Reference 1 Phone
Reference 2 Name
Michelle Shanelec
Reference 2 Address
N/A
Reference 2 Email address
Reference 2 Phone
Supplemental Questions
Please list your community involvement, including jobs and volunteer work.
I've volunteered with the Mount Pleasant Elementary School District as an assistant teacher/reading tutor for multiple summers, totaling around 175 hours. I've also volunteered with San Jose Parks Recreation and Neighborhood Services, for a total of around 100 hours.
Though less consistently, I've also volunteered with organizations like JDRF and the Second Harvest Food Bank, and have helped organize the Cougar Pantry food bank at Evergreen Valley High School. I've received a Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Award for my volunteer efforts. I've also been involved with the SEIU local 521 chapter and the East Side Teacher's Association, and I've supported both unionization efforts and protests for teachers' wages.
In one paragraph, please explain your community interests.
My community interests mostly relate to the queer and working community within San Jose, as I have close ties to labor organizations and support social programs for the underprivileged, and am queer myself. As a young person I also have an interest in issues that affect youth in San Jose. As the child of immigrants I also staunchly support our immigrant community.
Question applies to Youth Commission
What do you feel are some of the problems facing the youth of San Jose? I think that a lot of San Jose youth are facing a lack of opportunity and connection bordering on a crisis. Many young people in San Jose have bleak or dim job prospects and have a hard time connecting with others because of a combination of physical and digital infrastructural problems. These factors, I feel, feed into a culture of pessimism and burnout that is leading to a major crisis of mental health. Additionally, rising STI rates and a spreading crisis of substance abuse have emerged as coping mechanisms with the above problems, in my opinion. I feel that the youth of San Jose need to feel like a part of a greater community and to have a feeling of belonging and agency.
Micah Chung
Please list three issues facing the City that you feel the Council should address.
1. I feel like the homelessness and cost of living crisis in the city can be addressed through a strong and robust network of public housing, similar to the New York housing model. I believe that if the City was to work with the County to establish a similar system that could create public apartment complexes available to the public at lower costs, while still being safe and of adequate living conditions, our cost of living crisis would begin to abate. 2. STI rates are climbing, and I feel the City can do more to provide contraceptives in public buildings and also to encourage the use of contraceptives to help stem the tide. Although this crisis is relatively minor compared to other crises that the city is faced with, I believe that a decade from now it will potentially have worsened dramatically. 3. I believe that flagging public infrastructure is a core problem in the City's urban design that has resulted in many lower- income residents becoming dependent on cars or, alternatively, being provided lower standards of transportation. I feel that the City should invest in renovating roads and intersections with the goal of becoming more pedestrian-friendly, and expanding transport lines for buses and perhaps even using tram systems.
Describe recent San José arts activities you have participated in during the last twelve months (up to five activities) and what drew you to attend? I attended a performance of the play Emma, based on the Jane Austen novel, and a matinee concert of The Snowman(1982) where the full score was played by a live orchestra. I also attended multiple other orchestra concerts, with Halloween and spring themes.
Describe the ways in which you believe the arts bring value to the general community, and what role should the City of an Jose have in arts and cultural development.
I believe that art's main role is functioning as a form of storage for our emotional experiences and our own unique backgrounds and perspectives. I view art as one of the most important things in life, because art can help guide us to stronger forms of human connection. To that end, I think the City of San Jose should do its best to preserve and encourage art, both on a public and private level, to help develop the unique sense of culture that has developed in the Bay Area.
Should the City of San José have an active role in arts and cultural development? If so, in what ways and why?
I absolutely believe the City of San Jose should have an active role in cultural development. I think that encouraging more public art and murals would be a great way to do so, particularly in urban corridors and public buildings. I also think that city patronage, or at least endorsement, of public music events and even other forms of art like plays and busking would be beneficial to the community as a whole. On multiple levels I feel that it can help create a unique sense of place and a form of cultural attachment to San Jose, similar to cities like New Orleans or San Francisco, which San Jose lacks in comparison. I also believe that these forms of public art can help foster local economic activity and attachment to local areas, and form as creative outlets for people who otherwise may not have the means to pursue art.
How can you contribute to advising City Council on policy and programs related to cultural development in San José?
Micah Chung