San Jose Mayor Targets Business, Blight, Jobs And Housing In Budget Plan

Campbell CA

11 March, 2021

4:26 PM

Description

By Carly Wipf, San Jose Spotlight March 10, 2021 Today San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo released a new spending plan with big goals for building up the economy and helping San Jose recover from COVID. San Jose leaders will soon discuss the city's budget for the fiscal year 2021-2022. The mayor's annual March Budget Message — which recommends how city dollars should be spent — kickstarts the conversation. Liccardo focuses on creating jobs, helping local businesses get back on their feet, and the homeless and housing crisis, which has worsened amid a COVID-driven recession. "With the anniversary of the nation's first stay-home order fast approaching, we can see ample signs of hope, but many challenges ahead," Liccardo said. "This is a marathon, not a sprint. We will need all of our collective focus, fortitude, and resilience to overcome this pandemic together." Business, blight, and housing The mayor's spending plan calls for additional funding to programs like San Jose Al Fresco which help businesses open safely outdoors during the pandemic. It also tackles blight. Residents have expressed concerns that illegal dumping is tainting San Jose's landscape. The mayor proposes expanding programs such as San Jose Bridge and Cash for Trash, which pay unhoused and low-income residents to collect trash around the city. People who participated in the program said they weren't paid for weeks until after San José Spotlight asked about it last year. To help San Jose's unhoused residents, Liccardo wants to create more emergency and traditional housing with the help of grants and philanthropic funding. Liccardo also wants the city to put at least $80 million in federal relief funding in the Budget Stabilization Reserve to prepare for future budget shortfalls. Jobs The mayor's strongest push is getting residents back to work through his Resilience Corps proposal. It would employ 500 young, low-income adults. The new jobs would support pandemic response, disaster preparedness, the environment and students who have struggled to learn during remote instruction. Liccardo's proposal also hopes to increase construction jobs to build an airport connector to major transit hubs. To crack down on crime in local parks, he aims to fill vacant park ranger positions with members of the Resilience Corps and volunteers. "Among the many crises wrought by the events of the last year, an entire generation of young adults have grappled with dimming life prospects under the crushing weight of poverty and extended unemployment, at a rate double that of the rest of our workforce," Liccardo said. "These same young people have the energy and talent to help us tackle many of our greatest challenges — from the pandemic to climate change to widening gaps in educational and economic outcomes. In the Resilience Corps, need meets opportunity." The plans outlined in the budget message aren't final until the San Jose City Council takes a vote. The council will vote on the message on March 16 at 1:30 p.m Contact Carly Wipf at [email protected] or follow @CarlyChristineW on Twitter.