BeautifySJ Neighborhood
Blight Reduction Annual Report
August 13, 2026
Neighborhood Services and Education Committee
PRESENTERS
Olympia Williams, Deputy Director
Paul Pereira, BeautifySJ Division Manager
Hilda Morales, BeautifySJ Blight Reduction Program Manager Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services 1 ENGAGEMENT
The former Three 'E's model—Education, Eradication, and Enforcement— now includes a fourth “E” – Engagement
2 2025-2026 Engagement Strategy • Engagement is the critical fourth “E” • Neighborhood leadership and civic engagement increased significantly in FY 2025–2026 • The Neighborhood Engagement Team strengthened organizational capacity across San José
• The third annual citywide Neighborhoods Conference reached a record 350 participants in October 2025
• BeautifySJ Grants continued to directly support community-led neighborhood improvement projects: • In Cycle 7, $388,357 was awarded to 93 groups
EDUCATION STRATEGY
ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM
2025-2026 School Year
1. Samuel E. Stipe Elementary (D2)
2. Northwood Elementary (D4)
3. Robert Sanders Elementary (D5)
4. George Shirakawa Elementary (D7)
5. Voices Academy (D7)
6. Ida Jew Academy (D8)
• 2,222 youth
engaged
• 1,139 hours of
service
provided
3 BLIGHT ENFORCEMENT • Illegal Dumping Enforcement
⚬ Strong collaboration with SJPD Real Time Intelligence Center (RTIC)
⚬ 34% average decrease in areas where cameras are installed ⚬ 568 cases referred to Code, a 580% increase
⚬ 148 warning letters
⚬ 104 citations issued by Code
⚬ $251,650 in citations issued; $74,715 in citations paid • Graffiti Enforcement ⚬ SJPD assisted with investigation and enforcement
⚬ 191 search warrants
⚬ 70 suspects identified
⚬ 15 arrests made
4 DETERRENTS
• Deterrents and BeautifySJ Clean Gateways Project
⚬ 9 gateways + 2 corridors maintained 3x week
⚬ Restoration phase: 220+ plants
⚬ 5,300+ cubic yards of mulch and wood chips added
5 BSJ VOLUNTEERS & OUTREACH EFFORTS
Engagement • 20,477 residents engaged • 40,252 volunteer hours • 595,505 pounds of litter and debris removed • $1,454,707 in volunteer contribution 6 Marketing BeautifySJ • BeautifySJ webpage updates • 10,281 visits / 8,497 unique visitors • Yard signs & A-Frame signage
ERADICATION EFFORTS - GRAFFITI REMOVAL PROGRAM
Fiscal Year Comparison of Graffiti Removal Program Performance 13,850,570 square feet of graffiti eradicated in the past five years 7 ERADICATION – HEAT MAP : GRAFFITI ON PRIVATE PROPERTY • 11,036 incidents on private property
responded to with education and
connecting businesses to resources
• 3.1% increase in graffiti reported on
private property
• Fee for Service pilot (MBA#9) to
commence for FY 2026-2027
8 ERADICATION EFFORTS – ILLEGAL DUMPING
• 30,217 work orders completed
• 2.8 average day response time
maintained
• 84% response time goal met
• 10,552,000 lbs. of trash and
debris collected
• 42,278,000 lbs. collected in
previous five years
• 129,576 work orders completed
Comparison of Illegal Dumping Program Performance
9 83
96 152 155
NEIGHBORHOOD BEAUTIFICATION
Fiscal Year Comparison of Neighborhood Dumpster Day
10 BEAUTIFYSJ ENCAMPMENT MANAGEMENT WORK
More abatements, less debris: 2,470 encampment abatements were completed, a 133.24% increase, while debris removal declined 5.51% to 9.57 million pounds.
Expanded Encampment Services: Trash services increased 3.01%, biowaste collection services increased 2.69%, and biowaste removed tonnage increased 27.22%.
Increased engagement and referrals to services:
Therapeutic Services increased 32.87%
Good Neighbor Guidelines:
Updated and redistributed in January 2026
No Encampment Zones (NEZs):
32.43 miles of creek and river corridors,
along with designated areas surrounding
Emergency Interim Housing sites.
11 Current NEZ Upcoming NEZ Total NEZ
Guadalupe River NEZ 9.82 0 9.82
Coyote Creek NEZ 14.77 2.44 17.21
Penitencia Creek NEZ 1.96 0 1.96
Silver Creek NEZ 0.88 0 0.88
Los Gatos Creek NEZ 0.26 0 0.26
Yerba Buena/Thompson Creek 2.3 0 2.3
Total 29.99 2.44 32.43
LOOKING FORWARD 2026 -2027 BEAUTIFYSJ OPTIMIZATION
12 2026-2027 reduction: ($4,176,684)
2027-2028 ongoing reduction: ($6,250,000) • Shift in number of large encampments • Implementation of the Code of Conduct
impacting encampment size and debris tonnage
• Opportunity to shift work to be completed by
in-house teams
• Fleet optimization
• Encampment Service Vendors
• SEU costs
Interagency agreements and services : $923,850
to offset costs
LOOKING FORWARD 2026 -2027
13 • BeautifySJ : 10th Anniversary February 2027 • Managers Budget Addenda and Budget Document Alignment ⚬ MBA#9: Graffiti Fee for Services
⚬ MBA#12: BSJ/ ESD coordination on illegal dumping
⚬ BD#72: District 5 weekend blight strike team
⚬ BD#37: Buena Vista Neighborhood and West San Carlos
Street blight strike team
THANK YOU
MAYOR MATT MAHAN
CITY COUNCIL
CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE & BUDGET OFFICE
PRNS - PARKS DIVISION
DOT – HEAVY EQUIPMENT TEAM
DOT - VEHICLE ABATEMENT PROGRAM
ESD - WATERSHED PROTECTION TEAM
PBCE – CODE ENFORCEMENT
PW – FLEET TEAM
SAN JOSE POLICE DEPARTMENT
NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS
CALTRANS
COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA
VALLEY TRANSIT AUTHORITY
GUADALUPE RIVER PARK
CONSERVANCY-SAN JOSE WALLS
SCHOOLS
KEEP COYOTE CREEK BEAUTIFUL
SJ CONSERVATION CORPS
DOWNTOWN STREETS TEAM
SOUTHBAY CLEAN CREEKS COALITION
THE TRASH PUNX
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
VOLUNTEERS
VALLEY WATER DISTRICT
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, THE BSJ TEAM!
14 BeautifySJ Neighborhood
Blight Reduction Annual Report
August 13, 2026
Neighborhood Services and Education Committee
PRESENTERS
Olympia Williams, Deputy Director
Paul Pereira, BeautifySJ Division Manager
Hilda Morales, BeautifySJ Blight Reduction Program Manager Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services 15