The San Jose City Council passed a budget on Tuesday, that is aimed at tackling the homeless crisis.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan called the city’s approved budget a historic investment to reduce homelessness. He had been pushing for the city to take Measure E dollars and put it toward interim housing and creek cleanup.
Now, he said the budget focuses on an “all of the above approach," adding $40 million will go into new affordable housing and $27 million into cleaning the city’s waterways and providing interim housing.
“We will add space for 1,200 additional people to come in from the streets and out of the creeks, on top of what the existing system would have already offered this year,” he said.
Mahan added the city will be cleaning up encampments and requiring people to take advantage of the shelter they provide.
In East San Jose, there are tents, RV’s and people’s belongings by the sidewalks. One resident told NBC Bay Area that she’s scared to go on walks with her dogs.
Santa Clara County’s most recent point in time count, which happened in 2023 showed that more than 6,300 people were homeless in San Jose.
The organization Homefirst, which provides shelter and services to those who are unhoused, said investments into both interim and permanent housing are needed.
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“Continued dollars for interim housing that provides immediate relief and stability, but we can’t take our foot off the gas for affordable housing,” said Lori Smith with HomeFirst.
