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Students of Cherrywood Elementary Visit City Hall

This week we had a City Hall visit from the 5th grade class at Cherrywood Elementary School. The kids got a tour of the Rotunda, Office Tower, and Council Chambers, where I had the pleasure of presenting them with a commendation in recognition of the tremendous success of their Mandarin Dual Immersion Program. The Cherrywood kids then sang us a song in Mandarin to kick off our Council meeting!

Dual Immersion education is an alternative educational model designed to provide students with fluency and literacy in two languages. In this program, all students develop literacy in Mandarin first with the gradual addition of English.

Students in the Immersion Program receive the same curriculum as all students throughout the district, except that initially they are taught in Mandarin for most of the day.

Students in the Immersion Program are taught using California State Standards in English as well as Mandarin. Both English and Mandarin are taught daily and the students interact in both languages.

If you're interested in enrolling your child in Cherrywood's Dual Language Immersion Program, you can read more about it and submit your application here.

We're Planting More Trees In District 4

Planting trees has numerous benefits for the environment and our community. Here are just a few of them:

Improving air quality: Trees absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutants from the air, improving the quality of the air we breathe.

Providing shade and cooling: Trees provide shade, which can lower temperatures in urban areas and reduce the heat island effect.

Stabilizing soil and reducing erosion: Trees' roots hold soil in place and prevent erosion, which can reduce the impact of natural disasters like floods and landslides.

Supporting wildlife: Trees provide habitat and food for wildlife, helping to maintain biodiversity and support ecosystems.

Improving mental and physical health: Spending time in nature and among trees has been shown to have positive effects on mental and physical health, reducing stress and promoting well-being.

Thursday morning's weather was perfect for planting some trees at Vinci Park Elementary School. My team and I joined our friends at Our City Forest and the Berryessa Union School District to plant five new trees on the school grounds, one out front by the main office entrance, and four in the back lawn area. Planting trees is a great feeling; knowing they'll provide shade, play, and cleaner air for generations to come.

Join us Saturday morning 9:00am-Noon and help us plant more trees in Alviso Park (24 Wilson Way). We're working hard to get as many trees planted across the district as possible and we need your help to get it done.

Contact Tim in my office if you're interested in volunteering.

Email Tim.orozco@sanjoseca.gov or call him at (408) 535-4938

Last Friday I had the great pleasure of welcoming Holocaust survivors and relatives of survivors to City Hall in commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Charles Stevens, Omer Tripp, CA Assemblymember Gail Pellerin and Santa Clara County Chief Assistant DA Jay Boyarsky, along with Rabbi Hugh Seid-Valencia spoke on the impact the Holocaust and the Kindertransport program had on their families. We must continue to tell these stories, passing this history down generations, in hopes that nothing so horrible is ever allowed to take place again. View the whole program here.

So Many Ways To Connect!

Get the latest from me and my staff on Instagram, Nextdoor, Facebook, and Twitter.

We post everything from emergency notifications and district specific updates, to council meeting breakdowns and inside looks at life at City Hall. Got recommendations for businesses, schools, or local heroes we might want to highlight? Send us a DM!

We welcome all your feedback as comments on our posts, direct messages in our inbox, phone calls to the office. Click the links above or the icons below to connect with us.

Our beloved Alum Rock Park remains closed to the public due to dangerous conditions near trails and waterways, and possible rock/mud slides. You can find more information about this closure here.

Welcome New Councilmembers

With the appointments of Domingo Candelas and Arjun Batra, your San José City Council is once again complete!

District 8, left vacant when Sylvia Arenas won her election to County Supervisor, and District 10, Mayor Mahan's old seat, have been filled through an exhaustive, transparent interview and appointment process.

My staff and I look forward to working closely with our newest colleagues to continue making San José a better place to live, work, and play.

Welcome to City Hall, Councilmembers!

Black History Month at SJSU

A Journey Through Black Excellence

is just one of the many events scheduled in celebration of Black achievement.

San José Black professionals speak on their personal journeys through breaking barriers in a business world where they are marginalized to succeed and prosper in their communities.

Panelists: Jeronica Macey, Co-Owner of Nirvana Soul. Kenneth West, President and CEO of Regional Medical Center. Tiffany Bradford-Oldham, San José Public Library Branch Manager.

Moderator: Travis D. Boyce, Ph.D, Chair of SJSU’s Department of African American Studies and the Director of SJSU’s Ethnic Studies Collaborative

Who's making a big difference in your community? A great teacher, business owner, a police officer who goes beyond the call of duty. Maybe there's someone spending their free time organizing creek clean-ups or blanket drives for the unhoused... If you've got someone special in your neighborhood, let us know by nominating them to be a District Hero!

Our office is recruiting a new Planning Commissioner to serve District 4. If you have an interest in land use and development, please consider applying. Or if you know somebody who you think would be interested, please email our office.

Councilmember David Cohen promotes community cleanup events for residents throughout the year. It's a fun and easy way for everyone to get involved in their community, complete community service hours, and help serve their neighborhood by removing debris, trash and illegally dumped items from streets, creeks, and parks.

Join us in beautifying District 4 by participating in our next Neighborhood Clean Up!

If you would like to volunteer, please email Tim Orozco (tim.orozco@sanjoseca.gov)

We have a goal of planting 1,000 trees in our first term. We've partnered with Our City Forest to hold tree planting events at schools, parks, and at private properties.

If you'd like to volunteer to help plant trees or you want to see if your property is eligible to receive a free tree, please contact Tim Orozco - Tim.Orozco@sanjoseca.gov for more information.

Local businesses have a new opportunity to reinvigorate their business, save money, and support community-wide energy conservation efforts through a new program from San José Clean Energy, the local clean electricity provider operated by the City of San José.

The San José Energy Efficient Business Program has unlocked several rebates to San José business owners for qualifying HVAC, refrigeration, or water heating projects. These rebates, totaling up to 80–90% off the project cost, will make renovations to your small business more affordable and kickstarting these upgrades so much easier! All business customers with an active San José Clean Energy account are invited to participate. 

Want to see if your project qualifies for the rebates above? Learn more or find a participating contractor at SanJoseCleanEnergy.org/Business.

Monday - Friday 7:00 am - 4:00 pm at Berryessa Union School District, 1376 Piedmont Road. For more information email success@campusclini.org or call 855-286-2577.

Omicron specific booster shots are available for everyone who has had the two initial vaccinations. Reservations can be found at sccfreevax.org.