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FW: Oppose the Housing Department Fee Increase
City Clerk <[email protected]>
Wed 5/17/2023 10:09 AM
To:Agendadesk <[email protected]>
From: MBrading
Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2023 9:53 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Oppose the Housing Department Fee Increase
As a rental housing provider in San Jose, the impacts from the pandemic con nue to be felt. From missed rent payments to deferred maintenance, it will take years to recover from its impact. Complica ng this recovery are the ac ons by the Housing Department to enact programs that make it harder to provide quality rental housing.
The current proposal by the Housing Department to enact a single year increase in the Tenant Protec on Ordinance fee of 127% makes it harder for me to provide affordable rental housing. The drama c increase is not an isolated increase, it follows a 200% increase from the previous year and an overall 466% increase since the fee was enacted.
A er a 200% and 127% consecu ve increases in the TPO, my biggest fear is what’s next! There is no accountability by that department.
I would encourage the Council to reject the Housing Department’s proposal to pass this drama c fee increase and ask you to limit any future increases to 5%. If the department saw it fit to limit me to that amount under rent control, they should be able to operate their budget with the same limita ons.
AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY SERVICE AGENCY
STRENGTH IN UNITY – SINCE 1978
HEADQUARTERS: 304 N. 6 TH STREET | SAN JOSE, CA 95112
OFFICE: 408.292.3157 | FAX: 408.292.3276
WEBSITE: http://www.sjaacsa.org | EMAIL: [email protected] May 18, 2023
Re: City Council Meeting, Item 3.3, Measure E Proposed Expenditures Dear Mayor Mahan, Vice Mayor Kamei, and members of the San Jose City Council:
On behalf of the African American Community Service Agency (AACSA), we urge you to keep the balanced approach of the current Measure E Expenditure Plan. When Measure E was passed in 2020 it began a process to have funding be set aside for permanent affordable housing to be built. It is essential that this funding continue to be allocated to permanent affordable housing instead of being used towards interim housing. There should be a goal to house both low income families and individuals affected by homelessness.
AACSA serves clients daily who are in desperate need of permanent affordable housing. With rent continuing to be raised and people becoming displaced, we must prioritize long term sustainable solutions to help families and individuals strive in our city. We should support investing in more interim and temporary shelter programs, but not at the expense of permanent housing programs. The city and partners must find a way to balance our investments across these key programs and raise additional funding rather than raiding the City’s major source of permanent affordable housing - especially when displacement and homelessness are still ongoing struggles in our city.
Disproportionately the Black, Latino, and hard to count populations are affected by the rising rent and are continuously displaced in this city. Building permanent affordable housing allows the most disenfranchised1 population in San Jose to stay and thrive. On behalf of the people we serve, we know that our city leadership will vote on a plan that helps the most vulnerable in the 10th largest city San Jose.
Strength in Unity,
Milan R. Balinton Mia V eal
Executive Director Policy and Advocacy Coordinator
African American Community Service Agency African American Community Service Agency
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FW: Federal Government ENDORSES HOUSING FIRST
City Clerk <[email protected]>
Thu 5/18/2023 2:59 PM
To:Agendadesk <[email protected]>
From: Kathryn Hedges
Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2023 2:56 PM
To: The Office of Mayor Ma Mahan <[email protected]>; District3 <[email protected]> Cc: District1 <[email protected]>; District 10 <[email protected]>; District7 <[email protected]>; District2 <[email protected]>; [email protected]; District4 <[email protected]>; District5 <[email protected]>; District 6 <[email protected]>; District8 <[email protected]>; City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Federal Government ENDORSES HOUSING FIRST
Dear Mayor, Vice-Mayor, and Councilmembers:
This report from the Federal Government supports Housing First with permanent suppor ve housing or permanent affordable housing.
It does NOT recommend interim housing with no path to permanent housing, or concentra on camps for the unhoused. Neither of those ends homelessness: they push it out of sight, out of mind. That may pacify the Nextdoor/HOA/Neighborhood Associa on demographic that supported the Mayor's campaign, but it just shuffles unhoused people around like unwanted trash.
h ps://www.usich.gov/All In The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.pdf
Do not divert Measure E funding away from permanent affordable housing just to pacify your loudest cons tuents. Pulling funding from three waitlisted NOFA projects and the Virginian Apartments co-op is a dirty trick like Lucy yanking the football away from Charlie Brown. Charlie may be naive enough to fall for it, but we're adults and we won't fall for this bait and switch. Interim housing will need $50 million annual upkeep/support costs that are not accounted for in the budget. Will the County pick up these costs or will they decide it's San José's ny homes and San José can pay for their ongoing expenses? That's enough to cover the full cost of 50 new permanent suppor ve housing apartments or the City's share of 250 apartments when the rest of the funding stack is taken into account. Robbing Peter to pay Paul with a 15% interest rate (es mated annual increase in housing construc on costs) is not a wise strategy.
Interrup ng the permanent affordable housing pipeline and scaring off housing developers will just leave us with people stuck in interim housing limbo and MORE people falling into homelessness as rents con nue to escalate in non-ARO buildings with nowhere to relocate. Why go backwards just because we didn't reach our goal fast enough going forwards? The reason we haven't "solved homelessness" is that people keep losing their housing, not that unhoused people are flunking out of Housing First in droves or that other ci es are busing thousands of unhoused people here. We need affordable housing both for people at risk of losing their housing and for people currently unhoused. Not interim housing, not concrete pads with no "camping equipment" allowed.
We could lose access to new HUD funding if we regress to old failed models of interim shelter. Don't forget the failures of the past that looked like "common sense" un l we realized life is more complicated than the quick easy solu ons we threw at complex problems.
Regards,
Kathryn Hedges
SURJ, RECS, Independent Tenant Associa on 158
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These people NEED Measure E funds for interim housing
davide <
Thu 5/18/2023 7:28 PM
To:Agendadesk <[email protected]>;The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan <[email protected]>;Mahan, Matt <[email protected]>;District1 <[email protected]>;Kamei, Rosemary <[email protected]>;District2 <[email protected]>;Jimenez, Sergio <[email protected]>;District3 <[email protected]>;Torres, Omar <[email protected]>;District4 <[email protected]>;Cohen, David <[email protected]>;District5 <[email protected]>;Ortiz, Peter <[email protected]>;District 6 <[email protected]>;Davis, Dev <[email protected]>;District7 <[email protected]>;Doan, Bien <[email protected]>;District8 <[email protected]>;Candelas, Domingo <[email protected]>;District9 <[email protected]>
Hello, my name is Davide Vieira and I am a resident of East San Jose in favor of quick-build housing as a way to house our unhoused neighbors sooner rather than much later. I also volunteer at St. Isabel’s Kitchen at Five Wounds Church.
Please allow me to introduce you to some of our unhoused neighbors who live on the streets near Five Wounds Church.
Bruno has lived on the street in our neighborhood for many years. He was bi en on his foot by a spider this year. The bite got infected. He couldn’t wear a shoe, so he limped around with just a sock on his injured foot. That’s because someone stole his bike. He went to Valley Medical Center and spent 12 hours there to no avail. They sent him away a er having lost him for three hours when he was in plain sight all along. He had no money to get back to the neighborhood. A kind nurse got him an Uber. Bruno’s foot only got worse. He went to Regional Medical Center and was admi ed for three days. He was treated and recovered. He could have lost his foot.
Angel is a senior who has lived in her pickup in the neighborhood for years ever since she was injured on the job and couldn’t work anymore. She has serious health problems. This past winter, she was admi ed to the local OWL. That was great because she could at least get some sleep indoors out of the cold. But the OWLs closed at the end of April. Angel is back on the street in her pickup. What’s unique about Angel is that, even though she has nothing but her pickup and monthly SSI, she goes around collec ng le over food from local nutri on programs in the neighborhood to distribute at the encampments in the area. She collects and passes out clothes and toiletries too. That’s how she spends her days. She’s been wai ng for a housing voucher for years. But she s ll holds out hope. When she gets a house, she plans on sharing it with others.
Anthony looks like Moses. He is dirty and disheveled. I cannot even venture a guess as to the last me he bathed. His legs are dry and chapped. He is constantly scratching his skin. But he is as polite a person as you will ever meet. It’s obvious that he has mental health issues. But all he needs and all he asks for is the food that he receives at our soup kitchen.
Carlos is bipolar. His parents have a TRO against him because he can become aggressive and even violent when he’s not on his medica on. Which is o en. He has caused serious property damage in the area over the years. He stalked a female employee at a local community center. Another TRO. When he is on his medica on, though, he is approachable and considerate. Someone stole his shoes while he slept recently. He was walking the neighborhood in stocking feet. I saw him with new shoes the next day.
Michael rides his bike. He rides his bike everywhere. All day. We give him a couple of lunches because that’s all he will eat all day. He has bad teeth, so he can’t eat fruit like apples or pears.
These are our neighbors. They deserve shelter. If that’s what quick-build housing can provide them, then that’s a start. They have already lived on the street for far too long. Don’t let them die there. The perfect is the enemy of the good. Please use Measure E funds to more quickly house our unhoused neighbors.
Regards,
Davide Vieira
All you leave behind are memories -- make them good ones
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Measure E funds for interim housing - NOW
Jeff Levine <
Thu 5/18/2023 8:20 PM
To:Agendadesk <[email protected]>;The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan <[email protected]>;Mahan, Matt <[email protected]>;District1 <[email protected]>;Kamei, Rosemary <[email protected]>;District2 <[email protected]>;Jimenez, Sergio <[email protected]>;District3 <[email protected]>;Torres, Omar <[email protected]>;District4 <[email protected]>;Cohen, David <[email protected]>;District5 <[email protected]>;Ortiz, Peter <[email protected]>;District 6 <[email protected]>;Davis, Dev <[email protected]>;District7 <[email protected]>;Doan, Bien <[email protected]>;District8 <[email protected]>;Candelas, Domingo <[email protected]>;District9 <[email protected]>
I've lived in the Roosevelt Park Neighborhood for over 25 years.
I IMPLORE you all to do all you can to accelerate the completion of interim housing so that we never have another case like the tragic one of Scott Ritter.
Who was he?
Here is the letter that I sent my neighborhood friends in February 2016, shortly after Scott Ritter died.
In remembrance of Scott "Scotty" Ritter. "Scotty" - Scott Ritter Some very sad news.
I still want you to read this story.
I believe it’s the least that we can do.
A neighbor of mine died recently.
Right here in Silicon Valley.
Was he an industry titan? No.
Was he a community leader? No.
Will his passing be noted in the news? No.
His name was Scotty. Scott Ritter
I always called him "Jesus".
Why?
Because to me he looked like what I think Jesus looked like. He was about 6'3" and weighed about 100 pounds.
He had long, long scraggy hair and a beard.
If he got within 10 feet of you, you would gag from his smell.
Did he ever harm anyone?
Not to my knowledge.
He'd mumble and sometimes swear and curse at no one but himself.
But if you approached him to simply say Hello, or give him a buck or two or maybe a meal - he was always so very polite.
In spite of his appearance, often odd behavior and awful smell there was a genuine spark of humanity.
Scotty was homeless.
I saw him for over 15 years that I can remember but others in the neighborhood remember him as far back as 30 years.
Sometimes several months would go by and I'd not see him and hope that he was ok. Maybe he was finally getting some help?
But sometime during the night of February 6 to 7th, Scotty died.
He was alone in his cloth-covered box on the abandoned train tracks off East Julian.
There'll be no notices in the paper.
I'm ashamed that I never asked him his name. Maybe I could have shared a bit more human kindness with him to help him know that people actually cared about him. I only found out his first name after he passed away.
I have been haunted for several days now thinking that a fellow human being died, alone in a small cloth covered box on an abandoned rail road track.
Scotty was a fellow human being and was my neighbor.
I'm hoping that you might pause and offer a positive thought to Scotty as he transitions beyond this life.
Scott had been estranged from his family for many, many years. His sister in Arizona claimed his remains after he was cremated at the Trident Society of Fremont. They had only one photograph of Scott and it was a mug shot from an arrest years earlier in Utah but the photo above was captured of him where he lived and later died.
Alone.
No one should die alone.
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On abandoned rail road tracks.
In a small box covered with tattered cloth.
We are not a civilized society if we allow this to happen.
Don't give me excuses.
I am to blame.
You are to blame.
We all are to blame.
I hope this story of Scotty might give you pause.
I know it has me.
Farewell Scotty.
I wish you peace.
How about we vow that no one else dies, alone, next to the railroad tracks and instead, we do all we can to build interim housing so that the "Capital of Silicon Valley" becomes known throughout the world as a place of genuine compassion for ALL residents.
Jeff Levine