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Kicking Off The New Year

I hope you had a fantastic holiday season and I'm so excited to continue working on your behalf in 2024! Last year was one of our busiest at City Hall and in the district, and we'll soon release a full recap of the year, but here are some of the highlights.

Constituent Services:

Talking your calls and emails and resolving issues is at the core of our team's work. 263 cases were brought to our attention in 2023, and 175 of them were resolved completely, another 76 are still in process, and 12 new cases were opened in the final week of the year.

Community Outreach and Events:

Our team arranged or participated in 115 events in District 4 throughout the year, harnessing the efforts of over 350 local volunteers, to the delight of over 25,000 event attendees. Highlights of our events calendar included:

Berryessa Art Festival: It was our team's first time at the helm of the longest running art festival in San Jose, and many attendees called it the best in the festival's 46 year history. With over 4,000 members of the community coming out to the meadow at the Berryessa Community Center, over 80 local vendors and over 100 volunteers, the Berryessa Art Festival raised over $12,000 for Berryessa Education Foundation.

Mid-Autumn Festival: Over 200 friends and family showed up to celebrate the season, enjoying lion dancing performances, food, and drinks

Santa Visits Alviso: Santa Visits Alviso Foundation's Annual Event brought out families from all over the community to see Santa and to get free toys! Our office donated funds to buy bikes for the children.

Dumpster Days: Our office hosted five Dumpster Day events in 2023 - 12 bins at Berryessa Community Center in February, 11 bins at Ringwood Court in April, 8 bins in Alviso in August, and 16 bins at Piedmont Hills High School, for a total of 58 dumpsters full of trash and debris removed from our neighborhoods! We also sponsored two dumpster day events organized by Penitencia Neighborhood Association.

Later this month we'll dive deeper into everything our team did in 2023, from planting trees all over the district to organizing community litter pick-up events. We've begun work on new RV parking sites and interim housing facilities to help move our unhoused neighbors off the streets and into managed environments. We started construction on new parks and recreation areas all over the district and saw to it that traffic and pedestrian safety infrastructure was improved. We also prioritized preventing sideshows on our roads and voted to install new camera and license plate reader technology to help make our roads safer. There's so much more to tell you about, and it'll all be highlighted in coming editions of our newsletter!

What's Next?

District 4 Stars Gala 

Fri, January 19 • 6pm

District 4 Stars to be honored!

As this year winds down, I’m thrilled to announce the individuals and organizations identified as the first-ever District 4 Stars to honor noteworthy achievements and outstanding service to our community.

This year, we are recognizing seven outstanding contributors to our District 4 community!

Volunteer Dean McCully

Community Leader Michael Kraus

Youth Advocate Nuha Khan

Community Service Organization Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley

Local Business Pho San Jose

Philanthropist Judy Santiago

Public Servant SJPD Capt. Todd Trayer

These individuals, businesses, and nonprofits have shown outstanding devotion to our community and are shining examples of commitment to excellence.

This January we will host our first District 4 Stars Gala at the Berryessa Community Center to gather as a community and honor this year’s awardees.

The gala will be on Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. at the Berryessa Community Center 3050 Berryessa Rd, San Jose, CA 95132. The gala will include a catered dinner, entertainment and a keynote speaker.

In next week's newsletter we'll be providing a link to register for the event.

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Police Redistricting Community Meeting

Tues, January 16^th 6pm

Location: Berryessa Union School District, 981 Ridder Park Drive

Time: 6pm

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SJPD Response to Sideshows Community Meeting 

Mon, January 29^th 6pm

Hosted by Captain Brandon Sanchez. Members of Department of Transportation will be present.

Location: Sierramont Middle School

Time: 6pm

Working To Open Safe RV Parking

My office is pushing the city to expedite the opening of the new Safe RV Parking facility in Berryessa. 

“We can no longer tell people who are dying to live in a place like this that there’s nothing available yet,” said Cohen. “We also can’t continue to tell businesses and residents who are affected by vehicles parking in their area that ‘they have to be patient.’ There’s only so much patience that people have.”

See the full NBC Bay Area News story here

44th Annual MLK Luncheon

The Legacy of the Dream Continues.

44^th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Luncheon on Monday, January 15, 2024, from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m. This special event will be held at San Jose State University Ballroom.

Free Junk Pick Up!

We could all use a little extra space around the house this time of year, if you've got junk and clutter in your garage or yard, take advantage of this great FREE service from the City of San José! Make an appointment to get rid of old appliances and furniture, mattresses, and more. It's easy, just fill out a short form online, move your stuff to the curb, and a truck will come and take it all away!

Beautify SJ Grant Program

The City of San José is committed to supporting residents in their efforts to beautify their neighborhoods and create a cleaner and more vibrant San José.

The mission of the BeautifySJ Grant Program is to support residents’ efforts at reclaiming their public space and to empower residents to aesthetically demonstrate their pride in our City. The City believes that the power to shape the future of our neighborhoods lies in strengthening the civic participation of our residents. 

The BeautifySJ Grant Program provides funds (from $300 up to $5,000) for neighborhood clean-up efforts, beautification projects and neighborhood engagement opportunities in San José.

Beautification Projects

ADOPT-A-PARK: Adopt-A-Park is a one-year commitment to help with picking up litter, removing graffiti, removing weeds, and trimming bushes

LANDSCAPING: Landscaping (design, planting, trimming, mulching) in public spaces and city parks

GARDEN SPOTS: A Garden Spot is a small area in a City of San José park, where residents register to plant and maintain a flower garden. Garden Spots can be community projects. 

NEIGHBORHOOD CLEAN-UP: Dumpster Days, Litter Pick-Ups, Graffiti Abatement

PLANTING: Planting of trees and/or any other type of planting. 

Neighborhood Quality of Life & Neighborhood Organization Building Events/Projects

NEIGHBORHOOD-LED EVENTS: National Night Out, Cultural Festivals, Community Building Events, public safety activities, neighborhood celebrations, community projects, etc. 

NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION SUPPORT: Newsletters, PO Boxes, United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County Membership Fees, special events insurance, association web pages/domains. 

ONE-DAY VOLUNTEER EVENT AT A PARK: Your neighborhood group can work with Parks Division Volunteer Management Unit to choose a project based on the number of participants and the work that is needed. 

Neighborhood Support & Capacity Building Events/Activities

NEIGHBORHOOD GROUP OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATION: Connecting neighborhood leaders to City Council and City of San José staff. Communicating and sharing resources, including funding opportunities. Conducting outreach to identify neighborhood leaders, in Equity PriorityCommunities to establish new emerging groups. Communicate and coordinate BeautifySJ funded projects thatenable multiple groups to better utilize resources. Conducting outreach to community members to foster greater engagement in joining or establishing neighborhood groups where there are no groups.

CAPACITY BUILDING: Regular engagement meetings with emerging groups and neighborhood associations to provide coaching on how to develop Bylaws, meeting agendas, and grant proposals. Provide neighborhood groups with “How toGuides” for Beautification projects. Support residents, emerging groups and associations by providing language interpretation services.

How To Apply

The BeautifySJ Grant Application is available at grants.sanjoseca.gov

March 5 Election Is Just Around the Corner!

The next big election is March 5th, 2024! The primary election is important because it's how voters decide which candidates will move on to the November General Election, but in primary races where there are only two candidates, the primary election actually decides the race and means the winner of that contest doesn't have to compete in the November General. Get more information about the upcoming March 5th Primary Election HERE.

Nonpartisan Offices

• City of San José Mayor and City Council Districts 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
• Judge of the Superior Court, Offices 1-25
• Board of Supervisors, Districts 2, 3 and 5
• County Central Committee
• Democratic Party (AD 23, 24, 25, 26, 28 and 29)
• Republican Party (SD 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)
• Peace & Freedom Party (SD 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)
• Green Party
• City Contest

Partisan Office

• United States President Voter-Nominated Offices
• United States Senator
• United States Senator Partial/Unexpired Term
• United States Representative in Congress, Districts 16, 17, 18 and 19
• State Senator, Districts 13 and 15
• Member of the Assembly, Districts 23, 24, 25, 26, 28 and 29

How To Report A Crime Anonymously

Reporting crimes, regardless of their magnitude, is vital for maintaining public safety and promoting a secure community. By reporting both minor and major crimes, individuals contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the local crime landscape. This valuable information assists the police department in strategically allocating resources and determining where to increase patrols or improve surveillance. Detecting patterns of criminal activity becomes more feasible with a higher volume of reported incidents, enabling law enforcement to respond effectively and implement proactive measures to deter crime. Ultimately, reporting crimes empowers communities to actively participate in making their neighborhoods safer and more resilient against criminal activities.

Click the link below to report a crime. Hopefully you don't have a crime to report right now, but you might want to click the button and bookmark the page it takes you to.

Volunteer In Your Community

Volunteer Opportunities: 

If you are interested in volunteering, we are always in need of volunteers for a wide array of events that take place in District 4! Please consider helping out your community and joining us!

Please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Angela Pedrigal, at angela.pedrigal@sanjoseca.gov for more information. 

Let's Be Friends!

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Easily Access City Services

San Jose 311 is your gateway to City Services from vehicle blight abatement, graffiti removal, reporting fireworks, illegal dumping, pot holes, and more.

click here to get started.

Rebates up to 90% for Your Building Upgrades!

Through the San José Energy Efficient Business Program, your business can receive rebates when you make certain energy-saving upgrades. These significant rebates (80-90% off!) help make the projects more affordable, and when you combine the rebates with your lower monthly energy costs, the upgrades can quickly pay for themselves.

click here to get started.