{"id":21384,"date":"2023-06-07T09:00:36","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T13:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=21384"},"modified":"2023-06-08T13:50:40","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T17:50:40","slug":"san-jose-officials-challenge-mayors-move-to-divert-affordable-housing-funds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/san-jose-officials-challenge-mayors-move-to-divert-affordable-housing-funds\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose Officials Challenge Mayor\u2019s Move to Divert Affordable Housing Funds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has found himself in hot water for trying to divert funding away from\u00a0<\/span>affordable housing programs<\/span><\/a>\u00a0toward more short-term housing options for people exiting homelessness.<\/span><\/p>\n

The crux of the disagreement rests on how\u00a0<\/span>San Jose<\/span><\/a>\u00a0should spend the dollars captured by Measure E, a property tax plan that voters approved in 2020 that only applies to sales or transfers of properties valued at $2 million or more.<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, the city has about $136 million of Measure E funds to spend over the next two years. Mayor Mahan has proposed allocating just $53 million of those funds for long-term affordable housing projects instead of the $106 million that was previously planned. San Jose city council members David Cohen and Sergio Jimenez have proposed a plan to spend about $86 million of Measure E funds on long-term housing projects instead.<\/span><\/p>\n

The dispute also indicates how divisive the affordable housing funding topic has become in San Jose.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mahan has said that building shelters is a key priority for helping people move off the streets. However, housing advocates have argued that diverting money from projects funded by Measure E would prevent several projects from being completed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese projects are ready to go, but the city keeps delaying funding, and then the cost increases to build,\u201d Ray Bramson, COO of Destination: Home, a housing advocacy group,\u00a0<\/span>told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u201cAffordable housing development is going to be on pause for an indefinite period of time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Affordable housing and homelessness have become hot topics in San Jose over the past few years.<\/span><\/h4>\n

The city\u2019s median home price has climbed from around $1 million in April 2020 to more than $1.3 million as of April 2023, a more than 28% increase. Meanwhile, federal one-night count data found more than 1,900 people living on San Jose\u2019s streets in 2022, representing an increase of nearly 20% since 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

In response, Mahan proposed a $1.5 billion budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year that he\u00a0<\/span>described in March<\/span><\/a>\u00a0as a plan to go \u201cback to the basics\u201d of focusing on crime, homelessness, and blight.<\/span><\/p>\n

Part of that plan included moving 1,000 unhoused residents into \u201cmanaged environments\u201d by the end of the year and a one-time doubling of Measure E funding for homeless prevention programs.<\/span><\/p>\n

By May, Mahan had reallocated Measure E funding from affordable housing projects to homeless services instead of taking funds from another budget line item. That plan caused some commotion inside city hall.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely need emergency interim housing, but we also need to make sure that we\u2019re dedicating dollars for the development of affordable housing,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Councilman Peter Ortiz told the California Globe.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u201cMeasure E is one of our only sources for that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mahan\u2019s office told San Jose Spotlight that they are working to strike a balance with city council members. However, some city councilors say the move seems almost entirely political.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe mayor made this process more political than it should have been, which I expressed to him on several occasions,\u201d Cohen told San Jose Spotlight. \u201cI was focused on finding solutions that address our priorities rather than politics.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While the debate inside city hall rages on, unhoused residents of San Jose continue to face\u00a0<\/span>sweeps<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or city-sanctioned encampment cleanups.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Most recently, a group living near Coyote Creek was evicted from their encampment by \u201ca small army of backhoes, earthmovers, garbage trucks, and police cars,\u201d Patch.com reported.<\/span><\/p>\n

The city said the sweep was necessary because of a flood control project scheduled to begin soon. However, some unhoused folks and advocates described the sweep as traumatizing and said the city needs to do more to offer unhoused folks alternative places to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere should have been more done to make sure the most fragile and the most traumatized, and the most at-risk people, the unhoused, were protected first,\u201d advocate Shaunn Cartwright told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/span><\/p>\n

How You Can Help<\/span><\/h3>\n

Now is not the time to be silent about homelessness in California or anywhere else. While blaming a single politician for today\u2019s housing struggles is easy, the truth is much more profound.<\/span><\/p>\n

Poverty and homelessness are both policy choices, not personal failures. That\u2019s why we need you to\u00a0<\/span>contact your officials<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and tell them you support legislation that:<\/span><\/p>\n