Letters from the Public - 3 of 3 — San Jose City Council, March 18, 2025

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FW: 3/18/25 City Council Meeting Item 3.3 - City Budget (Please Support the Mayor's Budget Msg) From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:39 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Dave Noel <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 5:01 PM
To: 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]>; The Oﬃce of Mayor Matt Mahan <[email protected]>; City Clerk <[email protected]>; District3 <[email protected]>
Subject: 3/18/25 City Council Meeting Item 3.3 - City Budget (Please Support the Mayor's Budget Msg)

Some people who received this message don't often get email from Learn why this is important As a long time District 9 resident, and President of Erikson Neighborhood Association, I urge you to support the Mayor’s budget message.

My personal experience and city-conducted surveys consistently show that the vast majority of our taxpaying residents agree on the Mayor’s focus areas. Neighborhood leaders who follow the issues closely are happy with the progress made to date, and understand how diﬃcult that has been. However most residents are upset that they haven't yet noticed any improvements, so please stay the course with urgency.

Mayor Mahan’s pragmatic initiatives and recommendations will feed a virtuous cycle that will help us aﬀord things tomorrow that we can’t aﬀord today, and help end the suﬀering and blight resulting from unsheltered homelessness.

I would like to call attention to two items. First, I’m thrilled to see the Responsible Landlords Engagement Initiative listed in the memo and hope you will support it. Second, I’m deeply concerned about park maintenance funding and disagree with any park funding reductions such as development fee waivers unless they are oﬀset with new funds elsewhere in the budget.

Thanks for your consideration!

Dave Noel

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FW: Library funding Agenda item 3.3
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:39 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Ute Orgassa <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 5:53 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Library funding Agenda item 3.3

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important Dear public oﬃcial,

please make sure to keep funding the Libraries. It is important to have a place where people can meet and learn new things. It is vital for communities to be able to use library services. And it is equally important to have one last place where you can go without having to consume anything.

Sincerely,

Ute Orgassa

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FW: Mayors Budget 2025
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:40 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
1 attachment (26 KB)
Mayors Budget 2025 CO.pdf;

From: caleb orozco <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 4:57 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Cc: Salas, Carl <[email protected]>; Arreola, Kiara <[email protected]>; Dang, Tara <[email protected]>; Rocha, Vincent <[email protected]>; Mahan, Matt <[email protected]>
Subject: Mayors Budget 2025

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March 17, 2025

San José City Council
200 E. Santa Clara St.

San José, CA 95113
Subject: March Budget Message for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Dear Mayor Matt Mahan and Esteemed City Council Members, I am writing to express my strong support for the initiatives outlined in the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 March Budget Message, particularly those focused on strengthening San José’s small business community.

Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy, creating jobs, fostering innovation, and enhancing the unique character of our neighborhoods. However, many small business owners continue to face barriers such as high permitting costs, complex regulations, and legal challenges that threaten their long-term success.

I applaud the City’s commitment to streamlining the permitting process, expanding business outreach, and supporting commercial corridor development. Programs that assist small businesses in navigating regulatory hurdles, such as efforts to reform Special Use and Conditional Use Permits, are essential for fostering a more business-friendly environment. Additionally, the expansion of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and increased direct outreach—especially for historically underserved communities— will help strengthen local businesses and commercial corridors.

Furthermore, I strongly support the proposal to provide legal assistance for small businesses facing predatory lawsuits. Many small business owners, particularly those in long-standing cultural districts like Japantown, risk closure due to excessive legal costs. By allocating resources to protect these businesses, the City is taking an important step toward ensuring their stability and continued contribution to our local economy.

San José’s economic future depends on a thriving small business sector. Investing in programs that reduce bureaucratic barriers, provide targeted financial assistance, and enhance capacity-building efforts will create a more resilient and prosperous city. I urge the Council to prioritize these initiatives in the upcoming budget to support the small businesses that sustain our community.

Thank you for your leadership and commitment to economic growth in San José.

Sincerely,
Caleb Orozco
Business Owner, Last Round Tavern
Member of East Village Business Association
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FW: Agenda Item 3.3
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:40 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Wendy Chung <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 8:13 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>; District 10 <[email protected]> Subject: Agenda Item 3.3

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important I am writing to express my support for continued full library funding as you plan for next year's city budget. The libraries are critical resources for local residents, especially those needing safe spaces to study and learn. They also provide key access to the internet for job searching, research, and general access for those who do not have computers or internet at home. I volunteer with seniors and know that many of them rely heavily on these key library services since they cannot afford this access at home. I also see many students studying in the libraries when they get out of school and know that this safe space is critical for them and their families.

Ensuring full funding of our San Jose libraries will continue to provide these needed inclusive, safe spaces for our community.

Gwendolyn Chung
District 10 citizen

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FW: Library Funding
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:40 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
-----Original Message-----
From: Deanna Burke <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 8:33 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Library Funding
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Dear City Council, As you make hard decisions and plan for the future, please keep in mind the wide variety of services that our libraries provide.

They give us access to not only wonderful books, but also access to computers, tutors, a variety of community services, and safe places to be.

Please fund our libraries.

Sincerely,
Deanna Burke
Sent from my iPad
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FW: Agenda item 3.3
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:40 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Virginia Barret <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 8:36 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Agenda item 3.3

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important I am writing to encourage the City Council to fund the public libraries generously so they can continue to provide access to books, technology and other information sources, along with services that strengthen academic skills for children, adult literacy, tech and job skills. To have a well-educated, well-informed citizenry, libraries are vital.

San Jose libraries are already poorly funded compared to many other Bay Area cities. Now the federal government is threatening to stop funding the Institute of Museum and Library Services. I ask you to protect our libraries by protecting their funds.

Thank you.

Virginia Barret
Active library patron

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FW: Item 3.3 Council agenda March 18 2025
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:40 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
-----Original Message-----
From: Tina M <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 8:53 PM
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]> Cc: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Item 3.3 Council agenda March 18 2025
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Hello Mayor and Council Members,
I am a long-time resident of District 3 and I am asking that you vote for Mayor Mahan’s budget letter in full.

It is important that the City focuses efforts on a few, specific and measurable priorities and implement them well. I am especially interested in focusing on these areas:

PARKS MAINTENANCE - part of blight reduction is to have beautiful, well maintained parks for community and visitors to enjoy.

IMMEDIATE SOLUTIONS AND ACTIONS FOR UNHOUSED/MENTALLY ILL NEIGHBORS - it is inhumane and unsafe for all to keep unhoused and/or mentally ill on our streets.

CONTINUE EFFORTS TO "GREEN" OUR CITY - by investing in our tree canopy throughout San Jose.

Again, this is part of blight reduction as well as reducing heat sinks and bringing down sidewalk temperatures. We are seeing increased "heat dome" events which are unsafe for all. 3/18/25, 11:34 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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I also fully support Mayor Mahan’s request for flexibility in redirecting Measure E funds to solutions that can be implemented now instead of in the future. For far too long we have forced unhoused residents to continue to live in inhumane conditions while they wait, with the promise of expensive permanent supportive housing sometime in the future. This is not a sustainable solution and has proven to be an empty promise for many.

Thank you for your consideration.

Tina Morrill
Vendome neighborhood
District 3
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FW: SJ Chamber Support of Item 3.3 and Item 8.1
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:41 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
2 attachments (522 KB)
SJ Chamber Support of Item 3.3 - Mayor's Budget Message.pdf; SJ Chamber Support of Item 8.2 - OEDCA Work plan 2025- 2027.pdf;

From: Kat Angelov <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 5:04 PM
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]> Cc: City Clerk <[email protected]>; Klein, Nanci <[email protected]>; Leah Toeniskoetter <
Subject: SJ Chamber Support of Item 3.3 and Item 8.1

Dear Mayor Mahan, Vice Mayor Foley, and Honorable Councilmembers Campos, Candelas, Casey, Cohen, Doan, Kamei, Mulcahy, Oritz, and Salas,

Please find attached position letters for item 3.3: Mayor's Budget Message and item 8.1: 2025- 2027 OEDCA Work Plan. For any questions regarding our positions, please reach out to me directly.

Thank you for the consideration of our comments.

Sincerely,
Kat

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Kat Angelov
Policy Manager
San Jose Chamber of Commerce
IN OFFICE DAYS: TUESDAYS - THURSDAYS
Email
Oﬃce:

Mailing Address:

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| sjchamber.com | |

March 17, 2025

City of San Jose City Council
200 E. Santa Clara St.

San Jose, CA 95113

Re: Support for Item 3.3 - Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Mayor’s March Budget Message

Dear Mayor Mahan and Honorable Councilmembers,

On behalf of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, we urge your support of the Mayor’s Budget Message. The strategic focus on fiscal responsibility and forward-looking economic growth has the opportunity to address the budget deficit this year and beyond. We are particularly pleased to see alignment with policy areas critical to our members and business broadly, namely:

Leveraging 2026 Sporting Events for Long-Term Economic Growth The major sporting events coming to the South Bay in 2026 present an unprecedented opportunity to not only boost our local economy in the short term but also position San Jose as a premier destination for future large-scale sports and entertainment events. By investing in infrastructure, hospitality, and marketing efforts now, we can establish ourselves as a competitive host city for years to come.

Driving Economic Development and AI Growth
Expanding data centers and other technological investments will reinforce San Jose’s leadership in the AI-driven economy, ensuring long-term competitiveness.

Supporting Small Business and Addressing Permitting Challenges Small businesses are vital to San Jose’s economy. Streamlined permitting processes and increased resources will help them thrive.

Addressing Unsheltered Homelessness
A safe and stable community is essential for economic growth, and we encourage strategic investments that provide solutions for temporary housing and services to address homelessness effectively.

The San Jose Chamber of Commerce looks forward to working with the City Council and the Mayor’s Office to implement these initiatives, strengthening our economy and securing San Jose’s future as a thriving business hub.

Sincerely,
Leah Toeniskoetter
President & CEO, San Jose Chamber of Commerce

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FW: Letter re: 2025-202 March Budget Message
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:41 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
1 attachment (74 KB)
BUDGET LTR 03-18-25.pdf;

From: Eire Stewart <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 6:37 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>; Doan, Bien <[email protected]>; Fleming, Jonathan <[email protected]>; Dang, Tara <[email protected]>; Rocha, Vincent <[email protected]>; Mahan, Matt <[email protected]> Subject: Letter re: 2025-202 March Budget Message

Attached please ﬁnd our Letter in support of the small business initiatives outlined in the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 March Budget Message.

Sincerely,
Eire Stewart

Eire Stewart
Director of Property Management at
JP DiNapoli Companies Inc.

Phone:

Mobile:

Email:

I will be out of the oﬃce from April 3rd to April 15th, returning April 16th.

Any oﬀers or proposals expressed in this email are an expression of interest and are non-binding until evidenced by a written Agreement, Amendment or other document executed by all parties. The information contained in this e-mail is intended only for the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. Its contents (including any 3/18/25, 11:35 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. attachments) are conﬁdential and may contain privileged information. If you are not an intended recipient you must not use, disclose, disseminate, copy or print its contents. If you receive this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by reply e-mail and delete and destroy the message.

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FW: Mayor's Budget Message - Item 3.3 (March 18, 2025)
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:41 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Jason Lee <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 9:50 PM
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]> Cc: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Mayor's Budget Message - Item 3.3 (March 18, 2025)

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important Dear Mayor Mahan and Councilmembers,
My name is Jason Lee, and I am a Development Review Planner with PBCE. I’m most often seen in your inboxes coordinating community meetings or responding to public comment for development projects, but I am writing today in a personal capacity in response to the Mayor’s budget message.

Two things particularly piqued my interest as proposals which may affect basic working conditions – the pay-for-performance measure for senior staff, and the proposed four-day return-to-office mandate. To me, both of these proposals reflect an implicit distrust of the employees of the City, who work hard on a daily basis to provide vital services, implement Council’s policies and goals, and ensure that the City is in compliance with state and federal law, often with far-too-small but mighty teams. Working in development review, I interface on a regular, if not daily, basis with not only other PBCE staff, but also staff from Public Works, Housing, PRNS, DOT, ESD, Fire, Police, CAO, and OED, and touch base with even more departments on a less regular basis. I see every day how dedicated my colleagues from all departments are to making San José work despite our funding and resource challenges, to push development projects and council priorities forward, and to improve the City for residents, visitors, and businesses. I am asking you to trust in the employees of this City – everyone from the most senior to frontline staff – who work to improve the City and implement Council’s directives and policy goals every single day, and allow us to do our work in a way that keeps teams cohesive and unified, and in a way that allows us to not burn out, maintain and improve service delivery, and retain staff and institutional knowledge throughout the City.

It has been three years since we have returned from the final COVID lockdown; since then, every team and every department has gone through a balancing act to find out what works best for them to ensure productivity and the ability to meet and exceed goals and to allow for efficient communication and sufficient professional development, while also retaining staff and institutional knowledge. For some – especially those who cannot afford living in San José or the South Bay – even going from three to four days a week in office will result in the loss of a multiple hours of time and increased monetary costs from daily commutes, upsetting an equilibrium of childcare, eldercare, and healthy work-life balance which 3/18/25, 11:36 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. has been carefully considered from the departmental to individual level over the past three years. These changes could potentially result in the loss of experience and knowledge as tenured City workers leavefor other employment, leading to the loss of institutional knowledge, overburdening remaining employees (especially in the face of a hiring freeze), and degraded service delivery. I fully understand that not everyCity employee is able to have a flexible work arrangement; however, for those of us who are fortunate enough, this is an invaluable incentive to stay, grow, develop, and continue working for the City. A flexibleflexible work policy allows San José to retain happier, more productive employees who implement programs and Council directions, a win-win which comes at very low cost to the City. Therefore, insteadof imposing a blanket edict, I implore you to continue to place your trust in the very capable and dedicated staff of the City to set non-bargained work conditions that work for them, and trust supervisors,managers, and directors to do their jobs and adjust these work conditions, as has happened in the past, if they find their team or their department is not meeting the goals laid out by Council.

I am also concerned about the pay-for-performance proposal for senior staff. This may be a strange concern for someone who does not supervise any other employees, but as you are most likely aware,PBCE has greatly expanded performance tracking and used that information to institute improvements throughout the department in the last couple years. While our performance measures have certainlyimproved, implementing these policies has necessarily resulted in increased requirements on staff.

Nevertheless, there has been no suspicion of management’s motivation: it is and has been clear that the sole purpose is to improve service delivery for City residents and project applicants. However, if thiswere instituted while senior staff were under the proposed pay-for-performance measures, I fear that even these simple good-government reforms would instead be viewed with suspicion as a way formanagement to increase their own pay on the backs of staff, leading to completely unnecessary rifts between frontline staff and management over measures that currently are actively improving servicedelivery for our residents and businesses. Again, I ask you to please place your trust in the capable people who run these departments, and allow them to do their jobs without unnecessarily inducingbacklash from their staff; the City Manager’s office preaches that we are One Team – please allow us to continue to be one cohesive team from top to bottom as we work towards implementing Council’s goals.

Lastly, I implore you to avoid layoffs to balance the budget and continue to allow hiring in critical positions in all City departments. Although individual employees try their hardest on a daily basis, manyteams in multiple departments already struggle with basic and timely service delivery due to low staffing levels, with an inadequate number of employees overwhelmed by the amount of work required toimplement city, state, and federal programs. Imposing layoffs – or failing to replace voluntary departures in critical positions – would only result in further overtaxing and overburdening of remaining staff, whichwould further impede basic service delivery for residents in all areas of the City (both geographically and by department). A smaller workforce would also make it even more difficult to implement and achieveCouncil’s goals, and in certain departments, potentially even hinder processes to ensure compliance with state and federal law. By virtue of working with a bunch of different departments, I regularly see the ebb and flow of people voluntarily coming to and leaving the City and the impact that has on institutionalknowledge, response times, and service delivery on different teams, especially when the number of employees ebbs. I beg of you to search for and use all possible solutions to avoid cutting staff to balancethe budget, as additional staff cuts and non-replacement of departing staff would only result in major impacts to the capacity of the City to provide basic services and implement Council’s goals.

Again, you have legions of very capable and dedicated professional public servants who work tirelesslyevery day to implement your directives and your goals, and I humbly ask you to please avoid unnecessary burdens on us, and place your trust in us and allow us to continue to serve the residents, businesses, and visitors of San José.

Thank you for your consideration,Jason

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FW: Letter of Support, Mayor's Budget Message for FY 2025-2026 From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:41 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
1 attachment (60 KB)
031725-CSJ-FY2025-2026-Budget-LoS.pdf;

From: Tamiko Rast <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 9:40 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Cc: Salas, Carl <[email protected]>; Arreola, Kiara <[email protected]>; Dang, Tara <[email protected]>; Rocha, Vincent <[email protected]>; Mahan, Matt <[email protected]>
Subject: Letter of Support, Mayor's Budget Message for FY 2025-2026

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important Dear Toni,

For the consideration of the Mayor and City Council. Thank you!

Best,
Tamiko Rast
----------------------------

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March 17, 2025 San José City Council 200 E. Santa Clara St. San José, CA 95113 Subject: March Budget Message for Fiscal Year 2025-2026

Dear

Mayor

Matt

Mahan

and

Esteemed

City

Council

Members,

I’d like to express my strong support for the initiatives outlined in the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 March

Budget

Message,

particularly

the

items

Supporting

our

Small

Businesses

(pages

24 and

25),

and

Clean

Gateways

(page

14).

The

small

business

support

and

capacity-building

initiatives

are

crucial

fostering

business

growth

our

community

and

ensuring

equitable

and

business-friendly

environment.

Small businesses significantly contribute to the unique fabric that is San José. Japantown’s cultural

district

home

many

family-owned

and

operated

restaurants,

retail

shops,

and

artisans,

host

local

farmer’s

market

and

cultural

festivals,

and

have

been

the

hub

for

the

City’s

Viva

Calle

eight

times.

Our

community

brings

people

from

all

around

the

Bay

Area

Downtown

and

expanding

access

resources,

simplifying

permitting

processes,

encouraging

beautification

and

cleanliness,

and

supporting

our

Business

Improvement

Districts

(BIDs),

can

continue

keep

the

momentum

going

with

our

burgeoning

popularity.

Moreover, being personally affected by an ADA compliance lawsuit, the proposed grant program to

assist

businesses

facing

legal

challenges

will

help

those

operating

already-thin

margins.

I hope that the Clean Gateways initiative includes incorporation of the City’s Community Forest Management

Plan

(2022).

With

partial

assistance

from

Our

City

Forest,

we’ve

planted

over

fifty

trees

Japantown

four

years

and

believe

that

enhancing

our

city’s

tree

canopy

has

improved

our

business

district

nearly

much

regular

cleanups.

I urge the City Council to fully support these initiatives and ensure their successful implementation

for

the

benefit

our

city

and

its

residents.

We thank the Mayor, Council, and City Staff for investing in our community.

Sincerely,

Tamiko Rast Japantown resident, business and property owner, and community advocate [External Email. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. Learn more] Outlook
FW: Support of Agenda Item Number 3.3 25-242
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:41 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Andres Solomonoﬀ <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 10:00 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Support of Agenda Item Number 3.3 25-242

Hello,

My name is Andres Solomonoﬀ, and I am a resident of Council District 8. I support the Mayor’s March Budget Message, particularly the proposals to expand police academy class sizes and fund the Responsible Landlord Engagement Initiative (RLEI).

San Jose has one of the most understaﬀed police departments in the country, making it diﬃcult to meet the safety needs of our large community. Without increasing academy class sizes, we will continue to fall behind in rebuilding our police force. Public safety should be a top priority, and adding more oﬃcers will help ensure faster response times and safer neighborhoods. That’s why I support the Mayor’s Budget Message, including the expansion of academy class sizes from 30 to 40 oﬃcers. Investing in our police force is an investment in the well- being of our city.

However, public safety isn’t just about policing—it also means tackling blight and public nuisance properties that aﬀect our neighborhoods. That’s why I support funding the Responsible Landlord Engagement Initiative (RLEI), which promotes accountability by mediating between negligent property owners and impacted neighbors.

RLEI
has already proven its value, delivering a 28% return on investment for the City by reducing calls for service to police, ﬁre, and code enforcement
.

By supporting both police staﬃng and the RLEI program, we can take a more balanced and proactive approach to community safety.

Thank you,
Andres Solomonoﬀ

-Sent from laptop

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FW: City Council Meeting March 18, 2025 Item 3.3 Comment Letter From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:41 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
1 attachment (444 KB)
Measure E Comment Letter AHD 03172025.pdf;

From: Jon White <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 8:56 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: City Council Meeting March 18, 2025 Item 3.3 Comment Letter

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important Please include this letter as public comment for Item 3.3 in tomorrow's city council meeting.

Thanks.

Jon

_
Jonathan White (he/him)
Chief Real Estate Officer
Abode Housing Development
Address:

Office #
Mobile #
Email:

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CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This electronic mail transmission may contain privileged information and/or conﬁdential information only for the use by the intended recipients. Any usage, distribution, copying or disclosure by any other person, other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited and may be subject to civil action and/or criminal penalties. If you have received this email transmission in error, please notify the sender by reply email or by telephone and delete the transmission.

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March 17, 2025

Mayor & City Council
City of San Jose
200 East Santa Clara Street, 18th Floor
San Jose, CA 95113

Re: Budget Memo Item 3.3 March 18, 2025 City Council Agenda

Honorable Mayor & Councilmembers,

On behalf of Abode Housing Development, a non-profit affordable developer focused on creating permanent supportive housing developments in the Bay Area, I write to express our deep and significant concerns over the proposed changes to the Measure E spending plan .

When Measure E was approved in 2020, the voters were told that this tax would predominantly go towards building more affordable housing and the City Council adopted a corresponding spending plan that allocated this funding to a number of key housing programs - with the vast majority of funding going towards new affordable housing production, which we know is critically-important to solving our homelessness crisis.

Abode Housing Development has been actively pursuing supportive housing developments in San Jose for more than 10 years and all of them have required significant funding from the City of San Jose to be viable. Measure E is a crucial component in the development of supportive housing that is the true solution to solving homelessness. Affordable housing developments in general and supportive housing projects in particular require City, County, Housing Authority, generally state and federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits (“LIHTC”). The State and Federal Funding require the leveraging of local funding to be competitive.

We currently have one project under construction with City Measure E funding, Parkmoor Community Apartments. This 81 unit project will provide supportive housing for transitional aged youth coming out of foster care who are experiencing homelessness and affordable housing for very low income families. It would not have been able to start construction in November 2023 without Measure E funding from the city of San Jose. It will finish construction in the summer of 2025.

We have 2 projects in our pipeline, Casa de Novo and Milestone Arts Colony, that are relying on future Measure E funding with 220 units between them, half of which will be reserved for people experiencing homelessness. These projects applied for the San Jose NOFA in November of 2023 and were waitlisted because of lack of funding. These projects will become viable to apply for tax credits after additional Measure E funding from San Jose is awarded to them. At this point these two projects are stuck in predevelopment because they lack a city funding commitment that allows them to continue towards construction. They are both entitled and ready to go other than not having sufficient funding.

The competitive nature of state and federal funding is already substantial with most funding sources being heavily over subscribed, so every local dollar is critical for the projects be able to secure other funding and be viable. For LIHTC projects, city housing funding is generally leveraged 5 to 7 times resulting in a much greater investment in the city without spending local money. Eliminating San Jose as a source of affordable housing funding will have long term negative impacts both to the individual affordable housing projects, but will also cause San Jose to miss out on bringing state and federal funding to the City in the range of $20M to $50M per project.

These are real projects that the City will simply be unable to fund if it goes through with this drastic shift in Measure E funding. And even if the City is in a position to restore affordable housing funding in the future, any short-term pause in affordable housing funding creates exponentially longer delays in bringing new developments to fruition and threatens to kill some projects all together. Further, for every year the project is stuck in predevelopment, the cost of the development generally increases by at least 10% per year due to inflation.

It’s important to note that we acknowledge the need for temporary housing and shelter options in San Jose, but those are short term emergency room solutions and are not solving the problem of homelessness because people will not live in a shelter permanently. The city needs new affordable housing developments to solve the problem of homelessness. We appreciate the City’s efforts to increase shelter options in our city, but instead of pitting one strategy against another, it’s time to start exploring how we can raise new revenue so that we can advance BOTH community priorities.

Please protect affordable housing funding in this year’s budget and let’s come together to develop a real plan for funding and sustaining a comprehensive approach to our housing and homelessness crisis. We look forward to partnering with the city of San Jose to build more desperately needed affordable housing and providing safe and dignified homes for people who are experiencing homelessness.

Sincerely,
Jonathan White
Chief Real Estate Officer
Abode Housing Development

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FW: Agenda Item 3.3 Mayor Mahan's Budget Message
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:42 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
1 attachment (88 KB)
lettertoCityCouncilreMeasureE.pdf;

From: <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 9:27 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Agenda Item 3.3 Mayor Mahan's Budget Message

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important Attached is my letter on the topic identified above. Please distribute prior to the Council Meeting.

Thank you.

Peace and Joy,
Constance Hunter

3/18/25, 11:38 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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March 17, 2025

To: Mayor Matt Mahan
Council Member Rosemary Kamei
Council Member Pamela Campos
Council Member Carl Salas
Council Member David Cohen
Council Member Peter Ortiz
Council Member Michael Mulcahy
Council Member Bien Doan
Council Member Domingo Candelas
Council Member Pam Foley
Council Member George Casey

From: Constance Hunter

Subject: Agenda Item 3.3 Mayor Mahan’s Budget Message

I am a long-time member of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church (UMC) on the corner of 10th and San Salvador. We have a long history of working with the unhoused and with those living with a mental illness. In fact, St. Paul’s was one of the founding churches of San Jose Urban Ministry (back in the 1970’s) which over the years has morphed into LifeMoves.

I am deeply troubled by the Mayor’s proposal to criminalize being unhoused. Members of St.

Paul’s UMC are reading Kevin Nye’s book, ‘Grace Can Lead Us Home.’ Kevin has years of experience working every day with the unhoused and those living with a mental illness. He addresses the issue of the unhoused person who is ‘service resistant’ and identifies legitimate reasons service, as good as it might sound to you and me, has been rejected by his clients.

Before going any further with the proposal to arrest an unhoused person, I suggest you read the aforementioned book. To succeed at moving people from the street to housing, you must build trusted relationships. This takes time – especially for those most severely traumatized by their experience of living on the street.

St. Paul’s UMC’s sanctuary was destroyed by an arsonist in June 2022. Shortly after that, the members of the church agreed that we want to build back a smaller church and build affordable housing on the remainder of the property. We are working with Alta Housing to put together a master plan and go through the entitlement phase. With the change in federal administration, we are sitting on pins and needles unsure if the LIHTC and HUD Section 8 vouchers will survive the budget cuts. On top of that, Mayor Mahan is proposing to redirect Measure E funds from affordable housing to homelessness services.

I object to the Mayor’s proposal to redirect Measure E funds from affordable housing to homelessness services.
• First of all, the people who voted for Measure E did so with the understanding that the majority of those funds would be used to build affordable housing. The San Jose voters are smart enough to know the difference between interim housing and affordable housing – and they voted to increase funding for affordable housing. • Second, interim or emergency housing is no solution. Let’s say we build 5000 units of interim housing. How will people exit interim housing into permanent housing if we don’t increase the supply of affordable housing?
• I know families who have lived and worked in Santa Clara County for decades who have never been able to afford a place to live. They are not unhoused – they are doubled up in a two bedroom apartment with 8 people living in a space designed for 4. These people are the backbone of our economy. They deserve better. They deserve an affordable place to live. Just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they don’t deserve your attention.
• The regional affordable housing bond measure was pulled from the November 2024 ballot. If Measure E funds are redirected to homelessness services, we have few options remaining and the construction of affordable housing will end. Once stopped, it will take decades, if ever, to achieve a level that will meet the need. • SB 4 was just signed into law in October 2024. At a time when churches are looking seriously at using their land for affordable housing, it is shortsighted and unwise to cut the funds available for affordable housing. With some local money multiplied by state and federal funds, we are on the threshold of being able to significantly expand the supply of affordable housing. Let’s not miss this opportunity.

I urge you to preserve at least 60% of the Measure E funds for affordable housing. Find another source of funds for homelessness services. If the people of San Jose are serious about moving people from the street to housing, they will adopt another tax measure. Try it and see.

Please take a step back and take the time to learn a bit more about the reasons people are rejecting your suggestion they move into interim housing before criminalizing them.

Please preserve the vast majority of Measure E funds for affordable housing. Affordable housing is the ultimate solution.

Thank you.

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FW: Support of Mayor's message
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:42 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
1 attachment (84 KB)
SJ Council letter 3-17-25.pdf;

From: Nicholas E. Adams <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 9:42 PM
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]>; City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Support of Mayor's message

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important Letter attached.

--NA

Nicholas E. Adams
president & ceo
NINICO Communications®
San Jose | Los Angeles
direct

executive assistant Stacy Santilena

This email is intended solely for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain conﬁdential and/or privileged information. Any review, dissemination, copying, printing or other use of this email by persons or entities other than the addressee is prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please contact the sender immediately, and delete the material.
3/18/25, 11:38 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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March 17, 2025

Honorable Mayor Mahan and City Council
City of San Jose
200 East Santa Clara Street
San Jose, California 95113

Dear Mayor Mahan and Honorable Councilmembers,

I urge you to support the Mayor’s Budget Message, a responsible and forward- thinking plan that prioritizes economic growth, small business success, and streamlined city operations while positioning San Jose to seize the unprecedented opportunities of the 2026 global sporting events.

With a $46 million budget shortfall, we need bold leadership that focuses on fiscal responsibility, sustainable revenue generation, and protecting essential city services. This budget strikes that balance: reducing costs, strengthening our general fund, and avoiding drastic workforce cuts while still meeting our community’s most pressing needs, including interim housing and services for the unhoused.

This is the multi-year strategy San Jose needs, one that keeps our city competitive, responsive, and financially resilient. I respectfully urge the Council to approve this framework and remain committed to innovation, efficiency, and maximizing resources for a stronger future.

Thank you for your leadership and service to San Jose and her people.

Cheers,
Nicholas E. Adams
president & ceo

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FW: Vote
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:42 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Angela Elsey <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 10:29 PM
To: District 6 <[email protected]>; Dave Hedges < City Clerk <[email protected]>; Cohen, David <[email protected]> Subject: Vote

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important Good morning

I am writing to strongly urge you to vote in favor of the measures the mayor is proposing to address homelessness and other focus issues in San Jose , including making salary raises dependent on improvements.

Thank you
Angela Elsey

3/18/25, 11:39 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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FW: Agenda 3.3 Mayor's Budget Message
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:42 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Wanda Wong <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 11:08 PM
To: Mahan, Matt <[email protected]>; The Oﬃce of Mayor Matt Mahan <[email protected]>; Kamei, Rosemary <[email protected]>; Campos, Pamela <[email protected]>; Salas, Carl <[email protected]>; Cohen, David <[email protected]>; Ortiz, Peter <[email protected]>; Mulcahy, Michael <[email protected]>; Doan, Bien <[email protected]>; Candelas, Domingo <[email protected]>; Foley, Pam <[email protected]>; Casey, George <[email protected]>; City Clerk <[email protected]>
Cc: District2 <[email protected]>; City Clerk <[email protected]>; District 6 <[email protected]>; District4 <[email protected]>; District5 <[email protected]>; District7 <[email protected]>; District 10 <[email protected]>; District1 <[email protected]>; District8 <[email protected]>; District9 <[email protected]>; District3 <[email protected]> Subject: Agenda 3.3 Mayor's Budget Message

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important

Dear Mayor & City Council,

Please take time to consider the Mayor's budget message. With so many uncertain things happening at the federal level, we need to be able to successfully run our local government with logic.

Homelessness needs to be addressed but the city cannot do this alone. Other government agencies need to be part of the solution as the city isn't responsible for providing health services. Partnering with the appropriate organizations instead of working in silos WILL make a difference.

I've seen this in my 30
years working in industry.

Just one week ago we had an abatement completed by CalTrans which was reported 4-5 weeks prior.

Upon discussing with the onsite supervisor of the abatement, we come to learn that no outreach had occurred. If this is truly the case, it is unacceptable. There must be a process for CalTrans or any agency to inform the city or county that abatements are scheduled in order to schedule outreach. This is a perfect example of how working in silos will not improve the overall situation. There is NO connection of the dots.

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We can do better, we should be better than this, we MUST be better than this. We can start if the budget message is approved.

Regards,
Wanda W.

Basking Ridge N.A.

District 2 Neighborhood Leadership Council

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FW: Petition RE: Agenda Item 3.3 Mayor's March Budget Message 03/18/2025 From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:42 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: SURJ Santa Clara County <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 11:20 PM
To: City Clerk <[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]> Subject: Petition RE: Agenda Item 3.3 Mayor's March Budget Message 03/18/2025

Some people who received this message don't often get email from Learn why this is important To the San Jose Mayor & City Council:

We believe in people's right to affordable housing that meets their needs.

Mayor Mahan's recent proposal to arrest and jail unhoused people is unacceptable.

Spotlight articles on the subject for reference::
https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-could-jail-homeless-residents-for-refusing-shelter/ https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-mayor-wants-to-permanently-shift-measure-e-affordable- housing-funds/
https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-want-to-send-homeless-people-back-to-families/ This is absolutely outrageous! We cannot continue to criminalize and further traumatize poor people in our community.

This is a racial justice issue--Black people in Santa Clara County represent 2.7% of the population, but 19% of those who are unhoused. (Source: 2024 Silicon Valley Pain Index) This is also a disability justice issue--A significant portion of San Jose's unhoused population reports having disabilities. According to data from the 2023 Homeless Census:
3/18/25, 11:40 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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20% of respondents reported having a physical disability. 25% reported chronic health issues.
34% reported psychiatric or emotional conditions.

We will not accept this. These initiatives that he proposes will only continue to harm our community, waste money and resources, and not "solve the problem" or get people the help they need.

Our demands:
1) No encampment sweeps without a tangible, suitable, and accessible alternative place to go. 2) All shelter and safe sleeping sites must meet minimum basic standards of health and human dignity, and must be safe, livable, comply with
San Jose's Disability Inclusion Equity Pledge, and attractive enough that people will move there voluntarily.
3) The City must fund BOTH interim and deeply affordable, accessible permanent housing to address the crisis, and demand that the federal government provide affordable housing for its people. 4) No arrests of unhoused people, especially while the Mayor and City Council are not held accountable to provide housing and shelter.

Sincerely, we the 204 undersigned concerned residents,
Emmett Abatecola
Madelyn Abatecola
Mohamed Abdelkader
Rocio Acevedo
J Adams
Elizabeth Agramont-Justiniano
Robert Aguirre
Jasmine Ahumada
Pamela Anderson-Brulé
Aricka Arana OHara
Sandra Asher
Lani Ballard
Viviana Barnwell
Cindy Bautista
Patrice Beard
Martha Beattie
Evan Bell
Alejandra Bellavance
Marieke Bethune
Claire Bleymaier
Maria Bornski
Virginia Bossenbroek
Janine Briones
3/18/25, 11:40 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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Sara Bruce
Dana Bunnett
Isabel Caballero-Teixeira
Colleen Cabot
Delfinia Callaway
Jodi Capitola-Duran
Karen Carlo-Salinger
S Cartwright
Kara Caudill
Emmanuel Centeno
Michele Coleman
Elizabeth Colorado
Linda Cordoba
Sam Curcio
Amanda Davison
delmt Delmy Reyes
Charlotte Dickson
Celine DinhJanelle
Ariel Dukellis
Lorenz Dumuk
Julia Dunker
Marilyn Fahey
Ellen Fakava
Adrian Famularcano
Virginia Farley
Elizabeth Finney
Michael Fleshman
Tatyana Foltz
Patrick Foran
Susana Fotu
Sydney Fought
Ryan Fray
Lilith Gamer
Julisa Garcia
Clint Gaver
Cydney George-Abatecola
Shelly Glennon
3/18/25, 11:40 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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Lorraine Glick
Lana Gomez
Paul Gonzales
Kat Gonzalez

STEPHAN GOODWIN
Rachel Gottlieb
Tyler Grilli
Kim Guptill
Toni Gutierrez
Amy Guzules
Tomara Hall
Adam Hammond
Victoria Harrison
Genevieve Hastings-Melville
Susan Hayase
Kathryn Hedges
Emily hendon
Alyssa Herena
Phillip Hines
Sarah Hollingsworth
Azazel Holmkvist
Diane Holt
Jennette Holzworth
Joan Howe
walter hudson
Galen Hughes
Constance Hunter
Mary Idso
Jeff Jacobs
Sigrid Jacobsen
Raj Jayadev
Nonie Kalra
Lori Katcher
Sarah Kishler
Rose Klein
Colette Krinock
Lita Kurth
3/18/25, 11:40 AM desk - Outlook
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Rhonda Lakatos
Linda Lappin
Brian Larson
Nora Larson
Chloe Le
Vivian Le
William Lee
Sally Lieber
Sue Lipsey
Jonathan Lu
Helen Lund
Kary Martin
Patrick Martin
Jacqueline Martin
Marissa Martinez
Michele Mashburn
Karen Matsueda
Kathy Mattingly
Anne Mcmahon
Marissa McPeak
Ryan Mee
Elizabeth Megas
Elon Michaud
Luisa Minquele
Joanna Molina
Lynn Morison
Maggie Morris
Serena Myjer
Savita Nataraj
Harry Neil
Tobi Nielsen
Lesley Ono
Alondra Ordaz
Alexa Orendain
Misha Ortega
Cynthia Ouandji
Debora Ow
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J Owens
Kiran Palla
Hannah Parenteau
Brian Parkman
Susan Pearson
Katy Peckman
Elizabeth Pense
Rudy Peralta
Jenna Perez
Linda Piantanida
Linda Piantanido
Teresa Ponikvar
Stephanie Preston
William Quinn
Eliza Racine
Cara Ramirez
Ariel Ranker
Jadyn Reed
Christian Repass
Jo-anne Richards
Alexis Roman
Felipe Romero Jr
Ivan Rueda
Analisa Ruiz
Jamie Russell
Monica Salvador
Meyerlyn Sanchez
Joe Sanfilippo
Angie Schertle
Kara Schlindwein
Margarette Shegog
Andrew Siegler
Victor Sin
Sarah Smith
Ted Smith
aldous Solano
Deborah St Julien
3/18/25, 11:40 AM
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Laurie Stewart
Ema Sun
Maristella Tapia
Alyssa Teixeira
Dylan Thunder
Anastado Torres
Nicole Torres
Debra Townley
Dominic Treseler
Cathleen Trowbridge
Anh Truong
Sarah Ullmark
Julio Umana
Laurie Valdez
Camille Valerio
Laura Vu
Erica Waligore
Kirstin Wallace
Cole Walls
Allegra Watson
Siena Watson
Nicholas Williamson
Audrey Wolk
Patrick Wolk
Virginia Wong
Rochelle Woodward
Francesco Yepez
Jean Yi
John Zardkoohi
Leslie Zeiger
Lorraine Zeller
Maxwell Zimmerman
Sinai Zuniga Arias

SURJ Santa Clara County

Sent with Proton Mail secure email.
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FW: March Budget Message for Fiscal Year 2025-2026
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:42 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Khoa Pham <
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 12:00 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Cc: Doan, Bien <[email protected]>; Dang, Tara <[email protected]>; Rocha, Vincent <[email protected]>; Fleming, Jonathan <[email protected]> Subject: March Budget Message for Fiscal Year 2025-2026

March 17, 2025

San José City Council
200 E. Santa Clara St.

San José, CA 95113

Subject: March Budget Message for Fiscal Year 2025-2026

Dear Mayor Matt Mahan and Esteemed City Council Members,

I am writing to express my strong support for the initiatives outlined in the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 March Budget Message, particularly those highlighted on pages 24 and 25 regarding small business support and capacity building in San José. These initiatives are crucial to revitalizing our local economy, fostering small business growth, and ensuring an equitable and business-friendly environment.

As the center of our Vietnamese community, Story Rd. (Vietnam Town) has become a place for the community to gather in celebration and shared traditions. Supporting small businesses through targeted investment and capacity-building initiatives is essential to sustaining a strong local economy. By expanding access to resources, simplifying permitting processes, and fostering Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), San José is taking proactive steps to empower entrepreneurs and ensure economic resilience. These initiatives will not only create jobs but also strengthen commercial corridors, allowing small businesses to ﬂourish and contribute to the city's long-term economic health.

Additionally, the commitment to supporting small businesses through the creation of new BIDs and targeted outreach eﬀorts will have a signiﬁcant impact on our local economy. Small businesses are the backbone of our community, and ensuring they have the necessary resources to thrive is paramount. The proposed grant program to assist businesses facing legal challenges, particularly regarding ADA compliance, is a commendable eﬀort to 3/18/25, 11:40 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. protect vulnerable establishments from undue ﬁnancial strain. Small businesses want to do the right thing, but they need the support and resources to do it.

San José has long been a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, and these budget priorities will help sustain that legacy while fostering inclusive economic growth. I urge the City Council to fully support these initiatives and ensure their successful implementation for the betterment of our city and its residents.

Thank you for your dedication to making San José a more prosperous and livable city.

Sincerely,

Paul Pham

Owner, Rong Bien
Member of Story Rd. Business Association

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FW: Agenda Item 3.3 - Mayor's Budget Message Hearing
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:42 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Thomas Medzius <
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 12:20 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Agenda Item 3.3 - Mayor's Budget Message Hearing

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important Hello San Jose Public Clerk,

I am a San Jose local who has lived in the area for 4 years. My mother and uncle were raised in Santa Clara and my grandparents, Tom & Mary Garry, have been residents of San Jose for over 10 years.

Before moving to San Jose they had lived in Santa Clara for about 50 years. We all have been big supporters of the public libraries in the south bay, including SJPL. We've been proud to live in an area with such a plentiful amount of libraries, each of which has always been staffed by wonderful people and well-maintained inside and out. We hope that in these times of budget cuts and political uncertainty the city will continue to sufficiently support SJPL and the helpful public programs and resources they provide.

Thank you for your time to read this statement in support of the city's public libraries.

Best wishes,

Thomas Patrick Medzius
Collector, Trader, and Caregiver
Cell:

Primary Email:

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Transportation - Mayor's MBM - Item 3.3 - Council 3/18
From Jordan Moldow <
Date Tue 3/18/2025 12:49 AM
To City Clerk <[email protected]>; Agendadesk <[email protected]> Cc [email protected] <[email protected]>; Ristow, John <[email protected]>

On behalf of myself, here are some comments on transportation issues, with regards to the Mayor's MBM:

Regarding automated speed safety cameras, Vision Zero, and federal grants:

Last year's Budget Message directed the City Manager to deploy automated speed safety cameras.

This year, four months before final deployment, our federal SS4A grant for this project was frozen.

Many of our other Vision Zero grants will be at risk (both direct federal grants, and regional/state grants that are themselves backed by federal programs), because our transportation programs hold values that the new federal administration is trying to repress. This is a fiscal impact that MUST be accounted for. We must hold true to our values and not back down. But we also must replace the lost funding or else find ways to achieve our goals with vastly less money and much more efficiency.

There
should be MBA(s) on the specific topic(s) of identifying funding for transportation projects, and identifying cost savings in transportation projects through increased efficiencies.

Regarding "Stitching Districts" on page 23:

This is an amazing idea. The construction of Highway 87 and other freeways through thriving city centers and neighborhoods did irreparable harm to the Italian American and other immigrant communities. The imposing Highway 87, and the busy interchange on W Julian, continue to keep Little Italy isolated from downtown (and, I suspect, make its economic survival ironically car-dependent). We owe it to that community to better connect Little Italy and downtown for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders. I am interested in hearing more details, and providing feedback, for this initiative. And I urge that we implement Stitching Districts via a permanent investment in the infrastructure, not something that only exists temporarily for certain days/events.

Regarding 2026 sports events:

According to VTA: "The Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC) and FIFA have stipulated to our VTA General Manager that they plan to steer guests toward public transportation to promote a ‘car-less’ series of events." This is not something VTA can do alone: San Jose must play its part in accelerating implementation of the Move San Jose plan (including the Transit-First Policy), the Better Bike Plan, and the Vision Zero Plan, so that our roadway network allows visitors to efficiently and safely explore our city via buses and bicycles. If we want international visitors to have a good time, spend time and 3/18/25, 11:41 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. money in our cities, and leave with a good impression of Santa Clara County, they must have a reliable way of getting around using public transportation.

Even if we have amazing cultural events prepared for our visitors, if they have no way of efficiently getting between locations, many of them may prefer to spend their time elsewhere. San Francisco, which got the majority of the economic benefit from the last Super Bowl, has a very frequent and complete transit system, and a bike share system that covers the entire city. International visitors might prefer to spend time in SF, where they can see the entire city efficiently in 1-2 days without a car, rather than spending time in the South Bay, where it can take hours to take buses between two locations.

We all want to bet on the city that we love, but spending scarce city funds on consultants, branding, and advertisements is an expensive bet with risky odds. These expenses and activities can be undertaken (with collaboration and cultural-activity support from the city) primarily by the business community who have these expertise and who will be providing the actual services that are being advertised. The city should focus its expenses and staff resources on activities that literally only it can do - such as investing in better roadway infrastructure for buses, bicycles, and pedestrians.

Infrastructure investments help visitors and residents alike, and will pay dividends for years/decades of use.

Regarding "Remedy City Parking Challenges" on page 24:

The City, and especially Downtown, is massively over-parked. In general, but especially in a tough budget year, the city should not spend staff time or monetary resources to expand ParkSJ or increase parking subsidies (in the form of 90-minute free parking, or otherwise). To the extent that staff time or monetary resources are used to facilitate more transportation into Downtown, those resources should be dedicated to continued implementation of the Transit-First Policy, the Move San Jose Plan, the Better Bike Plan, bringing more shared micromobility stock into San Jose, and massively expanding the number of BikeLink e-lockers at popular destinations.

Thanks,
Jordan Moldow (on behalf of myself)
Member of the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (for identification purposes only) District 3 (95112), Japantown

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FW: Mayor's March Budget
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 8:02 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Bethelhem Telahun <
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 8:00 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Mayor's March Budget

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important Hello,

I am a city employee and I have concerns about the mayor's proposal to require employees to come into the oﬃce four days a week. To preface this, I come in 5 days a week even though I am allowed to come only 3 days a week. I live close by and I prefer my set up in the oﬃce. But this isn't the case for everyone.

I recall when we ﬁrst returned to working in oﬃce during COVID in 2021. Employees were extremely upset because they felt they were brought back into the oﬃce too early. This was proven true when we ended up having another lockdown a few months later. We lost so many employees during that ﬁrst year back. Morale was so low.

Then we upped the number of days in oﬃce to three, which did not help.

Now things have stabilized and people have found a comfortable rhythm. The Mayor's proposal could jeopardize our teams again. We are already short staﬀed, employees have taken on work loads that should be would be too much for even 3 people. It's a very real possibility that pushing for another day back in oﬃce could push people to leave the City. Then, as the workloads become even more unbearable, even more people will leave.

I watched my department closely over the years, as team after team was gutted because the City is bad at retain employees. Being short staﬀed does signiﬁcant damage to our quality of customer service. San Jose residents and businesses can't get questions answered or pull permits in a timely manner.

Lastly, the Mayor's insinuation that employees who work from home are lacking in teamwork, communication, eﬃciency, and accountability further antagonizes the very hardworking people that keep the city running. It is insulting.

Thank you,
Bethelhem Telahun
Planner 2 - PBCE

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City Council 3/18/2025 - Item 3.3: Mayor's March Budget Message From San José Arts Advocates <
Date Tue 3/18/2025 8:02 AM
To San José Arts Advocates <
1 attachment (327 KB)
MBM FY26 SJAA Letter 250318.pdf;

Honorable Mayor and City Council,
Please find attached a letter from San José Arts Advocates and our creative community for your consideration related to Item 3.3 on your agenda for March 18, 2025, Approval of the Fiscal Year 2025- 2026 Mayor's March Budget Message.

Thank you as always for your service.

Regards,
San José Arts Advocates
cc:

City Manager
City Budget Director
Director, Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs Director of Cultural Affairs
San José Arts Commission
Web: sjartsadvocates.org
Social: @SanJoseArts
Newsletter: Sign up

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San José Arts Advocates
sjartsadvocates.org | | @SanJoseArts

March 18, 2025

Honorable Mayor and City Council,

For the past five years, San José Arts Advocates has fought to maintain, sustain, and improve the City’s investments in our creative economy. While we appreciate the level of financial support the City continues to provide, we are discouraged by the repeated failure of city leaders to explore viable proposals to increase revenue for arts and cultural programs. We also remain concerned by a lack of meaningful engagement with local artists, arts and cultural practitioners, and community-based arts organizations on key events and initiatives meant to drive awareness and appreciation of San José's diverse cultural assets and make San José a cleaner, safer, more vibrant city.

On behalf of advocates who live, work, play, and make art in San José, we respectfully offer the following comments on the Mayor's March Budget Message for FY 2025-2026, which you will consider as Item 3.3 at your meeting of March 18.

Exploring New Revenue Sources

Since the day we launched our grassroots collective in the Winter of 2020, just weeks before a global pandemic effectively shut down travel, tourism, and entertainment industries, SJAA has made it one of our key priorities to expand and increase City revenue sources to support San José's creative sector. It has been more than a year since a City Council study session on funding for “Arts, Destination Marketing, and Destination Events” (aka “ADD”), during which consultants for the Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs presented the council with a menu of 12 potential new revenue opportunities. To date, none of these opportunities have received serious consideration — aside from a reference to admissions fees in the Mayor’s March Budget Message for FY 2024-2025, which SJAA adamantly opposed.

We continue to call upon the City Council to adjust the distribution of Transient Occupancy Tax Fund (aka “TOT”) revenue to adequately reflect the reciprocal relationship between this revenue and the creative economy. Recognizing that the City is facing chronic General Fund deficits, and in the context of the Mayor’s call to “follow through on focus” and address top community concerns like unsheltered homelessness, SJAA encourages you to adopt Recommendation 11 from the previously referenced February 16, 2024, Study Session, which would set a baseline for the General Fund allocation of TOT revenue and apply any net new revenue to ADD. This minor adjustment would preserve current General Fund levels and protect core services like public safety, while simultaneously making a significant new investment in our arts, culture, and tourism industries.

sjartsadvocates.org | | @SanJoseArts
We agree with the Mayor that investments in our local economy generate tax revenue growth, and you could not ask for a better return on your investment in San José’s creative economy. According to analysis we have shared with all of you from Americans for the Arts and SVCREATES, San José’s nonprofit arts organizations alone create $292 million in annual economic impact, support 4,738 jobs, and generate an average of $67 of non-event spending for every time a visitor comes to San José to experience their programs. All of this is made possible by the City’s investment of just $4.15 million (FY25 Approved Budget) in the core cultural grants program, which provides sustaining funds for our nonprofit arts community.

Throughout the COVID pandemic and our continued economic recovery, the City Council has leveraged one-time funds to backfill shortfalls in the cultural grants program created by a sharp reduction in TOT revenue. Despite these investments and due to the persistently sluggish recovery of the TOT, the Office of Cultural Affairs has been forced to tap reserve funds to meet its grant obligations. In FY 2024-2025, the one-time allocation for cultural grants was $500,000. However, the Mayor’s FY 2025-2026 March Budget Message directs the City Manager to review all one-time funding from the previous year, which jeopardizes this investment.

In addition to our request to adjust the overall TOT funding allocation, we call on you to maintain the current level of one-time support for cultural grants programs ($500,000), which amounted to just 0.02% of $2.1 billion in General Fund revenues for FY 2024-2025.

Engaging with the Creative Community

One of SJAA’s key advocacy priorities for 2025 is centering arts and artists in our community. We are excited by the opportunity presented by major events coming to the San José metro area in 2026 to invest in what the Mayor calls our “Experience Economy,” in his words, “a dynamic sector – built around in-person, social experiences – (that) attracts residents to Downtown and other vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods to enjoy sports, entertainment, arts and cultural performances, dining, nightlife, and related activities.” As clearly identified by the Mayor and city staff, this is a chance to highlight and celebrate our diverse, innovative, and defining cultural identity through programs that are authentic to our community.

While the Mayor has used his March Budget Message to propose a number of initiatives centered on this opportunity, we are concerned by the lack of detail related to planning and community outreach, particularly with regard to the creative community. The City’s Sports and Special Events Director and Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs are already meeting with council offices, private entities, and other stakeholders to plan activities around upcoming major events. However, it is unclear whether there has been any outreach or engagement with San José artists and/or arts organizations as part of these efforts. For us, this is not an isolated concern, but one that persists with every missed opportunity for the City to leverage our expertise and genuine community partnerships in crafting programs that meet the goals you consistently espouse.

We call on the Mayor, City Council, and City Staff to proactively and meaningfully engage with local arts practitioners to put local artists and San José’s unique cultural diversity front and center during major destination events and work to extend this engagement into the future. Specifically, SJAA requests to be involved at the earliest stages of planning for these and other projects related to the “Experience Economy”:

sjartsadvocates.org | | @SanJoseArts
• Designing “a coherent brand and fan experience”;
• Downtown wayfinding installation;
• “Stitching Districts” along St. John Street;
• Upgrades to Guadalupe River Park and Plaza de Cesar Chavez; and • Addressing parking challenges in the SoFA District.

Additionally, while we are supportive of the Mayor’s interest in a “conceptual plan and next steps for the creation of a designated sports and entertainment district in the downtown area,” (p.23) we harbor a concern that the creative community has not and will not be meaningfully engaged from the earliest planning stages. We ask that you use your authority as the City’s elected leaders to ensure local artists and arts organizations have a “seat at the table” — literally and metaphorically — for any project that directly impacts their lives and livelihoods.

Setting a Tone of Collaboration

In light of the social and economic challenges posed to all San José residents by policy and rhetoric emanating from the current federal administration — and some leaders in our own community — the City’s budget should reflect a spirit of finding pathways to saying "Yes," as opposed to the most expedient excuses for saying "No." We believe the City will achieve better results in all the focus areas the Mayor has targeted if we embrace a culture of putting community — especially local creatives — first.

SJAA stands ready to work with you, city administration, and frontline staff to meet this moment and set this tone. We have the unique role of bringing spiritual as well as economic impact to our residents, and we ask the City to support us in playing this role to the best of our abilities, for the betterment of all San José.

With that in mind, we call on you to work with OEDCA staff to identify funding in FY 2025-2026 to initiate updates to the Cultural Connection Plan and Public Art Master Plan, including robust community engagement. Both of these plans are long out of date, and in the interim, our City lacks a cohesive vision for arts and culture. Furthermore, we call upon the City to engage with San José creatives to inform that vision with our unique insights and perspectives.

Thank you for your service and consideration.

Regards,
San José Arts Advocates

[See individual and organizational co-signers on next page]

cc:

City Manager
City Budget Director
Director, Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs Director of Cultural Affairs
San José Arts Commission

sjartsadvocates.org | | @SanJoseArts
We stand in solidarity with San José Arts Advocates in co-signing this letter. (Titles indicate organizational support)

Peter Allen, Board President, Teatro Visión & Arts Advocate Sadie Amick, Artist / Muralist / Musician / Firefighter / EMT Juan Carlos Araujo, Small Business Owner, Empire Seven Studios (Born & Raised in San Jose) Maria Basile, Artistic Director
Jonathan Borca, East San José Advocate / Performing Artist Jeromy Ceseña, Arts Advocate
Sarah Corneille, Executive Director, Bay Area Glass Institute Trami Cron, Chopsticks Alley Art
Lauren Doyle, Arts Advocate
Barbara Dutra, Board Member, Voices of Silicon Valley
Guadalupe Friaz, Artist, Yoga with Lupe
Carman Gaines, Deputy Director, Local Color
Hugo Garcia, Local Musician, Educator & Arts Advocate
Stacey Kellogg, San Jose Walls & Empire Seven Studios
Cathleen King, Executive Director, San Jose Stage Company Gordon Lee, Executive Director, Aimusic.us
James Leventhal, Executive Director, ICA San José
Kim Mesa, Board President, Alliance for Youth Achievement & Advocate Kristina Nakagawa, Executive Artistic Director, Vivace Youth Chorus of San José Meredith Orr, Arts Advocate
Robert Pesich, President, Poetry Center San José
Karen Altree Piemme, Executive Artistic Director, Red Ladder Theatre Company Donna Presson, Individual Artist
Amanda Rawson, Arts Advocate
Omar Rodriguez, Kooltura Marketing
Steven Rubalcaba, Individual Artist
Bill Schroh, President & CEO, History San José
Ariel Siner, Arts Advocate
Veronica Talton, Arts Educator & Consultant
Annalisa Tkacheff, Arts Leader & Advocate
Wisa Uemura, Executive Director, San José Taiko
Ann Watts, Starting Arts
Jacob Yoder-Schrock, Managing Director, Teatro Visión
Esther Young, Individual Artist

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FW: Public comment for agenda item 3.3
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 8:08 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Socorro Montaño <
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 8:00 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>; District5 <[email protected]> Subject: Public comment for agenda item 3.3

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important My name is Socorro, I am a Co-Director with Latinos United for a New America.

The mayor’s budget message attempts to consolidate power by overriding processes that are in place to ensure public awareness and input on policy items. It should not include policies that are unrelated to the budget.

Everyone deserves a safe place to live. The most eﬀective way to reduce homelessness is through housing, not criminalization.

When people “decline” shelter, it’s often because:

They would have to abandon pets or be separated from family.

Shelter conditions make it impossible to maintain employment.

The available options don’t meet their immediate needs including disability based accommodation needs.

The rules and regulations at shelters do not respect their autonomy to live freely.

We should not penalize people for declining shelter that fails to meet their basic needs. It is VIOLENT to turn people from the streets into jails. It is a misuse of funds and public trust.

Invest in deeply aﬀordable housing, a proven solution to homelessness. San Jose should work with the county and nonproﬁts to develop a more robust, compassionate, and eﬀective outreach approach that includes health providers, behavioral health specialists, substance abuse counselors, housing specialists, and outreach workers— crucially, those with lived experience of homelessness. The heart of the homelessness crisis is aﬀordable housing, and voters realized this when they passed Measure E. Pretending that shelter, interim housing, and incarceration are the solutions to homelessness is not only cruel, but incredibly short-sighted

Please invest in permanent solutions including deeply aﬀordable housing and immigration services.

en agradecimiento/gratefully,
Socorro Montaño (they/them, elle/ella)
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Co-Director, Coordinadore de organizadores/Co-Director, Organizing Coordinator numero de celular/cell number:
www.lunalatinosunidos.org

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FW: Memo Regarding Large Scale Shelters
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 8:20 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Aurelia Sanchez <
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 8:19 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Cc: District7 <[email protected]>; District2 <[email protected]>; District 10 <[email protected]>; District 6 <[email protected]>; District3 <[email protected]>; The Oﬃce of Mayor Matt Mahan <[email protected]>
Subject: Memo Regarding Large Scale Shelters

Good morning Honorable Mayor and Council members,

This morning I received an email from Irene Smith who is running for the District 3 Council position. She supports large scale unhoused sites because of the cost savings and supposedly services will be easier to reach people at these sites.

Unfortunately, the sites proposed were not named and I fear these large sites will be located in District 7 and District 3 which already is caring the burden of supportive and affordable housing. The loss of property taxes for schools, parks and traffic calming is huge while other districts thrive with market rate housing and owner-occupied housing and better parks and schools.

I am hoping that the Council members who signed on to the memo which I have copied on this email inform the public where they plan these sites and how will they control people living in these sites from wandering the neighborhood and how they plan to prevent more unhoused visiting these large sites and camping near them. My neighborhood has numerous affordable housing and supportive housing and the city and county refuse to develop policy protecting businesses and residents from all the RV's and vehicles that have people living them and the blight and crime associated with this type of living. I plan to attend today's council meeting and so please mention the location of where these large shelters will be located.

Aurelia Sanchez
District 3

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FW: City Council 3/18/25, item 3.3 comment
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 9:07 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Don Taylor <
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 9:02 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: City Council 3/18/25, item 3.3 comment

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important To: City Council
Re: City Council Budget Hearing, agenda item 3.3
As an agency rooted in serving those in need, especially those in poverty, we remain committed to a budget solution that balances prevention and long term solutions, framed by policies that reflect dignity, justice, and care for the most vulnerable in our community. We recognize the difficulty of developing a budget that balances many competing needs of poverty and homelessness.

Multiple interventions are critical to meet complex needs, and long term solutions should not be sacrificed for short term solutions. We support affordable housing for low-income and extremely low- income individuals, expansion of shelter capacity, and investment in critical prevention efforts such as rental assistance, mental health, and substance use services. This means addressing the immediate homelessness crisis and supporting the working poor—families who are barely able to afford skyrocketing rents and who risk displacement themselves. The Mayor's budget and responding Council memos both reference the importance of a collaborative approach —including the city, county, and nonprofits—is the solution.

Catholic Charities is committed to working alongside the Mayor and city leaders to develop and implement sustainable, effective solutions that prioritize housing, dignity, and justice, ensuring our response to homelessness reflects our shared values of compassion and the common good, while making sure no one is left behind.
--
Don Taylor, LCSW (he/him)
Chief Executive Oﬃcer
Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County
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This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. www.catholiccharitiesscc.org
Cutting Poverty -- Changing Lives for Good

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FW: Item 3.3 Mayor's March Budget Message
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 7:40 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Serena Alvarez <
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 7:12 PM
To: Mahan, Matt <[email protected]>; Kamei, Rosemary <[email protected]>; Campos, Pamela <[email protected]>; Salas, Carl <[email protected]>; Cohen, David <[email protected]>; Ortiz, Peter <[email protected]>; Mulcahy, Michael <[email protected]>; Doan, Bien <[email protected]>; Candelas, Domingo <[email protected]>; Foley, Pam <[email protected]>; Casey, George <[email protected]>; City Clerk <[email protected]> Cc: Maguire, Jennifer <[email protected]>; Wilcox, Leland <[email protected]> Subject: Item 3.3 Mayor's March Budget Message

Dear Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers,

I write to support the Mayor’s March Budget Message, particularly its commitment to focus, its Measure E allocation and its direction toward improved efficiency and coordination of costs with our County and system partners.

I appreciate the Mayor's direction to the City Manager on leveraging Medi-Cal reimbursements and I encourage Council and community leaders to support County leadership in welcoming shared interest and commitment by City leaders. Multiple memos and the letter of Judge Loftus include wise direction for joint learning and deliberation with the County and I applaud that path. It's time for joint learning about CalAIM (Medi-Cal reforms) and our County public health system (a Federally Qualified Health Center and second largest public system in CA). Joint exercises can improve coordinated service to our vulnerable neighbors, the intent of CalAIM, and promote greater unity in defending Medicaid for our local community at the federal level.

At the state level, Mayor Mahan and our County immediately endorsed Prop 35 which provides greater security for the necessary funding of Medi-Cal through the MCO tax. I soberly hope that expensive case management for complex behavioral health needs at City EIH sites may be mitigated by reimbursements through Enhanced Care Management and Community Support provider initiatives under CalAIM. I'm mindful that Behavioral Health Reimbursement has undergone reforms that have challenged providers, so learning is again encouraged across jurisdictions, including system partners. We need to confront Medi-Cal challenges together.

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In supporting this message, I urge City leaders be poised for mutuality with the County and system partners, to be responsive where the City's procedures and actions on these and other issues are in turn concerned.

Finally, I appreciate the productive tone and thoughtful substance of the three additional memoranda entered by Councilmembers and pray the Council adopts a motion that effects consensus +

Respectfully,
Serena Alvarez

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FW: Item 3.3 Mayor's March Budget Message
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 10:36 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Serena Alvarez <
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 9:19 AM
To: Mahan, Matt <[email protected]>; Kamei, Rosemary <[email protected]>; Campos, Pamela <[email protected]>; Salas, Carl <[email protected]>; Cohen, David <[email protected]>; Ortiz, Peter <[email protected]>; Mulcahy, Michael <[email protected]>; Doan, Bien <[email protected]>; Candelas, Domingo <[email protected]>; Foley, Pam <[email protected]>; Casey, George <[email protected]>; City Clerk <[email protected]> Cc: Maguire, Jennifer <[email protected]>; Wilcox, Leland <[email protected]> Subject: Item 3.3 Mayor's March Budget Message

Dear Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers,

I appreciate that last evening brought further memoranda demonstrating an effort toward consensus. I write to strongly support Vice Mayor Foley's Memorandum as it advances a consensus agreement that I encourage the Council to approve. I am grateful Mayor Mahan has entered a Supplemental Memorandum that recommends approval of his Message and also Vice Mayor Foley's Memo. Thank you all for your thoughtful efforts.

Lenten blessings to each of you +

Respectfully,
Serena Alvarez

On Monday, March 17, 2025 at 07:11:40 PM PDT, Serena Alvarez < wrote:

Dear Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers,

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Finally, I appreciate the productive tone and thoughtful substance of the three additional memoranda entered by Councilmembers and pray the Council adopts a motion that effects consensus +

Respectfully,
Serena Alvarez

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FW: Budget
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 10:36 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: J Shelton <
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 9:27 AM
To: District 6 <[email protected]>; City Clerk <[email protected]>; The Oﬃce of Mayor Matt Mahan <[email protected]>
Subject: Budget

Some people who received this message don't often get email from Learn why this is important As a District Six voter, I support the Mayor's budget.

Jennifer Shelton

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FW: Agenda Item 3.3
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 10:37 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Elizabeth Molina <
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 9:58 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Agenda Item 3.3

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important Dear Mayor and City Councilmembers,

My name is Elizabeth Molina with PPMM, I am a member of the nonproﬁt Race Equity Action Leadership (REAL) coalition, as well as a lifelong community member of San Jose. The mayor’s budget message attempts to consolidate power by overriding processes that are in place to ensure public awareness and input on policy items. It should not include policies that are unrelated to the budget. As mentioned in Councilmember Campos’ memo, the budget message has embedded 124 actions without connection to the budget.

Criminalizing homelessness is an ineﬀective and cruel approach that focus on punitive measures like ﬁnes, citations, and arrests, which fail to address the root causes of homelessness and instead push individuals further into poverty by creating barriers to jobs, healthcare, and housing. This approach disproportionately harms Black, Brown, and disabled communities, who are already overrepresented in the unhoused population due to systemic racism, housing discrimination, economic inequality, and a higher prevalence of disabilities, leading to exacerbated racial disparities in policing and incarceration. Ultimately, this type of policy prioritizes optics over providing real solutions such as housing, shelters, and support services, and instead targets marginalized communities, reinforcing cycles of poverty and suﬀering.

The real solution and most eﬀective way to reduce homelessness is through housing, not criminalization. San Jose must invest in:

Deeply aﬀordable housing for low-income and extremely low-income individuals.

Expanded shelter capacity to meet demand.

Support services that help individuals stabilize their lives and exit homelessness permanently.

San Jose should work with the county and nonproﬁts to develop a more robust, compassionate, and eﬀective outreach approach that includes health providers, behavioral health specialists, substance abuse counselors, housing specialists, and outreach workers—ideally those with lived experience of homelessness. The mayor’s message calls for more police while neglecting meaningful investment in alternative response and community-based violence prevention.

Thank you for your consideration.

Kindly,
Elizabeth Molina
Grassroots Organizer
She, Her, Hers
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DISCLAIMER: This message is conﬁdential, intended only for the named recipient(s) and may contain information that is privileged or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient(s), you are notiﬁed that the dissemination, distribution or copying of this information is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please notify the sender then delete this message.

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FW: Item 3.3 - 3/18/25
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 10:37 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
1 attachment (233 KB)
Mayor_Council Joint Letter March 2025 update.pdf;

From: Sarah Fields <
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 10:07 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Item 3.3 - 3/18/25

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important Good Morning,

Please see the attached updated letter with an additional signatory of Amigos de Guadalupe.

Thank you,
Sarah

On Tue, Mar 18, 2025 at 7:19 AM Sarah Fields < wrote:

Good Morning,

Please see the attached letter sent on behalf of Abode Services, the Bill Wilson Center, LifeMoves, and PATH.

Thank you,

Sarah Fields, MUP (she/her/hers) | Director, Community Engagement & Public Affairs Cell:

Office:

Email:

Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram
www.lifemoves.org

__________________________
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Conﬁdentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain conﬁdential and protected information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.

3/18/25, 11:49 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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Dear Mayor Mahan and Members of the San Jose City Council, We write to you as organizations providing a range of supportive services, shelter, and housing to individuals and families experiencing homelessness across our region and here in San Jose. From outreach to those unsheltered to permanent affordable housing placements, and the necessary services to accompany them, we understand and witness the progression from homelessness to stability regularly in our work.

We all want to see a San Jose with a range of housing options that respects and restores the health of all community members. As service providers, we agree that reducing and ultimately eliminating unsheltered homelessness is the right goal. However, the Mayor’s March Budget Message stated “...as beds come online, we must hold people accountable for accepting shelter when offered.” While this proposal is framed as advancing the goal of ending unsheltered homelessness, it does the opposite.

Capacity and Shared Humanity : We believe in the power of people to grow and change their lives and circumstances. Currently, the housing and shelter system not only lacks the total number of beds needed to serve all people in need, but also lacks the most suitable options. While we have seen some progress in this area, for example - more ADA units, specialized sites based on history or demographic needs, more is needed in matching an individual or a household with the right site to align circumstances and needs. Our staff partner with clients and residents every day to see this happen.

Criminalization and Punishment : Outreach is a process - multiple connections between an unhoused individual and skilled, trained professionals are necessary to build trust and rapport. For the majority of people experiencing homelessness, several systems have failed them and skepticism towards a service provider is a natural, logical response. The threat of arrest and jail for not accepting shelter does not advance this trust building, but harms it. Moreover, creating or increasing one’s incarceration record serves to limit future job and housing options, which can mean longer periods of homelessness.

Budget and Expense : As nonprofit organizations operating in this region, we understand financial pressures. Just as the pathways into homelessness are unique, so too, are the pathways out. A vast array of solutions from prevention to permanent supportive housing are needed, with attention towards connecting people with the best suited resources. High utilization rates are seen across all of our programs in this region under current circumstances and rising costs - particularly in construction and labor. It is unclear how this proposal will be implemented and actualized given current realities. Arrest, jail, fines, and court proceedings are all significant public expenses that do not advance people towards housing, stability, or independence.

A San Jose where all community members are housed and able to access necessary services, is a city we all want. Now is a time for collaboration between service providers, advocates, and all levels of government - particularly city, county, and state, as the Federal Government continues down an unpredictable path. We welcome the opportunity for data-driven approaches to further a San Jose for all.

Respectfully,
Vivian Wan Aubrey Merriman Jennifer Hark Dietz Joshua Selo Maritza Maldonado CEO CEO CEO CEO Founder &
Executive Director
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FW: Agenda item 3.3 Financial support for SJ Libraries
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 10:38 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Judith Schierling <
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 10:28 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Agenda item 3.3 Financial support for SJ Libraries

You don't often get email from Learn why this is important This email is a public comment for this evening's meeting addressing agenda item 3.3 - funding for San Jose's public libraries.

My earliest memories of growing up in San Jose were walking to the library with my family on Saturdays for the Children's Hour and reading in the library. We were a large family and the local library provided a world of possibilities and resources beyond what my parents could afford.

San Jose Public Libraries continue to enrich our lives. No matter which one I visit, I find them welcoming with helpful librarians, multiple resources, and an inclusive atmosphere. They continue to be the only source for literacy in many neighborhoods. Children on the Eastside only have the public libraries as a source for books and places to read or explore because their districts have closed school libraries due to budget constraints. Families have limited budgets and purchasing books is a struggle. Children must develop the love and habit of reading at a young age. How can they develop as lifelong readers without a public library? Literate citizens are the foundation of democracy. San Jose Public Libraries are on the front lines of the battle against ignorance, aliteracy( being able to read, but choosing not to read) and book banning. They are the lighthouse in each neighborhood, beckoning our communities to think and be informed. They are the guardians of civilization.

Please give them the money they need to continue their work.

Sincerely,
Judi Schierling
Retired public school teacher and reading specialist
"We only have this moment,
Sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowﬂake." -Francis Bacon

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FW: Item 3.3 - Mayor’s March Budget Message FY26
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 11:23 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Darcie Green <
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 11:00 AM
To: Kamei, Rosemary <[email protected]>; Cohen, David <[email protected]>; Ortiz, Peter <[email protected]>; Candelas, Domingo <[email protected]>; District2 <[email protected]>; District 10 <[email protected]> Cc: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Item 3.3 - Mayor’s March Budget Message FY26

Some people who received this message don't often get email from Learn why this is important Dear Honorable Councilmembers,
I am writing to strongly oppose the criminalization of unhoused individuals who decline shelter offers. This is a dangerous move that will worsen public health outcomes, waste taxpayer dollars, and erode the rights of our most vulnerable neighbors.

San Jose faces a humanitarian and public health crisis—not a criminal one. With over 5,500 unhoused people and only 2,900 shelter beds, this policy effectively punishes people for being poor in a system that is already failing them. Many unhoused residents decline shelter for valid reasons: shelters may be inaccessible to those with disabilities, unsafe for women and LGBTQ+ individuals, or require separation from pets and loved ones.

This proposal is harmful. It funnels people with mental health needs, trauma, and medical conditions into jails and courts, worsening their health and trapping them in cycles of poverty and incarceration. Black, Brown, and disabled communities will be disproportionately harmed.

Moreover, this is about more than homelessness—it’s about how power is being used in this city. When government criminalizes poverty under the guise of care, it echoes authoritarian patterns we’ve seen throughout history. The use of police and courts to control the most marginalized is not just ineffective; it is unjust and dangerous.

The real solution is housing and healthcare, not handcuffs. San Jose must invest in deeply affordable housing, shelter capacity that truly meets people’s needs, and robust health and mental health services rooted in dignity and compassion. 3/18/25, 11:50 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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I urge you to reject this harmful proposal and lead with a commitment to health, human rights, and justice.

Sincerely,

Darcie
San Jose Resident

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FW: 3/18/25 City Council Meeting Item 3.3 City Budget
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 11:41 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>

From: Benjamin Muniz <
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 11:34 AM
To: District5 <[email protected]>; City Clerk <[email protected]> Subject: 3/18/25 City Council Meeting Item 3.3 City Budget

Some people who received this message don't often get email from Learn why this is important
Statement for City Council Meeting – March 12, 2025

Good evening, Mayor Mahan, City Council members, and fellow community members. My name is Benjamin Muniz and I serve as a team supervisor for one of our county-contracted agencies that provides direct services to some of the most vulnerable individuals in our community. I am here today to voice my strong support for the budget proposals and homelessness initiatives being put forth by Mayor Mahan.

I have witnessed firsthand the immense challenges faced by those experiencing homelessness, particularly when attempting to access critical mental health and addiction services. In times of crisis, we often rely on outside agencies to intervene, and I can tell you from personal experience that securing a 5150 placement—simply getting someone indoors to receive the care they desperately need —can be nearly impossible in certain situations. Our current system is overburdened, inefficient, and often leaves those in crisis with nowhere to turn.

With over 4,000 individuals living in unmanaged and unsafe conditions throughout San José, this is not just a crisis—it is a humanitarian emergency. Residents consistently rank homelessness as their top concern, yet the City’s efforts to address it are seen as the lowest-performing service. Mayor Mahan’s 3/18/25, 11:50 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. budget proposal recognizes that we cannot solve this crisis alone. We need greater efficiency in our shelter system, expanded partnerships, and accountability at every level of government. Most importantly, we need to prioritize safe and managed placements so that when people are offered shelter, they have a viable option to say yes.

The proposed plan to double San José’s shelter capacity and establish a path toward “functional zero” is a step in the right direction. Achieving this goal will require significant investment—both financial and strategic—but it is an investment in the dignity, safety, and well-being of our entire community.

The data-driven approach outlined in this proposal, alongside collaborative efforts with the County and State, offers a realistic and achievable framework to address unsheltered homelessness at its root.

I urge this Council to move forward with these critical investments. As Proverbs 21:13 reminds us, “Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.” Let us not turn away from those in need. Let us act decisively, with compassion and urgency, to ensure that every person in our city has a safe place to be.

Thank you.

Minister of God, Servant to All

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FW: REAL Letter to City Council re Item 3.3, Mayor's March Budget Message From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 12:30 PM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
1 attachment (122 KB)
REAL Letter re Item 3.3, Mayor's March Budget Message.pdf;

From: Gianella Ordonez < >
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 12:26 PM
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]>; City Clerk <[email protected]>
Cc: Policy Team < Reed, Jim <[email protected]>; Fruen, Joseph <[email protected]>; Yamamoto, KiyomiH <[email protected]>; Arreola, Kiara <[email protected]>; Nguyen, Lam <[email protected]>; Moreno, Brisa <[email protected]>; Roth, Chris <[email protected]>; Fleming, Jonathan <[email protected]>; Adera, Teddy <[email protected]>; Gomez, David <[email protected]>; Hughes, Scott <[email protected]>; Wilcox, Leland <[email protected]>; Webmaster Manager <[email protected]>; Shannon, Jim <[email protected]>
Subject: REAL Letter to City Council re Item 3.3, Mayor's March Budget Message

Some people who received this message don't often get email from . Learn why this is important Dear Mayor Mahan, Vice Mayor Foley, Members of the City Council, City Manager Maguire, and Budget Director Shannon:

Please ﬁnd attached a letter from the members of the REAL Coalition regarding Item 3.3, the Mayor's March Budget Message. We look forward to your discussion on this item.

Thank you,
Gianella Ordoñez | Policy + Advocacy Associate
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Silicon Valley Council of Nonproﬁts
Phone: | Web: svcn.org| Twitter: @SVCN
Pronouns: she/her/hers

3/18/25, 1:01 PM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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March 18, 2025 Mayor & City Council, et. al City of San José 200 East Santa Clara Street, 18th Floor San José, CA 95113 Sent via electronic mail Re: Mayor Mahan’s Fiscal Year 2025-2026 March Budget Message, Item 3.3 Dear Mayor Mahan, Vice Mayor Foley, City Council, City Manager Maguire, and Budget Director

Shannon:

This letter is submitted by the Race Equity Action Leadership (REAL) coalition We write today with grave concern about a budget message that strays far afield from the

budget,

undermines

long-term

sustainable

solutions

our

housing

crisis,

and

seeks

return

failed

era

over-policing

unhoused

and

low-income

residents.

We urge the council to: ● Reject the proposals to further criminalize unhoused residents. ● Stick with the City’s “all of the above” strategy to combat homelessness. ● Start work immediately to rally popular support to pass a revenue measure in 2026

pay

for

“all

the

above”

strategy.
● Follow the City’s equity standards ordinance and subject the budget message and all

budget

decisions

thorough

equity

analysis.
● Remove any significant proposed policy outlined in the budget message that is not

budget

item

and

redirect

them

through

standard

council

channels

consider

new

initiatives

and

conduct

community

engagement.
● Make targeted, strategic investments in violence prevention and alternative response

for

community

safety:
○ Follow through on the investment made in 2023 for a pilot program for non-police

response

interpersonal

violence.
○ Continue to fund TRUST, using Opioid Settlement Funds if necessary. ○ Direct staff to collaborate with the newly created County Office of Violence Prevention

expand

data

collection,

program

evaluation,

fundraising

and

program

offerings.

For your consideration we offer the following comments regarding the Mayor’s Fiscal Year

2025-2026

Budget

Message.

Letter from Members of the REAL Coalition re Item 3.3, Mayor’s March Message, March 18, 2025 Page 2 Housing and Homelessness We support the “Big Tent” Coalition letter. We oppose the Budget Message’s punitive approach

towards

our

unhoused

neighbors

and

the

about-face

retreat

from

our

goals

making

San

José

city

affordable

for

everyone.

Measure E was not passed to close a budget deficit, and if we continue to raid it to cover the

construction

and

operations

shelters,

will

only

make

the

shortfall

worse.

Every

dollar

spend

shelters

this

year

commits

further

spending

future

years,

currently

forecast

billion

every

four

years

full

build-out.

This

needs

stop.

Putting someone in the carceral system for being unhoused does not get someone housed;

fractures

trust

and

drives

them

deeper

into

poverty.

The

plan

arrest

people

who

refuse

shelter

being

put

forward

without

prior

community

engagement,

research,

staff

analysis,

and

input

from

experts

with

experience

and

data

the

experience

homelessness

and

those

who

are

unhoused.

This

proposal

not

the

kind

data-driven

approach

which

we’ve

heard

the

Mayor

call

for.

Additionally, we appreciate the directive to add “Building More Housing” as a new city focus

area.

agree

the

need

for

housing

all

income

levels.

Similarly,

appreciate

the

directive

explore

alternative

fundraising

strategies,

housing

revenue

bonds.

need

every

dollar

can

find.

need

think

big

and

start

work

now

rallying

popular

support

for

near-term

ballot

measure.

tentatively

support

concept

zoning

and

planning

changes

included

the

budget

message

but

need

details.

Community Safety It is disappointing to see a budget message drift away from innovation and experimentation

improve

community

safety

and

back

toward

policing-centric

vision

healthier

and

safer

communities.

In a memo that bangs the drum for more efficiency and streamlined services, the mayor continues

with

“more

more”

message

when

comes

policing.

can

reduce

response

times,

make

police

available

where

and

they

are

needed,

and

save

money

expand

alternative

response

and

violence

prevention

options.

1. Violence Prevention. a. The City and its partners are doing a lot of important work through the Youth

Empowerment

Alliance

and

Children

Youth

and

Families

Master

Plan

but

investments

here

are

not

deep

enough

and

not

coordinated

enough.

Letter from Members of the REAL Coalition re Item 3.3, Mayor’s March Message, March 18, 2025 Page 3
b. The County has created a new civilian Office of Violence Prevention. We have called for something similar to be created within the City. There is a great opportunity for the City to collaborate and make the most of small, additional and targeted investments to improve data collection and program evaluation, and get more support into critical neighborhoods. c. Despite a tough federal and funding environment, City staff should be directed to seek out available state and federal dollars to support this work.

2. Alternate Response
a. The City should continue to fund TRUST, deploying Opioid Settlement Funds as necessary.
b. Rather than relying only on the County, the City should look at adding its own clinician or otherwise qualified person to the 911 dispatch center. c. The City should follow through on the pilot program for non-police response for interpersonal/intimate partner violence. The research phase of this pilot is currently underway, and the next phase of planning should be funded. The City has to break away from overly stilted RFP practices and work with the community to design and launch the next phase.

Racial Equity
We appreciate the one-time funds appropriated to support immigrant residents.

However, the budget message otherwise lacks evidence of a racial equity analysis required by city ordinance passed in May 2024. This analysis should be included in the June memo, with specific language on how the analysis affects budget decisions.

In closing, The REAL Coalition continues to support resources for programs that advance racial equity including: moving forward key priorities of the Recovery Task Force, restarting promotora program piloting, and making permanent racial equity positions in city departments.

You can reach REAL by emailing .

Sincerely,
Darcie Green, Co-Chair
Vaughn Villaverde, Co-Chair
Kyra Kazantzis, Co-Convenor
Poncho Guevara, Co-Convenor

About the REAL Coalition

Letter from Members of the REAL Coalition re Item 3.3, Mayor’s March Message, March 18, 2025 Page 4 The REAL community of Silicon Valley based nonprofit leaders and allies has been meeting

since

June

2020

use

our

positional

power

advocate

for

racially-just

and

equitable

society;

establish

peer

network

leaders

committed

fighting

white

supremacy

and

systemic

racism

ourselves

and

our

institutions;

and

hold

each

other

accountable

the

promises

made

the

Nonprofit

Racial

Equity

Pledge.

The

REAL

coalition

broadly

representative

the

nonprofit

community

including

human

and

community

services,

behavioral

health

and

health,

arts

and

culture,

domestic

violence,

older

adults,

food

security,

education,

environmental,

farming,

legal,

disability

rights,

LGTBQ

rights,

ethnic,

immigrant

rights,

housing

and

homelessness,

criminal

justice

reform,

urban

planning,

and

intermediary

organizations,

and

others.

REAL

Coalition

currently

has

50 organizational

members,

numerous

individual

members,

and

number

affiliated

organizations

and

coalitions.

[External Email. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. Learn more] Outlook
FW: Mayor' March Budget Message for Fiscal Year 2025 - Responsibility to Shelter Support Letter From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 12:48 PM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
1 attachment (1 MB)
San Jose City Council -Mayor's March Budget Message - Responsibility to Shelter Support Letter 3-18-25.pdf;

From: Michael Van Every < >
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 12:36 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Cc: Bill Baron < >; Steve Wymer < >; Rocha, Vincent
<[email protected]>
Subject: Mayor' March Budget Message for Fiscal Year 2025 - Responsibility to Shelter Support Letter

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City Clerk:

Please distribute support letter for Mayor’s March Budget Message regarding “Responsibility to Shelter”.

Thank you,

MVE

Michael R. Van Every
President and Managing Partner
Republic Urban Properties LLC
www.republicfamiliyofcompanies.com

3/18/25, 1:02 PM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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FW: Letter from 50+ Organizations re Item 3.3, Mayor's March Budget Message From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 3/18/2025 2:59 PM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
1 attachment (138 KB)
Letter from 60 Orgs re Item 3.3, Mayor's March Budget Message.pdf.pdf;

From: Shannon Zhang < >
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 2:48 PM
To: Angel Aliano < >; 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]>; Reed, Jim <[email protected]>; Fruen, Joseph <[email protected]>; Arreola, Kiara <[email protected]>; Nguyen, Lam <[email protected]>; Moreno, Brisa <[email protected]>; Roth, Chris <[email protected]>; Fleming, Jonathan <[email protected]>; Adera, Teddy <[email protected]>; Reed, Jim <[email protected]>; Fruen, Joseph <[email protected]>; Arreola, Kiara <[email protected]>; Nguyen, Lam <[email protected]>; Moreno, Brisa <[email protected]>; Roth, Chris <[email protected]>; Fleming, Jonathan <[email protected]>; Adera, Teddy <[email protected]>; Hughes, Scott <[email protected]>; Hughes, Scott <[email protected]>
Cc: Kyra Kazantzis < >; Kylie Clark < >; Gianella Ordonez < >; City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: Letter from 50+ Organizations re Item 3.3, Mayor's March Budget Message

Please see a letter, with updated signatures, from 50+ organizations regarding Item 3.3, the Mayor's March Budget Message. We look forward to your discussion on this item.

Thank you,
3/18/25, 3:42 PM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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Shannon Zhang| Nonproﬁt Policy + Advocacy Fellow
Silicon Valley Council of Nonproﬁts
Phone: | Web: svcn.org| Twitter: @SVCN
Pronouns: she/her/hers

From: Angel Aliano < >
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 4:23 PM
To: [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]>; Arjun Batra <[email protected]>; Reed, Jim <[email protected]>; [email protected]; Arreola, Kiara <[email protected]>; Nguyen, Lam <[email protected]>; Moreno, Brisa <[email protected]>; [email protected]; Fleming, Jonathan <[email protected]>; Adera, Teddy <[email protected]>; Reed, Jim <[email protected]>; [email protected]; Arreola, Kiara <[email protected]>; Nguyen, Lam <[email protected]>; Moreno, Brisa <[email protected]>; [email protected]; Fleming, Jonathan <[email protected]>; Adera, Teddy <[email protected]>; Hughes, Scott <[email protected]>; Hughes, Scott <[email protected]> Cc: Kyra Kazantzis < >; Kylie Clark < >; Shannon Zhang < >; Gianella Ordonez < >; City Clerk <[email protected]> Subject: Letter from 49 Organizations re Item 3.3, Mayor's March Budget Message

Dear Mayor Mahan, Vice Mayor Foley, Members of the City Council, City Manager Maguire, and Budget Director Shannon:

Please see a letter from 49 organizations regarding Item 3.3, the Mayor's March Budget Message. We look forward to your discussion on this item.

Thank you,
Ángel Aliano | Policy + Advocacy Associate
Silicon Valley Council of Nonproﬁts
Web: svcn.org| Twitter: @SVCN
Pronouns: he/him/his

3/18/25, 3:42 PM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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3/18/25, 3:42 PM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
https://outlook.office365.com/mail/[email protected]/inbox/id/AAQkADUxOWI4ZjE3LTRkNDEtNGUzMS04MjAwLTIzNzdiYTdkMjc5NAAQA… 3/3 Letter from 60 Organizations re Item 3.3, Mayor’s Budget Message, March 18, 2025 March 17, 2025 Mayor & City Council, et. al City of San José 200 East Santa Clara Street, 18th Floor San José, CA 95113 Sent via electronic mail Re: Item 3.3, Mayor’s Budget Message, March 18, 2025 Dear Mayor Mahan, Vice Mayor Foley, Members of the City Council, City Manager Maguire,

and

Budget

Director

Shannon:

This

letter

being

submitted

60 organizations,

representing

many

thousands

community

members,

constituents,

clients,

participants,

and

neighborhood

leaders.

Please

consider

our

comments

regarding

the

Mayor’s

Fiscal

Year

2026

Budget

Message.

The

Mayor‘s

budget

plan

creates

debt

that

plans

pay

with

fool’s

gold.

doing

so,

the

message

disregards

our

community’s

need

for

affordable

housing,

criminalizes

homelessness,

and

circumvents

the

will

the

voters

drastically

shifting

Measure

funds

from

their

original

intent.

Affordable

Housing

The

Mayor’s

March

Budget

Message

ignores

the

dire

need

for

affordable

housing

San

José

–

one

the

community’s

top

priorities.

Fifty-one

percent

households

the

City

are

rent

burdened,

and

these

numbers

are

higher

for

Black

and

Latinx

community

members.

Were

these

individuals

not

rent

burdened,

they

would

have

average

additional

$8,500

per

household

spend

other

needs

and

contribute

the

local

economy.

This

income-to-rent

ratio

leaves

individuals

one

missed

paycheck,

car

payment,

health

emergency

away

from

homelessness.

Affordable

housing

essential

for

community

thrive

–

improves

health

outcomes,

allows

individuals

live

where

they

work,

improves

children’s

education,

stimulates

the

economy,

and

provides

stronger,

diverse

1 Letter from 60 Organizations re Item 3.3, Mayor’s Budget Message, March 18, 2025 community. Furthermore, we know that a lack of affordable housing is the primary

factor

driving

our

homelessness

crisis.

The

absence

commitment

and

investment

affordable

housing

demonstrated

this

budget

message

should

very

concerning

everyone

San

José.

Measure

that

note,

the

permanent

shift

Measure

funding

particularly

distressing.

Measure

our

most

significant

source

affordable

housing

funding,

and

diverting

funds

only

sets

further

behind

need

are

already

failing

address.

cannot

afford

undermine

the

City’s

only

reliable

source

for

funding

new

affordable

housing

throwing

bandaids

gaping

wounds.

While

need

balance

permanent

housing,

temporary

shelters,

and

prevention,

this

does

not

change

the

fact

that

temporary

measures

are

not

permanent

solutions.

lack

affordable

housing,

and

the

only

true

solution

invest

it.

San

José’s

voters

already

chose

invest

these

solutions

when

they

passed

Measure

and

divert

these

funds

once

again

subvert

their

will.

None

this

say

that

not

need

investments

prevention

and

temporary

shelter,

particularly

for

vulnerable

community

members.

However,

unconscionable

shift

the

vast

majority

these

funds

without

any

concrete

plans

for

keeping

the

pipeline

flowing

now

and

how

will

reinvest

this

priority

future

budgets.

The

continued,

misleading

rhetoric

about

the

costs

building

affordable

housing

doesn’t

instill

confidence

that

the

City

intends

return

this

priority.

Utilities

and

Workforce

Housing

are

also

concerned

that

the

budget

message

proposes

additional

policies

that

will

exacerbate

our

housing

affordability

challenge.

The

direction

create

guidelines

allowing

property

owners

charge

utilities

proportionally

master-metered

properties

cites

concerns

regarding

conservation

and

costs

for

property

owners,

with

regard

cost

for

tenants.

This

policy

that

would

have

direct

negative

impacts

already

struggling

renters.

For

those

who

are

rent

burdened,

even

small

addition

monthly

costs

can

tip

the

scale

too

far

and

send

them

into

homelessness.

These

are

the

individuals

should

prioritizing

–

not

corporations

landlords

–

and

they

comprise

than

50%

the

City’s

2 Letter from 60 Organizations re Item 3.3, Mayor’s Budget Message, March 18, 2025 households.

The

Mayor’s

budget

message

has

plan

address

the

housing

needs

San

José’s

residents

earning

less

than

60%

the

area

median

income,

unless

they

are

currently

homeless

and

living

unsheltered.

San

José

has

than

140,000

households

–

almost

420,000

people

and

43%

San

Jose’s

residents

–

with

low,

very

low,

extremely

low

incomes.

These

are

people

our

communities,

and

our

economy,

depend

on.

These

are

our

teachers,

our

childcare

workers,

our

grandparents

living

fixed

income,

our

medical

assistants,

and

people

working

grocery

and

retail

stores

and

many

small

businesses.

family

four

would

need

work

least

3 full-time

minimum

wage

jobs

reach

60%

the

area

median

income

and

qualify

for

the

kind

housing

the

Mayor

suggests

should

our

focus.

How

was

the

decision

made

walk

away

from

these

families

and

individuals?

Criminalization

Homelessness

This

budget

message

proposes

punishing

our

unhoused

neighbors

for

rejecting

shelter

conditions

that

the

policy's

creators

would

unwilling

live

themselves.

This

cavalier

criminalization

proposal,

coupled

with

diversion

funds

from

permanent

housing

that

safe,

accessible,

and

affordable,

deeply

troubling

and

ironic.

There

are

numerous

well-known

and

compelling

reasons

why

some

people

may

refuse

temporary

shelter,

especially

congregate

shelter.

Homelessness

–

and

always

has

been

and

will

–

housing

problem.

matter

how

one

frames

politically,

the

end,

will

always

come

down

supply

and

demand.

there

are

not

enough

units

for

people

live

in,

there

will

people

living

outside.

despicable

arrest

those

who

are

the

victims

our

inability,

or,

this

case,

unwillingness,

solve

our

housing

crisis.

even

inhumane

create

policing

regime

based

extremely

slender

evidence

the

magnitude

refusals

shelter

and

time

when

there

are

nowhere

the

number

temporary

units

for

people

move

into.

well-established

that

arresting,

incarcerating,

and

cycling

unhoused

people

through

jails

and

courts

costs

significantly

than

providing

housing.

Incarceration

worsens

barriers

housing

and

employment,

making

less

likely

that

people

will

eventually

make

into

home.

also

increases

trauma

and

3 Letter from 60 Organizations re Item 3.3, Mayor’s Budget Message, March 18, 2025 instability, disrupting social safety nets, connections to services, and healthcare.

Arresting people experiencing homelessness disproportionately negatively affects Black and Brown communities and people with disabilities, who are overrepresented in the homeless population. For all these reasons, the proposal is inhumane and wrong.

The Alternative

We are asking that you reject these short-sighted proposals and instead take evidence-based and meaningful steps to address our housing affordability crisis.

This means maintaining affordable housing investments by preserving some level of investment in Measure E, refusing to criminalize our unhoused community members, and firmly rejecting zombie policies such as RUBS that would exacerbate our housing affordability challenge.

We who have signed this letter know – through our experience providing services, protecting our community, and collaborating with the City Council – that the solutions outlined in this budget message are smoke and mirrors that will not lead to substantial improvements in the lives of San José’s residents. We envision and believe in a thriving community, where everybody has a home, people live near their jobs, and individuals have money to invest in the economy because their rent is a reasonable portion of their income. We ask that you also believe in this vision for San José and hope you will work with us to achieve it.

We appreciate the memorandum from Councilmembers Candelas and Cohen and agree that weighty policy items such as RUBS should, at minimum, go through regular policy development channels that include community engagement, staff level research, and mapping of historic Council decisions; they should also be subjected to priority-setting/red-green-light recommendations by staff at Rules.

And, as always, we agree that the City and County should improve collaboration and together deepen investment, in a coordinated fashion, in the solutions that actually work and don’t further harm traumatized people.

Lastly, we support the letters from Destination: Home and SV@Home.

Please consider this letter signed by 60 organizations as you decide what action to take on March 18. You can reach us by emailing .

4 Letter from 60 Organizations re Item 3.3, Mayor’s Budget Message, March 18, 2025

SIGNATORIES

Milan Balinton African American Community Service Agency Almaz Negash African Diaspora Network Sheri Burns Aging Services Collaborative of Santa Clara County Jeremy Barousse Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice and Empowerment Vaughn Villaverde Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) Richard Konda Asian Law Alliance Elisa Koff-Ginsborg Behavioral Health Contractors' Association (BHCA) Josh Selo Bill Wilson Center Jahmal Williams Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet Marsha Hovey CADRE Shelley Swan Carry the Vision Dolores Alvarado Community Health Partnership Erin O’Brien Community Solutions Jocelyn Arenas Joe Mora Alexander Senegal Destination: Home / LEABsv David Low Destination: Home Eugene Torres Family Supportive Housing Kristopher Scott Fresh Lifelines for Youth Isela Reyes Green Bean Collective Silicon Valley Gail Osmer Hands 4Helping Wesley Saver HealthRIGHT 360 Kiana Simmons HERO Tent 5 Letter from 60 Organizations re Item 3.3, Mayor’s Budget Message, March 18, 2025 Gia Pham Housing Choices Teresa Gomez Indian Health Center Of Santa Clara Valley Nathalie Carvajal Latina Coalition Darcie Green Latinas Contra Cancer Alison Brunner Tristia Bauman Law Foundation of Silicon Valley Rose Barajas Olivia Cane Elizabeth Colorado Beverly Estacio Amanda Hampton Ashley Rohzen LEABsv Angelica Cortez LEAD Filipino Gabriel Manrique LUNA Anjee Helstrup-Alvarez MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana David Mineta Momentum for Health Héctor Sánchez-Flores National Compadres Network Lori Katcher Neighborhood Hands Colsaria Henderson Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence Sydney Pon North East Medical Services Eva M Terrazas Pacific Clinics Maria Daane Parents Helping Parents Heather Cleary Peninsula Family Service Carole Conn Project Sentinel Poncho Guevara Sacred Heart Community Service Michael Dao San José State University Human Rights Institute Wisa Uemura San Jose Taiko 6 Letter from 60 Organizations re Item 3.3, Mayor’s Budget Message, March 18, 2025 Carlos Rosario Santa Clara County Black Lawyers Association Esther Young School of Arts and Culture at MHP David Padilla SEIU 521 Andrew Siegler Showing Up for Racial Justice Santa Clara County Gabriel Hernandez ¡Sí Se Puede! Collective Kyra Kazantzis Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits Raj Jayadev Silicon Valley De-Bug Sheri Burns Silicon Valley Independent Living Center Carmen Torres Juritzi Torres Mendoza SIREN Victor Vasquez SOMOS Mayfair Sandy Perry South Bay Community Land Trust David Cox South County Community Services Marie Bernard Sunnyvale Community Services Yvonne Maxwell Ujima Jess Hudson United Way Bay Area Shawn Gerth Veggielution Cassandra Magana Sujatha Venkatraman West Valley Community Services Adriana Caldera YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley 7 • Outlook
FW: 3/18/25 City Council Meeting Item 3.3 City Budget
From: Mark Shelton
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 6:42 PM
To: Districtl <[email protected]>; District2 <[email protected]>; District3 <[email protected]>; District4 <[email protected]>; Districts <[email protected]>; District 6 <[email protected]>; District? <[email protected]>; Districts <[email protected]>; District9 <[email protected]>; District 10 <[email protected]>; The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan <[email protected]>; City Clerk <[email protected]>; Srouji, Myrna <[email protected]> Subject: 3/18/25 City Council Meeting Item 3.3 City Budget [External Email. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. Learn morel Some people who received this message don't often get email from Hello,
I attended the first two hours of the city council meeting today, and unfortunately had to leave early before I could get a chance to speak. I fully support Matt Mahan's budget proposal and focus on blight. My wife and I moved to district one nearly 15 years ago and our plan back then was to be carpetbaggers; work hard, save money, and move to a "nicer" city.

This city attracts a lot of carpetbaggers and we tend to be less engaged in local politics, yet we pay a lot of taxes and generate commerce.

About five year ago our plans changed when we came to realize how special San Jose is. Matt's commitment to addressing the blight has been refreshing. Matt has brought homelessness to the forefront in a way that a tech worker can understand; using data and metrics. Blight is a self esteem killer and those most at risk are the ones less fortunate economically. I've worked in factories all over the world and with the best companies in Silicon Valley. They will all tell you that culture and having a sense of identity and self esteem matter. For years, San Jose has been the place to come work, make your money, and exit. Man Jose is how we referred to the city. Now it's starting to become a destination and place to put down roots. Matt's energy and focus on blight has been particularly encouraging and that's why we fully support his budget plan.

Best Regards,
Mark Shelton
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San Jose City CouncilMarch 18, 2025

San Jose City Council
March 18, 2025