Hi Neighbors,

The holiday season is here and with it a time of togetherness and traditions! Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Yalda, or the New Year, I wish you a joyful time with your loved ones.

Reflecting on this past year, I am grateful and proud of everything we have accomplished in District 8. We have strengthened our neighborhoods throughout Evergreen. Below are some high-level 2023 highlights:

Events and Community Beautification

• 39 clean-ups removing ~550 bags of litter
• 11 dumpster days removing over 200 tons of junk
• Family Fall Festival at Lake Cunningham Park, Health Fair Wellness Walk at Eastridge Center, Fire Safety Town Hall workshop at the Villages Clubhouse, 2 scam stoppers, 2 budget town halls, 2 CERT preparedness workshops, and 2 holiday celebrations including our Santa at the Square -- all serving thousands of District 8 residents.

Community Empowerment

• $150,000 in Small Business Grants for local mom-and-pop shops
• Funded 30 new police officers in the City Budget for Fiscal Year 2023-24
• $1.5 Million awarded towards Lake Cunningham for restoration and open space preservation
• Championed Pleasant Hills Golf Course community engagement
• Redesigned 4 intersections to improve pedestrian and traffic safety
• $8 Million grant to prevent both retail theft and burglaries by adding 300 new license plate readers throughout the City as well as District 8

The leadership and collaboration that have made this work possible will continue working diligently to improve District 8 and empower our neighborhoods.

As we gather with our loved ones, I want to honor our different traditions with full hearts and a spirit of kindness.

Thank you for being a part of District 8. Please stay connected as we have amazing things to look forward to in 2024!

Domingo Candelas

Councilmember, San José District 8

Learn more about our community work and accomplishments in my past monthly newsletters from February 2023 onward, which provide a wealth of information including updates on legislation, community events, and important issues like the City budget, public safety, homelessness and more.

Upcoming Events

Save the Date!

January 20th, 2024

9 AM - 10 AM; Doors open at 8:30 AM

Budget Town Hall and Breakfast

@ Evergreen Branch Library; Community Room

RSVP



Join us for breakfast with neighbors as we review the budget process!

Submit your questions or ideas about the city budget and discuss local District 8 ideas with your neighbors.

Stop by the Evergreen Branch Library on January 20th at 8:30 AM!

Police Redistricting Meeting with D8CRT

Thursday, January 11th, 2024

7pm-8pm

Grace Church of Evergreen, 2650 Aborn Rd.

In collaboration with the District 8 Community Roundtable, join in a discussion of police redistricting in the City and District 8.

Councilmember Candelas at the Farmer's Market

@ Evergreen Village Square

Stop by and share your thoughts and questions with me at the Farmer's Market. No appointments needed.

Every 3rd Wednesday and 3rd Sunday of the Month from 9AM - 10AM

In the Community

District 8 Leader Appreciation

Over the last 10 months, I have had the opportunity to work with hundreds of our residents on many different issues.

As the year comes to a close, I want to recognize members of our community who helped remove litter, organize meetings, host events, and overall improve the quality of life in District 8. This month, we came together to reflect and celebrate the progress we have made as we strive to increase public safety, build stronger neighborhoods, and improve our parks.

I look forward to continuing our collaboration in the coming year and adding even more District 8 community leaders to our next recognition event!

Viva Holidays at the Lake

This holiday season kicked off with a fun and festive evening under the stars at Lake Cunningham Park.

We enjoyed delicious food, family-friendly lawn games and holiday music, holiday decorations and 5 lit trees at the Cypress Pavilion, and had a hilarious time watching the classic holiday movie, Elf! 

Thank you again to those who attended and special thanks to our great Parks staff for helping us host a memorable Viva Holidays celebration. Our holiday décor at the Cypress Pavilion and Lake Cunningham entrances will remain on display through January 7th, 2024!

Santa at the Square

The holiday fun continued when Santa Claus made a local stop at the Evergreen Village Square this month!

Thank you to all of our neighbors and friends who came out to make ornament crafts, enjoy some lawn games around holiday music, take festive pictures, and enjoy a cup of hot cocoa and delicious churros. Thank you to the Evergreen Coffee Co. for the cocoa!

Special thanks to our dedicated Norwood neighborhood leader Michael Gabler for bringing so much holiday cheer to all!

Our holiday décor at the square will also remain

on display through January 7th, 2024!

2023 Winter Coat Drive Recap

We also wrapped up our District 8 Winter Coat Drive in partnership with Mary Escobar from LeyVa Middle School! Thanks to the incredible generosity of District 8 residents, we had an all-time record of 2,200 coats collected in less than 4 weeks!

During this season of giving, our community members donated 2,200 coats, sweaters, and jackets! Each item will go directly to a person in need, courtesy of our non-profit partner Opening Doors 2020. 

Thank you to everyone who donated at our many donation bin locations from schools and libraries, to our community center and pop-up coat drive locations. A very big thank you to all our early-bird coat drive volunteers and Mary Escobar from LeyVa Middle School for organizing the ‘Warm for Winter Coat Drive’ year after year.

Together, we are making a difference in our community! 

Park Community Day Beautification!

Thank you to the many neighbors and local students who came together to beautify our neighborhoods and enhance the natural beauty of our parks at Welch, Lake Cunningham, and Brigadoon!

Together, we raked leaves, pulled weeds, removed litter and graffiti, repainted some benches and gazebos, and cleared slides of debris. I am always proud to see the power of our volunteers in action and look forward to supporting the 2024 cleanups and community days that are to come.

Meadowfair Community Day

Building on our previous efforts at Meadowfair Park, we came back to tackle some of the at-large areas in full force!

Empowering our neighborhoods takes hard work and I am fully committed to continue creating a safer and cleaner community, one park at a time. 

I also want to welcome our newly established Meadowfair Neighborhood Association Board Leaders. Together we can make a difference - continuing our local adopt-a-park and more.

Vietnamese Flag Raising

For the last few months of the year, our office attended the United Vietnamese American Flag Raising at the Vietnamese Heritage Garden on the first Saturday of the month. It is great to see community groups and leaders along with the Boy Scouts come together for this honorable ceremony.  

Crime Prevention Meetings

Thank you to the residents of the Silver Creek HOA, Yerba Buena HOA, Judi Ann Ct., and other crime prevention meetings this month for staying informed and participating in stronger neighborhood initiatives.

Special thanks to SJPD and their Crime Prevention Division specialists for providing us with the latest information on how to be an effective neighborhood watch.

Gun Buyback at Hillview Airport

In collaboration with various local offices including SJPD, our county Sheriff's and District Attorney's offices, we were able to collect over 407 firearms, including 2 ghost guns, a ghost gun mold, and a rocket launcher during our Gun Buyback.

By reducing the number of unwanted and unregistered firearms in circulation, we are making a significant difference in contributing to a safer community for residents and law enforcement. 

Senior Scam Stopper at Atria

Earlier this month, I held a successful Senior Scam Stopper at Atria Evergreen Valley with the Mediation Services Unit from the District Attorney’s Office, and Cyberknights- a student-led club that seeks to raise awareness on safe digital navigation by minimizing people’s vulnerability to cyber threats. 

Con Azucar Grand Opening

Con Azucar Café has officially opened its second location- now at

5651 Silver Creek Valley Rd! 

Their ribbon-cutting ceremony was a celebration of community perseverance and Mexican culture, bringing together residents from all over District 8! 

As a bonus, their grand opening was on Small Business Saturday- a day when we all strive to support the many mom-and-pop shops that help run our community. Make sure to stop by and support a local small business.

Community Night at Christmas in the Park

On December 11, we had a full house as our office hosted a District 8 Community Night at Christmas in the Park.

We had an evening of wonderful performances on the Jingle Stage from Overfelt High School’s Folklorico La Raza and Mariachi Club, Interstate, and Folklorico Alpha!

Holiday Season Events in District 8

I want to give one more round of applause to all our involved community leaders who hosted this month's fantastic events!

The holiday season was in full swing throughout our community! Earlier this month, I had a holly, jolly time decorating trees in the Creekside neighborhood. I enjoyed the various crafts, games, and snacks at the District 8 Community Roundtable Holiday Fair where Santa Clause also stopped by for a visit!

The Firefighters also hosted their annual Holiday Toy Drive, and

Santa and Mrs. Claus came down to the Vovinam Viet-Vo-Dao Christmas for Kids Toy Drive!

We also had our Welch Park champions lead their annual Family Giving Tree gift distribution where I partnered with our ROCK Afterschool program to add a few Christmas trees for any families who might not have

gotten one yet this year. Thank you, Laura Arechiga and ROCK staff

for your spirit of giving.

And thank you all again for your dedication to our District 8 families and community. I look forward to our upcoming 2024 collaborations!

Your Tax Dollars at Work

Falls Creek Park Slide Replacement and Turf Repair

The play structure slide and turf were severely damaged in 2022 following a vehicular crash. It was recently replaced through property damage costs recovered from the driver's car insurance

City Hall Update

Clean Street Sweeps

With a wet winter forecasted, it's important to work together to keep our waterways clean and healthy. Before storm water is discharged into local creeks and streams, the City works to remove litter and fine particles that can pollute our bay and waterways. Street sweeping is one important tool in this effort.

Visit the City's street sweep lookup to find your sweeping schedule.

Learn more about street sweeping and how you can help us make a clean sweep by visiting the City's clean sweep page or downloading our trilingual brochure.

Speed Safety Cameras

In October, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 645 into law allowing a speed safety camera pilot project in our City.

The most frequent question we have heard is where are the cameras going to go? The program is currently under development and will need further evaluation for final placements. There is a limit to how many cameras can be in service at one time during the pilot project timeframe, so it is important to place them where they will have the biggest public safety benefit. We will be working with neighborhoods to refine the list of candidate locations.

Learn more about the speed safety camera project as it develops on the City Department of Transportation webpage.

Announcements

Slow Down Pledge

We still have a pressing need for expanding Vision Zero in San José.

Vision Zero is a vital initiative aimed at eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries, making our streets safer for everyone. We must continue to take steps to prevent such senseless tragedies from occurring in the future. Take the Pledge to drive the speed limit.