San José City Council voted unanimously in favor of increasing the period where unhoused residents can be arrested for a misdemeanor if they lay down on the sidewalk or a bench.
Deputy Chief Gina Tibaldi for the San José Police Department said the police department wanted city council to amend an ordinance known as Municipal Code Section Chapter 10.10 of Title 10.
The ordinance prohibits sitting and lying down with or without a blanket, chair, stool or other items on sidewalks in designated areas of the downtown region between 10 a.m. and midnight, according to a memorandum from the city of San José.
The purpose of the ordinance is to keep sidewalks free from obstructions and make Downtown San José a safer place to walk, according to the same source from the city.
“Many people who work in the downtown businesses walk to work from their homes or from nearby transit stations and off-site parking lots,” Tibaldi said. “Students commuting or walking to downtown schools use the sidewalks in the early morning hours.
Tibaldi said the police department wanted the city to shift the start time from 10 a.m. to 8 a.m. closer to when businesses and schools start for the day.
These designated areas are sidewalks located in a region bordered by Route 87, Julian Street, Fourth Street and Interstate 280, and sidewalks on Santa Clara Street between Fourth and Tenth Street, according to the same memorandum.
Alex Stettinski, the CEO for the San José Downtown Association, said he wants to emphasize the importance of maintaining a safe, welcoming and accessible downtown for everyone.
Around 10,390 people are unhoused in Santa Clara County, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
However, Stettinski also said he wants the city to focus on outreach and provide more social support for the unhoused community.
“We must ensure that downtown remains a place where businesses can thrive,” Stettinski said. “However, enforcement alone is not the solution . . . Visitors (need to) feel comfortable and our most vulnerable residents (need to) receive the support they deserve.”
Close to 50% of unhoused residents reported that they stayed in an emergency shelter or on the street at one point between 2022 and 2023, according to San Jose’s 2023 Point-in-Time count.
Sandy Perry, an unhoused advocate with the Unhoused Response Group, said he thinks the city council is going in the wrong direction by changing the ordinance.
The Unhoused Response Group is a volunteer group that serves unhoused residents by delivering backpacks with food and more, according to its Facebook page.
“This is another disgraceful direction of the city council, which is to the idea that the solution to homelessness (houselessness) is to punish people,” Perry said.
Shaunn Cartwright, the founder of the Unhoused Response Group, said she thinks this change in the ordinance will lead more unhoused residents to be pushed into different areas.
Cartwright also estimates that more unhoused residents will begin to use public transit as spaces to sit or rest throughout the day and evening.
“You (an unhoused resident) could at least sleep sitting up and you would be dry or you wouldn’t be too hot (depending) on the season,” Cartwright said.
Around 26% of unhoused resident respondents reported they had access to a bus pass in 2023, according to the same Point-in-Time count from the city of San José.
District 4 Councilmember David Cohen said he wants him and the rest of the council to be careful about supporting policies that could lead to the direction of criminalizing homelessness.
Cohen said he does not want the city to chase unhoused residents from area to area because the councilmembers would like all of the city to eventually be free of houselessness.
“This has to be done in a holistic, responsible way,” Cohen said. “If we're saying that all business districts are going to be clear of unhoused and we don't yet have a place for everyone to go . . . I caution us in trying to replicate things across the city that are going to create more problems than they solve.”
