In the face of the growing housing crisis, San Jose residents are urging elected officials to preserve funds for permanent affordable housing. The San Jose City Council is considering reallocating housing funds from Measure E, a property transfer tax approved by voters in 2020, to instead support and shelter homeless residents in the short term....
‘Absolutely stunned’: San Jose mayor inflates costs of not sweeping homeless camps
State officials are contradicting claims made by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan in his push to redirect affordable housing money to homeless sweeps and shelters. Mahan has argued the city faces $60,000 in daily fines per pollutant if the city doesn’t address pollution from homeless encampments near creeks by June 2025. It’s driving his renewed...
San Jose commissioners oppose diverting housing funds
San Jose housing commissioners had blistering words for a proposal to divert affordable housing money to shelters and sweeps. The Housing and Community Development Commission on Thursday voted 6-2 to reject two spending proposals that would divert funds meant for permanent affordable housing to clear and temporarily shelter homeless people living along city waterways. Commissioners...
San Jose mulls diverting affordable housing funds — again
San Jose needs millions of dollars it doesn’t have to clear homeless residents from city waterways and place them into temporary shelter. Officials are considering raiding an affordable housing fund to make it happen. The city manager is proposing two options for the 2024-25 budget that would divert monies out of Measure E, an affordable housing fund,...
San Jose homeless housing planned for Sobrato land
A homeless housing project is coming to South San Jose, and city officials want to clear the area of unsheltered encampments before it’s built. The San Jose City Council this month unanimously approved a 10-year lease for $1 annually from prolific philanthropist John A. Sobrato to construct Via del Oro, a 150-bed temporary housing development....
State finds San Jose lacks accountability with homeless spending
San Jose has until September to formulate a succinct plan on how it will address homelessness and begin publicly reporting spending data, according to an audit requested by a local legislator. The California State Auditor has published its findings and recommendations after an audit of the city’s spending and coordination of its homeless support services. Auditors...
UPDATE: San Jose sets tougher RV restrictions near schools
San Jose leaders hope a slew of new policies make schools safer by pushing homeless people out of nearby encampments and limiting where they can park. The San Jose City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved three different policies to limit where large vehicles can park, where people living in their RVs can sleep overnight and...
San Jose officials say large homeless shelters are obsolete
Two San Jose councilmembers have an ambitious plan to house thousands of the city’s homeless residents — but some of their colleagues say it will move the city backwards. Councilmembers Bien Doan and Arjun Batra have proposed a pilot program to build massive assembly room-style homeless shelters, with the option for private rooms. While their...
Homeless nonprofit to stop running Sunnyvale shelter
One of Santa Clara County’s largest homeless service providers is stepping back from operating a 145-bed shelter in North County. HomeFirst will stop operating the North County Shelter in Sunnyvale by the end of June, passing shelter operations to another provider which the county has yet to identify. Over the past few months, HomeFirst has...
Santa Clara County may fund safe parking for homeless residents
Santa Clara County officials may help finance San Jose’s multimillion-dollar safe parking efforts and set up more sites on unused public property for the region’s homeless residents. The Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed on Tuesday to look into both possibilities and requested more information by May. Debate ensued over whether the funding could be justified...