On Tuesday August 7th, the San Jose City Council will return from its July Recess to consider placing a $950 million bond on the November 2018 ballot that would include at least $250 million for affordable housing in addition to funding for public safety and other infrastructure needs.  Because the measure is considered a special tax it would require a 2/3rds vote of the public, which is a high bar to reach. Initial polling is positive though, with indications of strong support for affordable housing for working families, veterans, and homeless families and individuals.

Last fall, Mayor Liccardo announced a 15-point plan to respond to the housing crisis, targeting the need to build 25,000 new homes, including 10,000 that are affordable to lower- and moderate income households.  This spring, San Jose’s Housing Department issued a report that indicated that there was a need for an additional $550 million to meet the 10,000 unit goal.

SV@Home is strongly supportive of a funding measure to fill the gap needed to build the affordable homes included in the 15-point plan, which was adopted by the council as a whole.  We support a minimum of $250 million– and even more in order to meet the current need for funding.  We know that this will require a great deal of effort in a very short time frame– only three months are left before the election.

The first step is Tuesday’s City Council meeting– If you can, please attend the meeting at San Jose’s City Hall (200 E. Santa Clara Street) at 1:30 pm to voice your support for the bond measure.   Silicon Valley@Home will also be writing a letter of support.  If you would like to sign on, please reach out to David Meyer, our partnerships manager at David@siliconvalleyathome.org.

After the vote, assuming Council support, we will need all organizations and community members to step up to rally support for the needed funding.  Stay tuned!