In his “Dear Neighbor” letter to his constituents, I surmised that for San Jose neighborhood to be safe, Mayor Matt Mahan needs to concentrate on two things: conduct regular clean-up drives and address the issue on homelessness.
I think, the young mayor somehow connects clean parks and managed vacant spaces specially along the creeks as key factors that will discourage homeless people to settle in those areas and ensure safe living.
Picking up a paragraph of his message to the people, he mentioned: “Along the edge of the park near the creek–a greenspace that should be open and clean–was filled with debris, rotting former belongings and human excrement, and dozens of stolen shopping carts. Even after two clean-ups, the park and surrounding environment are still impacted by camping and neighbors have told me they don’t feel safe using the park. This is unacceptable. We can’t make lasting progress if we have people living in unmanaged, unsafe conditions without security, sanitation and basic rules.”
The mayor is saying that two clean-ups was not enough to discourage camping in the area and maintain cleanliness and safe living conditions. Instead, we need sustained clean-ups and regular maintenance of the areas to make sure the place is preserved and safe.
So, he took steps in addressing the issue by launching weekly Saturday clean-ups. The first clean-up drive organized was at Watson Park, which as attested by some, “how terrific the conditions were.”
To him, to treat homelessness in the area is to “restore the park to what it should be – clean, safe, welcoming place for everyone to enjoy,” actually a bold step as promised when he took office
He noted that this neighborhood will be the first to see the benefits of a “new solution we are going to test — one that will preserve our park and protect it from re-encampment – our first Safe Sleeping Site.”
Mayor Mahan said: “My team and Councilmember Peter Torres’ office recently went door-to-door, letting neighbors know that they’ll be the first to see the effects of this new approach. We’ll be working with the neighborhood every step of the way to ensure this solution benefits everyone.”
Mahan further said: “Likely to open in early 2025, these sites will serve those currently living in encampments in the immediate vicinity first. We will then create no encampment zones within a minimum two-block radius of the site to prevent the unmanaged, unsafe sites from returning to the neighborhood. This is a new approach that we believe will reduce the impacts of encampments and help get people stabilized and on a path toward self-sufficiency as we invest in more treatment beds, shelter beds and affordable housing. All of these solutions are valuable, but we can’t wait for the most permanent solutions in order to take action on the crisis in front of us today.”
There were reports that the encampment was filthy, unhealthy, messy and residents around the area are complaining “the community is not safe” and security is a main concern due to the homelessness issue. Safe sleeping sites, I figured out, is one idea the Mayor has in mind to temper homelessness and the implementation of a safe sleeping site.
The young mayor’s determination to keep his promise of a safe San Jose is in the pipeline. “We’re still working through the details of operation, including how many people will be served at this site, but we know that services will include sanitation, trash pick-up, security and case management. There will be a code of conduct strictly enforced with bans on weapons and drug use on site, and support in accessing the resources our homeless neighbors need to get on a better path…”, he explained.
He mentioned in his message to the neighbors that: “This site will be the first of a few to move forward this year, as we step up our efforts to end the era of unmanaged, unsafe encampments and all of the issues that come with them.”
He acknowledged that what they have done so far needs to be doubled in response to neighborhood feedbacks. “Last year, we reduced unsheltered homelessness in San Jose by nearly 11%, but far too many neighborhoods are still severely impacted by unmanaged encampments and can’t wait years until enough affordable housing is built. While we take an “all of the above” approach that includes building new treatment beds via our county government, tiny homes, safe parking sites, and affordable housing (as well as investments in upstream homelessness prevention), we will also move more decisively to manage the situation on our streets for everyone’s sake. That’s what safe sleeping sites are all about.”
Furthermore, he continued: “We can’t allow our public spaces to fall into squalor any more than we can allow our homeless neighbors to live in it – that’s why we’re moving with urgency to create a better quality of life for all of us. We’ll keep you updated in the coming weeks and months as we continue to make progress and work with the immediate neighbors to establish a Safe Sleeping Site that works for everyone.”
Part of the plan to creating a safer San Jose, Mahan continued, is arresting the same people over and over again for public possession of hard drugs “because it erodes public trust, it undermines our system of justice, and if left unchecked, it could lead to death by overdose for him or others. Our small businesses are suffering, our students are cared, and our officers’ time are being wasted.”
He emphasized that “Prop 36 gives judges new tools to mandate that repeat drug offenders engage in treatment programs, increases punishment for repeat and organized theft, classifies fentanyl as a hard drug, and requires that those convicted of selling fentanyl are told that continuing dealing can lead to a murder charge.”
It seems that the mayor is seriously moving forward to making true his promise to keep the neighborhoods clean and safe when he was elected to office as Mayor of San Jose,
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