JOUR 61: Real Life News Story

SAN JOSE, Calif-- A week on from the unprecedented attention surrounding the “Little Saigon issue” the San Jose City Council met for their regular Tuesday meeting in an atmosphere that was much more comfortable for members of the council, Madison Nguyen in particular.

The public involvement in the meeting was a far cry from Last Tuesday night when the Vietnamese community packed City Hall to its capacity as regular service resumed-- inside the chambers at least.

The main issue on the agenda was the proposed redevelopment of the Airport West area and the iSTAR development. Included in this was the proposal for a soccer stadium to house the freshly returned San Jose Earthquakes Major League Soccer franchise. The development would see the earthquakes owner … fund the building of the stadium on the proviso that the city government rezones an area of land designated for industrial development to housing instead. The decision rests on whether the council believes that enough money would be made form the soccer stadium to cover the loss in taxes from the industrial area. The presentation by SportsEconomics, LLC included data exalting the financial virtues of having the stadium. The reports were accepted unanimously by the council, however vice-Mayor Cortese urged the planners to formulate back-up plans, “It may be worthwhile to talk about fall back positions just in case we had to transition quickly and move in another direction,” cautioned Cortese.

Also on the agenda were proposals aimed at ending homelessness within 10 years. The Blue Ribbon Commission presented their final report which proposes the city of San Jose and the country of Santa Clara working together to get people off the streets. Under the proposal the city would provide housing, whilst the county would provide the social services needed to keep them there. The rationale for this move is that in the long run the city will save money by providing housing for the homeless rather than having to keep paying for all the services, such as policing and hospital care. Co-chair of the commission is Mayor Chuck Reed. He stated passionately, “what we’re doing now doesn’t work. We have homeless on a merry go round and it costs a lot more to keep them on that merry go round than it will cost us to end homelessness.”

Another matter discussed on Tuesday was procedures for forming Community Benefit and Improvement Districts. The proposal is championed by councilmember PierLuigi Oliverio. The procedures would allow businesses in a given area would impose an extra tax on themselves in order to provide extra services in the area. Oliverio explained the benefits of the scheme, “This ordinance would not require city funding and in fact this ordinance would assist San Jose because property owners take it upon themselves to raise money for their area.” The general feeling among the council was positive, understandably so with the city’s current budget deficit. However, one member of the council, Nora Campos did oppose the procedures. Campos was concerned that the scheme would only benefit already affluent areas.