EFFECTIVE COUNCIL DISCUSSION MEMO |
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As a Council, we have a responsibility to the public to ensure that all voices are part of the conversation, and that our meetings serve as a forum for healthy debate and discussion. To that end, at last week’s Council meeting, I put forward a memo along with Councilmember Davis to institute changes designed to increase public engagement and foster a more effective, efficient government, and I’m happy to announce that the memo passed after an informative and fruitful discussion between all of my Council colleagues.
Many residents have pointed out that it’s difficult for them to engage with the Council on the issues they care about because it is unclear when items on the agenda will be discussed, and because key items often don’t come up until late at night. To make it easier for the public to provide input on agenda items, our memo directs the Rules and Open Government Committee to make sure the items that matter most to the public are placed earlier in the agenda, and to include a ‘time certain’ designation where possible so that residents know exactly when those items will come up for discussion.
Fostering a more effective forum for governance also means ensuring that all councilmembers have the opportunity to be a voice for their constituents during Council discussions. To do that, our memo provides guidelines for an orderly speaker rotation among councilmembers, starting with an initial 10 minutes from each councilmember followed by additional 10-minute rounds of discussion.
Our Council is at its best when we are able to hear from the public and have productive discussions that build towards consensus and progress. The changes put forward in this memo will help keep our meetings as they should be: efficient, respectful, and accessible to the public.
Sincerely,
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ROAD IMPROVEMENTS HAPPENING THROUGHOUT DISTRICT 4 |
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Road conditions and traffic safety measures are high on the list of concerns of our District 4 neighbors. Our office is aware of these concerns and has been working with the San José Department of Transportation to address them. We have some updates on the progress our office and City Staff are making toward improving our roads and making our streets safer for everyone.
View real-time updates on paving projects here.
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The rerouting of city resources to support the emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic significantly limited the ability of the City to conduct road improvement projects. However, work on our City streets is now in full swing with many streets in Alviso, Berryessa and North San Jose slated to be repaved within the next three years.
My office noticed that some sections of Alviso streets that are in particularly bad repair were not in the repavement schedule. City Staff is analyzing whether those are privately-owned sections of road or if they are City-owned streets. If they are under City of San José jurisdiction, we will work to make sure they are properly maintained. Top Golf will be performing some much-needed maintenance and improvements along North First Street near their property soon after work on their project is complete this spring.
Speaking of Alviso, we are also working on facilitating the installation of “Welcome to Alviso” gateway signs on North First Street donated by Trammell Crow. The signs are now being made and we’ll let you know of the exact location when the installation date is closer.
Below is a table with scheduled traffic improvement projects in the district. The projects include radar speed signs to increase driver awareness of excessive speeds; bulb outs, or curb extensions into the street, to shorten street crossing distance; flashing beacons to make drivers more aware of pedestrians in crosswalks; and other projects to decrease speeding, and improve pedestrian and cyclist safety.
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My office will work to identify what additional road-improvement projects District 4 needs. We are aware of the desire of residents for many, many projects to reduce cut-through traffic, speeding and sideshows. Since traffic calming projects are expensive (for example, a flashing cross walk costs about $50,000 and a traffic light can cost up to $1.5 million), we can’t rely on traffic improvement projects to resolve every traffic-related concern. That is why we are also working to figure out how we can use other City resources to alleviate these issues, and are looking more critically at the effectiveness of individual projects vs. their costs.
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ELECTEDS, NON-PROFITS, COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS ADVOCATE FOR REGIONAL COLLABORATION TO TACKLE HOUSING CRISIS |
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The housing crisis is one of the greatest challenges of our time and our City, in many ways, highlights the difficulties faced by those attempting to solve it. Like it has with many other things, the COVID 19 pandemic has shown us how severe of an effect it can have on our communities if we don't take immediate and decisive action.
This is why, in collaboration with some of my colleagues and community organizations, we have written a letter advocating for swift action to remove the legal and political barriers that greatly discourage further development.
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On site at the last affordable housing development built in North San Jose, completed nearly a decade ago
North San Jose is part of the economic engine of the city and has the potential to be the home for many of our essential workers as we build thousands of affordable homes in a vibrant mixed-use, transit-oriented environment. I look forward to a partnership with the City of Santa Clara as we proceed with this key work.
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REGIONAL PARK FACILITIES TO RESUME PARKING FEES
Effective April 1, 2021, City of San José Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services (PRNS) will resume paid parking at regional parks and destinations, following a temporary halt in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes Almaden Lake Regional Park, Alum Rock Park (Penitencia Creek Road entrance lot - Eagle Rock and Rustic Lands lots will remain free, as they were before the pandemic), Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, Kelley Park, Japanese Friendship Garden, and Lake Cunningham Regional Park.
The Department suspended parking fees at regional parks in the days after the pandemic stay-at-home order, which began on March 17, 2020, to encourage residents to care for their physical and emotional health and wellness outdoors when indoor recreation options were closed.
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All city payment machines will display multi-lingual signage reminding customers to wear a mask and maintain a safe distance from others while paying. Employees will follow safe cash handling procedures as well as routine machine cleaning.
Parking fees are $6 per day, and subject to change as normal operations resume. Discount cards and hangtags issued from April 2019 through March 2020 will be honored to receive a full year of value. When the Leininger Community Center reopens, the Department will begin issuing new hangtags and discount cards. To stay up to date on parking enforcement, visit bit.ly/prnsreopens.
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SIGN UP FOR FREE HOME FIRE PREVENTION AND SAFETY TRAINING |
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Did you know that you have just two minutes to escape a home fire?
Most people don’t know this fact, so the District 4 Council Office is partnering with the American Red Cross to provide a free training session to families to act quickly. The training is made to help you educate yourself and your household on home fire safety prevention, creating an escape plan and go-bag, and other steps to take to prepare for an emergency. Trainers will walk you through testing your smoke alarms, creating your plan, and starting the critical conversations with your household. Training sessions are available in English, Vietnamese and Spanish and will be held on Saturday, May 8. The session will be approximately one hour long.
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Since launching the Home Fire Campaign in 2014, the Red Cross has helped save at least 820 lives across the country by helping families create escape plans and installing free smoke alarms. Along with its partners the Red Cross has helped make nearly 900,000 households safer in at-risk communities.
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MY FIRST 100 DAYS AS YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER
As we get closer to my 100th day in office, I'd like to take a moment to reflect upon what we've accomplished thus far and what we look to do moving forward. Join me Thursday, April 15th from 6-7PM.
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I'd like to share with all of you the things my staff and I have been working on and we'd like to get your input on how we're doing. Your engagement is critical and I welcome all of you to join me for an in-depth discussion about our district. Register here to participate.
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COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Stop AAPI Hate Crimes Forum
Wednesday, April 7th at 5:30PM - 6:30PM
Alum Rock Trail Crew
Saturday, April 10, 9:30 to 10:30 AM
Love to hike? Want to learn more about trail and restoration work? Then come join us every second Saturday, for Alum Rock Trail Crew! Register now!
Free Entrepreneur's Legal Advising Clinic
Saturday, April 10, 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Co-Sponsored by City of San Jose and Santa Clara University Law School
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