San José District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan and former District 10 Councilmember Arjun Batra proposed the housing initiative SJ Lifting up liVes (SJ LUV) to help the unhoused community.
The initiative is a pilot program that intends to use pre-engineered structures to create shelters and up to 1,000 beds for unhoused people, according to a webpage from the City of San José.
Pre-engineered structures are building components manufactured in a factory and then assembled on the site according to a webpage from Schemmer, a full-service architecture consultancy.
“(If) you come to San José, we’re not denying you any services,” Doan said. “We’re here to help you, support you (and) save your lives but you can’t be out (on) the street.”
Will Komar, a campaign associate for District 3 special election candidate Matthew Quevedo, commends Doan for the proposal.
“I would give Bien Doan a lot of praise for what he’s done with this initiative,” Komar said. “I would say that other districts within the city (and) other cities within California should take note of this, especially if it begins to yield positive results.”
Permanent supportive housing costs can range from somewhere between $1.2 million to $1.4 million per bed according to a Feb. 29, 2024 City of San José memorandum.
This initiative is being proposed in the midst of a budget deficit that has been at $60 million since December according to a March. 13 article from San José Spotlight.
The program also plans to use California Wraparound services which is a planning process that strives to improve the well-being of children and families, according to a webpage from the County of Santa Clara.
Gabriela Gabrian, an executive committee director of the Lived Experience Advisory Board of Silicon Valley expressed some concern for the initiative.
Regarding the District 7 Councilmember Doan’s program, plans have been made to work with the city attorney to change the city’s municipal code, according to the same memorandum.
“They’re not coming out of concern for the unhoused community; they’re coming out of concern for the housed community,” Gabrian said. “It's just like any other service. It's not so much what is given, it's how it's given.”
Komar also addressed the detail in the memorandum that outlines how Councilmember Doan plans to execute the initiative.
“I was really happy to see that they were talking about in the actual report (working) with the city attorney and the city government to physically change laws,” Komar said.
A couple of law changes that they are pushing for are amplified towing authority and cracking down on homeless encampments according to the same source.
The city has currently picked 30 locations where it will inform people living in RVs to move or accept the homeless services or else their vehicle will be towed away according to Jan.7 KRON4 article.
“It sounds wonderful; they’re going to do what they’re going to do, but it just feels like by impounding people’s cars (and) enforcing municipal codes (is) really disregarding what people need,” Gabrian said.
One thing that Doan also plans to do is develop a performance tracker to assess the effectiveness of the initiative which can also be found in the memorandum.
This means that once the program is implemented, he is going to periodically check and see how it is being received by the community and how effective it is as a solution to homelessness in the city.
“I think that (it’s) really important to take on that massive problem that is really causing problems all across California (and) not just in San José, but to lead it with understanding,” Komar said. “Most of these people are not destined for homelessness.”
The districts that will be directly affected by this pilot program are District 2, District 7 and District 10 as seen in the memorandum.
District 7, where the pilot program is projected to start is located south of San José State, according to the district map on the city council webpage.
“It sounds good the way they put it on paper, but we’ll see how it is going to run,” Gabrian said. “I’m really grateful for the fact that they want to house people but the manner that they’re doing it is very abrupt and feels like Auschwitz.”
