SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com: a first for both of us (mayor matt mahan!) and (me!) sandra harrison kay

Monday, October 23, 2023

a first for both of us (mayor matt mahan!) and (me!) sandra harrison kay

yes, quoted quote worth repeating write about now:

garth brooks "john f kennedy who once said,

if more politicians knew poetry,

and more poets knew politics,

i'm convinced the world would be a little better place. "

it was mayor matt mahan's very first state of the city address as mayor

and it was my, very first time, ever attending a state of the city address (robert too..)

***

i never went to hayward's, or kept track of who the mayor even was.. ditto for san leandro, san lorenzo, -but paid some attention in pleasanton (where i was the poet laureate 2013-2015), without attending a state of the city..

my high dive jump into the cold and polluted ocean waters of politics really starts here:

NOTonNOBLE

***

skipping lots to get here: our drive to the city of san jose college campus where mahan's event was held

-the (graffiti is way too soft a word);

-the ugly, disturbing, gross, highly visible vandalism that has taken over the sound walls along 680S en route to the city of san jose campus.. -does anything degrade a city faster?

HIDEOUS. and growing exponentially in size and amount.. both sides of the freeway, for miles..

this exponential growth of destruction of public property, this vandalism, and degradation of our city screams the following:

criminals feel empowered -no one is getting caught.

laws are not being enforced. -no one is cleaning it up.

my husband and i have witnessed (in portland oregon) what it looks like, when a city, state, community just utterly gives up. the criminals [vandals, drug dealers, thieves, addicts, etc] have literally won and own (for free, by the way; ownership comes via intimidation) -but these criminals own certain territories -no healthy people, businesses, schools, libraries, stores of any kind exist where criminals have won, -healthy people have all left for safety reasons; businesses have left.. buildings are boarded up, windows broken, litter/trash everywhere -some places look broken beyond repair

it really is like a metastasizing cancer

my husband and i have also watched with great interest the documentary seattle is dying -the cry from the public and small business owners, like when did we just stop doing anything about it? we just watch it grow.. no one is DOING ANYTHING TO STOP THIS -why have they tied the hands of law enforcement officers?!?!

i ache!

i ache! with the knowledge san jose is at a fork in the road of its history

in my six years here now, i have seen san jose heading, slowly, painfully, in the direction of those fatally cancerous sections of portland and seattle we now consciously avoid, and steer any friends/family away from

i ache!

i ache! with the hope, -having had our NOTonNOBLE VICTORY, -having new leadership now, and new leadership on the way..

i ache! with the hope san jose can put the brakes on empowering criminals and start empowering law enforcement; that's the way it should be!

this post could potentially be a thousand pages long, let me point out briefly

in order to maintain law and order, we need law enforcement officers that are given the autonomy and authority to enforce the laws! -write!

in order to recruit and retain high quality law enforcement officers -we need to not just pay attention to pay & benefits, but -culture-

until we improve the culture for law enforcement officers -un-demonizing them, and giving them back the authority and autonomy that belongs to them..

anyway, we need a lot more law enforcement officers...

/side track... do you realize that by just enforcing this ONE LAW, we could save hundreds of small businesses!!

our ~~'homeless'~~

our population of drug dealers, drug addicts, criminals, mentally ill, -and small % percent of people experiencing temporary financial hardship..

our growing population of boxes, tents, garbage, dangerous make-shift shelters with any number of potentially threatening, dysfunctional/criminals loitering, panhandling, camping out purposeless and unemployed (or unemployable)

they have been ALLOWED to accumulate near small businesses..

this population and pollution is a HUGE DETERRENT for customers.

now, otherwise thriving small businesses are struggling and adding to the crisis!

-this CAUSES even more people to struggle..! small business owners, who are healthy, who are working, who are contributing.. they have enough obstacles already,

we do not want to ADD ON to the challenges any small businesses face, by allowing a decrease in their customer base DUE TO A PREVENTABLE PROBLEM!

we want to HIGHLY SUPPORT ALL SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS! in these plazas

give them a fighting chance by REMOVING ENCAMPMENTS IMMEDIATELY!

if you do not, you are contributing, consciously, to your unemployed population and crisis.

****

where should they go?

the 'temporary, immediate' relocation should be to somewhere in the outskirts! -not residential areas, not near other businesses.. not where they threaten the safety of any one

-while we continue to thoroughly, comprehensively, address the issue that threatens to turn san jose into seattle

TINY HOMES ARE NOT A SOLUTION

an ongoing frustration for me, is that the mayor, -people in leadership in any variety of cities

they talk about our ~~homeless~~ -that is, -our population of unhoused drug dealers, drug addicts, criminals, mentally ill, -and small % percent of people experiencing temporary financial hardship..

as if they are dealing with a fixed number

we have 6000 unhoused.. build 6000 tiny homes; problem solved

NO!!

build 6000 tiny homes, and 6000 more 'unhoused' will find their way to san jose.

your heart might be in the write place, but you are creating a HUGE INCENTIVE for even more

drug dealers, drug addicts, criminals, mentally ill, -and small % percent of people experiencing temporary financial hardship..

to fill our streets, sidewalks, businesses parking lots, open spaces, etc.

****

/back to: vandalism/destruction of property along our freeway sound walls.

we, that is, us, robert and i, and countless neighbors, -we all take care of the smaller vandalism/destruction issues within our neighborhood by taking the initiative and covering it up, cleaning it up ourselves.

that, and we have had some success by reporting it via 311.

but the sound walls.. the size, the scope,

it is too much for us, or trust me, we would have it cleaned up before you finished reading this.

what we learned, to our surprise, and education, is that these sound walls are NOT THE CITY OF SAN JOSE'S RESPONSIBILITY

the freeway sound walls are CALTRANS RESPONSIBILITY!

AND, that captures another frustration for me, ongoing.. learned during NOTonNOBLE

-just figuring out who is responsible for what, from neighborhoods, to districts, to city vs county vs state, vs citizen, vs. lawyer, vs. judge...

figuring that out, takes so much time/energy i'd love to use for other things!

anyway,

as i write this.. the message to everyone who lives in, near, or travels through san jose:

too bad.

just the way it is. nobody has done anything about, nor will do anything about it..

learn to live with it; watch it grow... -certainly from my first day in san jose, throughout the 6 years, -that has been the message i receive each time we drive to/from san jose airport, via the oakland/13th street path.. AWFUL! and without any action.. PERMANENT AWFUL...

****

i think one of the BEST, one of the BOLDEST, one of the MOST PRODUCTIVE, one of the most RESTORATIVE, STATEMENT moves anyone in san jose leadership could do write now:

to make sure, at this fork in the road in the city's history,

that we turn toward "restored to its former glory" vs. "criminals, vandals own the city"

is to MAKE CLEANING, RESTORING OUR SOUND WALLS A TOP PRIORITY

-this makes a statement, visually, for everyone who lives here, drives here, has friends/family, visit here..

makes it more attractive and healthy for everyone! business people, traveling people.. investors, guests; everyone who loves and cares about san jose

of course,

how do we un-empower the vandals we have empowered?

caught & consequences! we need to also make caught & consequences TOP PRIORITY if we ever hope to create enough disincentive that we don't have to perpetually make this a priority

ideally, it should be an IMMEDIATE, VITAL BIG PROJECT -that then requires manageable maintenance; like weeding...

anyway,

i think, the writeousmom in me thinks...

when you catch a vandal.. when you catch them, selfishly, ignorantly, destroying public property, disrespecting san jose, spreading ugliness

a) thank you! for catching them..

b) they should be made to clean up sound walls for (variable) hours.

c) they should be made to make a public apology

and

demand.. an essay where they have to write why they did it, and more importantly, why they should never do it again -this is like, parenting 101.. and it gets great results!

-what i've learned,

most people hate writing essays so much, that might, all by itself, create enough deterrent

and, on the occasions, someone enjoys writing the essay, -well, we have ourselves a writer..

on the occasions, they enjoy making a public apology, because they like an audience.. well, we have ourselves a public speaker...

on the occasions, we find someone who enjoys restoring the walls to their former cleanliness and beauty..

i mean,

it's not hopeless; that's my point.

a clean, beautiful, safe, -graffiti free- san jose...

i have my dreams.

****

QUESTION: -because in casual conversation it was shared that CALTRANS.. well for caltrans cleaning up our sacred sound walls is not a priority [that already shows..] -and robert and i, we wondered..

we wonder... like, what if the city of san jose, just took the initiative and got the job done? -with an understanding caltrans can't get to it write now... but it desperately needs addressed.

****

they are doing something write in newport, laguna, hunting beach areas... nice and clean there. attracts vs. deters people away... clear messages; law enforcement maybe?