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Long story short…
Here’s what you need to know this week — in 30 seconds or less:
- Rain comes down next week and we all have a job to do
- We have a solution for Lighthouse — and for their neighbors
- We’ve been developing the strictest regulations in the nation for data centers
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In San José, we have 32,000 storm drain inlets. 60 storm hotspots with a history of flooding or landslides. Over 140 miles of creeks and rivers.
And hundreds of people who work year-round to prepare for whatever storms might come our way.
This week, I want to share what we do and how you can help prepare yourself and your neighbors for the rainy season. Because next week we may get our first rain and we’re predicted to have a very wet winter ahead.
Each year, we inspect, clean and maintain our storm drains and the 30 stormwater pump stations that keep rainwater moving to help prevent our streets and neighborhoods from flooding. We keep a close eye on all areas prone to flooding.
And we review emergency response plans and make sure crews are ready to keep you safe in case of disaster.
Our firefighters and police officers stand ready to respond to emergencies, rescue residents in dangerous conditions, and protect lives when every second counts. Because we’ve moved hundreds of people out of our waterways and into shelter, we can spend less time clearing riverbanks and firefighters should have fewer water rescues during a storm, meaning more time to respond to calls for service in our neighborhoods.
Our Housing Department works with outreach teams to connect our homeless neighbors with shelter and opens overnight warming locations when temperatures drop.
Our building inspectors are ready to support any repair or rebuild. And our Environmental Services and BeautifySJ teams work every day to keep debris and pollutants out of our waterways in the first place.
There are so many people who work here at the City with one single mission: to keep you safe.
And we can’t do it alone.
We have incredible community organizations doing this work every day. Groups like the Coyote Mudlarks, Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful, South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition, the Trash Punx, and hundreds of residents who’ve stepped up to adopt storm drains and keep our neighborhoods clean.
You’re a part of this team – every year I hear from people who are proud of the work they do to clear the storm drain out front of their home to protect their home and their neighbors’ homes. I hear from people who did their part by reporting a downed tree or a flooded street to 3-1-1 and saw it resolved. I hear from members of our Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) who take care of their whole block – checking in on elderly neighbors, people with disabilities, and anyone who may need an extra hand. You can join CERT right here.
These are neighbors who don’t wait for a storm to start helping. They roll up their sleeves long before the first drop of rain. I’ll be joining them in our creeks this fall to pull debris out — and I hope you come too. If you’ve ever been to one of our weekly Saturday clean ups, you know it’s that kind of community effort that makes San José stronger.
And if getting out into the waterways isn’t your cup of tea, there’s an even more basic way you can prepare for this winter and make our city more resilient: making sure you are prepared at home for whatever nature might throw our way. You can learn all about emergency preparedness, including having a grab-and-go bag and the right emergency supplies for any scenario, right here.
Our city teams are doing their part. Our community partners are doing theirs. And I’m asking every San José resident to do the same. Let’s get San José storm-ready!
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Housing costs in California have been rising faster than incomes for years. In fact, over the last 15 years, the average price of a typical home in San José has grown 3 times! Average incomes have not. This causes a lot of unnecessary stress and harm in our community as families make difficult tradeoffs or simply have to uproot their lives and leave town.
That’s why I’ve been so focused on making it easier to build up where it makes sense: in places like Downtown, along our transit corridors, and in our planned urban villages. So we can make room for working families and our kids and grandkids without overwhelming infrastructure that is already stretched in many places (you don’t have to look further than the morning commute on 101, 280, 880, 85 or 87 to see an example).
This week I was invited to “top off” a great example of this kind of “in-fill housing,” right next to transit and just blocks from multiple restaurants and public parks.
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The seven-story housing project you see above was once a vacant office building and parking lot. And now, it’s just months away from welcoming over 200 residents.
Nestled right between Japantown and Downtown, this is one of the most walkable areas of the city with easy access to transit. This project is common sense.
We need more projects like this one, but the truth is that getting housing built in California is still far too difficult, expensive, and time-consuming.
That's why I was excited to announce this Thursday that San José was selected as one of the first 15 cities in the country to receive support from Bloomberg Philanthropies to make housing permitting faster, simpler, and less expensive. We’re setting a goal of cutting our permit processing timelines in half through this pilot, which should reform how we permit housing forevermore.
So this week we didn’t just top off 118 new homes. We launched an initiative to make building a lot more possible in the years ahead.
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Over the past couple weeks, I’ve heard from many of you about Pastor Olmos, whose work I’ve been following for a few years now.
In case you don’t know him, Pastor Olmos leads Lighthouse Ministries and distributes meals to hundreds of people every single day out of a space he leases in the Northside neighborhood.
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So when I heard that Code Enforcement had sent him a code compliance letter that could result in fines, I was as concerned as many of you.
I called our City Manager’s team to encourage a collaborative approach, and reached out to the Pastor directly.
Afterwards, I started hearing from many of Lighthouse’s neighbors, who are concerned about the impact that a major food distribution operation is having on their residential neighborhood. The sidewalk has been blocked for years, leading to problems for elderly and disabled folks in the neighborhood, cars are often double parked, and so forth.
So our goal is two-fold: help Lighthouse and Pastor Olmos continue their good work and help them come into compliance with city law to ensure that they aren’t violating ADA regulations by blocking the sidewalk.
My team, Councilmember Tordillos’ team, and the Housing Department have been working every day to find an alternative location for Lighthouse near their current location and the people they serve.
We will keep you informed as we continue looking for a location that meets the growing needs of the organization and provides the neighborhood with some much-needed relief.
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As the Capital of Silicon Valley, we have a responsibility to lead the nation in regulating the development of infrastructure that powers AI, the internet and our increasingly digital world. We’re proposing some of the strictest standards in the country while ensuring our residents share in the benefits of the innovation happening in our own backyard.
In April, a few colleagues and I called for stronger regulation of the data centers being proposed in our city. And over the past few months, the city administration has undertaken an extensive community engagement process to make sure that the entire city has an opportunity to help us regulate these facilities, not just to prevent harm, but to ensure that if a data center moves forward in San José its owner is required to make meaningful investments in our community.
I believe it’s critical to hear directly from residents about your concerns and priorities before we approve any new projects. Over the last few months, we’ve held dozens of listening sessions with hundreds of residents, neighborhood associations, environmental and labor groups, partner agencies, students and others. We shared draft standards early and refined them between sessions based on what we’ve heard. And as a direct result of that feedback, the current regulations include a 100% carbon-neutral energy requirement, significant restrictions on potable water use and backup generators, noise and sewer discharge monitoring, architectural standards, new fees for energy bill reductions for residents and new affordable housing, and expanded public notification and transparency throughout the process.
In September, Governor Newsom signed seven bills to protect ratepayers from the cost of electrical grid upgrades, increase transparency around water use and limit environmental review exemptions. Our proposed standards go further, adding stricter local requirements on water use, clean energy, air quality, and community benefits.
Staff presented the draft standards on Thursday evening – you can take a look at them here.
Next, they’ll be shared with the Planning Commission on November 18th before coming before the Council for a vote in December, so there’s still plenty of time to weigh in on these proposals and help us get this right. San José will never be a place that says no to investment and innovation, but we also won’t be a place that allows corporations to harm our community and our environment in service of their bottom line.
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Golden State Valkyries: Finals Watch Party
Monday, October 19th
Spark Social San José, 140 S Montgomery St, San Jose, CA, 95110
Let’s go, Valkyries! The team that’s making history, breaking barriers, and changing the game deserves a watch party to match. Rep your colors, bring your besties, and let’s make some noise for the Valkyries! RSVP here.
Diwali Carnival
Saturday, October 24th from 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Plaza de San Jose, 1 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose, CA 95113
Enjoy vibrant cultural performances, traditional Ravan Dehan ceremony, authentic Indian food vendors, Bollywood music & dance, and carnival fun for the whole family. No tickets needed — everyone is welcome! Learn more here.
Disney on Ice: Find Your Hero
Thursday, October 22nd through Sunday, October 25th
SAP Center, 525 W Santa Clara St, San Jose, CA 95113
Hosted by Mickey and Friends, Disney On Ice presents Find Your Hero — a celebration of bravery, courage, and the heroes within us all. Sail away with Moana on her epic voyage. Feel the chill with Anna, Elsa, and Olaf as they restore summer. Move to the rhythms of Encanto as Mirabel’s family celebrates their unique gifts. Grab your tickets here.
Trick Or Treat Trail
Sunday, October 25th from 10:00 to 11:30 AM
Winchester Mystery House, 525 S Winchester Blvd, San Jose, CA 95128
Celebrate Halloween at the Winchester Mystery House’s Trick-Or-Treat Trail on Sunday, October 25. Families can enjoy trick-or-treating, pumpkin decorating, games, face painting and more in the Front Gardens. Proceeds benefit Valle Monte League, which supports mental health agencies across the Bay Area. Learn more here.
AI for All
Friday, November 6th
King Library, 150 E San Fernando St, San Jose, CA 95112
Join Grow with Google for a free, in-person workshop to help small businesses in San José and the surrounding area build new skills to grow their businesses online. If you’re just getting started using AI, this workshop will be perfect for you. If you’re already an AI wiz, you might still learn something useful. Find more information here.
| | More Behavioral Health Centers | | |
For the past decade, the San José Behavioral Health Center has delivered compassionate mental health services to those who need it most. We need more places like it. We all know someone who needed care at one point or another. And too often, that care simply doesn’t exist. Especially here in California.
The City, the County, and the State each have different responsibilities, resources, and tools. Closing the gaps takes all three levels of government working together — along with the funding to build and sustain the beds and services our community needs.San José will keep pushing the County and State to do their part. If we're going to solve this problem, we're going to have to solve it together.
| | You know they say San José is the biggest city that’s kept its small town feel — and I think that’s thanks to people like Joshua and neighborhoods like Little Italy where everyone treats you like family. This event is annual, but the food and company is year round. Stop by sometime soon! | | All year long, we've seen San José come together — for sports, for community, and for each other. The fun doesn't stop here. Check out Spark Social San José and join in! | | Good customer service is the foundation of good government. This week, more than 600 city workers stepped out of City Hall and into our neighborhoods for our annual day of service. There’s nothing more important that ensuring our teams are on the ground, speaking to all of you, and having a direct impact on the communities we serve. | | San José's Living Legends | | In 1968, Dr. Tommie Smith and Dr. John Carlos raised their fists on the Olympic medal stand, making history and reminding the world that sports can be a powerful platform for justice and equality. | | |
At City Hall, we’re carrying that legacy forward through inclusive hiring in SJPD, efforts to end poverty in the Mayfair neighborhood, and standing up for our community’s values by signing onto lawsuits against the Trump administration.
Alongside San José’s African American Community Services Agency (AACSA) and SJSU, our city came together to honor these Living Legends. We're working towards a San José where everyone feels valued, supported, and has the opportunity to live the American Dream.
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