose budget for All!
Agendadesk <[email protected]>
Tue 4/11/2023 11:17 AM
To: Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]> From: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2023 10:51 AM
To: Agendadesk <[email protected]>
Subject: FW: Support a San Jose budget for All!
From: Michael Klein <
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2023 10:46 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Support a San Jose budget for All!
San Jose City Clerk Toni Taber,
Please support the San José Budget for All asks — as put forth by many community organizations, including Silicon Valley Rising, the South Bay Labor Council, the Latina Coalition, the Asian Law Alliance, and Planned Parenthood (Mar Monte).
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, like many others, was disappointed by Mayor Matt Mahan’s budget message released on March 13th which pays lip service to multiple priorities, while still excluding a large number of residents — in particular Black, Latino, and AAPI communities as well as other immigrant and low-income residents whose neighborhoods are historically underfunded.
Moreover, the focus on “cleaning up” and other short term solutions such as using a large chunk of resources on only interim housing, rather than both interim and permanent housing, merely hides and postpones our housing crisis, raises questions regarding whose priorities are reflected in this message — the people of San José or the real estate interests aligned with the Mayor?
Public Record: 7
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We cannot afford a San José budget that does not address the most urgent needs of our most vulnerable communities. I am joining together with my community to ask you to prioritize a City Budget that includes workers, parents and children, includes all neighborhoods, and our most vulnerable residents. A budget that goes beyond the surface, and addresses the root causes of inequality in our City.
Michael Klein
San jose , California 95126