What was your best school science project? A volcano? Dissecting a frog? These San Jose students sent their project to the stars. Here's what else has happened in San José: 
SJPD Academy Starts With 54 Cadets

This month, 54 men and women started classes at the San Jose Police Department's newest academy. These cadets make up the largest starting academy class in a decade. With the start of Police Academy 30, SJPD's recruitment momentum is in full swing.

"The start of today's 54-person academy highlights the great progress we're making on improving public safety in San Jose and providing our residents with the level of service they deserve. Our collective efforts to restore staffing, morale and trust has enabled a great department to thrive again. I'd like to thank all of these new recruits for answering the call to serve our community and to keep our neighborhoods safe," said Mayor Liccardo

In April, the San Jose Police Department graduated 27 officers, its largest graduating class in four years. Overall, SJPD has 110 officers joining its ranks over the next few months.  

The 6-month long academy is the first step in preparing prospective officers, and includes a mix of classes and physical training. Following the academy, recruits enter a 16-week Field Training Program, where they work alongside a veteran officer. Upon completing the field training program, officers are considered "street ready" and begin their regular assignment.



Google Exploring New Development
 Near Diridon Station

On June 20, the City Council voted to start exclusive negotiations with Google over the potential sale of several parcels City owned land for the possible construction of a transformative mixed-use, transit-oriented development. If an agreement is reached, the land would be sold to Google at fair market value without any City subsidies. 

The potential development could include up to 6-8 million square feet of office and R&D with world class architecture, 3000 housing units, publicly accessible outdoor plazas and paseos, street-level retail, and public green spaces and parks.  Such a development would also create a tremendous number of jobs and generate millions of dollars in new tax revenue for affordable housing and other core City services. 

The Council vote signals the start of negotiations over the purchase of publicly-owned land and other aspects of the potential project, with ample opportunity in the months ahead to discuss potential community benefits.

City Council Approves FY2017-2018 Budget

In June, the City Council voted to adopt a balanced city budget. This year's budget will make impactful investments in public safety and quality of life for San Jose residents while remaining prudent and disciplined in spending due to the prospect of a challenging FY 2018-19 next budget. Those investments include:
  • Funding for emergency preparation and flood recovery efforts such as, hastening the development of a multi-language disaster alert system, removal of  vegetation  in Coyote Creek, and incentivizing landlords to renew Rock Springs. 
  • The City's Road Repair and Maintenance program will have more funds to pave 250 miles of roads next year, 3x the miles paved during the Mayor's first year in office. 
  • Expanding programs that address trash, graffiti and other sources of blight, including the City's illegal dumping rapid response team (which is expected to improve the average response time to 48 hours), enhancing street clean-up and landscaping, and expanding neighborhood beautification days and a neighborhood beautification grant program to help residents clean up their neighborhoods 
To learn more about the Council-approved budget, please view the Mayor's March Budget Message, the City Manager's Proposed Budget, the Mayor's June Budget Message and a supplemental memo including the Mayor's final budget recommendations.
More Affordable Housing Coming to San Jose

In mid-June, the City Council approved three affordable housing projects. All told the projects will produce more than 200 homes aimed at helping low income residents have an affordable place to live. 

This is just the latest in a significant push from the City to build more affordable housing. In the past year and a half 325 affordable homes have come online, and 526 more have been funded for next year. 

For a more detailed discussion of San Jose's efforts to build more homeless housing read the staff report on the Affordable Housing Investment Plan and Mayor Liccardo's Op. Ed. in the San Francisco Chronicle. 
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