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Re: SJ LUV (Lifting Up liVes) Pilot Program "Action Needed By Vendome Residents" Mohan Maturi
Sun 3/3/2024 7:10 PM
To:District3 <[email protected]>;Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]>
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Dear Committee Member,
We are a resident of District 3. We are in total support of this Pilot program and would like you to consider including our district in the pilot program.
District 3 has been struggling with homeless encampments and we would like your help in eliminating encampments in our neighborhood.
Best,
Mohan
On Sun, Mar 3, 2024 at 17:41 Tim Clauson wrote:
Dear Vendome Neighbors,
We just learned of this very interesting pilot program (see embedded link below) to curtail encampments that is being discussed this Tuesday 3/5 during the Rules and Open Government Committee meeting.
Unfortunately, District 3 is currently not participating in this Pilot Program. We encourage residents to send letters of support for this effort and to additionally ask that D3 be included in the Pilot Program.
Our voices are important and need to be heard. This Pilot Program can have an unintended impact on D3 if we are not a participant (the program could potentially result in movement of unhoused from the participating districts into D3).
Review the Document:
https://www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/109492 3/4/24, 11 36 AM Mail Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas Outlook https //outlook office365 com/mail/rulescommitteeagenda@sanjoseca gov/inbox/id/AAQkADhhYzk3NTk1LTBmZDAtNDc4Yi1hN2Q0LTZjNmZjNTk5MT 2/2 This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Please send any comments or letters to the following emails by Tuesday morning:
Committee Email:
[email protected]
Councilmember Omar Torres
[email protected]
Thank you for your time,
VNA Board
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Rules Committee March 6 2024: SJ LUV (Lifting up liVes) PILOT PROGRAM Tina M
Sun 3/3/2024 11:42 PM
To:Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]> You don't often get email from Learn why this is important Dear Rules Committee members David Cohen, Pam Foley, Dev Davis, Sergio Jimenez, and Vice Mayor Kamei,
RE: The proposed pilot program put forth by Council members Arun Batra (D10) and Bien Doan (D7) I am in favor of this draft pilot program with one exception which is the sentence "Reserve all in process EIH sites in D2, D7, and D10 for residents of the pilot area only" as seen on pages 1 and 8 of the memo. I object to this reservation since District 3 currently has the second highest number of unhoused* and therefore I feel that District 3 should be included in this pilot program.
Further, District 3 is home to the downtown core and being part of this pilot program might very well play a significant role in helping with "downtown activity rates" which has been a stated focus area in the City Council Focus Areas. **
Last, it is my understanding that County land must be used to offer housing to any unhoused from all parts of the County. The Fairgrounds is County land.
Thank you and please consider my request to include D3 in this pilot program.
Tina Morrill
District 3 resident
* Source: https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/housing/resourcelibrary/homeless-reports/homeless-reports-executive-summary ** Source: https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/mayor-and-citycouncil/city-council-focus-areas 3/4/24, 11 39 AM Mail Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas Outlook https //outlook office365 com/mail/rulescommitteeagenda@sanjoseca gov/inbox/id/AAQkADhhYzk3NTk1LTBmZDAtNDc4Yi1hN2Q0LTZjNmZjNTk5MT 1/1 [External Email]
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SJ LUV Pilot Program
Judith Lessow-Hurley
Mon 3/4/2024 8:23 AM
To:Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]>;[email protected] <[email protected]>;Torres, Omar <[email protected]>;Vendome Association You don't often get email from Learn why this is important To the Rules Committee:
It is my understanding that the city is considering a pilot shelter program that is intended to provide shelter for homeless people in San Jose. Apparently the project will potentially provide housing for a significant number of people who need shelter and do so quickly and at a relatively low cost to the city.
The Rules Committee agenda of 2/29 indicates that this project will be piloted in Districts 2, 7 and 10. As a resident of the Vendome neighborhood in District 3, I strongly encourage you to include our district in this initial pilot.
The data in your memorandum indicate that 27.45% of the homeless people in San Jose are located in District 3. In other words, there are more homeless people in District 3 than any other district in the city. Our district is immediately outside the downtown core and impacted greatly by the number of people in this area who need services and housing. It makes sense to include us in this project as quickly as possible.
Thank you for your consideration.
Judith Hurley
Vendome Resident
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Ann McInnis
Mon 3/4/2024 8:23 AM
To:Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]>;District3 <[email protected]>
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I am writing to urge that District 3 be included in the SJLUV pilot program (Lifting Up LiVes). Any and all programs aimed at addressing the needs of our unhoused neighbors need to include District 3. The encampments surround residents of District 3 and the illegal dumping is a serious health and safety issue for the Guadalupe River as well as the city parks, streets, and sidewalks. City parks are inhabited by homeless folks and the encampments surrounded by filthy debris make it dangerous for families to visit those parks. Pedestrian traffic is impeded by people living on the sidewalks.
In light of the new requirement by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board to move homeless encampments away from the watersheds due to pollution to the creeks and rivers that feed the bay, the inclusion of District 3 in the pilot program seems logical.
Thank you to the Council members for proposing this plan, but please include District 3.
Sincerely,
Ann McInnis
Resident of District 3
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SJ LUV Pilot Program
Judith Lessow-Hurley
Mon 3/4/2024 8:37 AM
To:Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]> Cc:District3 <[email protected]>;Torres, Omar <[email protected]>;Vendome Association yahoogroups <
You don't often get email from Learn why this is important To the Rules Committee:
It is my understanding that the city is considering a pilot shelter program that is intended to provide shelter for homeless people in San Jose. Apparently the project will potentially provide housing for a significant number of people who need shelter and do so quickly and at a relatively low cost to the city.
The Rules Committee agenda of 2/29 indicates that this project will be piloted in Districts 2, 7 and 10. As a resident of the Vendome neighborhood in District 3, I strongly encourage you to include our district in this initial pilot.
The data in your memorandum indicate that 27.45% of the homeless people in San Jose are located in District 3. In other words, there are more homeless people in District 3 than any other district in the city. Our district is immediately outside the downtown core and impacted greatly by the number of people in this area who need services and housing. It makes sense to include us in this project as quickly as possible.
Thank you for your consideration.
Judith Hurley
Vendome Resident
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SJ LUV (Lifting Up liVes) Pilot Program
Tod
Mon 3/4/2024 10:32 AM
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]>;Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]> March 4, 2024
Dear Mayor Mahan, Councilmembers and Rules and Open Government Committee, I wanted to send a quick note in support of the SJ LUV Pilot Program. It seems that we are headed into tight financial times and a cost conscious solution like this is imperative to address this crisis and provide help to our unhoused residents.
As the downtown areas maintain the largest share of unhoused (27.45%), I ask that you strongly consider including District 3 in this pilot program. Also, please make sure the program does not move encampments from one district to another (once services are offered the people should no longer be allowed to live in any unsanctioned encampments throughout San Jose).
Thank you for listening to our concerns and providing some common sense action.
Please add my comment to the record in the 3/6 Rules and Open Government meeting agenda.
Thanks again,
Tod Williams
Downtown San Jose (and longtime) Resident
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SJ LUV Pilot Program
Tim Clauson
Mon 3/4/2024 10:51 AM
To:Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]>;District3 <[email protected]>
Cc:The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan <[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]> Councilmember Torres and (Rules and Open Government Committee), Please include my comments in the Letters from the Public in support of the SJ LUV (Lifting Up liVes) Pilot Program in the Rules and Open Government meeting on 03/06/24. This seems like a worthwhile and viable program that would reduce encampments while providing shelter to our unhoused neighbors and give relief to the surrounding neighborhoods.
We kindly ask that District 3 be included in the program as we have already provided many homeless housing sites of every type and carry the largest share of the homeless population and encampments.
It would seem important to also maintain a ‘services/shelter offered list’ as part of the program as we would not want the pilot program to just move our unhoused from the participating districts into others. Once these services/shelter options are offered, they should no longer be allowed to live on the streets anywhere in San Jose.
The people of San Jose have been calling for reasonable and cost-effective solutions for a long time now and this seems like a common sense program that would really address this pressing issue.
Best Regards,
Tim Clauson
Vendome Neighborhood Association
President
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SJ LUV Pilot Program
Stephanie
Mon 3/4/2024 12:49 PM
To:Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[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]>
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Councilmember Torres and (Rules and Open Government Committee), Please include my comments in the Letters from the Public in support of the SJ LUV (Lifting Up liVes) Pilot Program in the Rules and Open Government meeting on 03/06/24. This really does seem like a worthwhile and viable program that would reduce encampments in those districts while providing shelter to our unhoused neighbors and give relief to the surrounding neighborhoods.
I echo the sentiments of our neighborhood association President Tim Clauson in that we request that District 3 be included in the program as this district has already provided many housing sites of various income levels (including a recent tiny home site located on Guadalupe Parkway south of Mission as well as newly opened Villas at 4th Street) and likely still carries the largest share of the unhoused population and encampments. We also still have a large RV settlement off of Taylor and Spring Streets that is interfering with the opening of the city's new dog park investment. These camps and frequently accompanying fires are also affecting our daily air quality as our neighborhood runs along the Guadlupe river, which is experiencing an uptick in unhoused camping due to a new disallowment of tents south of Julian along the river. The items being burned are often toxic, I ride my bike frequently through and the air can be incredibly hazardous to breathe. This also is greatly affecting our regional calls for service response time for fire and police assistance.
It would seem important to also maintain a ‘services/shelter offered list’ as part of the program as we would not want the pilot program to just move our unhoused from the participating districts into others, especially downtown which has historically already been disproportionately affected over the years. Once these services/shelter options are offered, they should no longer be allowed to live on the streets anywhere in San Jose.
The people of San Jose have been calling for reasonable and cost-effective solutions for a long time now and this seems like a common sense program that would really address this pressing issue.
Thanks for your efforts,
Stephanie Patterson
Vendome Neighborhood Association
Vice President
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SJ LUV (Lifting Up liVes) Pilot Program
Thally Dao >
Mon 3/4/2024 1:06 PM
To:Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]>;District3 <[email protected]>
Some people who received this message don't often get email from Learn why this is important Dear Rules and Open Government Committee:
Thank you for taking action in support of our unhoused and homeless residents all around our great city of San Jose. This is another step towards our goals. I appreciate your efforts.
My family and I are residents of D3 and a part of the Historic Hensley Neighborhood. As you already know and aware that D3 is one of most needed support for this type of program. The study and stats included in the document for this pilot program supported this fact. I urged the committee to include D3 to be part of this pilot program, especially when you are proposing the use of the convention center building.
Thank you for identifying the possible unused buildings and areas within our county and our city. Keep doing the great work you are doing. It is important work. Thank you Sincerely,
Thally A. Dao
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Pilot program for the unhoused
AOL
Mon 3/4/2024 3:51 PM
To:Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]> Cc:Tim Clauson
You don't often get email from Learn why this is important To the rules committee,
I am a native San Jose resident, was raised and live in District 3. This established neighborhood is just north of the downtown core. We currently have over 27% of the unhoused in San Jose. It is therefore paramount and prudent to include District 3 in the Pilot program.
We as San Jose residents must support our established neighborhoods.
I SUPPORT District 3 to be included in the Pilot program.
Gratefully,
Joseph A. Randazzo
Vendome Resident
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Re: SJ LUV Pilot Program
Tamara Michel
Mon 3/4/2024 4:05 PM
To: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]>;Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]>;The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan <[email protected]>
You don't often get email from Learn why this is important BTW, I am in District 3.
On Monday, March 4, 2024 at 03:54:37 PM PST, Tamara Michel <[email protected]> wrote:
Hello Rules Committee,
First off, I am a 20 yr resident of Vendome neighborhood, and we desperately need your help and consideration.
The main reason I chose to live here was because of the wonderful urban environment that San Jose provides, including walking/biking along the Guadalupe trail. Please help these houseless people who are living along this trail, to find shelter.
It is my understanding that the city is considering a pilot shelter program that is intended to provide shelter for homeless people in San Jose. Apparently the project will potentially provide housing for a significant number of people who need shelter and do so quickly and at a relatively low cost to the city.
The data in your memorandum indicate that 27.45% of the homeless people in San Jose are located in District 3. In other words, there are more homeless people in District 3 than any other district in the city. Our district is immediately outside the downtown core and impacted greatly by the number of people in this area who need services and housing. It makes sense to include us in this project as quickly as possible.
The Rules Committee agenda of 2/29 indicates that this project will be piloted in Districts 2, 7 and 10. As a resident of the Vendome neighborhood in District 3, I strongly encourage you to include our district in this initial pilot.
Thank you,
Tamara Michel
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Please include district 3 with the pilot encampment program sj luv A
Mon 3/4/2024 6:46 PM
To:District3 <[email protected]>;Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]>
Some people who received this message don't often get email from Learn why this is important I wanted to request that you include district 3 with the pilot program for the encampment cleanup. If you do not, people will be moving into our area if you push them out of the pilot area, D3 is already a major problem space within the city, including downtown and the Guadalupe River area, an ecological disaster.
Our area desperately needs more shelter beds so that people can be given a strong encouragement to take support. For far too long, we’ve seen people suffering from mental health and drug addictions on the streets.
Thank you for your consideration.
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Feedback on SJ LUV (Lifting Up liVes) Pilot Program
Carissa Clark
Mon 3/4/2024 7:05 PM
To:Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]>;District3 <[email protected]>
Some people who received this message don't often get email from Learn why this is important After reviewing the documentation for the pilot program, I'd like to state that I am fully on board with constructing cheap congregant shelters and resuming enforcement of our existing laws. It's time to fully reclaim all our parks and return them to use by the taxpayers.
I'm disappointed that District 3 is not being prioritized. According to the tables at the front of the report, District 3 has by far the largest number of homeless people and the largest impact in terms of emergency calls. We have shouldered the brunt of this problem and deserve to be at the forefront of the cleanup. At a minimum, when this goes into effect, law enforcement for things like citing vehicles parked longer than 3 days should be city-wide. If policies stay the way that they are now for all the districts not included in the pilot program, our neighborhood will absorb all those unwilling to move into shelters.
Thank you,
Carissa Clark
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Vickie R
Mon 3/4/2024 7:23 PM
To:Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]> [External Email]
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Could you please explain to me why District 3 is not included in the upcoming Pilot Program for the unhoused. District 3 has more than its share of unhoused and is in great need to reduce encampments.
Regards,
Victoria Rivard
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Pilot Program
Mary Beth Boch
Tue 3/5/2024 11:28 AM
To:Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]> You don't often get email from Learn why this is important Dear Rules Committee,
Please allow District 3 to be included in the Pilot Program regarding unhoused people. Our district already has so many unhoused people, it would be unfair for us to take on more people.
Best regards,
--
Mary Beth Boch
3/6/24, 8 33 AM Mail Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas Outlook https //outlook office365 com/mail/rulescommitteeagenda@sanjoseca gov/inbox/id/AAQkADhhYzk3NTk1LTBmZDAtNDc4Yi1hN2Q0LTZjNmZjNTk5MT 1/1 FW: SJ LUV Pilot Program
City Clerk <[email protected]>
Wed 3/6/2024 8:13 AM
To:Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]> -----Original Message-----
From: Nancy DeMattei
Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2024 5:16 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: SJ LUV Pilot Program
[External Email]
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City Clerk,
This is for the 3/6 rules committee:
Can this program please be expanded to include D3 since we host a majority of the city's unhoused and already provide them many of their services?
Thank you very much,
Nancy DeMattei
D3
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Public Comment ROGC 3/6 Item C.1. "SJ LUV (Lifting Up Lives) Pilot Program." Jordan Moldow
Wed 3/6/2024 10:05 AM
To:City Clerk <[email protected]>;Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]>;Agendadesk <[email protected]>;District7 <[email protected]>; Doan, Bien <[email protected]>;District 10 <[email protected]>;Batra, Arjun <[email protected]> Cc:District4 <[email protected]>;District 6 <[email protected]>;District1 <[email protected]>;District5 <[email protected]>;District2 <[email protected]>;District3 <[email protected]> Public comment from Jordan Moldow (speaking on behalf of himself) on Item C.1. "SJ LUV (Lifting Up Lives) Pilot Program." - ROGC 3/6:
Thank you to Councilmembers Doan and Batra, and their Council District staff, for putting forward this memorandum. A lot of thought, time, and research clearly went into putting together this proposal. I am generally in support of the ideas and spirit of this memo. But there are some additional questions that need to be looked into, before embarking on this pilot.
A theme that was discussed at yesterday's 3/5 Council meeting, during the Stormwater Permit discussion, was this idea that the City isn't doing a good job at approaching the homeless crisis in a holistic, unified, and proactive way. In response to the water board, the City will respond by doing X; in response to citizen complaints around schools, the City will do Y; and so on. And it isn't clear that all of these different X, Y, Z approaches represent a unified action plan. They may even interfere with each other, or take away resources from each other. This isn't your fault, but this memo is yet another separate piece of the non-unified puzzle. I don't have an answer to this, but it should be considered.
As a specific example of that, it needs to be understood how implementing this memo might impact the existing development plans for affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, and emergency interim housing. Will implementing this project require taking funds and staff time away from projects that are already in the pipeline? Or can this project be funded from other sources, and from staff time that isn't currently committed to those other types of housing? This memo also proposes to staff the SJ LUV facility with supportive staff that can provide services. But there is not an infinite supply of healthcare workers in our region, so would a fully staffed SJ LUV facility compete for workers that might be needed at the other types of supportive housing we're building? Even though the proposed project is cheaper than other options, that doesn't make it cheap. Since this is an experimental pilot, I don't think we need to figure out every tiny detail ahead of time (we don't want to overthink this, that would defeat the purpose of it being a pilot). But we should have some baseline confidence that the plan will work. A major aspect of that: will a sufficient number of individuals opt to live in this type of space, versus wanting to continue living outside and simply moving to another council district? Can we do some sort of polling within our population of unhoused and recently-unhoused individuals, to see what they think? Of course, polling isn't perfect: people might say yes/no to a poll, but then change their mind once the housing is actually built. So we should 3/6/24, 11 16 AM Mail Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas Outlook https //outlook office365 com/mail/rulescommitteeagenda@sanjoseca gov/inbox/id/AAQkADhhYzk3NTk1LTBmZDAtNDc4Yi1hN2Q0LTZjNmZjNTk5MT 2/2 This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. get some data from San Francisco and other areas that have attempted this, to find out if they did any similar polling, and to see what kind of acceptance rate their facilities received once they were open.
Climate control for these facilities needs to be taken into account. I've been to South Hall once, and it seemed somewhat stuffy.. and that was on a warm winter day. Granted, it was for an event that probably had thousands of people, not 200. But it's still something that shouldn't be taken for granted.
Our weather can be more harsh than San Francisco.
I do wonder whether Council district is the correct boundary for determining where re encampment should not be allowed. I wonder if it should instead be based on something more granular like census tracts, or something more physically accurate like distance from the facility. I'm not for or against any of those metrics, I'm just proposing it as something to think about.
I am glad to see that the memo tries to be as welcoming and flexible as it can. I'm glad to see the memo taking families, pets, belongings, work schedules, and sleep schedules into account.
Most of all, I'm glad to see that Councilmembers Doan and Batra understand that homelessness is not crime, in both senses. Living outside, but otherwise being a good neighbor, is not a crime and should not be a crime. People should be treated with compassion, and we should assume good intent from those who might refuse to live in the SJ LUV facility.
Moreso, just because crime might occur in the area of an encampment, does not mean the entire population should be punished by being told they must pack up and move away from an area. We see this too often at Council: pushes to ban encampments near certain institutions, or ban all RVs in certain areas, under the false pretense that this is needed to combat crime. Instead of focusing on preventing/disincentivizing the actual crimes, or appropriately punishing the actual crimes. If theft / harassment / destruction of property / assault are so common and predictable near encampments, then it should be possible to catch and prosecute the repeat offenders, which seem to be what Councilmembers Doan and Batra are calling for. Littering and bio waste crimes should be addressed by providing trash service and more public restrooms, respectively.
To summarize: thank you Councilmembers Doan and Batra for focusing on the root cause of homelessness (lack of housing), focusing on that problem, and pushing back against frivolous distractions like one off bans on encampments and RVs. I cannot say whether this pilot will be successful, but I wish you the best of luck with figuring out the answers to the questions I posed above.
Thanks,
Jordan Moldow (speaking on behalf of himself)
District 3
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