Mahan: San Jose will not be dumping ground for other cities’ unhoused residents

Despite suffering a legislative setback in Sacramento San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is pushing ahead with his crusade to ensure all counties and cities do their fair share to solve the homelessness emergency as he explores legal options to prevent the city from becoming a dumping ground for unhoused residents coming in from elsewhere Related Articles Man sentenced in East Bay murder occurrence after concerns of political meddling by former DA Pamela Price San Jose opens its first interim housing site on private land Is San Jose making progress on homelessness or are selected of its wins superficial Legislators gut bill that sought to force California counties to share city shelter costs Supportive housing project in Oakland pushes ahead with property deal State legislators gutted a Mahan-sponsored bill last week that attempted to force counties to pay half of the operational costs of city-run interim housing and shelter But the latest sweep of an RV encampment primarily comprised of residents from other cities underscored the need for a explanation when jurisdictions push their problems into San Jose The goal here isn t to point fingers but rather to protect our locality defend the investments our residents have made in shelter and services and ensure that every city strategies up to do its fair share Mahan declared If we find evidence of coordinated displacement or dereliction of duty the next step could include seeking injunctive relief or recovering costs tied to housing and cleanup This is about fairness and we re doing the work to end unsheltered homelessness in San Jose and asking others to do the same A drone view of recreational vehicles parked along Alviso Milpitas Road near McCarthy Boulevard and Ranch Drive in Milpitas Calif on Monday April McCarthy Boulevard and Milpitas are seen above A sweep of the homeless encampment is being made this week and people will have to move their vehicles Jane Tyska Bay Area News Group This year San Jose will add nearly interim housing placements through opening new tiny home communities and safe parking and safe sleeping sites The city s shelter system could expand by more than spaces by the end of this year when hotel and motel room conversions are also factored in However as San Jose pursues one of the majority ambitious plans in the state to expand its shelter system city officers have ramped up a broader campaign to encourage other cities and counties to follow suit including championing decree that could compel their participation Mahan for example sponsored SB the bill introduced by state Sen Catherine Blakespear D-Encinitas that aimed to require counties to cover half the operating costs of city-run interim housing and shelters But a Senate committee stripped the cost-sharing provision due to concerns over how the bill would work in different counties and be paid for He also sponsored a bill from Sen Josh Becker D-Menlo Park that sought to require local jurisdictions applying for state homelessness funding to submit an assessment of how they can achieve functional zero a model that ensures more people are leaving their homeless situation than the number of residents becoming unhoused The reality is that only the state can create a comprehensive framework for ensuring that every city and every county does its fair share on homelessness playing to their respective strengths Mahan disclosed Though San Jose has hit a roadblock in its statewide efforts Mahan has also requested the city attorney s office to assess its legal options in cases where neighboring cities encourage the relocation of their homeless population through abatements or laws Mahan commented this latest proposal stems from his observations around the region and conversations with unhoused residents Lynn Shipman cleans off her wagon as she prepares to move her trailer from Alviso Milpitas Road in San Jose Calif on Monday April A sweep of the homeless encampment is being made this week and people will have to move their vehicles Jane Tyska Bay Area News Group For example last week the city began clearing a -plus car encampment on Alviso-Milpitas Road near the site of Microsoft s future figures center in North San Jose That encampment grew substantially three years ago when Milpitas imposed stricter rules on camping on society property More just now countless vehicles joined the encampment in response to Fremont s crackdown on camping However San Jose lacks reliable material to track the number of unhoused residents who have come to the city and their impact on taxpayer-funded services Jeff Scott a housing department spokesperson notified the Bay Area News Group that San Jose does not have any city-specific details and the point-in-time count detected that approximately of unhoused residents in Santa Clara County had been living outside of Santa Clara County when they became homeless The city also proven that when it conducted outreach at the Alviso-Milpitas Road encampment before the abatement it did not inquire about the locations from which people had relocated Mahan acknowledged the city s facts shortcomings and the need for improvement but also noted that other parts of the region face the same factors contributing to homelessness yet do not appear to experience the same level of issues When I drive around the county and I look along the streets and creeks and see very inadequate tents I know for a fact that San Jose is not the only city to have individuals experiencing job loss serious wellness issues addiction and mental illness Mahan explained I think it s very clear that a number of cities are banning camping and pushing homeless people out of their jurisdictions Various come to San Jose so we will need to do a better job of qualifying that A Milpitas police officer talks to people in recreation vehicles along Alviso Milpitas Road in Milpitas Calif on Monday April A sweep of the homeless encampment is being made this week and people will have to move their vehicles Jane Tyska Bay Area News Group Although San Jose has not targeted Fremont despite its contributions to the Alviso-Milpitas encampment Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan shared Mahan s frustrations and the need for more accountability while noting that his city has taken in residents from San Jose Hayward Oakland and San Francisco Salwan announced that because homelessness is a regional issue it would need a collaborative approach and information from all branches of administration to provide housing and supportive services so we re not just shuffling people around I think we should form a regional task force and get all the different bureaucrats in the same room and kind of hammer this out Salwan noted We do need the county and the state to step up Cities were never meant to handle all of this While the California State Association of Counties opposed the cost-sharing bill Mahan sponsored county functionaries from around the state shared similar sentiments about the need for a joint effort during a discussion on the gaps in responsibility under state law that occurred at the organization s legislative conference last week This is a shared burden and opportunity Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell reported We can t do this as individual levels of regime However there are still particular disagreements between cities and counties over the roles they all play Meanwhile Mahan remained confident it was not a matter of if but when the state would adopt the fair share policies he has pushed He reiterated that the Supreme Court s decision in Grants Pass v Johnson which allowed cities to ban encampments without offering an alternative could not become a green light to criminalize homelessness and push unhoused residents into neighboring communities We re one of the scant cities in the Bay Area dramatically expanding our shelter and interim housing system to meet the scale of this emergency but we cannot solve it for the entire region Mahan commented We are compassionate and committed to ending this predicament but we will not be taken advantage of