RULES COMMITTEE: 8/26/2026
Item: B.1
File ID: ROGC 26-299
TO: Honorable Mayor & FROM: Toni J. Taber, MMC
City Council City Clerk
SUBJECT: The Public Record DATE: August 26, 2026
August 13, 2026 - August 20, 2026
ITEMS FILED FOR THE PUBLIC RECORD
Letters from Boards, Commissions, and Committees
Letters from the Public
1. Letter from Rose Amador (La Raza Roundtable), received August 13, 2026, regarding: Removal of Indigenous Murals.
2. Letter from Lisa Lubliner, received August 17, 2026, regarding: Please Pause New Data Center Applications Until Uniform Standards Are Approved.
3. Letter from Aranya Shukla, received August 17, 2026, regarding: 08/18/2026 Written Public Comment - San Jose 2040 General Plan.
4. Letter from Nimisha Gandhi, received August 17, 2026, regarding: PUBLIC COMMENT - Item
10.3: Data Centers Require Real Standards and Community Protection.
5. Letter from Melissa Le-Lewis, received August 18, 2026, regarding: Data Centers need to be studied as part of San Jose 2040 General Plan.
____________________________
Toni J. Taber, MMC
City Clerk
TJT/tt
Public Record: 1
August 13, 2026
Honorable Mayor and City Council,
I hope this letter finds you well. We are writing to express La Raza Roundtable’s concern regarding Martha’s Kitchen recent actions to whitewash two Indigenous and Chicano murals and remove the sage plants at their new food distribution hub located at 749 Story Rd. These murals were not merely decorative artwork—they were cultural landmarks that honored the history, identity, and experiences of communities who have shaped San Jose for generations. One mural had been created at the original Indian Education Center on First Street and was moved when ConXion to Community purchased the building. The sage plant was later planted on the grounds and was used for gathering fresh sage by the local indigenous community.
The removal of these murals and sage plant represents a loss of public art, cultural memory, and community pride. For many members of the community, these images served as daily reminders of the struggles, resilience, and contributions of Indigenous and Chicano families in our city. Erasing them without community consultation was a callous and insensitive action that sends a painful message that their stories are disposable and unworthy of preservation.
We respectfully urge the city to:
Review the circumstances surrounding the whitewashing of the murals.
Engage directly with Indigenous, Chicano, and local arts communities to understand the impact of this decision.
Explore options for restoration, replacement, or other meaningful reparative actions.
Consider policies that protect culturally significant public art from unilateral removal.
San Jose's strength lies in its diversity and its commitment to honoring the communities who built it.
We hope the city will take this matter seriously and work toward a solution that respects and restores the cultural heritage that has been lost.
From their website, Martha’s Kitchen portrays themselves as a community partner. Now we must ask, what kind of community partner takes such offensive action against the very population it serves? Thank you for your attention to this issue.
Craig Pasqua, Rose Amador, Raul Colunga
Co-chairs La Raza Roundtable
c: City Clerk: for Mayor & Council Members
Conxion To Community
Photos attached
Public Record: 2
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. large quantities of water for cooling—an especially serious concern in a region where water is never an unlimited resource. Chemicals used in cooling systems may enter the wastewater stream, while diesel backup generators add another source of local air pollution.
Once a data center has been approved and built, these impacts will be with us for many years. A short pause now is a reasonable and responsible step. It would allow San José to establish consistent expectations for developers and ensure that future projects meet the environmental protections the city itself has determined are necessary.
Please pause the acceptance and processing of new data center proposals until the uniform standards and best practices have been formally approved.
Thank you for considering this request.
Sincerely,
Lisa Lubliner
8/20/26, 10:38 AM Mail - Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas - Outlook https://outlook.cloud.microsoft/mail/[email protected]/inbox/id/AAQkADhhYzk3NTk1LTBmZDAtNDc4Yi1hN2Q0LTZjNmZjNTk5M… 2/2 Public Record: 3
Public Record: 4
WHY THIS MATTERS: WATER, AIR, HEALTH, HEAT
Data centers consume massive amounts of water for cooling. In Mansfield, Georgia, residents near Meta's data center facility can no longer drink their tap water. We are in a severe drought. We cannot repeat that outcome.
Data centers operate 24/7 backup generators, creating air pollution and noise that affects residents' health and quality of life. They generate heat island effects that raise neighborhood temperatures. They drive up utility costs for surrounding residents as grid upgrades are passed to ratepayers instead of developers.
These are not hypothetical concerns. They are happening now in our neighborhoods.
WHAT THE GENERAL PLAN REVIEW MUST ADDRESS
This General Plan Four-Year Review is where zoning standards are set. Currently, data centers are approved through a Special Use Permit, the same pathway as a warehouse. This is insufficient for industrial facilities with lasting environmental impact.
We demand the city use this review to establish real protections:
1. Impose an immediate moratorium on all new data center approvals until a comprehensive cumulative impact analysis is complete and existing facilities are proven compliant with environmental standards.
2. Conduct a rigorous cumulative impact analysis across Silver Leaf, Edenvale, Blossom Hill, and Santa Teresa that includes MW load, water consumption, air quality impacts, and heat island effects. This analysis must determine whether this corridor can sustainably support additional industrial development.
3. Audit every existing data center facility for compliance with current environmental and noise standards.
Publish results publicly. Take enforcement action against violators.
4. Do not approve a single new project until: (a) the cumulative impact analysis is complete, (b) the city has determined this area has NOT reached environmental capacity, and (c) all existing facilities are proven compliant with current standards.
5. Apply any new standards retroactively to the twelve projects currently in the pipeline.
THE BOTTOM LINE
San José can remain a city where innovation happens without asking our neighborhoods to absorb an unfair share of environmental and health costs. But that requires setting standards before projects are approved, not after.
We urge the City Council to prioritize the long-term wellbeing of San José residents over short-term economic gains that will create lasting environmental degradation, health impacts, and water scarcity our community cannot afford.
Ilovesanjose.org represents a growing coalition of residents who are organized, informed, and prepared to participate in every step of this process. We will attend listening sessions. We will show up at City Council meetings. We will hold this city accountable to protecting our communities.
We respectfully demand that this General Plan review include real data center standards with enforcement, cumulative impact analysis, and community protection as core requirements.
Sincerely,
8/20/26, 10:39 AM Mail - Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas - Outlook https://outlook.cloud.microsoft/mail/[email protected]/inbox/id/AAQkADhhYzk3NTk1LTBmZDAtNDc4Yi1hN2Q0LTZjNmZjNTk5M… 2/3 This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
Nimisha Gandhi
San Jose Resident
Sent with Proton Mail secure email.
8/20/26, 10:39 AM Mail - Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas - Outlook https://outlook.cloud.microsoft/mail/[email protected]/inbox/id/AAQkADhhYzk3NTk1LTBmZDAtNDc4Yi1hN2Q0LTZjNmZjNTk5M… 3/3 Public Record: 5
Data centers affect wildlife around us. They affect the birds and the bees because of EMFs. This can directly impact the agricultural industry in this area and our residents’ ability to grow food.
We will be affected by the noise pollution will surely come with new data centers.
I have read articles linking data centers with heart disease, strokes, asthma, etc.
We cannot plan for the future in San Jose, fourteen years from now, without studying how data centers will affect our human populations in this area. Residents should have a say in how their quality of life will be affected by their data centers.
They must be studied and included in the general plan for San Jose. We demand it for the health and safety of our residents.
Melissa Le-Lewis
Sent from my iPhone
This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
8/20/26, 10:38 AM Mail - Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas - Outlook https://outlook.cloud.microsoft/mail/[email protected]/inbox/id/AAQkADhhYzk3NTk1LTBmZDAtNDc4Yi1hN2Q0LTZjNmZjNTk5M… 2/2