Dirty water pouring out of faucets, and mold and holes in the ceiling have finally convinced San Jose to remove itself and a service provider from a hotel-turned-housing project. The Santa Clara County Housing Authority and Jamboree Housing Corporation are taking over the day-to-day services of SureStay Motel from the city and Abode Services, after...
UPDATE: San Jose looks to count RV dwellers
San Jose is closer to counting how many residents living in RVs are lining city streets and creeks. A proposal to tally the city’s RV dwellers passed unanimously at Wednesday’s Rules and Open Government committee meeting. The timeline and cost for the RV count will go back to the committee in three to four weeks...
Fourteen people died on San Jose streets — in one month
Santa Clara County might see another record breaking year in homeless deaths, with 14 people dying on the streets in September alone. As of Friday, 167 unhoused people have died in Santa Clara County this year—roughly 73% of them died in San Jose, according to county’s data. The number is following an alarming trend the region...
San Jose sidesteps lawsuit from homeless resident
A judge this week ordered the last man living in a massive San Jose homeless camp to move out—with the city’s help. Rudy Ortega is the sole holdout camping near Columbus Park. He filed a temporary restraining order against San Jose and housing provider HomeFirst to prevent being swept and to protect his property from being destroyed. His location needs...
San Jose homeless sweep creates new dangers
The sprawling land once home to hundreds of San Jose homeless residents sits mostly empty this week—but a new crisis is brewing in the baseball field across the street. More than 60 RVs and cars have squeezed into the empty baseball field at the corner of Asbury and Irene streets after the city started its monthlong...
‘It’s just horrendous’: Thousands of San Jose seniors face homelessness
After a year of bouncing around different homeless shelters, Ellen Rollins is getting ready to move out of interim housing and into a one-bedroom apartment in San Jose. But the move has her anxious and uncertain about managing her future. Her prospective apartment is market rate and will be covered for 10 months by Santa Clara...
San Jose drops controversial tiny homes plan
After months of opposition, a controversial plan to build tiny homes in North San Jose has been dropped, but residents are still skeptical. The city is not moving forward with a plan to build 100 tiny homes at the Dr. Robert Gross Groundwater Recharge Park on Noble Avenue, according to a memo issued last week from Deputy City Manager Omar...
Homeless resident sues San Jose over sweep
A homeless person living at the sprawling camp near Columbus Park is suing San Jose over the monthlong sweep. Rudy Ortega filed a federal complaint this week against San Jose alleging city officials and the city’s partners breached their contracts and violated his constitutional rights—the city is sweeping where Ortega has been staying. The lawsuit,...
Mountain View settles lawsuit over RV parking
A group of RV owners who sued Mountain View over rules that banned oversized vehicles from parking on city streets have reached a tentative settlement. The settlement, announced on Thursday, will wrap up a more than yearlong legal dispute over the city’s dual ordinances—banning oversized vehicles from parking on “narrow streets” that are 40 feet...
San Jose sweeps homeless to meet federal deadline
With a shopping cart full of his belongings, Jonathan Todd Carlson watched as bulldozers broke down his makeshift home for the last six months—a tarp shelter near Columbus Park. A mechanic by trade and a veteran of 10 years, Carlson has been navigating homelessness in San Jose since 2015, after spending his money on his mother’s...