Video
Transcript
Segment 1
[00:06:49] Mayor Matt Mahan: All right, colleagues, I'm going to start calling our meeting to order. Welcome everybody.
[00:06:54] Mayor Matt Mahan: Thank you all for being here. Welcome. Once again, would like to call to order this meeting of the San Jose City Council for the afternoon of December 9th. Tony, would you please call the roll?
[00:07:09] City Clerk Toni Taber: Sorry, I got distracted with another question. Kamei? Present. Campos? Present. Tordillos? Here. Cohen?
[00:07:21] City Clerk Toni Taber: Ortiz? Present. Mulcahy? Here. Doan? Here. Candelas? Here. Casey? Here. Foley? Here. Mahan? Here. You have a quorum.
[00:07:35] Mayor Matt Mahan: Thank you. Now if you're able, please stand and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
[00:07:44] Mayor and Council: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[00:08:01] Mayor Matt Mahan: Thank you. For my second invocation in December, I would like to invite Father Justin Le of Our Lady of La Vang to join us at the podium and provide today's invocation.
[00:08:19] Mayor Matt Mahan: Just before he does that, I'll share just a little bit about Father Le and his incredible leadership here in our community. Father Justin currently serves as pastor of Our Lady of La Vang Parish, located just down Santa Clara from City Hall, and shepherds one of the largest Vietnamese Catholic communities in the region.
[00:08:39] Mayor Matt Mahan: He previously served as pastor of St. Maria Goretti Parish, both parishes long recognized for their service to our city's vibrant and dynamic Vietnamese community. In addition to his parish leadership, Father Justin has made significant contributions to the broader life of the diocese and to our civic community.
[00:09:02] Mayor Matt Mahan: His service includes roles as Chaplain to the Catholic Professionals Club, Advisory Board member to the Catholic Foundation, member of the Priest Council, and member of the Diocesan College of Consultors, where he advises the Bishop on important administrative and financial matters.
[00:09:20] Mayor Matt Mahan: He also currently serves as the Episcopal Vicar for Vietnamese Ministry, supporting more than 30,000 Vietnamese Catholics who call the Diocese of San Jose home. Beyond his work with the church, Father Justin has been a bridge builder in our city.
[00:09:39] Mayor Matt Mahan: In recent years, he has organized the annual Tet celebration, an event that welcomes more than 70,000 Vietnamese residents and visitors and friends from across the Bay Area. This celebration has enriched San Jose's cultural life, strengthened community ties, supported small businesses, and showcased the many contributions of our Vietnamese community to the diversity and vitality of our city.
[00:10:03] Mayor Matt Mahan: Father Le, thank you for being here with us today to be our invocator. Welcome.
[00:10:08] Father Justin Le: Thank you, Mayor. Let us place ourselves in the presence of God. Loving and gracious God, we gather this afternoon as a community entrusted with the care of our city and its people.
[00:10:22] Father Justin Le: We ask you to bless our Mayor, our Councilmembers, and all who labor for the common good. Grant them wisdom to discern what is right, courage to choose what is just, and compassion to consider the needs of every resident, especially the most vulnerable.
[00:10:43] Father Justin Le: Bless our city of San Jose, its families, its workers, its neighborhoods, and all who enrich its vibrant diversity. Inspire in us a shared commitment to build a community where respect, understanding, and cooperation flourish.
[00:11:02] Father Justin Le: Guide us toward unity and peace. Help us to see one another not as strangers, but as neighbors and partners in shaping a future filled with hope. We ask your blessing upon this meeting and upon all who serve our city with integrity and goodwill. Amen.
[00:11:26] Mayor Matt Mahan: Thank you, Father. Appreciate you being here. Thanks for all your service to the community and Merry Christmas to you and your parish. That's our invocation. We're on to ceremonial items. Councilmember Kamei and Councilmember Campos, if you would join me at the podium, we will recognize and proclaim Holiday Children Book Drive Week.
[00:12:20] Councilmember Rosemary Kamei: Thank you so much. Today, we're gathered to kick off and proclaim December 8th through 14th as the Holiday Children's Book Drive Week, a special collaboration between District 1, District 2, Los Bomberos of Northern California, a group of active and retired firefighters from the San Jose Fire Department, and our wonderful San Jose Library.
[00:12:52] Councilmember Rosemary Kamei: Last year, we collaborated with Los Bomberos for their Christmas toy drive. This year, we're partnering again with Councilmember Pamela Campos from District 2 and the library team to provide more resources to our kids this holiday season. This event brings together to promote literacy and support for our community's young readers.
[00:13:16] Councilmember Rosemary Kamei: Many children in our community lack access to books, and this book drive aims to provide them with as many resources as possible. Reading opens doors to new worlds, sparks imagination, and builds lifelong learners.
[00:13:32] Councilmember Rosemary Kamei: I'd like to extend a special thank you to our partners, the Fire Department, the Library, for their tireless efforts in making this initiative possible. We're grateful for their dedication to our community, their commitment to promoting literacy, and every book donated, every word read, every moment shared brings us closer to a brighter future for all.
[00:13:56] Councilmember Rosemary Kamei: Let us come together to make this holiday season brighter for our community's children and give the gift of education. Thank you.
[00:14:54] Mayor Matt Mahan: All right. Thank you. Vice Mayor Foley, if you would join me at the podium, we will recognize the Trash Punx and Sobore's Well. And welcome to our guests. Come on down as well.
[00:15:23] Vice Mayor Pam Foley: Good afternoon. Today I'm here to honor a remarkable partnership between the Trash Punx and Sobore's Well. Justin Imamura of the Trash Punx first met Sobore Ole Oyie of Sobore's Well through Vanessa Rogier, the Trash Punx conservation manager, who you'll remember gave the invocation last week.
[00:15:51] Vice Mayor Pam Foley: Vanessa had brought people together for a gathering, and in the garage at her house, Sobore and Justin began chatting with one another. As they talked, Sobore shared that his hometown of Ewaso Nyiro, Kenya, struggled with the same issues Justin and his team tackle every day here in San Jose.
[00:16:13] Vice Mayor Pam Foley: During this conversation, Justin's mind was opened to the realization that despite their hometowns being continents apart, their communities face the same challenge: the harmful impact of trash dumping and the lack of sustainable waste practices. Through this, the idea of Project Pickup was born.
[00:16:35] Vice Mayor Pam Foley: And three short months later, Justin and Vanessa boarded a plane to travel to Kenya, marking the Trash Punx's first global initiative. Together on this trip, they brought hundreds of community members together to transform a town without waste infrastructure into a cleaner, more sustainable place to live.
[00:16:57] Vice Mayor Pam Foley: The work of Project Pickup is a reminder that real change often starts with simple human connection. This partnership embodies the spirit of international goodwill, strengthening the connection between San Jose and Kenya through service, collaboration, and a mutual commitment to sustainability.
[00:17:20] Vice Mayor Pam Foley: What Justin, Vanessa, and Sobore and their teams accomplished demonstrates the power of global community action. When uniting across borders, they didn't just pick up trash. They built a bridge connecting our communities and creating a lasting environmental and cultural impact, just like the Trash Punx have been doing here in San Jose.
[00:17:43] Vice Mayor Pam Foley: Today, the city of San Jose proudly presents this commendation to the Trash Punx and Sobore's Well for their Project Pickup initiative and for leadership rooted in community and sustainability. Thank you for showing us what's possible when passion meets purpose and when communities, no matter how far apart, come together to serve one another.
[00:18:07] Vice Mayor Pam Foley: Sobore, would you like to say a few words before Mayor Mahan presents the commendation?
[00:18:17] Sobore Ole Oyie: Thank you very much. Good afternoon, Mayor Mahan, Vice Mayor Foley, City Councilmembers, and everyone gathered here today. On behalf of Trash Punx, Sobore's Well, and the community in Ewaso Nyiro, it is an honor to receive this recognition. Thank you for seeing our work and for welcoming me here with such generosity.
[00:18:45] Sobore Ole Oyie: Project Pickup, our shared effort to collect, recycle, and reuse trash has been possible because of the partnership which this city, your community, and the many volunteers and donors who believed in the work and deeply grateful for every heart that helped make this project a success.
[00:19:12] Sobore Ole Oyie: In Ewaso Nyiro, we face challenges very similar to those ones you face here: protecting our environment, caring for our waterways, and keeping our communities clean and healthy. And through this partnership, we have learned that the people of San Jose value many of the same things we do: family resilience, caring for the land, and lifting one another up.
[00:19:42] Sobore Ole Oyie: The Trash Punx effort in Kenya reminds me very much of the Mayor weekend cleanup here in San Jose. In both places, people come together and beautify their community. And in Kenya, these efforts have grown even much further: creating micro-businesses opportunities, new jobs, and products made from recycled plastic.
[00:20:16] Sobore Ole Oyie: We began as a cleaning up trash has now become a way for families to support themselves and for young people to see future in protecting the environment. Even though our homes are thousands of miles apart, this partnership has built a strong bridge between San Jose and Ewaso Nyiro.
[00:20:42] Sobore Ole Oyie: And as we continue this work, I hope we can keep creating opportunities to learn from one another through culture, through service, and through the friendship of our communities. There is a Maasai proverb I often share: If you want to go far, go together. The partnership shows the truth of these words. Together, we are doing something none of us could do alone.
[00:21:16] Sobore Ole Oyie: Thank you for the city of San Jose for honoring this work and recognizing our community. Your belief reminds us that connection is powerful, and that when we support one another, hope can travel very long. Thank you. Look forward to growing this relationship for many years to come. Thank you for having me.
[00:23:09] Mayor Matt Mahan: Thank you, Vice Mayor. Now I'd like to invite Councilmember Ortiz to join me at the podium, and we will recognize and proclaim Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe.
[00:23:29] Councilmember Peter Ortiz: Thank you so much, Mayor. Before I begin, I'd like to invite my colleague, Councilmember Candelas, to please join me, as we come together to proclaim one of the most cherished and unified traditions in our community, Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe. Each year on December 11th, millions of people across the world gather with their families at midnight to offer roses, prayers, and songs to Our Lady of Guadalupe as they welcome the morning of December 12th, the official feast day.
[00:24:10] Councilmember Peter Ortiz: This cherished tradition traces back to the miraculous apparition of La Virgen de Guadalupe on the tilma of Juan Diego in 1531 on Tepeyac Hill, an event that continues to offer hope, comfort, and strength nearly five centuries later.
[00:24:26] Councilmember Peter Ortiz: Here in San Jose, La Virgen de Guadalupe is more than a religious symbol. She is a representation of identity, resilience, and profound love. She reminds us that dignity belongs to everyone, especially communities that have had to fight hardest to be seen and heard. Her mantle embraces families who have crossed borders, endured hardship, and held tight to faith as the light that guides them forward.
[00:24:53] Councilmember Peter Ortiz: Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish has been a spiritual home for generations of East San Jose families, a place where tradition lives, where culture thrives, and where faith is practiced with joy, music, and community. Today, the City of San Jose is proud to recognize this feast day, honoring the cultural and spiritual importance it holds for so many residents in our great city, throughout the Diocese of San Jose, and of course, across the Americas.
[00:25:21] Councilmember Peter Ortiz: And so together, alongside our Mayor, we will present this proclamation to Father Hugo and Father Andres, who accept it on behalf of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, in recognition of their leadership, their ministry, and their care for the countless families who find comfort, belonging, and love within their community.
[00:25:41] Councilmember Peter Ortiz: I want to thank you, Fathers, for all that you do to uplift the faith of our community and our residents, and strengthen the bond that unites us as one community. And now I'd like to invite Father Hugo to please share a few words about what this feast day means for the devotees of our parish and throughout our diocese.
[00:26:04] Father Hugo: Good afternoon, Mayor Matt, Councilmember Peter, members of the City Council, and members of our community. It is an honor to stand here on behalf of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in San Jose. I want to express my deep gratitude for this meaningful proclamation, December 12th, 2025, as Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe in our city.
[00:26:37] Father Hugo: For millions across the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe is more than a religious symbol. She is a mother who brings hope, dignity, unity. When she appeared to Saint Juan Diego in 1531, she offered the tender words: 'Am I not here, I who am your mother?' Those words continue to speak powerfully today, especially to the immigrants, working families, and all who seek belonging, comfort, and strength.
[00:27:15] Father Hugo: In our parish community, we witness her impact every day. She inspires generosity, resilience, service, and deep compassion for those most vulnerable. She brings together people of many cultures, languages, and backgrounds. And in a vibrant and diverse city like San Jose, she reminds us that we are one family, called to build bridges, not barriers; hope, not fear.
[00:27:48] Father Hugo: This proclamation honors not only a feast day, but the heritage, faith, and contributions of thousands of families who have shaped our neighborhoods and enriched the cultural fabric of our city. It recognizes a tradition that has lifted our community through difficult times and continues to unite us in joy and purpose.
[00:27:54] Mayor Matt Mahan: All right. Thank you all very much. We're on to orders of the day. Does anyone on the council have any changes to the printed agenda?
[00:28:02] Mayor Matt Mahan: Not aware of any. We have some items for consent, I believe, to pull. Nothing for orders of the day. Okay. Moving on to the closed session report.
[00:28:14] City Attorney Suzanne Alcala Wood: The Mayor and Council met in closed session, discussed a number of items, and there's nothing to report out this time.
[00:28:19] Father Hugo: On behalf of Our Lady of Guadalupe parishioners, I thank you, Mayor Matt, Councilmember Peter Ortiz, and the entire City Council for acknowledging the spiritual and cultural significance of this day. May this proclamation inspire us to keep working together for a more compassionate and united San Jose. Thank you all. God bless America.
[00:28:19] Mayor Matt Mahan: Okay. Thank you, Suzanne. Appreciate it. We're on to the consent calendar, and I believe Councilmember Mulcahy would like to pull item 2.9, Councilmember Campos would like to pull item 2.10. And did we have a speaker on item 2.14? Tony, do you know? I believe we had an applicant, VNH Builders?
[00:28:46] City Clerk Toni Taber: Yes, I don't have a card for them, but I was informed that... I have a card for 2.14 but it's not the applicant.
[00:28:55] Mayor Matt Mahan: Not the applicant. Okay. No problem. Great. Well, we'll see if we have a single motion for all these or not. But let me start, we'll just go in order. We'll start with 2.9. Councilmember Mulcahy.
[00:29:09] Councilmember Michael Mulcahy: Great. Thank you, Mayor. Maria, if you wouldn't mind coming down, I'd appreciate it very much. I'm really doing this for the benefit of the Council, because several of us have BIDs in our district, many of you have talked about doing more of them in your district. And the nexus between a BID and Maria's shop is that the fees that go into the BID collections come through the city's ability to actually collect the business licenses, and a piece of that then goes into the BID fund.
[00:29:52] Councilmember Michael Mulcahy: Now, I was the former president of the Willow Glen Business Association for a number of years, and part of the reason that we were motivated to do a Community Benefit Improvement District is because there's a greater guarantee of the resources coming to the organization because it's collected through property tax, and who doesn't pay their property tax bill?
[00:30:15] Councilmember Michael Mulcahy: And so we were motivated to do a PBID for that very reason. And because the BID, the volatility of the collections, one year as a business association you might get 100%, and it was, who knew, it was always after an amnesty because an amnesty is done to get people back on the rolls.
[00:30:36] Councilmember Michael Mulcahy: Well, three years later, you'd have this decline from, you know, in the high 90s of collections, and by the four years out, you'd have 50%. And that's not just a reflection on the challenge to that association, but it also means that as a city, we are not collecting the business license tax that we're supposed to be getting anyway.
[00:31:00] Councilmember Michael Mulcahy: So I asked Maria to come down because I just wanted to query a little bit, you know, we're I think both around the same age here at... well, not age life-wise, but here at City Hall. And just want to understand a little bit from you, are we looking at ways where we don't have to rely on an amnesty to (A) get people to get on the tax rolls and pay these fees, and how we can do a better job at providing greater certainty for the business district operators and managers that rely on us to collect the BID fees?
[00:31:39] Maria Oberg: Thank you, Councilmember. Maria Oberg, Director of Finance. This is a rather complicated situation. We have over 96,000 registered businesses in the city right now. So the amnesty program is meant not just to catch those who are late in their payments, it's also a way for us to catch those who have not yet registered with us. New businesses are started all the time, people move in, they don't know always that they are required to register and pay a business tax in the City of San Jose.
[00:32:14] Maria Oberg: So it's part outreach and education, and part getting people back in compliance. So I believe in the past, Business Improvement District assessments were billed separately. We have improved that. We are now putting them together for those businesses that are in one of these districts.
[00:32:34] Maria Oberg: They will be billed together with their business tax. So there was a separate line item. We think that has actually helped make it less confusing because when you get a separate bill, it sounds business-like, I already paid my tax, why am I paying it again? Unfortunately, with the two newest districts that came on board in the last year, we had to bill them separately from the regular business tax because we were going through a modernization of the system.
[00:33:04] Maria Oberg: So that should take care of itself next year. They're now on that business tax collection system. So that brought them down. So they are low for our standards. They're around 60% collection to date. The more mature ones, Japantown and Downtown, are very, very high. They're around 90%, just shy of 90%. But yes, it is a struggle.
[00:33:25] Maria Oberg: I think what we need to do, we need to do a better job outreaching to the business associations and have them help us educate the businesses in the district of the importance to pay this assessment because, to the Councilmember's point, if we don't collect that funds, we can't remit them to the business districts and they don't have the money that they determined in the budget that they needed to do for their improvement projects.
[00:33:44] Councilmember Michael Mulcahy: So when we spoke before, you had indicated that it was unclear whether we're mailing a bill to these businesses for their business license and a line item on there for a BID.
[00:33:55] Maria Oberg: Correct. So I've verified with staff we do mail out the business invoice. We mail it on the 15th of the month prior to it being due. So they have 30 days advance notice that your business tax renewal and the bid, if you're part of that, is coming due. We mail again seven days after the invoice due date for those who haven't paid yet, and then we continue to reach out until they pay.
[00:34:21] Maria Oberg: We can also go to a collection agency and help with that. In addition to then, we do do these amnesty programs just to get at least the base of what we're owed. We forgive not the base. We never forgive the base tax or the base assessment. We forgive penalties and interest. That's the only thing we forgive. So at least we get them back in compliance.
[00:34:43] Councilmember Michael Mulcahy: So when I get my property tax bill, it comes in a fancy color with perforated tear-offs so I know that when this is due. Are there any tricks that we can learn from other agencies that are collecting fees that help us do a better job of capturing?
[00:35:02] Maria Oberg: I absolutely think there's room for improvement. We're looking at a new business tax system to make it a little bit more efficient as well. We're looking into improving our website. You know, little things like you're able to print your own business tax. There are a lot of things we can do to get more attention. But I think at least for the new ones and those new BIDs that are in the planning, having this amnesty will go a long way to help educate them that, look, here's, you know, you are required to pay. Here's a nice way for you to get in compliance without having to pay late fees and penalties. No one wants to do that. But yes, we are always looking at better ways to do our collections.
[00:35:49] Councilmember Michael Mulcahy: Okay. Just want to reiterate the fact that it doesn't look like San Jose will slow down in sponsoring creation of or the interest in creating more of these BIDs. And I just think this particular piece is the whole lynchpin to the effectiveness of our BIDs. And so I thank you for taking a look at how we can do a better job of collecting these really precious resources that are actually giving the vitality and spirit of the BID effort. So thank you very much.
[00:36:22] Maria Oberg: Thank you. And we appreciate your input.
[00:36:24] Councilmember Michael Mulcahy: With that, Mayor, I'll move to approve the consent agenda.
[00:36:33] Mayor Matt Mahan: Great. Thank you. Thanks for highlighting that and for the context for the record. I'm sure Maria is quite a bit younger than you, but you meant longevity here. I just wanted to get that on the...
[00:36:49] Mayor Matt Mahan: I did, yeah. Fair enough. Turn now to Councilmember Campos who has pulled item 2.10 for questions and comments.
[00:36:56] Councilmember Pamela Campos: Thank you, Mayor. Before I begin, I want to acknowledge that we have Mr. Fujimoto's nephew, Wes Kashiwagi, here with us today. And he submitted a comment card for this item. Wes, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for sharing your family story as we celebrate this legacy.
[00:37:17] Councilmember Pamela Campos: Last year, District 2 neighbors celebrated the newest addition to our park system with the opening of Serenade and Senter Pocket Park. What was once a blighted and underutilized traffic island has now become a beautiful community space that supports connection, health, and neighborhood pride. And this achievement was led by the previous District 2 Councilmember in close partnership with the residents who helped secure funding and shape the design.
[00:37:48] Councilmember Pamela Campos: It is a powerful example of what we can accomplish when the city and the community work side by side. So I want to thank and recognize former Councilmember Jimenez and the PRNS team for bringing this project to life. Today we have the privilege of naming this park for Tsugio 'T' Fujimoto, an exceptional public servant who dedicated nearly 30 years of service to the City of San Jose.
[00:38:17] Councilmember Pamela Campos: He was deeply respected as a mentor, a leader, and a caretaker of our public spaces, and his influence is seen throughout the city at the Municipal Rose Garden, the Japanese Friendship Garden, and Happy Hollow Park and Zoo. The standards that he continued to set through the staff that he guided, supported, and encouraged brings so much depth to his life story and even more depth to his contributions.
[00:38:47] Councilmember Pamela Campos: During World War II, Mr. Fujimoto served in the Military Intelligence Service while his own family and community were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated in Japanese American internment camps. And at a moment when his community was denied basic freedoms, Mr. Fujimoto still chose service, first to the United States and later to the City of San Jose.
[00:39:11] Councilmember Pamela Campos: His life reflects profound resilience, loyalty, and civic devotion, and it is also especially meaningful that this nomination came directly from the Parks Department staff. Tsugio Fujimoto was considered among several nominees, but he rose to the top because of the enduring respect from those who worked in the very system he helped shape.
[00:39:39] Councilmember Pamela Campos: With that, I am honored to support the staff recommendation and move to officially designate this space as Tsugio Fujimoto Park, located along Senter Road between Serenade Way and Diamond Heights Drive. Mr. Fujimoto leaves us not only a legacy to admire, but a foundation to build upon, a reminder that the spaces we steward today become the places future generations will inherit. Thank you. And if it's okay, Tony, could we hear from Ken at this time?
[00:40:11] Mayor Matt Mahan: Yeah, I'll get us to public comment in just a second. Let me see if we have a motion on the floor and a second, I believe from Councilmember Campos. Thanks for highlighting Mr. Fujimoto's contributions. Thank you for being here.
[00:40:26] Mayor Matt Mahan: We did not have any other items pulled. If we do have on item 2.14 public comment from VNH Builders, please just flag that and we'll give the applicant extra time. But with that, yes, Tony, let's move to public comment on consent as a whole.
[00:40:44] City Clerk Toni Taber: Yes, so I don't have a card for Ken, but if Ken wants to come on down, come on down, followed by Gary, Wes, and Brian. And again if VNH Builders come on down if they're here. I don't know if they're here, I don't have a card for them.
[00:41:10] Wes Kashiwagi: So Tsugio Fujimoto was my uncle, on my mom's side. I just wanted to do a few things to acknowledge the people that actually made this happen, and that was Gary Zatkin, Dan Sumers, Ed Flamata, and John Deon. Those are gardeners that used to work with my uncle when he was working for the city, and without them this never would have happened. It's incredible. The entire family is very honored that this is going to happen. It's incredible. Well, I assume it's going to happen.
[00:41:40] Wes Kashiwagi: I'll tell you a little bit about my uncle. He was born in Isleton, California, which is on the Sacramento Delta, it's about 20 miles from Sacramento. My family had a small hotel there and until the war, and then they were removed to the internment camps. They were actually sent all the way to Arkansas, and when it became legal, my uncle actually volunteered to join the Army, like most of the young men at the internment camps. Basically everyone in my family that was in their 20s volunteered.
[00:42:15] Wes Kashiwagi: After the war, it was pretty tough. So they came back to San Jose, or moved to San Jose, and as you can imagine the anti-war propaganda basically made finding a job impossible. So they were forced to work in the fields, they would take whatever employment they could find. So I'm actually grateful to the city for giving him a chance to make a living, to restart his life basically. The entire Japanese American community basically got pushed back a generation in terms of achievement and growth in the US.
[00:42:55] Wes Kashiwagi: But there's a term called 'Gaman' in Japan. If you know that, it's basically perseverance through the unmanageable, and I think my uncle is actually a really good example of that. So he worked at the Japanese Friendship Garden... Do you want to go ahead and finish your thought? That was kind of it. I'll say one thing, that the life that he was able to afford, he actually studied with Ansel Adams, because his hobby was photography, he loved ballroom dancing. Anyway, my family is very, very grateful and thankful that this is happening.
[00:43:33] City Clerk Toni Taber: Thank you. Next speaker.
[00:43:45] Gary Zatkin: This time I brought my own clock. Also thank you. The main reason I thought is anything I see Happy Hollow, I don't know if anybody really, really understands just what a precious pearl this is for your city. And I would humbly suggest that anything you have to do to keep it going, please do.
[00:44:09] Gary Zatkin: I read through everything and I'll let the gentleman that has the... I tend to think there's both sides to this. I think the city had a point, I think he has a point too. But anything to keep Happy Hollow and making it better and eventually shooting to where it's free for all children to enjoy whenever they want to go. Thank you.
[00:44:24] City Clerk Toni Taber: Thank you. Next speaker.
[00:44:29] Dan Sumers: Hi. It's my pleasure to say a few words about my former supervisor, T. Fujimoto, who was the right person at the right place at the right time. As the city was developing and the Rose Garden was coming about, T, I believe, was a gardener and he knew and he had learned so much and given so much of himself that in time he was elevated to become a maintenance supervisor. But he had first laid a lot of groundwork at...
Segment 3
[01:30:00] Councilmember Pamela Campos: Is there's turnover, um, and on boarding periods for new staff, um, families are still going through the system. And, um, how, how does this affect how quickly families are able to go through the system when we're taking into consideration turnover and staff, um, vacancies and those onboarding periods? Is their stabilization interrupted? Are they spending more time, um, in, in the service and programs?
[01:30:35] Housing Department Staff: So I can comment more generally that within the case management workload who are typically social workers within the broader social sort of nonprofit worker community, there is high turnover. These are very stressful jobs at very low rates of pay. In terms of the direct impact of that turnover of social workers within the system, I can't speak to any particular numbers, but when there is turnover, I know the County aims to try to limit what are the negative impacts of that turnover to ensure continuity of service delivery on a per family basis.
[01:31:10] Housing Department Staff: Again I can query the County as to some of these questions, but some of them kind of veer into sort of the administration of the program and the City is more of an investor in the program. So I'd want to just, maybe we can set up some time for you to sit with KJ at the County and kind of get a better understanding of the system administration as we don't capture this level of detail in program execution because our focus has been traditionally on the outcomes of the programs and less on daily execution of case management services.
[01:31:40] Councilmember Pamela Campos: So for example a question about what that turnover looks like in the field to get a better sense of the data about how many, um, folks are, uh, leaving the workforce, that's information that the County could provide us?
[01:31:55] Housing Department Staff: That's information that we can query the County and we can set up some time to go through with the County so you can see kind of the ins and outs. Again the, the line of queries speak more to sort of daily management of the program, which is less of the focus of the department's perspective from our contractual obligation with the County on this, so we can certainly set up time so we can get through into those details.
[01:32:18] Councilmember Pamela Campos: And then on the side of the family, right, and their stabilization, how are we tracking and managing that data to see the impacts on, on individual stability?
[01:32:30] Housing Department Staff: So we capture three data points that speak to stability. Stability within family participation. One is what is the time of entry of that family and time of exit, and whether that time of entry to exit is consistent with performance of other families who are similarly situated knowing that there's significant variances in families to family households.
[01:32:53] Housing Department Staff: Two, we look at it in the aggregate. What is the overall participation of families within the program, the level of services they are receiving, as a significant portion of the overall subsidy that's provided to the household is both direct assistance and then ongoing social services. And those social services track various metrics regarding the performance of the participant as well as some of the outcomes they are receiving in their delivery and receipt of services.
[01:33:22] Housing Department Staff: And then three, we also look at globally what are the comparison points between their service delivery as they receive from any social worker or other comparable programs that may not be prevention oriented but maybe as an example within our interim housing program, to ensure that the quality of that services is being benchmarked against a relatable and substantially similar service delivery. So with those three data points we've been able to determine thus far in the administration of the program that the program is meeting expectations set forth in the City is getting to the outcomes that we have expected to achieve.
[01:33:58] Councilmember Pamela Campos: Thank you. I know it's, it's a lot of different moving pieces and at the end of the day, you know, the, the resident who's able to get to stability and not have to come back into these services demonstrates success. So my last question is as households are leaving the preventive services system, whether they're successful or not, are we tracking what happens afterwards? For example, if a year or two later down the road a family needs help again, do we know, um, that they accessed services before and are we asking them information that helps us improve upon the systems?
[01:34:35] Housing Department Staff: I would say the program tracks information up to two years to ensure they are stably housed. Nonetheless, given the current economic dynamics, the majority of the families who are participating in the program, could there be over a window of time return participants? My assumption, and I can collect the data to substantiate this, is likely yes. We are not exiting the individuals from a permanent existence of their current economic state. This program is designed to provide a temporary intervention in order to stabilize and prevent homelessness. It is not a resolution to their overall economic standing.
[01:35:15] Councilmember Pamela Campos: Yeah, I appreciate those answers and, um, really, really appreciate the work that's being done. I know that there, um, was a lot of questions there and with that I just want to thank you again for answering the questions and move to approve the joint memo.
[01:35:30] Mayor Matt Mahan: Sorry to interrupt. We already took a, we already took a motion on it. I do want to ask if you, if you want to make a friendly, uh, amendment to include their group memo? Yeah.
[01:35:40] Councilmember Pamela Campos: Amendment to include the memo? Yeah. Um and that was, uh... I, I'm happy to accept it. I didn't neglect it because I didn't support it, I just forgot about it. Sorry about that.
[01:35:50] Mayor Matt Mahan: And the seconder was Councilmember Kamei. That's okay with the seconder? Yeah. Okay. Thanks for catching that Councilmember Campos. Okay, uh, we've got a couple other hands up. Let's go to Councilmember Ortiz.
[01:36:04] Councilmember Peter Ortiz: Thank you Mayor, um, and thank you for inviting me to join the Brown Act group on this item, uh, and working on this memo together with our, our colleagues. Uh, I just want to begin by just expressing my sincere appreciation to our City staff, of course our, our Housing Director, as well as, uh, County staff and service partners who will be doing the on-the-ground work to prevent, uh, unsheltered homelessness in, in our, in our city.
[01:36:29] Councilmember Peter Ortiz: Um, I know that this work and I think everybody knows this work is undeniably difficult, but it is equally important and, and I appreciate all those who continue pushing every day to meet the standard of service that our residents deserve. Uh, I'm excited to see us, uh, coordinating closely and aligning our efforts with the County because our residents expect all levels of government to work collaboratively on the, on the issues that they're facing. Uh, they've entrusted us to solve.
[01:36:58] Councilmember Peter Ortiz: Um, but coordination alone isn't the goal. Uh, we need to know that the dollars San Jose contributes are producing the outcomes our residents are expecting. Uh, these investments must be tied to clear metrics, accountability, and real results. Um, as a City we don't have the time or budget, uh, to allocate money at this problem without knowing our community is receiving the benefits their tax dollars are intended to fund.
[01:37:25] Councilmember Peter Ortiz: And so I, I truly believe our, our joint memo, uh, is taking a direct step towards that goal. And I look forward to working alongside our partners, alongside our Housing Director and, and our colleagues on the Council to deliver real measurable progress for our San Jose residents. Just want to thank you again Mayor, thank you to the Brown Act, and I look forward to voting, uh, aye on this item.
[01:37:45] Mayor Matt Mahan: Thanks Councilmember Ortiz. Appreciate those comments. Let's go to Councilmember Doan.
[01:37:54] Councilmember Bien Doan: Thank you Mayor. On page I believe page 2 of your report, it stated that on the average the household served received on the average of $8,000 in financial assistant plus an average of $5,200 in case management. Is that per year?
[01:38:19] Housing Department Staff: This is per term of household participation. So I wouldn't necessarily put it on a year term because some households are in it for four months, some eight months, some longer.
[01:38:30] Councilmember Bien Doan: Just being mindful of, of, you know, our taxpayer dollars, $5,200 just for case management that seemed to me is, is awfully high.
[01:38:45] Housing Department Staff: So if you compare it to the delivery of other individual services regarding social work engagement, this is comparable and in line with the comparables. In addition, given the intensity of the work and the variety of the work, that $5,200 can scale up based on a particular household's need or can scale down based on individuals who are very new and experiencing homelessness who may not have a lot of needs and may just had a health bill crisis, may have had an economic job loss crisis. So it very much depends and varies across the scale.
[01:39:20] Councilmember Bien Doan: Thank you. And that $5,200 is that case management, is that per family or is it per individual?
[01:39:30] Housing Department Staff: It is both because there are both families and individuals who come into the program. So sometimes it is family intensive, sometimes it's just an individual intensive.
[01:39:40] Councilmember Bien Doan: Well thank you very much. Is there a possible way to reduce that cost?
[01:39:48] Housing Department Staff: That is not an answer I can give you today. Again the City is not the administrator of the program, we are an investor in the program. And a reduction of costs would have to look at three factors. One, is there inefficiencies within the delivery and system of the program. Two, whether or not that delivery of the program has scaled up to meet the current need, either above or below that scale in terms of sufficient delivery of services. And then three, whether or not those inefficiencies can be wrangled out sufficient given the fact that this is a rolling program that has broad variance against all of the over 2,000 participants in it.
[01:40:25] Councilmember Bien Doan: Thank you so much. I'm just thinking that every single dollar that we save we can reinvest in helping more families. That's all. And, um, thank you so much for your hard work and you've been a, a delighted, uh, director, uh, to Housing and, um, and say thank you to your team as well. I will be supporting this, um, funding as well. Thank you.
[01:40:55] Mayor Matt Mahan: Thanks Councilmember. Um, thank you Eric for answering our questions. Appreciate all the engagement from colleagues, lot of great questions and comments. Uh, want to thank my Council colleagues, Councilmembers, uh, Campos, Tordillos, Ortiz, and Casey for collaborating on the group memo. Thank you Vice Mayor and Councilmember Kamei for including it in the motion.
[01:41:19] Mayor Matt Mahan: You know I think this is, uh, one of the real bright spots in the County-City collaboration. There are areas where we don't always find as much alignment, but this is one where our County is running a world class, uh, arguably best in the nation prevention system. The City is the only city within the county that is contributing to it. And I think a lot of the questions about efficiency and, uh, retention in housing and the cost of case management are important because the big question with this system now is how much can we scale it.
[01:41:50] Mayor Matt Mahan: Because on a dollar per dollar basis it is the best investment. For a fraction of what it costs once someone becomes homeless or needs more significant housing support, what we're doing with this system, and really it's our County implementing it, we're investors in it, is we're identifying folks at that moment where a life event, a job loss, a divorce, a health issue has pushed them to the brink of homelessness. We're bridging them for 6 to 12 months with case management.
[01:42:18] Mayor Matt Mahan: And what the Notre Dame study that did a cohort analysis on our prevention system showed, that has made us a national model, is that over 90% of households did not need additional assistance up to two years later. Now I think all of us want to know what happens in year three, four, and five. And every year the cost has gone up. And so the question is can we control the resources needed per household so that we can scale to more households.
[01:42:42] Mayor Matt Mahan: Last year the system served 1,800 households, 69% of which, over 1,200 of which, were in the city of San Jose. And as I mentioned over 90% were bridged and then did not need assistance again for two years. That's as long as the longitudinal data was available when the Notre Dame study was done. So really promising early results from the last few years of our collaboration.
[01:43:08] Mayor Matt Mahan: I want to thank Destination: Home for sparking the collaboration. Again we don't always agree on everything but this is an area where I think Destination: Home, City, County have aligned, implemented a program that's getting a lot of national recognition. And now the question is can we further optimize it, control cost, target it to the right households, keep people from falling into homelessness or needing significant assistance in years three, four, five. And then how much more can we scale it.
[01:43:33] Mayor Matt Mahan: Because I think we all know we reduce suffering immensely and actually save a lot of money if somebody doesn't need the interim housing system we've just built out. I'm proud of us for adding all that shelter but I'm even, I'm even happier if people don't have to use it, right? And we're going to save money and, and prevent a lot of suffering. So, uh, I plan on speaking more to this in my budget message and, um, just based on the level of engagement here I think when we get to the budget study session involving homelessness and specifically, uh, prevention, it might be useful to try to, um, invite someone over from the County who's administering the program to also answer these questions.
[01:44:05] Mayor Matt Mahan: And then our group memo here points to the kind of data tracking and reporting I, I think we'd all like to see to get a better handle on how this program is evolving over time and how we're managing costs and, and maximizing impact. So, thanks again to colleagues for all the great engagement. It's a, it's a great tool in our, in our toolbox. We have a motion that includes the group memo. I don't see any other hands. Tony let's vote.
[01:44:45] Mayor Matt Mahan: Great. Thank you. And that was, again, item 8.1 so we are on to open forum. Now this is an opportunity for members of the public to comment on City business that was not on today's agenda. Tony do we have comments for open forum?
[01:44:58] City Clerk Toni Taber: Yes. I have Steve, Hazeek, and Brian. Come on down.
[01:45:05] Mayor Matt Mahan: Great. And speak in any order, you'll each have two minutes and the timer will start once you begin speaking. Come on down. Welcome.
[01:45:15] Steve Sun: Is mike turn on? First, first to the mike has the floor, yeah, go ahead sir. My name is Steve Sun. I would like to the City to invest a major burglar ring actively, uh, harass our neighborhood. Uh, but the police department, I went to five times and filled a numerous police report. They refused to even investigate. Even I have the, uh, burglars photo and provided by the merchant and they charge over $15,000 and even use our information apply new credit card and charge to us, uh, uh, charge to the new credit card.
[01:46:08] Steve Sun: And even they break into bank's phone system and pretend they are bank's employees and ask us to approve certain charges. And later on I find out the bank never called us. And so I know there's a big burglar ring actively working in our neighborhood for many years. The police department still refuse to look into that. And my next door neighbor, he was, she was broken three times during the broad daytime. And I was broken twice last month. And the police department... I, I have the police, uh, report and, and also the response they say no we are not looking into that.
[01:47:02] Steve Sun: This is unacceptable. And I want the, uh, City to look into the situation and actively invest this big burglar ring that harassing our neighborhood. Thank you.
[01:47:18] Mayor Matt Mahan: Thank you sir. If you don't mind stepping over to the side once you're done here. Stephen do you mind getting follow up information and then looping in? First one through. Unless I guess you live through it.
[01:47:25] Public Speaker: Um, not long ago as cosmological or even geographically speaking half of Europe died during the Black Death. We now have antibiotics that stopped that. We've moved past magic thinking to trying to just stop pain and make people better. I think that's something that we need to, uh, keep remembering and that is an existential threat to our democracy. Thank you.
[01:48:00] City Clerk Toni Taber: Thank you. Next speaker.
[01:48:08] Public Speaker: Just before I start I'd like to thank everyone for being here. Um, Honorable Mayor and members of the City Council. When I was six years old, I remember fishing at the San Lorenzo River. We'll like to say I needed new clothes afterwards. I'd slipped and fallen into the water. And instead of fear I remember wonder. As I looked beneath the surface I saw thousands of native tiny minnows swimming freely, moving like a silver cloud through the clear water. That moment stuck with me. It taught me that rivers aren't just water, they are homes, ecosystems and quiet teachers.
[01:48:44] Public Speaker: But last week when I returned, I was, uh, I expected nostalgia but instead I felt shock. The minnows were gone and in their place were invasive largemouth bass filling the shallow areas and dominating the habitat where native minnows once thrived. What I once saw as a child, a thriving delicate ecosystem, was gone. Although this issue may seem small, it's happening throughout San Jose. In the Guadalupe River, it is reported that there are approximately three largemouth bass caught per minute.
[01:49:09] Public Speaker: Invasive bass don't just compete with native fish, they wipe them out. They disrupt food chains, damage water quality, and permanently alter habitats that take decades to form. As someone who cares deeply about fishing, wildlife, and the future of this community, I'm asking you to act. My proposal is that we create volunteer efforts to remove these invasive species and count participation efforts as, uh, as community service. This will not only help control the invasive species problem but also strengthen our, uh, environmental education. Encourage youth involvement and protect native species as a whole.
[01:49:44] Public Speaker: If we don't act now, more six year olds will never grow up seeing these schools of minnows. And, um, only stories will remain about what used to be there. But if we do act we can restore balance. We can protect what still remains and we can make sure that our rivers stay alive. Thank you for your time and commitment to our environment.
[01:50:02] City Clerk Toni Taber: Thank you back to Council.
[01:50:05] Mayor Matt Mahan: Thanks Tony that was great. By the way, if you also want to connect with Steve Holmes and the South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition, would love to meet you and, uh, get you involved in some of their work. Thanks for being here. Thank you. I'll see you in a minute. All right friends have a great afternoon we're adjourned.