describes as a "full onsite operations model with dedicated reservation and programming, concessions, and maintenance staff" to a facility where reservations are managed through the Citywide Sports Program field reservation system and maintenance is incorporated into a park maintenance district.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks.
Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups.
Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs. Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management. What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone. Thank you for your time and public service.
A Concerned Arcadia Supporter
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. $4.7 million. Nearly 80% of attendees discovered a local business they hadn't visited before, and 78.5% planned to spend money along the route that day. That kind of neighborhood activation is genuinely hard to replicate through other means.
The community numbers are just as striking. 93% of participants said the event increased their sense of belonging in San Jose. 84% said they talked to someone they otherwise wouldn't have. These aren't abstractions. This is a program that makes people feel like they live somewhere worth caring about.
Viva Parks matters for a different reason. It was designed specifically for neighborhoods with the fewest resources, using the Healthy Place Index to target where free wellness programming is needed most. Cutting 25 events doesn't distribute the loss evenly. It falls hardest on people who don't have alternatives.
There's also a cost-of-living dimension worth naming directly. San Jose sits inside one of the wealthiest metro areas in the world, and yet a large share of its residents are priced out of most of what that implies. Going out as a family costs money a lot of households don't have. Viva Calle is one of the only large, free events where kids can move around safely and families can spend a full day together without spending anything. That gap between what Silicon Valley projects and what many San Jose families can actually afford is exactly why this program matters.
The total savings from these cuts is $301,984. In the context of a $1.72 billion General Fund, that is less than two hundredths of one percent. I'd respectfully ask whether that tradeoff is worth it.
Please protect full funding for Viva CalleSJ at three annual events and Viva Parks at 75 events.
Thank you for your time.
Tony Martinico
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Ann Recktenwald, District 5 Resident
"Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is." Francis Bacon
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I'm writing as a San Jose resident to ask you to oppose the proposed cuts to Viva CalleSJ and Viva Parks in the FY 2026-27 budget. The proposal, listed as Item 13 in the Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department budget, would reduce Viva CalleSJ from three annual events to two and cut Viva Parks from 75 events down to 50.
I understand this budget cycle is difficult. But I'd ask you to consider what these programs actually do before reducing them.
The September 2025 Viva CalleSJ drew over 150,000 people. A study by the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State found the economic impact of that single event was $4.7 million. Nearly 80% of attendees discovered a local business they hadn't visited before, and 78.5% planned to spend money along the route that day. That kind of neighborhood activation is genuinely hard to replicate through other means.
The community numbers are just as striking. 93% of participants said the event increased their sense of belonging in San Jose. 84% said they talked to someone they otherwise wouldn't have. These aren't abstractions. This is a program that makes people feel like they live somewhere worth caring about.
Viva Parks matters for a different reason. It was designed specifically for neighborhoods with the fewest resources, using the Healthy Place Index to target where free wellness programming is needed most. Cutting 25 events doesn't distribute the loss evenly. It falls hardest on people who don't have alternatives.
There's also a cost-of-living dimension worth naming directly. San Jose sits inside one of the wealthiest metro areas in the world, and yet a large share of its residents are priced out of most of what that implies. Going out as a family costs money a lot of households don't have. Viva Calle is one of the only large, free events where kids can move around safely and families can spend a full day together without spending anything. That gap between what Silicon Valley projects and what many San Jose families can actually afford is exactly why this program matters.
The total savings from these cuts is $301,984. In the context of a $1.72 billion General Fund, that is less than two hundredths of one percent. I'd respectfully ask whether that tradeoff is worth it.
Please protect full funding for Viva CalleSJ at three annual events and Viva Parks at 75 events.
Thank you for your time.
A Concerned San Jose Resident
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks.
Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups.
Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs. Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management. What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone. Thank you for your time and public service.
A Concerned Arcadia Supporter
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Regards
Shauny Moore
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. of these groups in meaningful ways. Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today. City- managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city- managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks. Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season. Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise. Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs. Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access. Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system. Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management. What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone. Thank you for your time and public service. A Concerned Arcadia Supporter
describes as a "full onsite operations model with dedicated reservation and programming, concessions, and maintenance staff" to a facility where reservations are managed through the Citywide Sports Program field reservation system and maintenance is incorporated into a park maintenance district.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks.
Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs.
Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management.
What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone. Thank you for your time and public service.
A Concerned Arcadia Supporter
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
I believe it's important in this times that the City of San Jose work to preserve and protect our historic records, AND to give the public access to this information. The California Room
is a valuable resource to all family history and genealogy researchers across the county, including myself. While I am not a San Jose resident, this resource is valuable for my research projects and use.
I ask you to protect the California Room, preserve public access to our shared history, and demonstrate that San José values its cultural heritage and civic memory.
Sincerely,
Ann Hepenstal
resident of Los Altos
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
I ask you to protect the California Room, preserve public access to our shared history, and demonstrate that San José values its cultural heritage and civic memory.
Sincerely,
Daniel R. Earl
(District 8)
--
Daniel Earl
o.6% of the overall City Library budget would be a devastating and short-sighted decision, especially as San José prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2027. I ask you to protect the California Room, preserve public access to our shared history, and demonstrate that San José values its cultural heritage and civic memory.
Sincerely from a long time user of the California Room, Mary Knoth
District 2
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
The proposal (Parks Maintenance Redistricting, Citywide Sports Programming, and Lease Management) in the FY27 Proposed Budget would transition Arcadia from what the City itself describes as a "full onsite operations model with dedicated reservation and programming, concessions, and maintenance staff" to a facility where reservations are managed through the Citywide Sports Program field reservation system and maintenance is incorporated into a park maintenance district.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks.
Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs.
Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks. Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs. Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management. What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone. Thank you for your time and public service.
Jim Callan, a concerned Arcadia supporter
The proposal (Parks Maintenance Redistricting, Citywide Sports Programming, and Lease Management) in the FY27 Proposed Budget would transition Arcadia from what the City itself describes as a "full onsite operations model with dedicated reservation and programming, concessions, and maintenance staff" to a facility where reservations are managed through the Citywide Sports Program field reservation system and maintenance is incorporated into a park maintenance district.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways. I personally play in one of the few and longest running women's leagues in the south bay and we love the home we have found at Arcadia! For so many of us the staff there have made it like a 2nd home to us be it league play or tournaments! Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks.
Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs.
Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management.
What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone.
Thank you for your time and public service.
A Concerned Arcadia Supporter
Marla Fields
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." Aristotle
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Thanks,
Kim Brown
SJ resident of 25+ years
Thank you,
-Pamela Storm
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. by thousands of students, educators, researchers, and community members every year.
Closing this invaluable public resource to save just o.6% of the overall City Library budget would be a devastating and short-sighted decision, especially as San José prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2027.
We ask you to protect the California Room,
PRESERVE PUBLIC ACCESS to our shared history,
and demonstrate that SAN JOSE VALUES ITS CULTURAL HERITAGE AND CIVIC MEMORY.
Thank you for your consideration,
Sincerely,
Pam and David Wilder
District 9
I also ask that the City Clerk include this message in the public comment record for the Neighborhood Services Budget Study Session.
The proposal (Parks Maintenance Redistricting, Citywide Sports Programming, and Lease Management) in the FY27 Proposed Budget would transition Arcadia from what the City itself describes as a "full onsite operations model with dedicated reservation and programming, concessions, and maintenance staff" to a facility where reservations are managed through the Citywide Sports Program field reservation system and maintenance is incorporated into a park maintenance district.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks.
Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs. Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management. What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone.
Thank you for your time and public service.
A Concerned Arcadia Supporter
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Sports Program field reservation system and maintenance is incorporated into a park maintenance district.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks.
Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs.
Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management.
What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone. Thank you for your time and public service.
Barry
of San Jose for 18 years, I can attest to the superiority of Arcadia fields over all other San Jose ball fields at our public parks. I attribute this difference to having a dedicated staff at Arcadia whose responsibility is to provide a well-maintained, central sports city facility that serves youth, adults, and seniors alike, at rates that participants from all income levels can afford. By web-based estimates, Arcadia typically serves 100+ teams over the Spring and Summer seasons which, at 15 players per team represents more than 1,500 players as well as parents and family members who support them.
Lest we forget, Arcadia was funded under the Measure P Bond Fund in 2000, and it was one of the last projects built from the fund only five years ago in 2021. The land was donated by Arcadia development company and receives funds from residential developers to ensure recreational space for new residents — this is not simply “City property” that imposes overhead on City services.
I came to San Jose in 1955 from Hawaii, and I am the product of San Jose elementary, middle school, and high school. Looking back on my time as a young baseball player, I can attest to the superiority of Arcadia over all public park and school fields that I played on. As a high school player at Pioneer High, the only better fields I played on were at a few colleges and the current San Jose Giants park — playing on Arcadia fields is vastly superior and safer than public park fields like Butcher, DeAnza, Starbird, Hamann, and Calaveras, all of which are fields my club also plays at.
We are a city of 1 million people. Compared to smaller cities like Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, and Pleasanton, our city parks are inferior. While I understand there are fiscal challenges, changing oversight from a dedicated staff at Arcadia to a city-wide management system stands to diminish the crown jewel of our city’s ball parks. . . centralization will come at the expense of focused staffing and attention currently given to maintenance of Arcadia.
I appeal to your sense as parents and for many of you, as individuals who played sports in San Jose. WE NEED A PARK THAT OUR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES CAN BE PROUD OF. I urge you to look for other ways than changes at Arcadia to meet San Jose’s budgetary goals. To do otherwise will come at the expense of our enjoyment and the pride we take in our city.
Sincerely,
Larry Kubo
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This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
As an avid genealogist and family history researcher, the staff and materials located in the California Room are essential to my work. Please continue the financial support to keep it open and easily accessible to the public.
Sincerely,
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Sincerely,
Melissa Got-Lopez
District 5 Resident and Proud East San Jose Community Member
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Closing this invaluable public resource to save just o.6% of the overall City Library budget would be a devastating and short-sighted decision, especially as San José prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2027. I ask you to protect the California Room, preserve public access to our shared history, and demonstrate that San José values its cultural heritage and civic memory
.
Sincerely,
Cassie Kifer
Council District 3
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Closing this invaluable public resource to save just 0.6% of the overall City Library budget would be a devastating and short-sighted decision, especially as San José prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2027. And, as Sal Pizzaro wrote this past week in his column, "But the problem with closing a resource like the California Room is that it becomes that much harder to reopen it in the future." I ask you, please, to protect the California Room, preserve public access to our shared history, and demonstrate that San José values its cultural heritage and civic memory for today and future generations. Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Leticia Cowan, District 6
--
Leticia Cowan
Business Manager
San José, CA,
I would like this added to, and read into, the record for during the BUDGET STUDY SESSION on May 11th. I'm Greg P. Smestad, PhD, a native of San José; I live in Willow Glen in District 6.
The phrase "What is past is prologue"— a quotation from Shakespeare's The Tempest — is inscribed on the base of the "Future" statue, located on the Pennsylvania Avenue side of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. I've stood before it several times and pondered its meaning, which is that all that has happened before helps us understand our current position and our direction going forward. This ability is something uniquely human, and cannot easily be synthesized or reproduced online, or by an AI. This is worth considering during the discussions about the proposal to cut the budget for the California History Room at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library.
We live in the oldest purely civilian European-based settlement in California (founded in 1777). I know this, because, on my mother's side, I'm a descendant of several of its mayors (alcaldes: Ignacio Archuleta, and Luis Maria Peralta) during its pre-U.S. history. Many of my ancestors came here in June of 1776 with the Juan Bautista de Anza expedition. Their uniquely Hispanic stories, like so many other stories in this place, are preserved at the California History Room, which might better be described as San José's Living History Room.
Therefore, the organized materials and knowledgeable staff within it are essential to educate and inspire its over 5,000 visitors annually.
This helps bind us together as a diverse and cohesive community, giving us the strength and sense of identity to weather both present and future tempests.
Before the June budget decision, I ask that a study should be carried out to determine both the tangible and intangible, as well as monetary and non-monetary, benefits and risks of keeping the room open near its present funding level. A SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) should also be conducted and published. These are rational approaches to policy-making.
Neighborhood Services City Service Area (CSA) is one of San José’s five primary "lines of business". It encompasses several departments and programs focused on lifelong learning, recreation, and community well-being (Library Services, Parks and Recreation, Animal Care and Services, Community Services & Grants, Code Enforcement, and Homelessness-Related Neighborhood Services). Surely, there can be a re-balancing of the funding for these aspects so that the learning and community well-being strengthened by the California History Room will survive the present budget shortfalls, as it has in the past. Visitors to our city, as well as future generations, will recognize your leadership and foresight in helping us continue to draw upon, and
I also ask that the City Clerk include this message in the public comment record for the Neighborhood Services Budget Study Session.
The proposal (Parks Maintenance Redistricting, Citywide Sports Programming, and Lease Management) in the FY27 Proposed Budget would transition Arcadia from what the City itself describes as a "full onsite operations model with dedicated reservation and programming, concessions, and maintenance staff" to a facility where reservations are managed through the Citywide Sports Program field reservation system and maintenance is incorporated into a park maintenance district.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks.
Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups.
Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs. Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management. What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone. Thank you for your time and public service.
Robert Sprague
is to provide a well-maintained, central sports city facility that serves youth, adults, and seniors alike, at rates that participants from all income levels can afford. By web-based estimates, Arcadia typically serves 100+ teams over the Spring and Summer seasons which, at 15 players per team represents more than 1,500 players as well as parents and family members who support them.
Lest we forget, Arcadia was funded under the Measure P Bond Fund in 2000, and it was one of the last projects built from the fund only five years ago in 2021. The land was donated by Arcadia development company and receives funds from residential developers to ensure recreational space for new residents — this is not simply “City property” that imposes overhead on City services.
I came to San Jose in 1955 from Hawaii, and I am the product of San Jose elementary, middle school, and high school. Looking back on my time as a young baseball player, I can attest to the superiority of Arcadia over all public park and school fields that I played on. As a high school player at Pioneer High, the only better fields I played on were at a few colleges and the current San Jose Giants park — playing on Arcadia fields is vastly superior and safer than public park fields like Butcher, DeAnza, Starbird, Hamann, and Calaveras, all of which are fields my club also plays on.
We are a city of 1 million people. Compared to smaller cities like Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, and Pleasanton, our parks are inferior. While I understand there are fiscal challenges, changing oversight from a dedicated staff at Arcadia to a city-wide management system stands to diminish the crown jewel of our city’s ball parks. . . centralization will come at the expense of focused staffing and attention currently given to maintenance of Arcadia.
I appeal to your sense as parents and for many of you, as individuals who played sports in San Jose. WE NEED A PARK THAT OUR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES CAN BE PROUD OF. I urge you to look for other ways than changes at Arcadia to meet San Jose’s budgetary goals. To do otherwise will come at the expense of our enjoyment and the pride we take in our city.
Sincerely,
Larry Kubo
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
describes as a "full onsite operations model with dedicated reservation and programming, concessions, and maintenance staff" to a facility where reservations are managed through the Citywide Sports Program field reservation system and maintenance is incorporated into a park maintenance district.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks.
Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs.
Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management.
What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone.
Thank you for your time and public service.
A Concerned Arcadia Supporter
Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail for iPhone
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. using wheelchairs and walkers who can finally navigate our streets with ease. It is a special treat to be able to enjoy truly open streets for at least 1% of the year.
These events are also vital for our local economy. By exploring San Jose at a slower pace, I have dined at restaurants I otherwise never would have known existed, found new public parks, and purchased items at local shops and grocery stores. I have gotten to know San Jose more intimately, from Martial Cottle to Lake Cunningham, and Japantown to the Rose Garden. I proudly wear my four Viva Calle t-shirts on rotation because they represent my pride in being a San Jose resident.
The data supports this personal experience. The September 2025 event drew over 150,000 people and generated an economic impact of $4.7 million. Nearly 80% of attendees discovered a local business they hadn’t visited before. Beyond the money, 93% of participants said the event increased their sense of belonging.
Furthermore, Viva Parks provides essential, free wellness programming to neighborhoods that need it most. Cutting 25 events from this program disproportionately affects families who are already priced out of many recreational activities in Silicon Valley. Viva Calle and Viva Parks are among the only large- scale, free events where families can spend a full day together without financial strain.
The total savings from these cuts is $301,984. In the context of a $1.72 billion General Fund, that is less than two-hundredths of one percent. I’d respectfully ask whether that tradeoff is worth the loss of community health, local business support, and civic pride.
Please protect full funding for Viva CalleSJ at three annual events and Viva Parks at 75 events.
Thank you for your time and for your service to our city.
Sincerely,
Darlene Wong
San Jose Resident
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Our student efforts have paid off as the department has just hired a new Public Historian in the past year and will begin our Public History curriculum next semester for the first time in a long while. That curriculum includes connecting students with projects, internships, and organizations dealing with Public History. That would include use of the California Room.
Last month on April 17th, we held the NorCal Regional Phi Alpha Theta Conference at SJSU. History Club and the History Department worked together to bring over 100 young professionals and academics to our conference. Over 60 students came to present on their research projects, some of which focused on local histories. We also hosted four panelists, members of our local history communities, to discuss the place and importance of Public History. We invited Bill Schroh Jr. (History San Jose), Ben Leech (Preservation Action Council San Jose), Ken Yeager (Bay Area Municiple Elections Committee), and Margot McBane (Before Silicon Valley Project).
I urge you to maintain funding for the California Room at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in the 2026–27 budget. For more than a century, the California Room and its dedicated librarians have preserved the history of San José and Santa Clara Valley through an irreplaceable collection of books, photographs, maps, archives, and historical records explored by thousands of students, educators, researchers, and community members every year.
Closing this invaluable public resource to save just o.6% of the overall City Library budget would be a devastating and short-sighted decision, especially as San José prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2027. I ask you to protect the California Room, preserve public access to our shared history, and demonstrate that San José values its cultural heritage and civic memory.
Keep history public. Keep history accessible. Seek Truth.
Sincerely,
Sam Rios
District 8
President of SJSU History Club & Phi Alpha Theta, Beta-Lambda Chapter
reservations are managed through the Citywide Sports Program field reservation system and maintenance is incorporated into a park maintenance district.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks.
Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs. Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management. What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone. Thank you for your time and public service.
A Concerned Arcadia Supporter
[External Email. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. Learn more] From: Gary <
Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2026 5:12 AM
To: Webmaster Manager <
Subject: Arcadia Ballpark
You don't often get email from Learn why this is important Dear Mayor Mahan, City Manager Maguire, and Members of the City Council,
I am writing as a user of Arcadia Ballpark to share concerns about the proposed FY2026-27 budget changes that would significantly alter how the facility operates. I am also copying the Parks and Recreation Commission liaison and would appreciate it if this message could be shared with commission members and included in any relevant public correspondence ahead of the budget cycle.
I also ask that the City Clerk include this message in the public comment record for the Neighborhood Services Budget Study Session.
The proposal (Parks Maintenance Redistricting, Citywide Sports Programming, and Lease Management) in the FY27 Proposed Budget would transition Arcadia from what the City itself describes as a "full onsite operations model with dedicated reservation and programming, concessions, and maintenance staff" to a facility where reservations are managed through the Citywide Sports Program field reservation system and maintenance is incorporated into a park maintenance district.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks. Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs. Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget.
We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management. What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone. Thank you for your time and public service.
A Concerned Arcadia Supporter
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks. Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs. Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management. What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone. Thank you for your time and public service.
A Concerned Arcadia Supporter
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
I urge you to maintain funding for the California Room at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in the 2026–27 budget. For more than a century, the California Room and its dedicated librarians have preserved the history of San José and Santa Clara Valley through an irreplaceable collection of books, photographs, maps, archives, and historical records explored by thousands of students, educators, researchers, and community members every year. Closing this invaluable public resource to save just o.6% of the overall City Library budget would be a devastating and short-sighted decision, especially as San José prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2027. I ask you to protect the California Room, preserve public access to our shared history, and demonstrate that San José values its cultural heritage and civic memory.
Sincerely,
Venicia Dobson, District 7
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Maritza Anaya Reding
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Sincerely,
Christine Lutke
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2027. I ask you to protect the California Room, preserve public access to our shared history, and demonstrate that San José values its cultural heritage and civic memory.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Samantha Purnell
Cultural Resources Planner | Architectural Historian
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Please do not take it away. It costs a pittance compared to your controversial network of Flock cameras, or other recent discretionary expenditures, and it provides a greater externality benefit than I think you realize. I'll pray you make the right decision for this community, and for the value of knowledge.
Best Regards,
--Christopher McVey
a facility where reservations are managed through the Citywide Sports Program field reservation system and maintenance is incorporated into a park maintenance district.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathr ooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom main
tenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both c
ost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reserva
tion model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alt
ernative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks.
Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more e
xpensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefi
t from on-site coordination and dir ect communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling c
onflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when the y arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user group s. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs. Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue r
ather than community balance, and groups with less
organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consis tent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. The y are about what is structurally
possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management. What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone. Thank you for your time and public service.
A Concerned Arcadia Supporter
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2027. I ask you to protect the California Room, preserve public access to our shared history, and demonstrate that San José values its cultural heritage and civic memory.
I would hate to have the availability to this room be closed off completely or by appointment, it would cut off a beautiful part of the library! If it must be limited, I would rather see it be limited to one or two days. I am not sure what we can do but maybe spreading the word is the first step. Is there someone in the city that could create something that can be distributed to general public regarding this very important issue. As a member of the public, I can create a flyer but I want to make sure any funds raised would go the California Room directly and without issue and in order for that to happen, I think that needs to come from the city.
Sincerely,
Isabel Chavez
My district doesn't even matter, this is a San Jose issue
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
It has come to my attention that the City of San Jose plans to cut funding for the California Room at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. Buried deep in the budget on page 618 the Mayor and City Manager are proposing eliminating all California Room staff which would result "in the closure of the California Room to regular public access." Countless historians, property developers, real estate agents, educators, students, authors, the media and others have visited the room over the years to gather valuable information, including 5,442 visits in 2025 alone. Everyone who has visited the space knows how crucial it is to have a full-time librarian knowledgeable about the unique collection to guide research on San Jose and Santa Clara County history.
Beyond research the staff began curating exhibits and educational talks in 2018 telling the many stories from our diverse community including:
- Eastside Dreams: The Untold Story of East San Jose
- Pinoytown Rising: Filipinos Americans in Santa Clara County - Women on Wheels, California Wind Dancers
- Hidden Heritages: San José’s Vietnamese Legacy
- Black History Month at the California Room
- Story & King: San Jose's Lowrider Culture
Plans to continue the untold stories from the Japanese, LGBTQ, Southeast Indian and other diverse communities will now be halted.
During these unprecedented times, the Trump administration faces legal action and criticism from historians and conservationists concerned that its policies are intentionally erasing or altering American history on public lands and in federal institutions. We cannot allow the City of San Jose to do the same.
By removing staff and access, our rich and diverse cultural history remains hidden. Institutionalized dedicated staff is needed, not just someone to open the door by appointment. Additionally not all files have been digitized, and precious, delicate, one-of-a-kind artifacts will be forgotten behind closed doors.
I strongly encourage you to keep the funding intact.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Tran
I also ask that the City Clerk include this message in the public comment record for the Neighborhood Services Budget Study Session.
The proposal (Parks Maintenance Redistricting, Citywide Sports Programming, and Lease Management) in the FY27 Proposed Budget would transition Arcadia from what the City itself describes as a "full onsite operations model with dedicated reservation and programming, concessions, and maintenance staff" to a facility where reservations are managed through the Citywide Sports Program field reservation system and maintenance is incorporated into a park maintenance district.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks.
Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs. Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management. What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone.
Thank you for your time and public service.
A Concerned Arcadia Supporter
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
The proposal (Parks Maintenance Redistricting, Citywide Sports Programming, and Lease Management) in the FY27 Proposed Budget would transition Arcadia from what the City itself describes as a "full onsite operations model with dedicated reservation and programming, concessions, and maintenance staff" to a facility where reservations are managed through the Citywide Sports Program field reservation system and maintenance is incorporated into a park maintenance district.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fast pitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks.
Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs. Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management. What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone. Thank you for your time and public service.
Kent Skidmore
A Concerned Arcadia Supporter
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Sent with Proton Mail secure email.
SURJ Santa Clara County
c/o Urban Sanctuary
80 South 5th Street
San Jose, CA, 95112
May 11, 2026
Re: Neighborhood Services CSA
Dear Mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Councilmembers,
SURJ Santa Clara County has already written a letter in response to the Mayor's Budget Message with our priorities to fund community support rather than criminalization.
The $56 million shortfall is real. But it is not an argument for austerity—it is an argument for spending what we have more accountably. The city is already spending on homelessness, on public safety, on code enforcement, on economic development. The question is whether that spending is reducing or deepening the racial and social inequities that produce the problems the budget claims to solve.
With regard to Neighborhood Services CSA, slide 6 of the report speaks volumes. These problems are real. There is not enough housing on the end of the through-put, and the city shifts people around faster than the system can resolve homelessness. Because of the OLIVE program, we have witnessed many people's RVs towed on the whims of the City--their only form of shelter--and end up on the street. This has not moved people indoors, but rather forced people further into homelessness. Moving people and towing their only shelter solves nothing, puts undue burden on those already gravely stricken with poverty, and only serves to fatten the pockets of tow yards.
It is clear that every dollar spent on sweeps and criminalizing homelessness is a dollar set on fire.
This would be a horrendous waste of taxpayer money even if there was a budget surplus--but as we're facing a $56 million shortfall, it's an unconscionable waste. Stop funding OLIVE. Stop funding the NQL Unit. That money would be much better spent on encampment services, permanent supportive housing investment; eviction prevention and right-to-counsel; ongoing funding for youth employment, violence prevention and intervention, and TRUST.
The question before the Council is not whether the city can afford these investments. It is whether the city can afford to spend too much on the wrong things and keep doing without the right ones.
Sincerely,
SURJ Santa Clara County
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
I urge you to maintain funding for the California Room at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in the 2026–27 budget. For more than a century, the California Room and its dedicated librarians have preserved the history of San José and Santa Clara Valley through an irreplaceable collection of books, photographs, maps, archives, and historical records explored by thousands of students, educators, researchers, and community members every year.
Closing this invaluable public resource to save just o.6% of the overall City Library budget would be a devastating and short-sighted decision, especially as San José prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2027. I ask you to protect the California Room, preserve public access to our shared history, and demonstrate that San José values its cultural heritage and civic memory.
Bill Schroh, Jr.
President & CEO
History San Jose
1650 Senter Road
San Jose, CA 95112
www.historysanjose.org
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks. Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs. Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management. What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone. Thank you for your time and public service.
-Ronny Tey, a Concerned Arcadia Ballpark User and Supporter
describes as a "full onsite operations model with dedicated reservation and programming, concessions, and maintenance staff" to a facility where reservations are managed through the Citywide Sports Program field reservation system and maintenance is incorporated into a park maintenance district.
Arcadia serves a wide and diverse community, including youth baseball, senior softball, adult recreational leagues, and competitive fastpitch programs. The proposed changes could affect all of these groups in meaningful ways.
Facility upkeep and on-site presence - Today, Arcadia has staff on site who are accountable for the condition of the fields, the playground, the bathrooms, and the surrounding landscaped areas. Under the proposed model, maintenance would be handled by a park maintenance district responsible for multiple parks across the city. While those teams do important work, a shared district model means Arcadia would be one of many facilities competing for attention rather than having a dedicated team whose primary focus is this facility. Users should expect that response times to issues, including field conditions, restroom maintenance, and equipment problems, may be slower than they are today.
City-managed leagues - The on-site coordination and programming staff who currently run Arcadia's city-managed leagues would be eliminated under this proposal. That includes the adult slow pitch softball league, which currently costs $900 per team for a season of 10 guaranteed games. Without a city-run option, teams would need to turn to private leagues, where comparable programs currently charge approximately $1,100 per team for 6 guaranteed games. That is a significant difference in both cost and value, and there is no guarantee a private league would have access to Arcadia's fields under the new reservation model. It is also worth considering that the private league filling this void may not be a reliable long-term alternative. The local adult slow pitch league has changed hands three times in the past decade, a sign that operating a sustainable program in this market is harder than it looks.
Players who lose access to the city league may find themselves with an option that is not only more expensive and shorter in duration, but potentially uncertain from season to season.
Reservations and scheduling - Moving to the Citywide Sports Program reservation system means scheduling would be managed centrally, alongside all other parks and fields across San Jose. Users who currently benefit from on-site coordination and direct communication with facility staff may find the process less responsive. Centralized systems, while efficient at scale, can increase the risk of scheduling conflicts and make it harder to resolve issues quickly when they arise.
Field time allocation - With on-site programming staff no longer overseeing Arcadia's calendar, there may be less active management of how field time is distributed across user groups. Today, that oversight helps balance access between youth, senior, recreational, and competitive programs.
Without it, field time could shift based on demand and revenue rather than community balance, and groups with less organizational capacity may find it harder to secure consistent access.
Concessions - The proposal notes that current concessions are part of the "full onsite operations model" being eliminated. It is not clear whether concession services would continue under the new model, be offered less frequently, or be discontinued. Users and families who rely on that amenity, particularly during full-day tournaments and youth events, should be aware this is uncertain.
Arcadia is one of the finest publicly operated sports facilities in San Jose. These concerns are not about the staff who would take on responsibilities under the new model. They are about what is structurally possible when a dedicated facility team is replaced by a shared, citywide system.
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Arcadia Ballpark works. The fields are well-maintained, the leagues are affordable and in demand, and the on-site team delivers a level of service that is rare in a city park system. The proposed changes would dismantle that model to achieve savings that amount to a fraction of a percent of the overall parks budget. We ask the Mayor and City Council to reject this proposal and preserve Arcadia's current operating model in its entirety — its staff, its leagues, its concessions, and its on-site management.
What exists today took years to build and will not be easily rebuilt once it is gone.
Finally, I urge you to consider the impact this proposal would have on access to Arcadia Ballpark for marginalized groups, such as the Silicon Valley Gay Softball League. This league is far more than just recreational sports — it is a longstanding source of community, belonging, visibility, and connection for LGBTQ+ residents across our region.
For many people, especially queer adults who may not always feel welcomed in traditional athletic spaces, this league provides a rare environment where people can safely gather, build friendships, support one another, and participate in healthy, community-centered activities. Arcadia Ballpark is not simply a field; it is a gathering place that has become deeply meaningful to countless members of our community.
At a time when LGBTQ+ people continue to face isolation, discrimination, and shrinking access to safe public spaces, especially under the critical eye of this current political climate, removing or restricting access to this park through the misguided ideas represented by this proposal sends a deeply discouraging message. Inclusive community programs like the Silicon Valley Gay Softball League strengthen our city by fostering diversity, civic engagement, mental wellbeing, and local connection.
I respectfully ask that you oppose any efforts that would displace the league or diminish any person’s access to Arcadia Ballpark. Our city should be working to preserve and support inclusive community institutions — not push them aside.
Please stand with the LGBTQ+ community and the many residents, families, friends, and allies who value what this league contributes to our region. Please protect the facility’s operations in its current state to preserve this park’s place in the San Jose community. I kindly remind you that your responsibility is to safeguard your community and the social wellbeing of its citizens; it is short-sighted to consider only the bottom line of numbers games and profits.
Thank you for your time and public service.
A Concerned Arcadia Supporter and Proud San Jose Resident