Dear Neighbor,

This year’s budget is different. It’s difficult. And it will require the sacrifices and tradeoffs we all make when looking at our own personal budgets. 

Except instead of cutting down on eating out and sacrificing a family vacation, the City of San Jose must tighten its belt to the tune of $52 million. My March Budget Message gave direction to the City Manager on how to do just that. 

And she delivered. Our City Manager has put forward a proposed operating budget that accounts for our multi-million dollar shortfall without significantly impacting city services our residents rely on and while continuing to make progress on the issues that matter most. 

Before I get too deep into the details, let’s remind ourselves of the budgetary challenges we face this year. 

First, we must comply with the Clean Water Act, which requires us to eliminate pollution flowing into our waterways and the Bay. In order for the City to renew its Stormwater Permit, our Regional Water Quality Control Board has mandated a 100% reduction in pollutants entering key stretches of our waterways by the middle of next year. We estimate that 88% of pollutants entering our rivers and creeks result from the 1,000+ people living in unmanaged, unsheltered encampments in these areas. 

Our City Manager has budgeted $27 million this year alone to begin to meet this environmental mandate. We will primarily do this by completing the nearly 800 modular units of interim housing we still have in our pipeline, standing up basic shelter, including managed sites for safe sleeping and safe parking, and beginning to clean up and enforce no re-encampment zones along our waterways. This will be neither easy nor inexpensive, but in the long run we will all be better off when we provide a basic, safe alternative to unmanaged encampments and, when available, require that people use them. 

In addition to these expanded stormwater mandates, and just like every family in San Jose, the City is experiencing the same rising costs and slowing revenue growth associated with persistently high inflation. Despite these challenges, the City Manager has managed to put forward a balanced budget using the four strategies I recommended in my March Message: 

1. Finding cost savings and efficiencies within city departments — the City Manager worked with department heads to find $12 million worth of proposed cost reductions that will have the least impact on services that touch our residents. Council offices, including my office, will also face small reductions to contribute to the overall target. With an overall General Fund budget of $1.6 billion, the $12 million figure represents a modest reduction.
2. Elimination of vacant roles — in a City with 7,000 employees, we always have vacancies. While we would love to be better staffed to deliver the best possible service to our residents, the City Manager has identified 54 positions that have sat empty (some, for a long time) and can be removed from this year’s budget to help close the gap. Please note: police staffing–which is a top community priority–should actually expand in 2024-2025 as we grow our Academy class sizes and begin filling roles that are currently vacant but still included in the base budget.
3. Finding new sources of revenue — The City Manager has identified $29M in new and anticipated revenues from the state, county and other sources. Some of these funds, assuming they are secured, will be dedicated to future affordable housing development.
4. Reallocating existing revenues to higher priority uses — the City Manager proposes using flexible Measure E funds to meet our Stormwater Permit obligations (e.g. interim housing, safe sleeping/parking, encampment clean ups) while using the new state and county funds identified above to preserve between $22 million and $40 million for new affordable housing development. 

I want to thank our City Manager, Jennifer Maguire, for proposing a balanced budget that addresses our most urgent needs–including stormwater permit compliance, continued police hiring, ongoing blight fighting, and funding for affordable housing–without requiring cuts to other city services our residents rely on. 

I also want to thank my council colleagues for recognizing the challenges we face, the importance of focus and flexibility, and the willingness to find efficiencies across city departments. I’m looking forward to putting together a June Budget Message that continues to get creative with the limited dollars we have, while preserving investment in the core services our residents demand. 

Sincerely,

Mayor Matt

It’s been a big week in our fight to end the era of encampments! On Wednesday, we broke ground on the Via del Oro interim housing community and on Monday, we announced 74 new interim housing units coming to Salvation Army’s Emmanuel House in San Jose! The current tenants at Emmanuel House will move into the new modular units while the sober living site undergoes a renovation and expansion to better serve our homeless neighbors and begin serving women. We have public, nonprofit and philanthropic partners all pitching in for this project because we know it will take all of us working together to end unsheltered homelessness!

They’ve upgraded me from a shovel to an excavator! Last week, we literally broke ground on Via del Oro — the latest iteration of our interim housing solutions. We’ll build 150 low-cost, relocatable sleeping cabins on underutilized private land, offer housing to the homeless neighbors in the direct vicinity of the site and finally establish no-encampment zones around the site to preserve our progress. Together, we can create a safer, cleaner, better city for everyone.

Councilmember Ortiz, Acting Chief Joseph, and I joined community members and business owners to install an ALPR in the Plata Arroyo neighborhood! The seniors, working families and business owners in this area have been advocating for technology like this for years, and I’m grateful our City in partnership with Flock Safety was able to provide it. These license plate readers helped our officers recover $2M worth of stolen vehicles and catch almost 200 suspects in 2023 alone.

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo! San Jose is celebrating Cinco de Mayo with festivals and parades across the city — I hope you can stop by one today! You can find the full list of festivities above.

As you’re driving around the city today, make sure you know the routes and streets that may be closed or impacted by the weekend’s events. Learn more here.

San Jose celebrated Earth Day the only way we know how — by giving back to the planet we all call home. Over Earth Day weekend, our city put on over 40 cleanups! I made it to 5, alongside so many partners including Councilmember Ortiz, PRNS, Target, SJPD, The Trash Punx, and the South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition. You don’t have to wait till next Earth Day to help create a cleaner, greener city — just next weekend! Sign up here for one of our weekly Saturday cleanups: http://bit.ly/cleansj

The greatest thing about our democracy is that it reflects the will of the people. But far too often, we aren’t doing enough to bring everyone into the conversation. Check out the City’s Civics Master Class that was designed to enhance civic participation and ensure everyone’s voice is heard. This class will make it easier for our diverse community to get engaged and tell us how we can better represent them. Online lessons will be available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese and are available to all residents. If you or someone you know is interested in signing up, you can learn more here.

The San Jose Chamber of Commerce invites all businesses, entrepreneurs and managers to complete the Business Health and Needs Assessment Survey! Your participation is crucial to help understand the challenges and complexities of what it takes to run your business in the post-pandemic landscape. Insights gathered will shape initiatives and policies and aid businesses of all sizes in the Greater San Jose area. By taking 5 minutes, you will drive strategies for a sustainable economic future. You can take the survey here.

Alum Rock Park Community Day

Saturday, May 11th at 8:45AM to 1:00 PM

Alum Rock Park, 15350 Penitencia Creek Road San Jose, CA 95127

Help us keep our parks healthy! Join PRNS to beautify Alum Rock Park, meet neighbors from across the city, and work together to create a safer, cleaner, greener city. Learn more and sign up here. 

Historic District Block Party

Tuesday, May 16th at 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM

San Jose Downtown Historic District, San Jose, CA 95112

Join us at the kick-off of Urban Vibrancy Institute's Block Party series in the Historic District of San Jose! Get ready for a fun evening filled with live music, delicious food and drinks, local artists, and much more. This is your chance to celebrate our community, support local businesses, and connect with your neighbors. Don't miss out on the fun! Learn more here. 

Annual San Jose Ride of Silence

Saturday, May 18th at 11:00 AM

Mexican Heritage Plaza, 1700 Alum Rock Avenue, San Jose, CA 95116

The Ride of Silence is a silent bike ride that honors those who've been killed or seriously injured while biking on public roadways. San Jose’s Ride of Silence is one of 130 rides happening across the globe, advocating for greater traffic safety. The event will begin at Mexican Heritage Plaza, before participants silently ride for 2.5 miles towards Downtown to commemorate those who lost their lives to roadway violence. Learn more and participate here. 

Small Business Empowerment Day

Monday, May 20th at 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM

City Hall, 200 E Santa Clara Street, San Jose, CA 95113

Join the Office of Economic Development for Small Business Empowerment Day, an in-person event where you can network with fellow entrepreneurs and City staff, and participate in insightful workshops tailored to your needs. Translation provided upon request. Learn more and register for this free event here. 

Painting Asphalt Mural at San Pedro Square

Monday, May 27th to May 31st at 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM

San Pedro Square, N. San Pedro Street, San Jose

Interested in helping us add a huge pop of color to San Pedro Square? Grab a brush and join Local Color, the San Jose Downtown Association, and artist Jimmy Paints to help us install an asphalt mural along San Pedro Street. Volunteers will be able to participate in 2 hour blocks of painting (paint-by-numbers style) between 9:00 AM and 7:00 PM. All ParkSJ garages offer 90 minutes of free parking, including the Market & San Pedro Square garage. Learn more and sign up here.

On Black April, we commemorated the Fall of Saigon and acknowledged the immense loss experienced by those who fled the communist regime. We also celebrated the resilience of the Vietnamese people, who are an integral part of San José’s economic, cultural and civic life. It was moving to stand beside so many neighbors this Black April as we honored the courage and sacrifice of those who fought for freedom and human rights.

Last month, Vice Mayor Kamei and I stopped by Bill of Fare for a quick bite and my Snack with Matt townhall! Bringing neighbors together to discuss their top issues and try delicious food from local businesses is always a highlight of my month. The next time you’re looking for a tasty meal, I highly recommend their homemade greek yogurt! Don’t miss out on our next Snack with Matt townhall: qrco.de/SnackWithMatt-Interest.

Happy Arbor Day San Jose! To celebrate, we joined Our City Forest and the Plata Arroyo Neighborhood Association for a tree planting! We put over 30 trees and 30 shrubs in the ground — making our community cleaner and greener. And thanks to our Together SJ program, we funded irrigation and mulch for the beloved bird sanctuary. Grateful to our partners CalFire and California Volunteers for their support! Join us at the next one: http://bit.ly/cleansj.

Nirvana Soul’s newest location is officially up and running at San Jose State! You can stop and try their delicious drinks at 150 E San Fernando St, right outside the MLK Library.