Voting on San Jose City budget in-person at 2 pm tomorrow at City Hall

For those of you who were able to attend Mayor Matt Mahan’s townhall last week, please take look at the March Memorandum released on March 13th. Last month, the council voted to remove Zoom as a method for San Jose residents to voice their opinion on issues. To express your voice on the budget, you must join in-person at City Council Chambers, 200 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose, CA 95113 on Tuesday, March 19th at 2:00 pm.

The three issues up for review tomorrow as it relates to our neighborhood is as follows:
1) Direct the City Manager to submit a balanced budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025, guided by the policy direction and framework of priorities outlined in this March Budget Message.

2) The City Manager is directed to identify one-time and ongoing funding to bring basic, low-cost, low-barrier safe sleeping sites online by the end of December 2024 — conditioned upon the Council approving one or more sites before July 2024 — with enough capacity to significantly reduce the number of unmanaged encampments along our waterways.

3) Council must prioritize substantial investments ($25 million dollars) in expanded alternatives to unmanaged encampments along waterways and additional capacity for outreach, enhanced clean-ups, and encampment abatement in these areas without simply shifting encampments to nearby neighborhoods. The Administration’s preliminary estimate for beginning this herculean task in FY 2024-2025 is $25 million.

The City of San Jose appears to be eager to address a hefty fine that will begin June 2025 at $60,000 per pollutant per day found in direct discharge zones from the CWEA levied by San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board). While this does not directly affect our neighborhood, it is clear that if there is no alternative shelter arrangements provided, we would see about 1,000 individuals disbursed into surrounding neighborhoods.

Creating a 500-ft setback would mean removing 1,000 unhoused individuals in those direct discharge areas and offering them Emergency Interim Housing. The risk of not having a Emergency Shelter in place for these individuals to go is further increase of encampments in surrounding neighborhoods.

By June 2025, the City is expected to achieve a 100% trash load reduction and will no longer be allowed to use creek clean up credits to offset ongoing pollution. Failure to comply with these mandates could expose the City to significant legal and financial risks. Thus, for moral, fiscal and environmental reasons, the Council must prioritize substantial investments in expanded alternatives to unmanaged encampments along waterways and additional capacity for outreach, enhanced clean-ups, and encampment abatement in these areas without simply shifting encampments to nearby neighborhoods. The Administration’s preliminary estimate for beginning this herculean task in FY 2024-2025 is $25 million

There are additional budget issues that can be summarized in this image below. Please click the March Memorandum and City Manager Budget Response Forecast for details.

Note: HPNA is non-political neighborhood association committed to empowering Hamilton Place neighbors, particularly concerning homelessness issues near our neighborhood, by informing and encouraging civic engagement.