City of San José

Recovery Plan

State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds

2021 Report
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

General Overview ............................................................................................................................................................. 1

Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................................... 3

Uses of Funds................................................................................................................................................................. 5

Revenue Loss Replacement (EC 6) – General Fund ............................................................................. 16

Revenue Loss Replacement (EC 6) – Convention and Cultural Affairs Fund.................................17

Promoting Equitable Outcomes.............................................................................................................................. 19

Community Engagement ........................................................................................................................................... 22

Labor Practices............................................................................................................................................................ 23

Use of Evidence ........................................................................................................................................................... 25

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category ....................................................................................................... 26

Project Inventory............................................................................................................................................................. 27

Resident Relief Initiatives...................................................................................................................................... 28

Eviction Help Center.................................................................................................................................... 29

South Hall Demobilization + Housing Assistance Center...................................................................30

Hotel Sheltering Operations + Services .................................................................................................. 31

Continued Food Services............................................................................................................................. 32

Food Distribution Resilience Corps ......................................................................................................... 33

Environment Resilience Corps................................................................................................................... 35

Guadalupe River Park + Coyote Creek Clean-Up Resilience Corps................................................37

Learning Resiliency Corps ........................................................................................................................... 39

Small Business Resilience Corps ................................................................................................................ 41

Small Business, Non-Profits, and the Arts Initiatives..................................................................................... 42

Supplemental Business Development Communications......................................................................43

Quetzal Gardens Business Center ............................................................................................................ 45

Downtown Outdoor Activities Marketing Campaign ..........................................................................47

Supplemental Economic Development Association Capacity Building.............................................49

Small Business Anti-Eviction Assistance................................................................................................... 51

Supplemental Arts + Cultural Funding ..................................................................................................... 53

Support Festival Programming.................................................................................................................... 54

Small Business Grants................................................................................................................................... 55

Virtual Business Center................................................................................................................................ 57

Small Business Technical Assistance Refresh.......................................................................................... 59

Small Business Direct Outreach (Spanish +Vietnamese).....................................................................61

Storefront Activation Grants...................................................................................................................... 63

Downtown Pedestrian Quality of Life + Streetscape Improvements...............................................65

San José Al Fresco ......................................................................................................................................... 67

Small Business Displacement Index Study ............................................................................................... 69
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Building Resiliency: Property Business Improvement Districts..........................................................71

Small Business + Manufacturing Recovery Initiative..............................................................................73

San José Abierto ............................................................................................................................................ 75

Emergency Public Information.................................................................................................................... 77

City Manager's Office Recovery Team..................................................................................................... 79

COVID-19 Recovery Taskforce + Community Engagement..............................................................80

Child Care and Education Initiatives.................................................................................................................. 81

Digital Equity Communications, Outreach + Community Engagement...........................................82

Community WIFI ........................................................................................................................................... 83

Device Access................................................................................................................................................. 84

Data Equity Lead............................................................................................................................................ 85

Continued Child Care Services.................................................................................................................. 87

San José Learns............................................................................................................................................... 89

Family, Friend & Neighborhood Program................................................................................................ 91

Child and Youth Success.............................................................................................................................. 93

Emergency Housing Initiatives............................................................................................................................. 95

Homeless Services Outreach Assistance +Resources (SOAR) Program.........................................96

Site Identification + Construction ............................................................................................................. 97

Encampment Services/Beautify SJ Initiative...................................................................................................... 98

BeautifySJ Consolidated Model .................................................................................................................. 99

BeautifySJ Grants ........................................................................................................................................ 101

Vehicle Abatement Program, Proactive Patrol, + Complaint Response....................................... 102

Downtown Automated Public Toilets .................................................................................................. 103

SJ Bridge Public Restrooms...................................................................................................................... 104

Recovery Foundation Initiatives....................................................................................................................... 105

Hybrid Workplace...................................................................................................................................... 106

Omnichannel Strategy, Process Engineering, and Service Delivery Automation........................ 108

OneCity Workplace .................................................................................................................................. 111

Recovery Recruiting & Hiring .................................................................................................................. 113

Safe Workplace........................................................................................................................................... 115

Other City Initiatives.......................................................................................................................................... 116

Energy-Saving Retrofits ............................................................................................................................. 117

San José Aspires Administrative Support ............................................................................................. 119

YIGBY Land Use Policy Development .................................................................................................. 121
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GENERAL OVERVIEW 

No event in living memory has been more painful or traumatic for the people of the City of San José

(“City”) than the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic crisis, which laid bare and 

exacerbated existing inequalities. In this moment, the City’s biggest challenge and biggest opportunity is 

to foster an equitable recovery to a “Better Normal”. The journey to healing, recovery and resilience 

will require unprecedented effort, resources, and creativity across our community and organization. 

Recovery is not for us to do alone; rather, this work must be done with the whole community, for the 

benefit of those most burdened by the crisis, guided by their wisdom, tapping into their potential, and 

building on their deep enduring strength.

Now, the City is transitioning the organization from an Emergency Response environment, with a fully 

activated Emergency Operations Center (“EOC”), to the beginning of Community and Economic 

Recovery. Integrating community-wide recovery efforts into the City organization has entailed

demobilizing most of the EOC while continuing its response to COVID-19 surges, and transitioning 

community and recovery functions into City departments. This is a large and complicated re-alignment 

of City service delivery that is almost as difficult as the COVID-19 Pandemic response itself – spanning 

eighteen (18) San José City Roadmap initiatives (Figure 1) with fifty-three projects1 that will touch every 

City department.

Figure 1. City Roadmap: Eighteen (18) Recovery Initiatives

The American Rescue Plan (“ARP”) Act included $212.3 million in Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal 

Recovery Funds (“CSLFRF”) in direct local recovery assistance for the City, of which $106.1 million was

1 Please note: “Workstream (“Project”)” has been used interchangeably with “project”; workstream is City 

terminology.
PAGE 2 | 122 

received in May 2021; the remainder is expected by June 2022. The 2021 City Recovery Plan for State 

and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (“City Recovery Plan”) includes an initial $131 million allocation of 

CSLFRF monies to support an incremental – though still substantial – assignment of resources for 

community and economic recovery initiatives for FY2020-21 and FY2021-22. The CSLFRF funds, when 

combined with other City funds, will be used to strategically deliver the respective projects within City 

Roadmap initiatives to help the City fully recover and return to that “Better Normal”. The City 

Recovery Plan will be revisited and reallocated as City priorities and/or the CSLFRF program require.
PAGE 3 | 122 

Executive Summary 

The initial City of San José Recovery Plan State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds 2021 Report (“City 

Recovery Plan”) demonstrates the City approach to funding a transition to Community and Economic 

Recovery that centers our collective efforts on:

• WHAT work is most important as defined by the San José City Roadmap and the eighteen (18)

COVID-19 related initiatives the San José Mayor and City Council have prioritized, from housing 

stabilization to building back better. (City Roadmap)

• WHO we are doing this with and for is with our capable partners to ensure collective impact 

and for the people who have been most burdened, particularly Latino/Latina/Latinx and other 

people of color as well as women, seniors, differently-abled, and low-wage workers and small 

business owners. Seeing them not only as clients with needs, but as partners with strengths and 

potential. (Equity)

• WHERE we need to ensure the most change is predominately in the neighborhoods on the 

East Side and areas around Downtown, the neighborhoods with the highest rates of COVID 

infection and death, and the highest rates of unemployment and financial distress. (Place-Based)

The City must remain fiscally sound if we are to continue to support the lives and livelihoods of the 

people and businesses of San José into the future. This means a substantial amount of Federal and State 

government recovery funds will go not only to addressing the ongoing economic and public health crises 

created and, in some cases, intensified by the COVID-19 Pandemic, but also to supporting the General 

Fund and other City funds, thereby preserving the City’s organizational budgetary stability and wide 

range of long-established community services. After receiving City Council feedback during the City’s 

FY2021-22 Budget Study Sessions, and working with staff to understand available funding and projects, 

this City Recovery Plan allocates an initial Community and Economic Recovery Budget with confirmed 

funding sources, including CSLFRF monies, based on the City Roadmap eighteen (18) recovery initiatives 

and ensures funding for: 

• Critical safety net services;

• Projects where City must lead and execute;

• Foundational work such as planning, hiring/procurement, fiscal accountability and transparency, 

communication/language and community and partner engagement;

• Other key initiatives described in the City Council-approved Mayor’s March Budget Message for 

Fiscal Year 2021-2022; and

• Mitigation of revenue shortfalls in City funds to ensure continuity of services.

This approach allowed for flexibility and partnering opportunities and needed time to continue to 

rigorously pursue, understand, and unlock additional State and Federal government funding programs. It 

allowed the City to immediately initiate planning, hiring, procurement, and other long lead items, so the 

City did not miss the opportunity to drive change. Starting this past summer 2021, the City:

• Continued providing critical safety net services, developing hand-off plans with partners where 

possible, making sure we do not leave anyone behind;

• Listened to people and businesses most burdened to center the work in their lived experience, and 

taking the time as leaders to reconnect with the community and give teams the ability to refine our 

approaches and strategies based on what we learn;
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• Engaged with partners to develop a collective impact approach to recovery that plays to strengths, 

to make sure we have the opportunity and the ability to do something truly transformational;

• Developed and launched equity-focused, place-based, recovery initiatives that direct our efforts on 

who and where it is needed most;

• Continued to pursue, understand, and unlock additional State and Federal government funding 

programs, to maximize funding coming to us and our partners; and

• Ensured accountability and transparency in funding.

City staff also will return to its Council on a regular basis for guidance, direction and additional budget 

adjustments as required – including taking the time to work with Council Committees, and giving 

Council ample and repeated opportunities to set and shape policy and strategic direction for each of 

the eighteen (18) City Roadmap initiatives. As noted above, the City Recovery Plan will be revisited 

and reallocated as City priorities and/or the CSLFRF program require.
PAGE 5 | 122 

Uses of Funds 

This City Recovery Plan presents an incremental – though still substantial – allocation of resources for 

community and economic recovery initiatives. In order to manage resource allocation and prioritization 

at a more granular level, each of the eighteen (18) Recovery Initiatives was broken down into projects.

These projects are graphically shown in Figure 2 below. Funding for the projects (“workstreams”) in 

Figure 2 was prioritized using a racial equity lens, which is described in detail in the Promoting Equitable 

Outcomes section below.

Figure 2 Projects (“Workstream (“Project”)s”)

The City Recovery Plan Uses of Funds is presented in seven (7) groupings of Roadmap initiatives. These 

“Groups” reflect a thread that relates to the common outcomes, objectives, communities, and/or 

partners. These seven (7) Groups are:

1. Resident Relief – comprised of the Housing Stabilization, Re-employment + Workforce 

Development, and Food + Necessities Distribution Initiatives;

2. Small Business, Non-Profits, and the Arts – comprised of Small Business Recovery and 

Build Back Better + Recovery Task Force Initiatives;

3. Child Care and Education – comprised of Digital Equity; Child Care Learning Pods; Family, 

Friend, and Neighborhood Program; and Child and Youth Success Initiatives;

4. Vaccination – comprised of the Vaccination Taskforce Initiative;

5. Emergency Housing – comprised of the Emergency Housing Construction and Operations, 

Sheltering + Enhanced Encampment Services, and Encampment Management + Safe Relocation 

Policy Initiatives;

6. Encampment Services/Beautify SJ – comprised of the Encampment Waste Pick-up Beautify 

SJ Initiative; and
PAGE 6 | 122 

7. Recovery Foundational Enterprise Priority – comprised of Federal + State Stimulus, 

Continuity of City Services, Safe Workplace, Employee Health, Drive to Digital, and Effective 

Teams Initiatives.

The mappings of these Groups and Initiatives in the City Roadmap are visually represented in Figure 3, 

City Roadmap, Groups, and Initiatives Mapping.

Figure 3 City Roadmap, Groups, and Initiatives Mapping

The tables below display the following information:

1) Group. Budget allocations are at the Group and City Roadmap Initiative level to provide flexibility 

to respond to changing conditions and feedback from community engagement. Each Group contains 

one or more City Roadmap Initiatives. 

 Initial Funding – this amount is budgeted in FY2021-2022 with the CSLFRF monies and other 

known funding sources.

 Total Funding Gap – this is the estimated amount needed later in FY2021-2022 and in future 

years. Likely funding sources to close this gap will be evaluated in calendar year 2021 and will 

include other programs from the American Rescue Plan Act, funding from the State of 

California, or additional CSLFRF allocations. While already federally appropriated CSLFRF

resources could close the FY2021-2022 funding gap of $28.3 million if no other resources 

became available, CSLFRF would not be able to fully cover the Future Year funding gap of 

$64.7 million. Therefore, the City’s pursuit of additional funding sources is critical.

 Total Estimated Cost – this is the total estimated Group cost over a multi-year period and is 

the sum of Initial Funding and Total Funding Gap.

2) City Roadmap Initiative. The FY2021-2022 total initial budget allocation – the sum of budget 

allocations with CSLFRF monies and City emergency reserves – is displayed for each City Roadmap 

Initiative. Each Citywide Roadmap Initiative contains one or more projects.
PAGE 7 | 122 

3) Projects. Individual projects funded with the initial 2021-2022 budget allocation are identified and 

briefly described, along with an estimated cost, and are listed in priority order. 
PAGE 8 | 122 

Resident Relief (Group) City Roadmap Initiative

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

Workstream (“Project”) (in priority order)

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

2021-2022 ARP Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Other Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Total Initial 

Funding:

2021-2022 Funding Gap:

Future Years Funding Gap:

Total Funding Gap:

Total Estimated Cost:

$39,249,000

$24,527,000

$63,776,000

$16,575,000

$22,382,000

$38,957,000

$102,733,000

Housing Stabilization

($26,286,000)

Emergency Rental Assistance (Housing)

Launch federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program in partnership with Homeless Prevention System 

and Santa Clara County ($14,511,000, which is rebudgeted from $30.4 million received in 2020-2021)

Eviction Help Center (Housing)

Provide legal services and education for tenant information and resources ($3,100,000)

Isolation + Quarantine (Housing)

Provide isolation and quarantine services to residents toward mitigating community spread of COVID19 ($1,125,000)

South Hall Demobilization + Housing Assistance Center (Housing)

Allow for demobilization of South Hall by opening a Housing Assistance Center to work with South Hall 

clients on the transition to alternative housing options and provide temporary housing assistance 

($3,550,000)

Hotel Sheltering Operations + Services (Housing)

Provide hotel sheltering operations and services through purchased hotel properties ($4,000,000)

Food + Necessities 

Distribution

($21,600,000)

Continued Food Services (PRNS)

Food assistance program with focus on essential grocery, prepared and shelf stable meal programs in 

prioritized neighborhoods; many of the local food and necessities distribution programs activated during 

the pandemic remain necessary and essential programs of last resort as the economy and our 

community recovers ($21,600,000)

Re-Employment + 

Workforce 

Development

($15,890,000)

Vaccine Champions Resilience Corps (OEM)

Provide logistical support at County vaccine sites with 200 “Vaccine Champions” ($1,840,000)

Food Distribution Resilience Corps (PRNS)

Support Second Harvest Food Bank food boxing program with 120 individuals from the San José 

Conservation Corps ($6,400,000)

Environment Resilience Corps (PRNS)

Undertake environmental stewardship projects such as tree planting, defensible space and fuel 

reduction, biofuel maintenance, and trail maintenance, including community engagement and organizing, 

with individuals employed or hosted by San José Conservation Corp and other strategic partners 

($3,760,000)

Guadalupe River Park + Coyotes Creak Clean-Up Resilience Corps (PRNS)

Support varying levels of clean up, landscape maintenance and stewardship along the Guadalupe River 

Park and Trail and Coyote Creek system and aligned parks ($1,400,000)

Learning Resilience Corps (Library)

Provide accelerated learning growth and extended education support at schools, non-profits, and City 

libraries to assist younger youth in recovering with learning during the COVID-19 pandemic 

($1,370,000)

Small Business Resilience Corps (OED)

Provide training in technology areas as such social media, digital marketing, e-commerce, and website 

design and provide case management and supportive services to the youth, placing and applying 

technological skills with small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic ($1,120,000)
PAGE 9 | 122 

Small Business, Non-Profits, + Arts (Group) City Roadmap Initiative

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

Workstream (“Project”) (in priority order)

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

2021-2022 ARP Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Other Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Total Initial 

Funding:

2021-2022 Funding Gap:

Future Years Funding Gap:

Total Funding Gap:

Total Estimated Cost:

$16,635,000

$0

$16,635,000

$4,750,000

$8,350,000

$13,100,000

$29,735,000

Small Business Recovery

($14,635,000)

Supplemental Business Development Communications (OED)

Enable materials creation and translation, digital engagement, small business hotline, email, webinars, 

and other digital outreach ($300,000)

Quetzal Gardens Operations (OED)

Operational funds to support standing up the Quetzal Gardens small business center in East San José 

($75,000)

Downtown Outdoor Activities Marketing Campaign (OED)

Support decentralized outdoor downtown activities and direct marketing campaigns ($200,000)

Supplemental Economic Development Association Capacity Building (OED)

Support needs of business district capacity building program through events, advocacy, and marketing 

($1,000,000)

Supplemental Legal Assistance for Tenant (OED)

Support for tenants impacted by the pandemic and facing eviction in the form of legal assistance 

($150,000)

Supplemental Arts + Cultural Funding (OED)

Supplement arts and cultural funding to programs experiencing decline in Transient Occupancy Tax 

(TOT) funds and closure threat ($2,000,000)

Support Festival Programming (OED)

Help revive struggling arts organization and re-engage audiences to downtown through support festival 

programming outlined in the Mayor’s Budget Message ($200,000)

Small Business Grants (OED)

Provide up to 100 awards for $25k grants to small businesses plus a 10% admin cost ($2,750,000)

Virtual Accelerator Program for New Businesses (OED)

Build a virtual accelerator to support new small business ($175,000)

Small Business Technical Assistance Revamp (OED)

Redesign of the Business Owner Space to deliver a curated experience for small businesses seeking 

technical assistance ($125,000)

Small Business Direct Outreach (Spanish + Vietnamese) (OED)

Enable direct outreach to small business in Spanish and Vietnamese through 2 Executive Analysts 

($300,000)

Storefront Activation Grants (OED)

Eliminate barriers for small business seeking to transform empty spaces into vibrant shops and 

restaurants ($200,000)

Downtown Pedestrian Quality of Life + Streetscape Improvement (OED)

Enable downtown quality of life and streetscape improvements through safety, lighting, activation, and 

illumination ($100,000)

San José Al Fresco (OED)Transition of temporary parklets located in on-street parking spaces to 

permanent parklets for expanded outdoor business operations ($700,000)
PAGE 10 | 122 

Small Business, Non-Profits, + Arts (Group) City Roadmap Initiative

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

Workstream (“Project”) (in priority order)

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

Small Business Displacement Index Study (OED)

Create a framework for addressing small business displacement citywide ($60,000)

Shop Local Hub to Support Neighborhood Business Districts (OED)

Update the “Shop Local” hub to drive support for Neighborhood Business Districts ($100,000)

Underwrite Creation of New Property Business Improvement Districts (OED)

Improve commercial districts through underwriting San José PBIDs ($1,000,000)

Small Business + Manufacturing Recovery Initiative (OED)

Provide technical assistance to small businesses and manufacturing sector support, with an emphasis on 

businesses’ long-term resiliency as well as immediate needs, serving targeted commercial 

neighborhoods negatively impacted by the crisis ($1,000,000)

San José Abierto (PRNS)

Expand the Viva Parks program from a summer program to a year-round, City-wide program that 

includes Downtown San José Parks (St. James Park/ Plaza de Cesar Chavez), as well as to include four 

Viva CalleSJ activations ($4,200,000)

Build Back Better + 

COVID-19 Recovery 

Taskforce

($2,000,000)

Emergency Public Information (CMO)

Creation and translation of emergency communications through digital media, print, collateral, and 

other outreach strategies ($500,000)

City Manager’s Office Recovery Team (CMO)

Coordinate inter-departmental recovery efforts, support funding and grant opportunities, and establish 

a recovery data program ($1,000,000)

COVID-19 Recovery Taskforce + Community Engagement (CMO)

Create and staff a citywide, cross-sector, community-based Taskforce that would provide 

recommendations to the City Council on matters of COVID-19 economic and social recovery 

($500,000)
PAGE 11 | 122 

Child Care + Education (Group) City Roadmap Initiative

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

Workstream (“Project”) (in priority order)

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

2021-2022 ARP Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Other Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Total Initial 

Funding:

2021-2022 Funding Gap:

Future Years Funding Gap:

Total Funding Gap:

Total Estimated Cost:

$6,120,000

$0

$6,120,000

$0

$2,530,000

$2,530,000

$8,650,000

Digital Equity

($3,820,000)

Digital Equity Communications, Outreach, + Education (Library)

Provide digital literacy resources and services with community partner support and engagement, and 

communication and outreach in language to increase adoption of digital access programs ($750,000)

Community WIFI (Library)

Expand broadband and connectivity in civic buildings and spaces with additional wireless equipment and 

bandwidth update and support the full build-out of the Access East Side network and develop 

sustainability plan for ongoing management ($750,000)

Device Access (Library)

Provide digital assets, user technical support, hotspot programs, and circulation of public technology; 

Chromebooks/Tablets for public circulation, annual Hotspot Data Plans for school support transition 

and added Hotspot Data Plans for an additional 2,000 hotspots in public circulation ($2,120,000)

Data Equity Lead (CMO)

Support for a technical lead in the Office of Civic Innovation to advance the data equity framework 

which seeks to cultivate a data-driven culture in City Hall, enabling: creation of key performance 

indicators for clear goals and indicators of progress; more transparent, rigorous, and effective decision 

making; allocation of scarce resources to those communities of greatest need; accountability for results; 

and, the identification of opportunities for improvement ($200,000)

Child Care Learning Pods

($1,300,000)

Continued Child Care Services (PRNS)

Continue Support for childcare and emergency program recovery with staffing support, including 

additional Recreation Leaders, for academic support, enrichment, and physical activities ($800,000)

San José Learns (Library)

Expand the San José Learns program for summer and after-school learning programs to increase 

learning among high-need youth, providing thousands of young students with extended-day and summer 

learning in 16 high-need neighborhoods ($500,000)

Family, Friend, & 

Neighborhood Program

($500,000)

Family, Friend, & Neighborhood Program (Library)

Expand the Family, Friend, & Neighbor program solely for one-time expenditures that reduce barriers 

for new childcare providers ($500,000)

Child and Youth Success

($500,000)

Child and Youth Success (CMO)

Create a comprehensive "Cradle to Career" Youth Development Master Plan, and identify potential

consolidation of existing multi-departmental services ($500,000)
PAGE 12 | 122 

Vaccination (Group) City Roadmap Initiative

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

Workstream (“Project”) (in priority order)

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

2021-2022 ARP Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Other Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Total Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Funding Gap:

Future Years Funding Gap:

Total Funding Gap:

Total Estimated Cost:

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

Vaccination Taskforce

($0)

Vaccination Support (OEM)

Support and supplement Santa Clara County’s overall vaccination efforts, specifically in the areas of 

communication and outreach, and staffing (San José Fire Department personnel) for injections 

(Vaccination Taskforce budget was previously allocated for 2020-2021 and is also included in 2021-2022 

through Resilience Corps allocations) ($0)

Emergency Housing (Group) City Roadmap Initiative

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

Workstream (“Project”) (in priority order)

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

2021-2022 ARP Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Other Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Total Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Funding Gap:

Future Years Funding Gap:

Total Funding Gap:

Total Estimated Cost:

$5,500,000

$0

$5,500,000

$4,500,000

$16,000,000

$20,500,000

$26,000,000

Sheltering + Enhanced 

Encampment Services

($3,000,000)

Homeless Services Outreach Assistance + Resources (SOAR) Program (Housing)

Provide comprehensive street-based services at 16 homeless encampment sites, including hygiene, 

sanitation, laundry, trash pickup and dumpsters, housing outreach, and shelter for encampment 

residents ($3,000,000)

Emergency Housing 

Construction + 

Operation

($2,500,000)

Site Identification + Construction (Housing)

Identification, construction, and operation of additional emergency housing sites ($2,500,000)
PAGE 13 | 122 

Encampment Services: BeautifySJ (Group) City Roadmap Initiative

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

Workstream (“Project”) (in priority order)

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

2021-2022 ARP Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Other Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Total Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Funding Gap:

Future Years Funding Gap:

Total Funding Gap:

Total Estimated Cost:

$12,250,000

$0

$12,250,000

$0

$14,450,000

$14,450,000

$26,700,000

Encampment Waste 

Pick-Up BeautifySJ

($12,250,000)

BeautifySJ Consolidated Model (PRNS)

Support a programmatic consolidation of BeautifySJ under a single manager solely focused on ridding 

the city of blight, as well as expanding the Cash for Trash Program to serve 450-500 unhoused 

residents at a time; the consolidation results in the establishment of a new Community Services 

Division in PRNS for Tier 1,2 and 3 encampment trash pickups and cleanups; continuation of the San 

José Bridge Program to employ homeless individuals for targeted cleanups; vehicles and supplies; and 

lease space costs; includes setbacks buffer zone, enhanced frequency, and concentrated downtown 

services ($11,000,000)

BeautifySJ Grants (PRNS)

Expand beautification and community-building efforts in neighborhoods with grants to support 

community celebrations, such as National Night Out and block party events; they also fund murals, 

tree plantings, and community garden/urban agriculture projects ($100,000)

Vehicle Abatement Program, Proactive Patrol, + Complaint Response (Transportation)

Abandoned vehicle prevention through proactive patrol, encourage reporting of abandoned vehicles 

through the SJ311 app, and enhance the responsiveness for abandoned vehicle abatement ($450,000)

Downtown Automated Public Toilets (Transportation)

Continued operation and maintenance services associated with 5 existing Automatic Public Toilets 

(APTs) in the Downtown ($400,000)

SJ Bridge Public Restrooms (PRNS)

Launch a pilot project using San José Bridge or a similar model to engage unhoused residents with 

restroom cleaning/maintenance and monitoring, thereby enabling more public restrooms to remain 

usable to the public ($300,000)
PAGE 14 | 122 

Recovery Foundation (Group) City Roadmap Initiative

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

Workstream (“Project”) (in priority order)

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

2021-2022 ARP Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Other Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Total Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Funding Gap:

Future Years Funding Gap:

Total Funding Gap:

Total Estimated Cost:

$2,588,000

$0

$2,588,000

$2,370,000

$1,015,000

$3,385,000

$5,973,000

Drive to Digital

($1,860,000)

Hybrid Workplace (IT)

First iteration of tools and systems to blend (hybrid) of physical and online meetings; meeting spaces 

that have audio-visual setups that support effective interactions with both types of attendees; 

communications and collaboration technologies that provide the ease and reliability that staff and 

residents can depend on; and elimination of paper processes in favor of secure digital processes 

wherever possible ($1,000,000)

Omnichannel Strategy, Process Engineering, and Service Delivery Automation 

(IT)Development of a full digital services strategy across all channels used by the public and develop a 

prioritized list of customer-facing services and processes to be automated across all digital channels, 

define and/or re-engineer business processes, and migrate existing and new services to customer 

facing service delivery platforms ($460,000)

OneCity Workplace (IT)

Funding for vendor costs and licensing to replace the City’s Intranet (sjcity.net platform) which does 

not meet the needs of a hybrid work environment ($400,000)

Effective Teams

($500,000) 

Recovery Recruiting + Hiring (HR)

Expanded support for Human Resources to recruit and hire for recovery-focused staffing positions 

including Resilience Corps, City Manager’s Recovery Team, and other key roles ($500,000)

Safe Workplace

($228,000)

Safe Workplace (HR)

Ensure employee and community safety through a position in support of a more robust and longer 

term strategy for a safe workplace ($228,000)
PAGE 15 | 122 

Other (Group) City Roadmap Initiative

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

Workstream (“Project”) (in priority order)

(2021-2022 Initial Funding)

2021-2022 ARP Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Other Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Total Initial Funding:

2021-2022 Funding Gap:

Future Years Funding Gap:

Total Funding Gap:

Total Estimated Cost:

$1,113,000

$0

$1,113,000

$0

$0

$0

$1,113,000

Other

($1,113,000)

San José Aspires Administrative Support (Library)

In partnership with the Library Department and the San José Public Library Foundation (SJPLF), 

support an education and equity initiative focused on enabling youth in underserved neighborhoods to 

set goals and chart a path towards a college education ($538,000)

YIGBY Land Use Policy Development (PBCE)

Perform outreach for a “Yes, In My Back Yard” (YIGBY) Public/Quasi-Public policy to leverage private 

fundraising for affordable housing, and to examine PQP-conversion of school-district-owned lands 

($75,000)

Energy Saving Retrofits (Community Energy)

Supplement energy efficiency programs authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission 

(CPUC) to incentivize energy-saving retrofits in low income homes, beyond the 250 homes 

contemplated in the first tranche of state funding currently pending award ($500,000)
PAGE 16 | 122 

REVENUE LOSS REPLACEMENT (EC 6) – GENERAL FUND

As described in the 2021-2022 Proposed Operating Budget, the City anticipated a net shortfall between ongoing revenues and expenditures in the 

General Fund of $38.3 million. The shortfall does not consider any deferred infrastructure or any other one-time needs. As a result, the City strategy to 

leverage CSLFRF in the General Fund both resolves the $38.3 million shortfall and provides additional needed funding for critical infrastructure 

replacement for a total use of $45.0 million. 

SPENDING ALLOCATIONS TO PAY FOR ONGOING ACTIVITIES REPRESENTING AT LEAST $38.3 MILLION

The following ongoing spending allocations are representative of the core City governmental functions supported by CSLFRF. Of the total amount of 

$47.6 million from these three City programs, $38.3 million are associated with CSLFRF use.

1. 9-1-1 Call Taking & Police Dispatch (Police Department) $ 28,926,991

2. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Dispatch (Fire Department) 8,729,204

3. Youth Gang Prevention and Intervention (Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services) 9,903,233

Total: $ 47,559,428

Amount Supported by CSLFRF: $38,283,000

SPENDING ALLOCATIONS TO FOR ONE-TIME INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS OF AT LEAST $6.7 MILLION

This action transfers $5.25 million to the Communications Construction and Conveyance Tax Fund to replace over 800 radios operating on the Silicon 

Valley Radio Communication System (SVRCS), which will be unsupported beginning July 2021.

4. Transfers to Other Funds: Communications Construction and Conveyance Tax Fund (Radio Replacement) 5,250,000

This funding will provide for system development and implementation, and initial hosting, licenses, and maintenance costs for the Business Tax System 

(BTS), a critical system coordinating the billing of over 80,000 businesses annually, generating collections of approximately $30 million in annual 

revenue, and interfacing with other key systems within the City. The $4.1 million estimated cost reflects vendor responses to a recent Request for 

Information ($3.5 million) and funding for system implementation and stabilization over an 18- month period beginning January 2022 ($630,000), which 

allows for the temporary staffing of four positions and related equipment.

5. Business Tax System Replacement 4,130,000

Total: $ 9,380,000

Amount Supported by CSLFRF: 6,717,000

Total Amount Supported by CSLFRF for the General Fund: $45,000,000
PAGE 17 | 122 

REVENUE LOSS REPLACEMENT (EC 6) – CONVENTION AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS FUND

The Convention and Cultural Affairs Fund contains all expenditures to support operations of the City’s Convention Center, as well as other marquee 

cultural facilities and events centers managed by Team San Jose, the City’s third-party operator. From 2015-2016 to 2018-2019, pre-pandemic, Team 

San José’s gross operating revenue ranged from $45.5 million to $54.8 million. In 2019-2020, gross operating fell to $35.6 million in 2019-2020 due to 

the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 and is expected to end the 2020-2021 fiscal year at $5.1 million as the facilities have been effectively closed for 

convention, concerts, meetings, and exhibitions the entire year. While revenues are tentatively expected to rise to $22.8 million in 2021-2022, actual 

activity levels continue to be extremely impacted by the pandemic.

An amount of $2.5 million from SLFRF will be transferred to the Convention and Cultural Affairs Fund to ensure that sufficient resources are available 

to support basic operating expenses related to the Convention Center and other cultural facilities, and to ensure that the fund maintains a positive fund 

balance.

Total Amount Supported by CSLFRF for the Convention and Cultural Affairs Fund: $2,500,000

Sources: 

2021-2022 Proposed Operating Budget Source and Use Statements, page X-31 and 32

https://www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/72195/637563414334770000

Manager’s Budget Addendum #26, Team San Jose 2021-2022 Performance Measures:

https://www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/74176/637583054929130000
PAGE 18 | 122 

AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN SUMMARY AND MULTI-YEAR CONSIDERATIONS

Below is a summary of the CSLFRF as allocated in the initial 2021 City Recovery Plan.

Table 1. Sources and Uses summary of CSLFRF budget allocations and remaining funding

Amount

Federal Government Appropriation – CSLFRF $212.3 million

Amount to Balance 2021-2022 General Fund Budget Shortfall (Revenue Replacement) ($45.0 million)

Amount to resolve anticipated 2021-2022 negative fund balance in the Convention and 

Cultural Affairs Fund (Revenue Replacement)

($2.5 million)

FY2020-21 Food + Necessities Distribution ($3.0 million)

Funds Available for Programming in 2021-2022 and Future Years $161.8 million

CSLFRF Allocated in initial City Recovery Plan ($83.4 million)

Funds Remaining After 2021-2022 Budget Allocation $78.4 million

Portion of the 2021-2022 General Fund ongoing shortfall that is unresolved and carried 

forward into 2022-2023

($28.3 million)

Remaining resources to mitigate fund General Fund shortfalls and continue 

recovery and response activities beyond 2021-2022

$50.1 million

Of the $212.3 million that will be received by the City in two installments (May 2021 and calendar 

year2022), $47.5 million will be used for revenue replacement to balance the General Fund and the 

Convention and Cultural Affairs Fund2

, and $3.0 million is anticipated to be needed to meet 

commitments for food distribution through the end of 2020-2021. The 2021-2022 initial budget 

allocation supporting the project in the initial City Recovery Plan totals $83.4 million.

This leaves $78.4 million, which closely aligns with the direction in the City Mayor’s March Budget 

Message for Fiscal Year 2021-2022, as approved by the City Council, “to allocate at least $80 million 

into a reserve that both insulates the City from the foreseeable and substantial shortfalls we must be 

prepared for in the following years, and to provide additional resources in 2022-2023 to continue 

supporting our community’s recovery.”

The City understands, per regulation issued by the Federal government, that the revenue from the 

American Rescue Plan can only be recognized to offset expenditures. As a result, the $78.4 million 

cannot be placed into a budgeted reserve. However, the City needs to strategically manage this 

remaining funding to ensure sufficient funding remains to address the portion of the 2021-2022 ongoing 

General Fund shortfall carried into 2022-2023 ($28.3 million). If the ongoing shortfall is not fully 

resolved in 2022-2023, additional CSLFRF monies will be needed to help balance the budget again in 

future years. The City should also preserve CSLFRF resources for future years to continue important 

programs such as the newly expanded core program of BeautifySJ ($10 million annually) and the 

continued operation of emergency and interim housing sites ($16 million annually).

2 City Transient Occupancy Tax ( TOT ) revenue has been severely impacted; $2.5 million is needed to resolve an 

otherwise negative balance in the fund used to support operations of the San José Convention Center and other 

cultural facilities).
PAGE 19 | 122 

Promoting Equitable Outcomes 

To help ensure a racial equity-based and data-driven resource allocation of the City’s constrained funds

for its Community and Economic Recovery from COVID-19, the City added a racial equity lens to a

Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) process, shown in Figure 4, which was used to prioritize the City

Roadmap Initiatives and projects noted in the Uses of Funds section above. The prioritization criteria 

for the WSJF process are shown in Figure 5.

Figure 4. Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) Process

Figure 5

•
PAGE 20 | 122 

Applying this prioritization criteria with a racial-equity lens resulted in a relative stack-ranked priority of 

projects as shown below in Figure 6, with #1 having the highest and most critical priority. This stack 

ranking is a data-driven tool to make equitable resource allocations now and in the future.

Figure 6

This overall prioritization strategy translated into the specific services or programs offered by the City

in the following CSLFRF Expenditure Categories: 

NEGATIVE ECONOMIC IMPACTS (EC 2):

Assistance to households, small businesses, and nonprofits to address impacts of the pandemic, which 

have been most severe among low-income 

populations. This includes assistance with food, 

housing, and other needs; employment programs for 

people with barriers to employment who faced 

negative economic impacts from the pandemic (such 

as residents of low-income neighborhoods, 

minorities, disconnected youth, the unemployed, 

formerly incarcerated people, veterans, and people 

with disabilities); and other strategies that provide 

disadvantaged groups with access to education, jobs, 

and opportunity. 

 Housing Stabilization

 Re-employment + Workforce 

Development

 Small Business Recovery

 Food + Necessities Distribution

 Build Back Better + Recovery Taskforce

 Vaccination Taskforce

 Emergency Housing Construction + 

Operation

 Sheltering + Enhanced Encampment 

Services

 Enhanced Management + Safe Relocation 

Policy
PAGE 21 | 122 

SERVICES TO DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTED COMMUNITIES (EC 3):

Services to address health disparities and the social 

determinants of health, build stronger neighborhoods 

and communities (e.g., affordable housing), address 

educational disparities (e.g., evidence-based tutoring, 

community schools, and academic, social-emotional, 

and mental health supports for high poverty schools), 

and promote healthy childhood environments (e.g., 

home visiting, child care).

 Encampment Waste Pick-Up BeautifySJ

 Digital Equity

 Child Care Learning Pods
PAGE 22 | 122 

Community Engagement 

To ensure the City’s planned and current use of COVID-19 related funds captures diverse feedback 

from constituents, community-based organizations, and the communities themselves, the City is 

convening and staffing a Citywide, cross-sector, community-based COVID-19 Recovery Task Force

(“Task Force”) that would provide recommendations to the City Council on matters of COVID-19 

economic and social recovery. The Task Force is contemplated to be convened for no more than a year.

The scope of the Task Force is to work with the community to “think about the future” as it relates to 

strengthening and stabilizing families and small businesses. The role and responsibilities of the Task 

Force include:

• Advise and monitor progress on the City Roadmap Recovery initiatives;

• Develop a community engagement and communications plan;

• Disseminate information to constituencies and share community feedback to the Task Force on 

establishing and evaluating projects and programs; and 

• Develop new recommended actions for recovery to be considered by the City Council.

The Task Force will build from and leverage other local recovery efforts, including the Silicon Valley 

Recovery Roundtable, Greater Downtown San José Economic Recovery Task Force, and Health and 

Equity Task Force. The Task Force will embrace best practices and principles in equitable recovery, such 

as those reflected in work products of the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits, Racial Equity Action 

Leadership (REAL) Coalition, and PolicyLink.

It is envisioned that the Task Force membership will total no more than thirty-five (35) representatives 

from member organizations. This follows models of other advisory and public engagement processes, 

including the Station Area Advisory Group (SAAG), and will enable the Task Force to work cohesively 

and nimbly, yet be inclusive of a wide array of community and content area interests.

The City anticipates bringing the Task Force membership recommendation to City Council in 

September 2021. Task Force meetings will be open to the public and likely be held monthly, with 

solution group meetings held in between. The first Task Force meeting is planned to be an orientation 

that would include a “get to know you” exercise, group agreements on discourse and decision making, 

Brown Act rules, an overview of the City Roadmap, and a “101 session” on the American Rescue Plan 

Act. The first Task Force meeting is targeted for October 2021 with the last meeting in September 

2022.

In addition to the Task Force, the City has certain Projects, such as the Quetzal Gardens Business 

Center, where funds are being used to build the capacity of community organizations to serve people 

with significant barriers to services, including people of color, people with low incomes, limited English 

proficiency populations, and other traditionally underserved groups. Information regarding those efforts 

is presented in the respective project description.
PAGE 23 | 122 

Labor Practices 

The City of San José has a number of workforce practices to ensure strong labor standards to promote 

the effective and efficient delivery of City projects and/or services while also supporting the economic 

recovery through strong employment opportunities for workers. General information regarding the 

City’s Labor Compliance efforts is located at https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departmentdirectory/public-works/labor-compliance/labor-compliance.

LIVING WAGE

The City of San José has had a Living Wage Policy in place since November 17, 1998 (Resolution 68554

https://records.sanjoseca.gov/Resolutions/RES68554.PDF), which was subsequently promulgated through 

on June 8, 1999 https://records.sanjoseca.gov/Resolutions/RES68900.PDF ) and remains memorialized in 

City Council Policy 3-3 Living Wage Policy

https://www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/12845/636669965245930000.

The City Living Wage Policy is summarized as follows:

“It is the policy of the City of San José that persons doing work on, for or on behalf of 

the City for services that are provided directly to the City or for services otherwise 

provided by City employees or who receive financial assistance from the City should be 

paid a living wage, be provided with or able to afford health insurance, have reasonable 

time off, not be subject to lay off merely because the City changes contractors and 

should work in an environment of labor peace.”

PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT

On March 28, 2019, the City of San José and the Santa Clara and San Benito Building Trades Council 

entered into a Citywide Project Labor Agreement (“PLA”) for certain City public works projects with a 

cost in excess of $3 million. Highlights of the PLA follow:

• applies to public works projects with engineer’s estimates of $3 million or more;

• design/build and design/bid/build public works projects are covered;

• provision for employers not currently working under a Master Agreement to hire five (5) core 

workers;

• includes a Targeted Hire Agreement;

• PLA has a 5-year term

The executed Citywide PLA is available at 

https://www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57978/637242683585770000.

PREVAILING WAGE

Public works projects are performed under contract and paid in whole or in part by public funds. 

Contractors and subcontractors that are awarded these projects are required to pay their workers 

prevailing wage rates. These wage rates vary according to crafts and are determined by the State of 

California Department of Industrial Relations. The City Department of Public Works Office of Equality 

Assurance is responsible for ensuring wage compliance for the City public works contracts. Additional 

information on the City Prevailing Wage policy is located at https://www.sanjoseca.gov/yourgovernment/departments/public-works/divisions/labor-compliance/prevailing-wage.
PAGE 24 | 122 

MINIMUM WAGE

The City of San José Voters approved the Minimum Wage Ordinance on November 6, 2012. The 

ordinance set an hourly rate of pay that employers must pay their workers for work performed within 

the City. The current minimum wage rate for the City of San José is $15.45 per hour. Additional 

information on the City Minimum Wage policy is located at https://www.sanjoseca.gov/yourgovernment/departments-offices/public-works/labor-compliance/minimum-wage-ordinance.

OPPORTUNITY TO WORK

The San José Opportunity to Work Ordinance was an Initiative Ordinance on the November 2016 

General Election ballot approved by 63.94% of San José voters, and effective March 13, 2017, which 

requires employers of 36 or more employees to offer additional work hours to existing qualified parttime employees before hiring new employees including subcontractors or the use of temporary staffing 

services. Additional information on the City Opportunity to Work Ordinance is located at

https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments/public-works/divisions/laborcompliance/opportunity-to-work.
PAGE 25 | 122 

Use of Evidence 

The City is using CSLFRF funds for both evidence-based interventions and programmatic assessment of 

projects through program evaluations designed to build evidence. The City is reviewing the Learning 

Agenda process to determine whether that process could support City overarching evaluation efforts to 

create an evidence-building strategy(ies) for our jurisdiction. Further information for each project is

included in the respective project description.
PAGE 26 | 122 

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category 

Category

Cumulative 

expenditures to 

date ($)

Amount spent since 

last Recovery Plan

1 Expenditure Category: Public Health $ 98,186.14 $ 98,186.14

1.12 Other Public Health Services 98,186.14 98,186.14

2 Expenditure Category: Negative Economic Impacts $ 1,261,358.98 $ 1,261,358.98

2.1 Household Assistance: Food Programs 1,261,258.98 1,261,258.98

3 Expenditure Category: Services to 

Disproportionately Impacted Communities

$ 8,063.49 $ 8,063.49

3.5 Education Assistance: Other 8,063.49 8,063.49

Total $ 1,367,608.61 $ 1,367,608.61
PAGE 27 | 122 

PROJECT INVENTORY 

Included in this section is a description of each project for which the City currently has appropriated 

CSLFRF funding. Each description includes an overview of the main activities of the project, primary 

delivery mechanisms and partners, if applicable, and intended outputs and outcomes.

This section is further categorized by City Initiatives grouped as follows:

1. RESIDENT RELIEF – comprised of the Housing Stabilization, Re-employment + Workforce 

Development, and Food + Necessities Distribution Initiatives;

2. SMALL BUSINESS, NON-PROFITS, AND THE ARTS – comprised of Small Business Recovery and Build 

Back Better + Recovery Task Force Initiatives;

3. CHILD CARE AND EDUCATION – comprised of Digital Equity; Child Care Learning Pods; Family

Friend, and Neighborhood Program; and Child and Youth Success Initiatives;

4. VACCINATION – comprised of the Vaccination Taskforce Initiative;

5. EMERGENCY HOUSING – comprised of the Emergency Housing Construction and Operations, 

Sheltering + Enhanced Encampment Services, and Encampment Management + Safe Relocation 

Policy Initiatives;

6. ENCAMPMENT SERVICES/BEAUTIFY SJ – comprised of the Encampment Waste Pick-up Beautify SJ 

Initiative; and

7. RECOVERY FOUNDATIONAL ENTERPRISE PRIORITY – comprised of Federal + State Stimulus, 

Continuity of City Services, Safe Workplace, Employee Health, Drive to Digital, and Effective 

Teams Initiatives.
PAGE 28 | 122 

RESIDENT RELIEF INITIATIVES

Housing Stabilization

Food and Necessities Distribution

Re-employment and Workforce Development
PAGE 29 | 122 

EVICTION HELP CENTER

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.5 : Household Assistance: Eviction Prevention

Funding amount: $ 3,100,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 12/31/2022

City Roadmap: Housing Stabilization

City Enterprise Priority: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

Managing Department: Housing

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Provide outreach engagement, emergency rental assistance, legal assistance 

and tenants' rights to impacted tenants and landlords in the rental 

community while targeting low and extremely low income households.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention based on City research

DESCRIPTION

A collaborative effort of local and state funded rental relief programs to assist COVID-19 was made

available to landlords and tenants during California's eviction moratorium which sunsets on September 

30, 2021. Both programs are open and taking applications to support 100% back rent from April 1, 2020 

and up to three months of forward rent.

The local program is a partnership comprised of the City of San José, County of Santa Clara and about 

50 non-profit partners lead by Destination: Home and Sacred Heart Community Service, called the 

Santa Clara County Homelessness Prevention System, COVID-19 response. This program supports 

extremely low-income residents below 30% AMI with rent relief. 

The State of CA has a complimentary program that is targeted to support tenants above 30% AMI and 

below 80% AMI. 

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Center racial equity in assessing needs, developing and implementing programs, and measuring 

outcomes to ensure that programs serve the individuals and families who have been most 

disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and the pandemic-induced recession.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

• Number of people or 

households receiving eviction 

prevention services (including 

legal representation)

• Number of affordable housing 

units preserved or developed

• Number of applicants applying 

for rental assistance

• Number of applicants 

approved for rental assistance

• Percentage of applicants by 

race/ethnicity

• Percentage of completed 

applications

• Amount of Award

• Breakdown percentage of 

identified categories
PAGE 30 | 122 

SOUTH HALL DEMOBILIZATION + HOUSING ASSISTANCE CENTER

Recovery Plan Category: EC 3 : Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities

3.12 : Housing Support: Other Housing Assistance

Funding amount: $ 3,550,000

City Roadmap: Housing Stabilization

City Enterprise Priority: Resident Relief

Managing Department: Housing

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Provide housing assistance, support services and temporary housing to 

individuals transitioning from temporary shelters or the Services Outreach 

Assistance and Resources (“SOAR”) encampment program.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention using local Point-in-Time surveys

DESCRIPTION

The City has been supporting individuals in temporary shelters and encampments during the COVID-19 

pandemic. Even as cities transition to recovery, many emergency shelters are not operating at the full 

capacity they once were. The Housing Assistance Center will assist individuals staying in temporary 

congregate shelter, non-congregate shelter and SOAR program find alternative housing options. The 

program includes flexible funds for "housing problem solving" meant to provide one-time assistance for 

households that might have an immediate housing option such as staying with friends or relatives. The 

program may also include time-limited rental assistance and case management. 

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

This project will serve homeless individuals who, according to local Point in Time (PIT) surveys as well 

as national statistics, are disproportionately people of color. The local homeless community is 

disproportionately represented by Native American, African-American and Latino/a. By working to 

address homelessness in our community, San José is working to address these racial inequities through 

housing. 

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

• Number of people or 

households receiving eviction 

prevention services (including 

legal representation)

• Number of affordable housing 

units preserved or developed

• Homeless served

• Demographics of homeless 

population

• Increase the number of 

homeless sheltered

• Increase the number of 

homeless able to transition to 

temporary housing

• Increase the number of 

homeless able to access rental 

assistance and case 

management
PAGE 31 | 122 

HOTEL SHELTERING OPERATIONS + SERVICES

Recovery Plan Category: EC 3 : Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities

3.12 : Housing Support: Other Housing Assistance

Funding amount: $ 4,000,000

City Roadmap: Housing Stabilization

City Enterprise Priority: Resident Relief

Managing Department: Housing

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Provide interim housing and support services at hotels for households 

while transitioning to more stable housing opportunities.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention using local Point-in-Time surveys

DESCRIPTION

Local emergency shelters still have not gone back to full capacity, resulting in an increase in unsheltered 

homeless. The City will provide temporary hotel stays with on-site supportive services to households 

while transitioning to more stable housing opportunities. The program is still in development, including 

selecting sites, developing population targets, eligibility criteria and selecting a service provider.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

This project will serve homeless individuals who, according to local Point in Time (PIT) surveys as well 

as national statistics, are disproportionately people of color. The local homeless community is 

disproportionately represented by Native American, African-American and Latino/a. By working to 

address homelessness in our community, San José is working to address these racial inequities through 

housing. 

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of people or 

households receiving eviction 

prevention services (including 

legal representation)

 Number of affordable housing 

units preserved or developed

 Homeless served

 Demographics of homeless 

population

 Increase the number of 

homeless sheltered

 Increase the number of 

homeless able to access

services
PAGE 32 | 122 

CONTINUED FOOD SERVICES

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.1 : Household Assistance: Food Programs

Funding amount: $ 14,549,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 12/31/2021

City Roadmap: Food and Necessities Distribution

City Enterprise Priority: Resident Relief

Managing Department: Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services

Existing or New Project: Existing

Purpose: Provide support for at-risk communities and populations, including food

and necessities distribution, homeless support, and local assistance for 

families and businesses.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention using prior City programs

DESCRIPTION

The City will provide food (either groceries or prepared meals) to individuals that have been exposed 

or test positive for COVID-19 but who do not require hospitalization; high-risk individuals, people over 

sixty-five (65) with certain underlying health conditions, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention, other populations that should be isolated based on public health official guidance and/or 

individual and families disproportionately affected by unemployment and other economic hardship 

because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

This project will serve the most affected zip codes with high poverty levels in the City of San José and 

those who have been most affected by COVID-19. Communities most negatively impacted by COVID19 within the City of San José are those with socio-economic challenges even prior to the pandemic. 

These disadvantaged communities were already at high risk for food insecurity; this was exacerbated as 

various pandemic-related shelter-in-place and closure mandates pandemic caused jobs and sources of 

income to be eliminated. A disproportionate amount of these communities are minorities with barriers 

to employment.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Number of people employed 

through programs

 Number of people served

 Number of meals served

 Number of communities served 

based on zip code

 Demographic data on meal 

recipients

 Numbers of meals served

 Continued access to food
PAGE 33 | 122 

FOOD DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCE CORPS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.1 : Household Assistance: Food Programs

Funding amount: $ 6,400,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 12/31/2021

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Re-employment and Workforce Development

Managing Department: Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Provide workforce support to Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley 

for its food distribution services through San José Conservation Corps.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention using prior San José Conservation Corps

programs

DESCRIPTION

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley provides food distribution services in San José to populations facing 

negative economic impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Second Harvest is experiencing an increase 

in need as members of the community have been laid off, are furloughed, or working reduced hours, and 

are experiencing food insecurity due to loss of income due to the pandemic, and has requested City 

provide workforce support to help with continuation of food distribution services. The San José 

Conservation Corps is a certified community corps by the State of California to provide job-skill 

training, work experiences and environmental education to young men and women. The City has 

contracted with San José Conservation Corps to provide a total of 120 corps members and supervisors 

as workforce support staff for Second Harvest of Silicon Valley.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

This project provides a twofold approach to address racial equity and inclusion. The first is to provide 

food access to communities of need. Additionally, this project helps facilitate employment within a 

disadvantaged group as the manpower for the food distribution towards these disadvantaged 

communities. Communities most negatively impacted by COVID-19 within the City of San José are 

those with the socio-economic challenges even prior to the pandemic. These disadvantaged 

communities were already at high risk for food insecurity and this was exacerbated by the pandemic 

eliminating jobs and sources of income. A disproportionate amount of these communities are minorities 

with barriers to employment. San José Conservation Corps prioritizes on the recruitment of corps 

members for this demographic to provide job/skill training as well as income during the economic 

turmoil as a result of the pandemic.
PAGE 34 | 122 

FOOD DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCE CORPS

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Number of food distribution 

centers

 Number of corps members/

supervisors employed

 Number of participants 

providing workforce support to 

the Second Harvest Food Bank

 Numbers of meals served

 Demographic data on corps

members/supervisor hired

 Demographic data on meal 

recipients
PAGE 35 | 122 

ENVIRONMENT RESILIENCE CORPS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.7 : Job Training Assistance (e.g., Sectoral job-training, Subsidized 

Employment, Employment Supports or Incentives)

Funding amount: $ 3,760,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 03/31/2022

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Re-employment and Workforce Development

Managing Department: Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: The Resilience Corps is a job program for adults residing in high-poverty, 

high-unemployment neighborhoods. This program will provide participants 

with comprehensive job training providing them the skill sets needed to 

seek permanent employment with the City of San José or its partners.

Qualified Census Tracts: Yes

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention using prior San José Conservation Corps

programs

DESCRIPTION

The City will provide job training and applicable certifications or public parks and playground 

maintenance, fire/fuel reduction, bioretention swale maintenance, and HAZWOPER (Hazardous Waste 

Operations and Emergency Response) prior to actual field work in and around City parks. A two-week 

orientation program will include employee topics such as OSHA 10 safety training, basic tool safety, first 

aid/CPR training, conservation awareness, and introductions to financial literacy, leadership and other 

relevant topics.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The Resilience Corps program believes that every person is entitled to have access to the education,

job training, and resources that give them a fair shot at fulfilling their potential. We believe the power of 

diversity enriches all of us by exposing us to a range of ways to understand and engage with the world, 

identify challenges, and to discover, design and deliver solutions. To ensure this the Resilience Corps is a 

program which welcomes all participants regardless of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, 

sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any 

other federal, state or local protected class. 
PAGE 36 | 122 

ENVIRONMENT RESILIENCE CORPS

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Number of tier one participants 

to complete entire program.

 Volume of vegetation removed 

during fuel reduction. 

 Volume of trash and litter 

picked up during all activities. 

 Number of visits to 

bioretention swales for 

maintenance.

 Volume and names of invasive 

species removed from parks

 Number of participants that 

obtained employment with 

their work experience worksite

 Number of participants that 

obtained employment in the 

area of their work experience 

with a different employer

 Number of participants that 

entered or resumed postsecondary education

 Number of bioretention swale 

areas that pass inspection 

without corrective actions
PAGE 37 | 122 

GUADALUPE RIVER PARK + COYOTE CREEK CLEAN-UP RESILIENCE 

CORPS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.7 : Job Training Assistance (e.g., Sectoral job-training, Subsidized 

Employment, Employment Supports or Incentives)

Funding amount: $ 1,400,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 03/31/2022

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Re-employment and Workforce Development

Managing Department: Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Guadalupe River Park + Coyote Creek Clean-Up is a job program for 

adults residing in high-poverty, high-unemployment neighborhoods. This 

program will provide participants with comprehensive job training 

providing them the skill sets needed to seek permanent employment with 

the City of San José or its partners.

Qualified Census Tracts: Yes

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention using prior San José Conservation Corps

programs

DESCRIPTION

The City will provide job training and applicable certifications or public parks and playground 

maintenance, fire/fuel reduction, bioretention swale maintenance, and HAZWOPER (Hazardous Waste 

Operations and Emergency Response) prior to actual field work in and around the Guadalupe River 

Park and Coyote Creek area of the San José trail system. A two-week orientation program will include 

employee topics such as OSHA 10 safety training, basic tool safety, first aid/CPR training, conservation 

awareness, and introductions to financial literacy, leadership and other relevant topics. Trainee crews

will patrol the Guadalupe River Park and Coyote Creek area of the San José trail system and provide 

removal of any litter and overgrown vegetation. Trainees will assist community members with questions 

regarding the trails and provide resource information.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The Resilience Corps program believes that every person is entitled to have access to the education, 

job training, and resources that give them a fair shot at fulfilling their potential. We believe the power of 

diversity enriches all of us by exposing us to a range of ways to understand and engage with the world, 

identify challenges, and to discover, design and deliver solutions. To ensure this the Resilience Corps is a 

program which welcomes all participants regardless of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, 

sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any 

other federal, state or local protected class.
PAGE 38 | 122 

GUADALUPE RIVER PARK + COYOTE CREEK CLEAN-UP RESILIENCE 

CORPS

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Number of tier one participants 

to complete entire program.

 Volume of trash and litter 

picked up during all activities. 

 Volume and names of invasive 

species removed from parks

 Number of trail safety and 

other related information

provided to community

 Number of participants that 

obtained employment with 

their work experience worksite

 Number of participants that 

obtained employment in the 

area of their work experience 

with a different employer

 Number of participants that

entered or resumed postsecondary education

 50% decrease in park concerns 

reported on managed sections 

of trails.
PAGE 39 | 122 

LEARNING RESILIENCY CORPS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.7 : Job Training Assistance (e.g., Sectoral job-training, Subsidized 

Employment, Employment Supports or Incentives)

Funding amount: $ 1,370,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30//2022

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Re-employment and Workforce Development

Managing Department: Library

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: The Resilience Corps Learning Pathway pilot, a workforce development 

program, aims to accelerate learning growth among low-income K-12 

students by connecting qualified Resilience Corps associates to high-quality 

and well-established expanded learning program providers serving San José 

students, including City agency program providers.

Qualified Census Tracts: Yes

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

The Resilience Corps Learning Pathway will partner with San José State University, local Community 

Colleges (Evergreen College, San José City College, Foothill-De Anza College), and community 

organizations to recruit and place interested college students in positions that support their educational 

attainment and that of K-12 students. The primary goal of the program is designed to address economic 

and workforce development needs among university students, with a secondary goal designed to 

accelerate learning growth for K-12 students in San José.

This program will work to ensure that financially struggling college and graduate school students living in 

San José's high-poverty census tracts have employment in their desired field. In addition, the program 

will provide professional development and After placement; the respective and qualified Agency will 

train and support the Corps Associates according to their established model and best practices.

Program providers are aligned to common core anchor standards, prioritize whole child learning 

opportunities – including social-emotional learning, academics, and physical activity, and follow CDC 

public health and safety guidelines and best practices.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Participants (“associates”) are considered and prioritized based on their home zip code/low resource 

census tracts, income and employment status, and educational goals and enrollment. Program providers 

also prioritize placement of Resilience Corps Associates at locations in low resource census tracts or 

locations serving low resourced communities.
PAGE 40 | 122 

LEARNING RESILIENCY CORPS

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Placement in Work Experience 

(50 Associates) 

 Completion of Work 

Experience (35 Associates)

 Associates will develop relevant 

on-the-job training in the 

expanded learning field so that 

they are better positioned for 

employ

 Associates will receive work 

readiness workshop services 

and relevant training so that 

they may obtain post relevant 

employment 

 Accelerated learning growth for 

K-12 students in San José
PAGE 41 | 122 

SMALL BUSINESS RESILIENCE CORPS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.7 : Job Training Assistance (e.g., Sectoral job-training, Subsidized 

Employment, Employment Supports or Incentives)

Funding amount: $ 1,370,000 Timeline: 08/24/2021 to 01/30/2022

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Re-employment and Workforce Development

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Assist small businesses in San José to engage in Digital Marketing to grow

their business, and to assist residents of San José to gain new skills in 

Digital Marketing to re-enter the job market.

Qualified Census Tracts: Yes

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

This project works with San José small business owners to help them use digital marketing to maximize 

their business online. Effective digital marketing helps small businesses learn the online habits of 

customers so they can better target ideal customers. Each small business owner will be paired with 

individuals who reside in the City of San José in low-resource census tracts and who have been 

retrained to re-enter the job market. These individuals are trained specifically in Digital Marketing

where they will acquire the necessary knowledge to become a successful digital marketer. With these 

new skills they will assist the business as an intern, after which the intern can transition to additional 

training, apply for digital marketing related jobs through jobs portals, or become a consultant – the 

participants can embrace an entrepreneurial mindset and start their own small business. Resources will 

be provided to the business and participant after the internship is complete.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

This project will allow for individuals to train in a new skill of which they may not been previously 

aware. This opportunity was made available to City of San José marginalized individuals and/or

businesses in low-resource census tracts or individuals who are in low-income households (AMI 60% or 

lower). The majority of participants identify as Asian or Hispanic/Latino/Latina.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Offered digital marketing 

training

 Completed digital marketing 

training 

 Employed with small business

or viably self-employed
PAGE 42 | 122 

SMALL BUSINESS, NON-PROFITS, AND THE ARTS INITIATIVES

Small Business Recovery

Build Back Better and Recovery Task Force
PAGE 43 | 122 

SUPPLEMENTAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATIONS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 300,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 12/31/2024

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Research, develop and implement communications tactics and channels

that effectively reach non-English-speaking and less advantaged business 

owners throughout San José to maximize their ability to upgrade their 

business practices, get free consultant support and access sources of 

business funding.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

This project will support and drive engagement with the various initiatives launched by the City of San 

José to help business owners struggling with the impacts of COVID-19. Due to the COVID-19 

pandemic, the City has had to change many of its baseline communications tactics to ensure underserved, highly impacted communities are able to access the information and services provided. This 

means a much faster turn-around for translated written information, fuller translations of web-based 

information, enhancement of digital outreach to include multi-lingual social media posts and SMS 

messaging, and simultaneous interpretation of meetings, webinars and other "live" activities and events. 

Languages required are English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Traditional and Simplified Chinese (written) and 

Mandarin. In addition, the project plan includes a multi-lingual website with hubs for up to eleven (11)

commercial/business districts across the city, of which at least four (4) include parts or all of Qualified 

Census Tracts.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

By its nature, "transculturation" of City communications materials and channels is a key component of 

racial equity and inclusion, as it not only is designed to overcome language barriers, but also includes 

tactics for communicating outside of the digital framework – by in-person, interpreted communications 

and via printed flyers, brochures and notices made available where people gather, shop and live.
PAGE 44 | 122 

SUPPLEMENTAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATIONS

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 1-3 email messages to 40k 

businesses each week

 2-5 sets of multi-lingual social 

media posts 

 2 monthly business walks by 

multi-lingual team members to 

commercial sections of the city

 2 webinars for business owners 

per month

 4-6 blogposts per month

 Multi-lingual staffing of phone 

and email hotline for business 

owners

 Tracking of calls and emails 

managed

 For emails, average 25% open, 

5% click rate

 Faster turnaround time for 

translation of communications

 Visit average of 10-20

businesses/month

 Webinar attendance average 

20-70
PAGE 45 | 122 

QUETZAL GARDENS BUSINESS CENTER

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 75,000 Timeline: 01/03/2022 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Provide an operating grant for the Latino Business Foundation (LBF) to 

stand up a small business center in East San José, an area of the city 

hardest hit by the effects of COVID-19. A unique partnership with the 

LBF, Excite Credit Union and community-serving organization Somos 

Mayfair will occupy and operate the center.

Qualified Census Tracts: Yes

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention based on Equity Study

DESCRIPTION

East San José zip codes had the highest incident of COVID-19 cases in San José. In 2020, 40% of San 

José's small businesses were closed or operated under severely restricted conditions. This project will 

enable the Latino Business Foundation (LBF) to support standing up a new small business center at 

Quetzal Gardens on Alum Rock Avenue in East San José. The 1900 square feet of new ground floor 

office space will host a unique partnership including LBF, the Excite Credit Union and community-based 

organization Somos Mayfair. The new center will complement the LBF's online/virtual incubator service

for local markets and technical assistance delivery with other partners including Santa Clara University. 

Excite Credit Union recently achieved CDFI status and aims to pilot new loan programs and financial 

education to small business owners. The operating grant will support the LBF to locate into the new 

center and provide services directly to small business owners. The long-term goal is to build a strong 

and sustainable local business ecosystem with entrepreneurs routinely accessing culturally sensitive 

services and successfully managing affordable FDIC-approved loan capital.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The project will proactively target business owners of color in the east side of San José. The physical 

location of the neighborhood business center in Alum Rock is important to ensure that local business 

owners most impacted by COVID-19 and historically underserved can access services. This approach 

has been adopted following the completion of an equity-driven survey of small businesses impacted by 

COVID-19 early in 2021. The survey was co-designed with the San José Office of Racial Equity, Office of 

Economic Development and the LBF. Over 200 businesses responded to the survey and the following 

recommendations have been incorporated into the center concept: that services to businesses must 

have language and cultural competency, be free to use, easily accessible, and delivered by a trusted 

intermediary. In preparation for the opening of the new center, the LBF has been piloting outreach and 

services to the Hispanic business community and establishing a partnership with the Santa Clara 

University My Own Business Institute (“MOBI”). The creation of a new virtual incubator, online market 
PAGE 46 | 122 

maker and women's entrepreneurship group has begun. The new center will complement other Citybacked projects and initiatives to support East San José businesses with the long-term goal to 

strengthen and sustain the local business ecosystem.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 New center operational  Number of businesses assisted
PAGE 47 | 122 

DOWNTOWN OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 200,000

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Combat the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past 18 

months, providing much-needed support to struggling businesses in San 

José's city center through targeted marketing and promotional campaigns 

and outdoor events.

Qualified Census Tracts: Yes

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention using Sales Tax Collections metric

DESCRIPTION

The past 18 months have been extremely difficult for businesses in our city center with employees 

working from home, a complete stop to conventions and conferences, business travel, the performing 

arts and concerts and events at the SAP Center. When comparing 2019 and 2020 sales tax collections, 

the overall drop in citywide collections was approximately 21%; however, the decline in collections 

within downtown San José was significantly higher, at approximately 50%.

This initiative will build on downtown San José’s existing brand and continue COVID-19 recovery 

efforts to drive business into the city center. This will be done via contract services with the San José

Downtown Association (“SJDA”) and through the creation and implementation of marketing and 

promotional campaigns, as well as the production of events. Through this contract and other leveraged 

funding sources, SJDA will use existing and new communication platforms and events and promotions to 

position downtown San José as a place to experience the arts, local fare and live music as COVID-19 

conditions allow, focusing on downtown’s distinct districts, their amenities, and businesses.

SJDA intends to produce a series of advertisements and videos highlighting dining, arts and culture, 

nightlife, summer and holiday activations, urban living, local shopping and downtown’s distinct districts 

to continue to welcome people back downtown. SJDA will leverage this funding to produce events 

including and expanded restaurant "week," outdoor movies, an outdoor music concert, a seasonal ice 

rink and farmers’ markets. SJDA has a 30-year proven record of generating impactful marketing and 

promotion for downtown San José and producing events in a timely and cost-effective manner.

The breadth and depth of SJDA's work in this area can be witnessed on www.sjdowntown.com

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Many of the 1500+ businesses represented by the Downtown Business Improvement District are small, 

minority-owned businesses. The majority of Downtown San José is located within a Qualified Census 

Tract. The communication efforts of the San José Downtown Association have been expanded over the 
PAGE 48 | 122 

past 18 months to include translation into Spanish and Vietnamese; these efforts will continue to be 

expanded.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Events to aid in downtown 

economic recovery

 Marketing campaign to aid in 

downtown economic recovery

 Four outdoor movies

 One outdoor concert

 Holiday outdoor ice skating 

rink

 Weekly Farmers' Market May –

November

 Dine Downtown campaign
PAGE 49 | 122 

SUPPLEMENTAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION CAPACITY 

BUILDING

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 1,000,000 Timeline: 01/01/2022 to 12/31/2024

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: Existing

Purpose: Build capacity in business districts while directing resources to underserved 

communities most impacted by the pandemic and the economic fallout. 

This project will support the needs for business district capacity building 

program through events, advocacy, and marketing.

Qualified Census Tracts: Yes

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

Business District Corridors are critical to City economic vitality, providing opportunities for small 

businesses and employment as well cultural and civic benefits. The project will expand the capacity of 

business-support networks to serve targeted business districts negatively impacted by the COVID-19 

pandemic, which include Downtown, Central and East San José. The funding for this project will allow 

for the implementation of components to provide support and stand up Business Districts. These 

components include:

• Outreach strategies and programming to engage business partners and property owners; drive stakeholder 

membership; and promote the business corridors.

• Marketing campaigns that highlight each corridor as a destination business district and feature the area’s 

diverse commercial and industrial sectors while showcasing the area’s history, geographic advantages, and 

unique cultural characteristics.

• Implementing small business events and engagement opportunities such as Small Business Saturday, Doing 

Business in San José workshops, and Small Business Week Summit. 

• Securing commercial space in the business district areas to provide centralized services and provide certainty 

for business owners to access services given time issues.

In addition, a focus on business district advocacy for East San José, one of the city's most diverse 

regions, with a vibrant mix of neighborhoods and small businesses, it is also one of the areas 

characterized by higher unemployment rates and is historically underserved in terms of business 

assistance and access to capital. This area of the city was one of the hardest hit by the recent pandemic.

Recovery and resiliency work include: 

• Contracting a Business District Manager to develop a work plan and implement strategies for emerging 

neighborhood business associations and serve as a conduit for existing and developing resources like small 

business owner engagement, access to capital, employee recruitment, business transformation, safe 

operations, and digital marketing.

• Implementing business district programs and activities developed by the Business District Manager
PAGE 50 | 122 

• Mapping cultural assets, highlighting cultural identity through wayfinding programs 

• Developing Business District branding and placemaking in strategic gateway locations

Additional information may be found at www.sjeconomy.com.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

This project addresses racial equity by focusing recovery resources on underserved businesses district 

areas. San José is home to approximately 55,000 small businesses, more than half of which are 

immigrant-owned and more than 60% owned by business owners of color. These businesses often 

represent important cultural and neighborhood anchors in our underserved communities. The proposed 

service area includes the heavily Vietnamese Little Saigon; the Latino and Portuguese oriented East 

Santa Clara/Alum Rock corridor; Japantown (one of only three remaining Japantowns in the U.S.); and 

Downtown, with its focus on entertainment and the arts. Residents in these neighborhoods, particularly 

East San José, have been struggling before the pandemic, with generally higher rates of unemployment, 

poverty and overcrowding, and lower rates of educational attainment and less access to capital. Many of 

those Zip codes have COVID-19 case rates well above San José's average.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Number business and property 

owners outreached

 Marketing and identity branding 

material developed

 Work plan developed

 Small Business events produced

 Cultural assets mapped

 Increased number of business 

and property owner 

membership in business 

associations

 Increased number of digital 

media hits and impressions

 Long-term sustainability for 

business associations

 Increased number of businesses 

engaged

 Increased community and 

resident visits
PAGE 51 | 122 

SMALL BUSINESS ANTI-EVICTION ASSISTANCE

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 150,000 Timeline: 12/01/2021 to 12/31/2022

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Keep more small businesses in operation, maintaining jobs in San José. It 

will provide individual advising, workshops and referrals to educate 

COVID-impacted business owners on how to resolve or avoid lease 

disputes, negotiate with landlords, and understand their rights and 

responsibilities to avoid eviction.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

Small businesses have suffered greatly due to public health restrictions on business activity, as well as 

the overall economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Many businesses spent months completely 

shuttered while others were only able to operate with reduced capacities. This has damaged small 

business revenue and the ability of business owners to pay expenses, including rent. A county-wide 

commercial-eviction moratorium recently expired, putting thousands of businesses at risk of eviction. 

The Small Business Anti-Eviction Initiative will provide support to small business owners throughout the 

City experiencing the threat of eviction or related landlord/tenant disputes. By working with partners, 

this program will provide individual advising, workshops, and referrals to educate business owners on 

how to prevent conflict and resolve lease and related disputes in various languages and in a culturally 

appropriate manner. Currently, similar services are available through a smattering of nonprofits, but 

capacity is extremely limited and not adequate for a city of San José's size. The City is in the process of 

starting a program to assist with similar services. This program will enhance the service offering, 

providing increased, multilingual capacity adequate to better serve a city with approximately 60,000 

small businesses. For clarity, these services will consist of information provision, not formal legal 

representation.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

While this program is envisioned to operate citywide, provision of these services will primarily benefit 

immigrant-owned businesses, and business owners of color. In San José, approximately 60% of small 

businesses are estimated to be owned by people of color. City research shows that business owners of 

color were less likely to have received government assistance, such as Paycheck Protection Program 

loans, during the pandemic, due to less reliable access to professional services and banking. This makes 

this population more vulnerable to commercial eviction and more likely to benefit from these services. 

The program will also include targeted outreach efforts to reach vulnerable and underserved 
PAGE 52 | 122 

communities, particularly on San José's eastside, which has generally higher rates of poverty, non-English 

speaking residents, and lower median incomes.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Number of businesses per 

quarter provided with access to 

information on subject matter.

 Number of workshops or 

events per quarter on relevant 

subject matter.

 Number of referrals to 

specialized business assistance 

providers provided.

 Number of small businesses 

able to stay in their space.

 Number of landlords and 

tenants participating in 

mediation/negotiation rather 

than the eviction process.

 Number of jobs maintained by 

businesses participating in 

program and avoiding eviction.

 Amount of business tax 

retained by businesses 

participating in the program and 

avoiding eviction.
PAGE 53 | 122 

SUPPLEMENTAL ARTS + CULTURAL FUNDING

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 2,000,000 Timeline: 07/01/2022 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Sustain and stabilize the City of San José grant program funding to the local 

nonprofit arts and culture sector. These grant programs have been

traditionally funded by Transient Occupancy Tax (hotel tax), a revenue 

source that significantly declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic and 

shelter-in-place orders. 

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

The project will support the Cultural Funding Portfolio, comprised of competitive grant programs for 

the City of San José arts and culture sector, offsetting negative economic impacts caused by the decline 

in Transient Occupancy Tax collections. Funds will be used for Operating Grants; Festival, Parade and 

Celebration Grants; and take pART (project and program grants). All grant awards are recommended 

based on a public, competitive, peer-reviewed process, and approval by the San José Arts Commission, a 

City Council Advisory Body. Additional information may be found at www.sanjoseculture.org.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Racial equity and inclusion are guiding principles of the Cultural Funding Portfolio of the City of San 

José, one of the most diverse cities in the United States with a minority-majority in which no one ethnic 

group represents a majority of the population. The arts are a means to promote cross cultural 

understanding and celebrate our multicultural community. All grant opportunities are advertised 

multilingually in multiple multilingual media channels. Furthermore, all grant panels are comprised of 

multidisciplinary, racially-diverse members. As a result, approximately 40% of grantees are culturallyspecific.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Number of grant awards  Number of people served 

through nonprofits' programs
PAGE 54 | 122 

SUPPORT FESTIVAL PROGRAMMING

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 200,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Sustain and stabilize City of San José festival grant program funding to the 

local nonprofit art and culture sector. These grant programs are 

traditionally are funded by the Transient Occupancy Tax (hotel tax), a 

revenue source that significantly declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic 

and shelter-in-place orders. 

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

The project supports the Festival, Parade, and Celebration competitive grant program, offsetting 

negative economic impacts caused by the decline in Transient Occupancy Tax collections. Funds will be 

used for Festival, Parade and Celebration grants. All grant awards are recommended based on a public, 

competitive, peer-reviewed process, and approval by the San José Arts Commission, a City Council 

Advisory Body. Additional information may be found at www.sanjose.org

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Racial equity and inclusion are guiding principles of the Cultural Funding Portfolio of the City of San 

José, one of the most diverse cities in the United States with a minority-majority in which no one ethnic 

group represents a majority of the population. The arts are a means to promote cross cultural 

understanding and celebrate our multicultural community. All grant opportunities are advertised 

multilingually in multiple multilingual media channels. Furthermore, all grant panels are comprised of 

multidisciplinary, racially-diverse members. As a result, approximately 40% of grantees are culturallyspecific. 

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Number of grant awards  Number of people served 

through nonprofits' programs
PAGE 55 | 122 

SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 2,750,000 Timeline: 01/03/2022 to 12/30/2022

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Provide a targeted grant program to small businesses who have not 

received any federal stimulus loans, funds or state grant programs. This is a 

city wide project with promotion and targeting directed to small 

businesses located in low income census tracts and areas in the city hit 

hardest by the effects of COVID-19.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention using prior City program data

DESCRIPTION

Since COVID-19, over 45,000 individual federal and state emergency loans and grants have been 

awarded to businesses located in the city of San José. Many businesses have been able to secure more 

than one loan or grant. However, published data and local research identifies the lowest take-up rates 

for small business are those employing less than 10 staff, just 34% have to date have received a federal 

loan or state grant.

This will be a citywide business grant program designed to attract applications from eligible small 

business physically located in San José. The grant program will target applications from businesses 

located in underserved communities and low income census tracts. The city will use the knowledge and 

experience gained from funding two COVID-19 business grant programs in 2020 to inform the design, 

eligibility criteria and user experience. The financial value of individual grants within the program will be 

confirmed prior to the program becoming operational. The goal of the program would be to serve 100-

150 small businesses.

A key feature of this grant program is the opportunity to design in a referral process for all business 

owners who apply to receive free technical assistance. It is anticipated the number of applications will 

exceed the funds available and the city aims to support business owners by making best use of existing 

free technical assistance through the Business Owner Space (“BOS”) partnership. Businesses who take 

up technical assistance improve their prospects of recovery and, by networking with other business 

owners, open up opportunities for shared interests and commercial benefit.

The grant program will be targeted at small businesses employing less than 35 staff with a physical 

location in the city of San José. Businesses who have been in receipt of a PPP loan, EDIL loan, 

Restaurant Revitalization Grant, Shuttered Venue Operators Grant and the CA Relief grant will be 

ineligible. All grants awarded in this project will comply with Federal regulations. The grant can be used 

to offset expenses, rent arrears and other utility bills. 
PAGE 56 | 122 

SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS

The grant program will be managed by an organization(s) independent of the city of San José that has 

the requisite knowledge, expertise and infrastructure to meet the city of San José's strategic and 

operational requirements. The program assumes a management fee of 5% will be charged by the 

program manager. This will be confirmed as part of the procurement process. Additional information 

may be found at www.businessownerspace.com.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

In 2020 the City gained invaluable experience in designing three grant programs and disbursed $6.09 

million in grants to support 499 San José small businesses owned by low- or moderate-income

individuals, primarily from communities of color. 92% of grants were awarded to business owners of 

color. Staff identified businesses within the zip codes of the most COVID-affected neighborhoods and 

undertook email and phone outreach to these business owners to encourage them to apply. It is 

important to note that when the City controlled the distribution of funds, the City achieved a high 

degree of success in targeting small businesses owned by people of color in the most COVID-19 

impacted zip codes. Because the City was the grantor, staff could collect additional demographic data on 

grant recipients to determine how successfully vulnerable communities were reached. These outcomes 

include 100% distributed to low- or moderate-income applicants, 52% awarded to businesses located in 

targeted zip codes most heavily impacted by COVID-19, and 100% distributed to businesses with 10 or 

fewer employees.

This project will directly benefit from this recent experience. The key is to design in criteria and explicit 

targeting to encourage the maximum number of applicants to apply in close collaboration with technical 

assistance providers. Engagement with the BOS providers to build a clear referral mechanism for all 

applicants to obtain free technical assistance will be a new feature and many of the BOS providers with 

the cultural sensitivity and linguistic capability will be encouraged to participate in supporting business 

owners.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Business grant program  Number of businesses awarded 

a grant

 Number of jobs protected

 Number of business minority 

business owners applied

 Number of minority business 

owners awarded a grant

 Number of businesses who 

apply from a low income census 

tract

 Number of businesses awarded 

a grant from a low income 

census tract
PAGE 57 | 122 

VIRTUAL BUSINESS CENTER

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 175,000 Timeline: 04/01/2022 to 12/31/2024

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: The virtual business center is a city wide one-stop shop to support 

entrepreneurs starting a business in San José. The services will be free and 

designed to support both tech and non-tech startups. The project will be 

co-designed with partner organizations to enhance entrepreneurship and 

strengthen equity-based delivery in the business ecosystem

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

This is a new project to target entrepreneurs who want to start a business in San José. The negative 

economic impact of COVID-19 has increased the risk of existing business failure and job losses. There 

are close to 50,000 active self-employed residents in San José registered for business tax purposes. It is 

a strength of the City's economy to have this number of self-employed residents who may choose in

time to establish a business entity and employ staff. The virtual business center will be established to 

support this journey and create the entrepreneurial pathways for the next generation of resident 

business owners. The new concept is designed to support both tech and non-tech business startups. 

This is a long term project to strengthen the business ecosystem of San José.

The City aims to develop and create a virtual business information center that can attract entrepreneurs 

to locate in San José or for existing residents to start a new business here. The City will aim to 

encourage entrepreneurs in the emerging green “climate smart” sectors, manufacturing and 

biotech/bioscience sectors to start a business in San José, creating links and access to existing providers 

and industry sector specialists.

The service concept will adapt and apply networked models with access to finance, technical expertise 

and partnerships to curate an entrepreneurial experience in one virtual location. The new virtual center 

will showcase existing accelerator, incubator and shared office/managed workspace in San José. 

Government regulation, business tax licensing and permitting will be attractively presented so all the 

standards/compliance requirements of a new business can be located or linked into the new center.

The project will be designed to complement the refresh of the Business Owner Space partnership, so 

the City has a clear strategic service offer for both existing and new businesses. The virtual business 

center service will be city wide as well as underpinning local approaches and other projects where 

efforts are planned to target new opportunities and the creation of new business association and 

property based improvement districts (PBIDS). Cultural and linguistically sensitivity will be important 

components of the service to ensure entrepreneurs have access to all services and partners. The 
PAGE 58 | 122 

VIRTUAL BUSINESS CENTER

opportunity to establish a new business and create an asset of value is a defining principle for 

implementing equity-based entrepreneurship.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The program will be promoted through the City's various communications mechanisms in the languages 

most prevalent in hardest hit areas of the City of San José: Spanish, Vietnamese and Mandarin. Outreach 

will be done through City of San José Small Business Allies, business associations, city council offices and 

community- based organizations traditionally serving under-represented, minority communities in the 

City.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Online service established with 

a website, marketing materials 

and links

 Entrepreneurs assisted annually

 Businesses created

 Jobs Created

 Commercial space

 Minority entrepreneurs assisted

 Minority owned businesses 

created
PAGE 59 | 122 

SMALL BUSINESS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE REFRESH

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 125,000 Timeline: 02/01/2022 to 12/31/2024

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: Existing

Purpose: Increase access to free services provided by the Business Ownership Space 

(“BOS”) partners to all San José-based small businesses. The project will 

refresh the BOS website, materials and enhance communication to 

business. BOS will encourage new partners to join and develop new 

models of city-wide and local support.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-based intervention using City research

DESCRIPTION

BOS is the primary organizing partnership for business service providers operating in San José offering 

free services and support to small businesses. There are over 19,000 small businesses in San José

employing less than 35 staff. These are the businesses hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic and those 

that have also received the smallest percentage of federal and state financial assistance to date. In 

addition, there are over 40,000 self-employed or sole proprietors. In total, small businesses in San José

employ more than 130,000 staff and critical to the success of neighborhood economies. 

The project will enable the BOS website, online materials to be refreshed and new promotional tools to 

be developed. The refresh is designed to improve access and drive the take up of free technical 

assistance to business owners. The refresh will have multiple language options and become culturally 

sensitized to address underserved business owners. The BOS partnership will aim to broaden 

opportunities for small business owners to access FDIC-approved loan capital, financial education and 

apply for business grant programs. 

This is a city-wide foundational project with a focus on BOS partners maintaining an offer to any 

business in San José. Individual BOS partners will be encouraged to collaborate with local neighborhood 

initiatives to enhance the value and impact of targeted technical assistance. In locations where there is 

no active business association/chamber type organization, the BOS website will be a foundational “safety 

net” virtual partnership enabling any business anywhere in the city to access free information and 

services. 

The BOS partnership will be reviewed, and new partners included with a greater emphasis on active 

collaboration, piloting new delivery models and tools, and making best use of limited resource. The 

long-term strategy is to develop a sustainable infrastructure that drives greater take up of technical 

assistance for business owners, is more culturally sensitized with active targeting to business owners 

least able to afford fee-based services and strengthening the San José business ecosystem. Additional 

information may be found at www.businessownerspace.com.
PAGE 60 | 122 

SMALL BUSINESS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE REFRESH

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

While this project is envisioned to operate citywide, provision of these services will primarily benefit 

immigrant-owned businesses, and business owners of color. These have been the businesses hardest hit 

by the negative impacts of the pandemic. In San José, approximately 60% of small businesses are 

estimated to be owned by people of color. City published research revealed that micro businesses many 

of whom are business owners of color were less likely to have received government assistance, such as 

Paycheck Protection Program loans, during the pandemic compared to larger businesses. This makes 

micro business owners more vulnerable to commercial eviction and more likely to benefit from these 

services. The program will also include targeted outreach efforts to reach vulnerable and underserved 

communities, particularly on San José's east side, which has generally higher rates of poverty, nonEnglish speaking residents, and lower median incomes. The refreshed website will pilot new materials in 

multiple languages, test the validity of surveys and questionnaires with other customer facing feedback 

techniques and tools all designed to generate a higher take up of free technical assistance.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 New website, online materials 

and information

 Businesses accessing the 

website
PAGE 61 | 122 

SMALL BUSINESS DIRECT OUTREACH (SPANISH +VIETNAMESE)

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 300,000 Timeline: 01/01/2022 to 12/31/2024

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: Existing

Purpose: Fund two multilingual staff members within the Office of Economic 

Development focused on business outreach within the Spanish-speaking 

and Vietnamese-speaking community. The goal of the program is to better 

assist these business communities with access to resources that enhance 

their ability to start up or grow in San José.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-based intervention based on City research

DESCRIPTION

The Business Outreach Unit within the Office of Economic Development serves as a liaison to the 

business community, providing access to resources and tools that assist business success. This unit has 

attracted or retained thousands of jobs and generated millions of dollars in tax revenue for the City. 

However, during the pandemic, it became apparent that the City's Spanish- and Vietnamese-speaking 

business communities needed specialized support and resources in their own languages to best access 

programs and tools to survive the economic disruption of COVID-19. 

San José is known worldwide as among the most diverse big cities in America. Within the City, the 

largest share of resident population by race and ethnicity are Asian (38%) and Hispanic (31%). San José

also boasts the largest concentration of Vietnamese residents of any city outside of Vietnam, with more 

than 100,000 residents of Vietnamese descent. Many of the businesses in these communities are microbusinesses, consisting of 10 or fewer workers, who generally have less access to professional services, 

banking and support networks. 

This program will fund two Business Outreach staffers for two years, who will be focused on assisting 

COVID-19-impacted small business owners primarily in Spanish- and Vietnamese-speaking communities 

with services such as:

• Navigating federal, state, and local business assistance programs related to COVID-19;

• Assistance in City permitting, including related to alterations to better implement COVID-19 safety protocols 

or implement outdoor seating;

• Proactive promotion of City resources to support small business, such as the City's Small Business Ally 

program, Storefronts Grants program, City vendor access/preference, and Al Fresco parklets program;
PAGE 62 | 122 

SMALL BUSINESS DIRECT OUTREACH (SPANISH +VIETNAMESE)

• Promoting technical assistance programs designed to increase/enhance business success (marketing, access to 

capital, business planning, entrepreneurship, workforce development, etc.); and

• Troubleshooting common problems where City Hall can assist, such as blight, crime, tax and code compliance, 

etc. 

San José's existing Business Outreach team (a staff of 10) has been responsible for generating an average 

of roughly 2,265 new jobs over the last two fiscal years and retaining an average of 3,367 jobs. See VII17 of 2021-2022 City Service Area, Community and Economic Development: 

https://www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/72297/637556950919730000.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

While this program is envisioned to operate citywide, provision of these services will primarily benefit 

immigrant-owned businesses, and business owners of color. In San José, approximately 60% of small 

businesses are estimated to be owned by people of color. City research shows that business owners of 

color were less likely to have received government assistance, such as Paycheck Protection Program 

loans, during the pandemic, due to less reliable access to professional services and banking. This makes 

this population more vulnerable to commercial eviction and more likely to benefit from these services. 

The program will also include targeted outreach efforts to reach vulnerable and underserved 

communities, particularly on San José's eastside, which has generally higher rates of poverty, non-English 

speaking residents, and lower median incomes.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Businesses outreached to

 Meetings held with Spanish and 

Vietnamese-speaking businesses 

owners

 Businesses referrals to technical 

assistance partners

 Number of businesses retained, 

attracted, or expanded

 Number of jobs retained, 

attracted, or expanded

 Amount of business tax 

retained or attracted
PAGE 63 | 122 

STOREFRONT ACTIVATION GRANTS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 200,000 Timeline: 09/01/2021 to 12/31/2024

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: Existing

Purpose: The Storefronts Assistance Grant program was created to assist small 

businesses to succeed against the high cost of Silicon Valley Now, due to 

the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses are further burdened to meet 

operational expenses and will need aid to ensure their storefronts are 

active and inviting and can accommodate outdoor business operations.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-based Intervention using City research

DESCRIPTION

The Citywide Storefronts Grant Program will assist small business owners leasing or occupying a vacant 

or existing ground floor space with funding to make interior and/or exterior improvements to the 

building. The assistance will be provided through a grant of City permits, fees and taxes, supplies, and/or 

infrastructure upon the receipt of a certificate of occupancy or a notice of completion by the business 

owner. This program is intended to enliven, beautify, and activate storefronts located in commercial 

districts citywide.

Vacant Storefront Grant: New Lease Tenant Improvements Permit Costs – A small business owner that 

leases a ground floor space, that has been vacant for longer than three months and will require building 

permits to activate, may be reimbursed up to $15,000 for City fees, permits and taxes.

Occupied Storefront Grant: Exterior Space Improvements – A small business owner occupying a 

ground floor retail space may be granted up to a maximum of $10,000, for City fees and permits and 

materials for furniture, fixtures and equipment for exterior improvements that enhance or enliven their 

storefront. Exterior improvements include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Pedestrian-oriented signage

• Outdoor seating

• Curb café/Parklet

• Sidewalk repair/replacement

• Awnings

• Paint/Mural 

For additional information, please see https://www.sjeconomy.com/why-san-jose/covid-19-

guidance/business-resources.
PAGE 64 | 122 

STOREFRONT ACTIVATION GRANTS

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Program collateral will be available in languages most prevalent in hardest hit commercial areas: Spanish, 

Vietnamese and Mandarin. Outreach will be done through City of San José Small Business Allies, 

business associations, council offices and community-based partners serving underserved and minority 

communities in San José, as well as those operating in areas of the city hardest-hit by the effects of the 

COVID-19 pandemic.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Number of grants awarded to

small businesses occupying 

vacant storefronts.

 Number of grants awarded to 

existing small businesses to 

improve storefront exteriors

 85% of grant recipients will 

remain in business beyond 

three-years 

 Visual blight will be reduced in 

commercial areas
PAGE 65 | 122 

DOWNTOWN PEDESTRIAN QUALITY OF LIFE + STREETSCAPE

IMPROVEMENTS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 100,000 Timeline: 09/01/2021 to 12/31/2024

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: Existing

Purpose: Ensure the City provides a comfortable and inviting pedestrian-level 

experience for those who live, work, visit and are considering investing in 

our urban core as Downtown San José attempts to recover from the 

negative impacts of the COVID19 pandemic.

Qualified Census Tracts: Yes

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention using City research

DESCRIPTION

Downtown is one of San José’s primary economic and cultural engines. With more than 3,000 

residential units and approximately 3 million square feet of commercial development currently under 

construction, the private sector is making significant investments in downtown, yet the day-to-day 

pedestrian experience, especially after the past 18 months, is lackluster. It is impossible to sufficiently 

support the recovery and revitalization of Downtown post-pandemic without addressing current basic 

needs and shortfalls. If the City does not ensure a positive experience for people walking through our 

Downtown now, we will never maximize Downtown’s future potential.

This proposal provides funding to continue to address day-to-day quality of life issues, consistently and 

persistently, developing a coordinated City team to work with complementary stakeholder groups.

Funding will enable expansion of the Transitional Storefronts Grant program and targeting of specific 

problem areas and pressing issues by an ad-hoc team of staff from a variety of departments. The 

Transitional Storefront Grant program activates dark and unattractive spaces that do not yet have a 

permanent tenant. This funding will also facilitate the continuation of the cross-departmental ad-hoc 

staff team, enabling targeting of specific problem areas and pressing issues.

This request will also potentially fund necessary improvements, repairs and maintenance not currently 

supported by city department or partner budgets including supplemental support for downtown 

outreach services and emergency hotel vouchers when needed to address urgent situations; matching 

grants for the installation of exterior building lighting and seasonal building illumination along major 

pedestrian corridors to increase safety and security; as well as other exterior façade improvements, 

such as outdoor seating to enhance street life.
PAGE 66 | 122 

DOWNTOWN PEDESTRIAN QUALITY OF LIFE + STREETSCAPE 

IMPROVEMENTS

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Many of the 1500+ businesses within the Downtown Business Improvement District are small, minorityowned businesses. The majority of Downtown San José is located within a Qualified Census Tract as 

outlined below.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Beautification of vacant 

storefronts

 Enhanced streetscape vitality

 Enhanced streetscape security

 Illumination of buildings along 

prominent downtown corridors

 Beautification, activation, 

enhancement of ten (10) vacant 

storefronts
PAGE 67 | 122 

SAN JOSÉ AL FRESCO

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 700,000 Timeline: 10/01/2021 to 10/31/2022

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: As a result of the COVID19 pandemic, customers will likely be more 

discerning about the operational set-up of businesses they patronize. This 

initiative will assist businesses struggling to recover from decreased 

customer counts during the pandemic to permanently expand the 

footprint of their business operations outside at a reduced expense.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention using City research

DESCRIPTION

In June of 2020, the City of San José began instituting a streamlined program (SJ Al Fresco) for 

businesses across the city to expand their business operations outdoors – into private parking lots, on 

sidewalks, into streets closed to vehicular traffic, on-street parking spaces and city parks. The goal of 

this initiative was to provide additional space for hard-hit businesses to operate within the public health 

restrictions that were in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the SJ Al Fresco streamlined process, over 130 businesses self-registered to conduct outdoor 

business operations on private property, 35 businesses received a permit for business operations in an 

on-street parking space, on a public sidewalk or both, 12 businesses received a permit to operate in a 

street temporarily closed to vehicular traffic and nine permits were issued for al fresco operations in a 

City park. Three streets were temporarily closed under SJ Al Fresco – two in the Downtown Core and 

one in South San José.

While indoor dining and shopping is now allowed, many customers remain hesitant to shop or dine 

indoors in the current COVID-19 environment. This project is designed to provide the ability for 

businesses to comfortably extend their retail or dining operations outdoors permanently and will 

hopefully assist these businesses on their road to economic recovery. Assisting them in the 

establishment of permanent outdoor operations will also allow businesses to recoup a larger portion of 

the investments they made to conduct business outdoors over the past 18 months.

The program will provide financial assistance to businesses for City permitting and inspection costs as 

well as a grant to cover a portion of the costs to establish their actual outdoor operations space. For

additional information, please see https://www.sjeconomy.com/why-san-jose/covid-19-guidance/sjalfresco-initiative.
PAGE 68 | 122 

SAN JOSÉ AL FRESCO

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Information about the temporary initiative distributed during the height of the pandemic was translated 

to Spanish, Vietnamese, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese to reach the city's non-English 

speaking business owners and in an effort to serve business owners in traditionally underserved areas of 

the city. To the extent that additional funding is available for business owners that did not participate in 

the temporary initiative, similar outreach efforts will be made to engage non-English speaking business 

owners to permanently expand their business operations space outdoors.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Transition of temporary SJ Al 

Fresco parklets to permanent 

parklets

 Assistance for businesses not 

originally engaged in the 

temporary initiative.

 At least 50% of business with 

temporary parklets transitional 

to permanent parklets

 Number of businesses not 

engaged in the original 

temporary initiative that receive 

funding for the establishment of 

permanent outdoor business 

operations
PAGE 69 | 122 

SMALL BUSINESS DISPLACEMENT INDEX STUDY

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 60,000 Timeline: 04/01/2022 to 12/31/2022

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: The recent pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of many businesses to 

outside influences. This project will create a framework to identify business 

most at risk of displacement. The report will use data, published research 

and best practice to set out recommendations on land use, zoning and 

access to technical assistance for impacted businesses.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

The negative economic impact of COVID-19 is exposing businesses to a heightened risk of 

displacement. Land and property owners with vacant premises and bad debt arising from failed business 

tenants may sell for redevelopment purposes, resulting in a loss of commercial land and property and 

the displacement of remaining tenants. 

The City's objectives for this project are to examine the exposure and risk of displacement in a changing 

commercial property market, design a city wide framework with policy recommendations and identify 

the type and range of business support and mitigation services that should be available to the business 

being displaced. The project will evidence good practice, relevant published research and review major 

projects planned in San José such as BART Phase II, redevelopment of Diridon Station and Downtown 

West.

The project will be led by the Office of Economic Development with support from the Planning,

Building and Code Enforcement Department; Housing Department; Office of Racial Equality; the City 

Manager’s Office; and the City Attorney.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The impact of business displacement is a city wide phenomenon with 60% of small businesses estimated 

to be owned by people of color. Small businesses employ over 130,000 people in San José. many of 

whom are residents of San José and reflect the local identify where the business is located. To better 

understand how to respond to the pressure of displacement and test solutions, the City launched a 

pilot in the Alum Rock area on the City's east side in late 2019. This area has some of the highest rates 

of COVID-19 infection in the City and Santa Clara County.

Interim findings from the Alum Rock Pilot highlight how business owners are being impacted by 

displacement. Local research also revealed that micro-businesses, many of whom are business owners of 

color, were less likely to have received government assistance, such as Paycheck Protection Program
PAGE 70 | 122 

SMALL BUSINESS DISPLACEMENT INDEX STUDY

loans, during the pandemic compared to larger businesses. This makes micro-business owners impacted 

by COVID-19 more vulnerable to displacement. 

The approach to this project will be to engage directly with local business associations, chambers of 

commerce and business advocacy groups, many of whom directly represent the interests of business 

owners of color. 

As the City recovers from the negative economic impact of COVID-19, the importance of addressing 

the risk of displacement, and the design of appropriate and culturally sensitive technical assistance are a 

focal point for a creating a more equity driven approach to neighborhood economic recovery and 

business growth.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Report Published

 Adjustments to or introduction 

of new city policies around 

displacement

 Report presented to 

Community & Economic 

Development Committee

 Number of businesses served
PAGE 71 | 122 

BUILDING RESILIENCY: PROPERTY BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 1,000,000 Timeline: 07/01/2022 to 12/31/2024

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: To fully recover from the economic impact of COVID-19 (and build 

resiliency for the next crisis), small businesses need stronger support 

networks. This project will fund the formation of Property and Business 

Improvement Districts in six (6) primarily underserved, ethnically diverse 

business hubs in the City of San José, allowing better service delivery.

Qualified Census Tracts: Yes

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention using City research

DESCRIPTION

San José contains a wide range of commercial "main streets", often in ethnically diverse neighborhoods. 

These commercial corridors are important community anchors, primarily comprised of independent 

small businesses, which were hit hard by the COVID-19 public health restrictions and have struggled to 

regain their footing as the state and City has reopened. 

Luckily, the State of California has a tool to help commercial business districts better support 

themselves. Property and Business Improvement Districts (PBIDs) provide a stable source of funding to 

provide enhanced safety, combat blight, and provide marketing/branding/identity within district 

boundaries. San José has an extremely successful PBID in Downtown, which has a strong track record 

of supporting business retention, attraction, beautification and technical assistance for its member 

businesses. While informal business associations exist in other parts of the City, PBIDs have not formed 

due to the large legal costs and coordination required for their creation.

This proposal would help solve that, bringing this tested tool to strengthen some of the City's most 

critical ethnic business hubs. The project would fund PBID outreach, studies, consulting, and legal work 

to facilitate PBIDs in the following districts: 

• Japantown - one of only three remaining active Japantowns in the U.S.;

• The Alameda – one of California's most historic highways, now a key gateway to downtown San José;

• East Santa Clara Street and Alum Rock Avenue – key Latino and Portuguese commercial centers for the 

region; 

• Monterey Corridor – a manufacturing and industrial hub that supplies critical living-wage jobs to residents 

without a college degree; and

• Tully Road/Eastridge – One of the City's Vietnamese cultural and commercial centers. 
PAGE 72 | 122 

BUILDING RESILIENCY: PROPERTY BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS

With a PBID in place, these commercial hubs can reap the benefits of stronger services and community 

advocacy that can help them not only recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, but better withstand the 

next crisis. 

Additional details and information around the history of the Downtown San José PBID and the services 

that it provides can be found here: https://sjdowntown.com/property-improvement-district/ and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciWcGGKhjBk&t=1490s (Timestamp 24:19 to 34:26).

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Provision of these services will primarily benefit immigrant-owned businesses, and business owners of 

color. In San José, approximately 60% of small businesses are estimated to be owned by people of color. 

These business owners generally have less access to professional services. The PBID tool promises to 

"even the playing field" by providing greater access to enhanced services beyond what the City can 

provide, and to enhance the ability of these business owners to advocate for themselves.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Feasibility studies completed

 Engineers reports completed

 Petition processes initiated

 Legally required supporting 

documentation completed

 Increase in business district 

cleanliness

 Increase in business district

safety

 Increase in business district

tenant retention/attraction

 Property values supported 

(stabilized/increasing)

 Increased brand identity for the 

area
PAGE 73 | 122 

SMALL BUSINESS + MANUFACTURING RECOVERY INITIATIVE

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 1,000,000 Timeline: 01/01/2022 to 12/31/2024

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs

Existing or New Project: Existing

Purpose: Provide small businesses and manufacturers negatively impacted by COVID 

the technical assistance and support resources they need to rebuild their 

business, adapt to change, and build resilience to survive the next crisis.

Qualified Census Tracts: Yes

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

In early 2021, the City received a grant through the U.S. Economic Development Agency grant to 

establish the San José Small Business and Manufacturing Recovery Initiative (“SJ SBMRI”). This initiative 

aims to help businesses and workers most impacted by the COVID-19 recession survive and thrive in a 

rapidly changing economic environment. The program will provide technical assistance to small 

businesses and manufacturers as they recover from the pandemic’s economic impact. This $1 million 

project will allow the SJ SBMRI to reach its full potential by expanding the breadth and depth of various 

components in the original initiative. These components are: 

• Funding to support manufacturing recovery activities through the work of nonprofit Manufacture: San José

(“MFG: SJ”). This funding will allow MFG: SJ to increase its one-on-one advising, access-to-capital services, 

resource referrals, real estate/relocation assistance, and workforce development assistance provided to local 

manufacturers located in COVID-impacted areas. Manufacturing is critical to economic recovery because it 

provides living-wage jobs to people who may not have a college degree. These workers make up a 

disproportionate share of San José's labor force as compared to neighboring Silicon Valley cities. 

• Funding to support business resilience by augmenting activities of San José Downtown Association (“SJDA”). 

Funding will enhance SJDA's staff support for assisting small businesses in Downtown San José recovering from 

the pandemic's impact, including assisting in business planning, marketing strategies, permit assistance, and 

vacant space re-leasing. Funding will also enhance SJDA's ability to assist current and emerging business 

associations in San José's underserved eastside. Under this initiative, SJDA will "train up" these business 

associations in a "train the trainer" model, using SJDA's regional leadership and history as the City's most 

successful business-district association. 

• Funding to support the work of technical assistance providers (“TAPs”), including City-based ethnic chambers, 

focused on outreach to underserved entrepreneurs and small businesses with services such as access to 

capital, business startup, marketing, pivoting, ecommerce, etc. These organizations have technical assistance 

programs that have been oversubscribed during the pandemic; additional support will directly support 

pandemic-recovery efforts to build a stronger small-business base.
PAGE 74 | 122 

SMALL BUSINESS + MANUFACTURING RECOVERY INITIATIVE

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

This project addresses racial equity by focusing recovery resources on underserved businesses. San José 

is home to 55,000 small businesses, more than half of which are immigrant-owned and more than 60% 

owned by business owners of color. These businesses often represent important cultural and 

neighborhood anchors in our underserved communities. Key small business in the proposed service area 

include the heavily Vietnamese Little Saigon; the Latino and Portuguese oriented East Santa Clara/Alum 

Rock corridor; Japantown (one of only three remaining Japantowns in the U.S.); and Downtown, with its 

focus on entertainment and the arts. Residents in these neighborhoods, particularly East San José, have 

been struggling before the pandemic, with generally higher rates of unemployment, poverty and 

overcrowding, and lower rates of educational attainment and less access to capital. Many of those Zip 

codes have COVID-19 case rates well above San José's average.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Businesses outreached to

 Businesses receiving technical 

assistance

 Organizational collaborations 

formed as a result of this 

initiative

 Downtown businesses receiving 

relocation assistance

 Businesses participating in 

business association meetings

 Workshops/trainings produced 

on technical assistance (access 

to capital, business planning, 

marketing, ecommerce)

 Change in commercial vacancy 

rates in program areas

 Establishment of formal 

business association(s) within 

the program area

 Number of businesses 

successfully relocating, 

expanding, or renewing their 

leases in the community

 Number of companies receiving 

and deploying new capital 

(loans/grants/investments)

 Number of manufacturing jobs 

sustained within the project 

area

 Number of businesses 

established in the project area
PAGE 75 | 122 

SAN JOSÉ ABIERTO

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.9 : Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

Funding amount: $ 4,200,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Small Business Recovery

Managing Department: Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Expand the Viva Parks program from a summer program to a year-round, 

City-wide program that includes Downtown San José Parks (St. James

Park/ Plaza de Cesar Chavez), as well as to include four Viva CalleSJ 

activations. This funding serves to promote activation of arts in public 

spaces within San José.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention based on City research

DESCRIPTION

San José "Abierto" Program expands the Viva Parks program from a summer program to a year-round, 

City-wide program that includes Downtown San José Parks (St. James Park/ Plaza de Cesar Chavez), as 

well as to include four Viva CalleSJ activations.

The program will distribute funding to arts groups utilizing a large network of Art Based Lead Agencies 

and will fund City Placemaking Programs such as Viva CalleSJ Open Streets Program, and Viva Parks city 

wide park activation program during 2021-2022. This funding will see the City of San José's activation 

programs triple and will provide access to funds to activate arts groups city wide.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The City of San José activation programs targets lower-resourced communities as a rule. Viva Parks 

Program was designed to activate parks that have been historically plagued by crime, blight, and gang 

activities. Our Viva CalleSJ Program is designed with social integration as its key outcome. The six-mile 

route is developed using census tract information and connects high-middle-low income communities 

through open space, music, arts, and recreation.
PAGE 76 | 122 

SAN JOSÉ ABIERTO

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 4 Viva CalleSJ Activations in 

2021-2022

 Provide 100 Viva Parks 

Activations in 2021-2022

 Create grants for arts based 

organizations in San José

 Over 100,000 participants per 

Viva CalleSJ activation

 Increase local economy along 

the Viva Calle SJ route

 60% of participants will get 60 

minutes minimum exercise

 Activate Viva Parks city-wide in 

most underutilized parks

 Distribute $1.4 Million to arts 

based groups
PAGE 77 | 122 

EMERGENCY PUBLIC INFORMATION

Recovery Plan Category: EC 1 : Public Health

1.8 : Other COVID-19 Public Health Expenses (including 

Communications, Enforcement, Isolation/Quarantine)

Funding amount: $ 500,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Build Back Better + Recovery Task Force

Managing Department: Communications

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Providing timely, accurate and, where feasible, transcreated information to

residents and business to aid in community and economic recovery and 

safety

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

This project will focus on providing timely and accurate information to residents and business to aid in 

community and economic recovery and safety through the creation and translation of emergency 

communications through digital media, print, collateral, and other outreach strategies.

The City Communications Office will develop and provide culturally appropriate and language specific 

information to diverse residents and businesses who are least connected to services and have been 

disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 physically and economically. Tactics will include print, radio, 

digital, social media and TV ads to focused audiences (Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Black/African 

Ancestry), outdoor collateral (banners), transcreation of various emergency- and business-related 

materials, including emails, webinars and blog posts; and support of other Citywide Community and 

Economic Recovery efforts, such as local assistance collateral and advertising. 

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

San José is home to a diverse population. The systemic inequities faced by marginalized communities, 

including challenges with increasing density and growing income disparity pre-pandemic, have been 

exacerbated by COVID-19. Santa Clara County’s death reports show the Coronavirus hit San José’s 

Latino/Latina/Latinx neighborhoods hardest, with more than a third of the county’s first 100 deaths 

having occurred in just four ZIP codes on the city’s East Side: 95116, 95127, 95122 and 95148. SCC 

Public Health data indicates that the Latino/Latina/Latinx community accounts for 61% of COVID-19 

cases despite making up only 27% of the population. Adding to the disparities is a language barrier. This 

project will provide culturally appropriate and language specific information to diverse residents and 

businesses who are least connected to services and have been disproportionately impacted by 

COVID-19 physically and economically.
PAGE 78 | 122 

EMERGENCY PUBLIC INFORMATION

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 N/A  Number of Media buys

 Number of social media ad buys

 Mailings to highest need zip 

codes

 Produce outdoor collateral 

(200 banners)

 Perform media monitoring 

(Contract with Meltwater 

Communications)

 Number of impressions for all 

media
PAGE 79 | 122 

CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE RECOVERY TEAM

Recovery Plan Category: EC 7 : Administrative Expenses

7.1 : Administrative and Other

Funding amount: $ 1,000,000 Timeline: 10/01/2021 to 09/30/2022

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Build Back Better + Recovery Task Force

Managing Department: City Manager’s Office

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Support a newly formed, Citywide, cross-sector, community-based 

COVID-19 Recovery Task Force that would provide recommendations to 

the City Council on matters of COVID-19 economic and social recovery. 

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

To ensure the City’s planned and current use of COVID-19 related funds captures diverse feedback 

from constituents, community-based organizations, and the communities themselves, the City is 

convening and staffing a Citywide, cross-sector, community-based COVID-19 Recovery Task Force 

(“Task Force”) that would provide recommendations to the City Council on matters of COVID-19 

economic and social recovery. The Task Force is contemplated to be convened for no more than a year. 

The City of San José will utilize its Greater Downtown San José Economic Recovery Task Force and the 

Health & Racial Equity Task Force as models. It is contemplated approximately thirty-five local 

organizations, including CBOs, NGOs, educational institutions, and other partners and stakeholders will 

have representation on the Task Force. This project funds the City support staff for this effort.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

As City of San José’s COVID-19 recovery efforts are implemented, we want to ensure that our efforts 

reach every neighborhood, especially the most vulnerable communities. To hold ourselves accountable 

to reaching the most vulnerable communities, the City will develop a set of metrics applied (i.e., 

mapped) on a neighborhood level. These metrics will be used to assess need, target outreach and 

programming, and, over time, track whether programming is having its intended impact.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 N/A  Number of participating 

agencies

 Diversity of participating 

agencies

 Number of Task Force 

meetings

 Report to City Council

 Actionable items for City 

Council consideration
PAGE 80 | 122 

COVID-19 RECOVERY TASKFORCE + COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Recovery Plan Category: EC 7 : Administrative Expenses

7.1 : Administrative and Other

Funding amount: $ 500,000 Timeline: 10/01/2021 to 09/30/2022

City Roadmap: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

City Enterprise Priority: Build Back Better + Recovery Task Force

Managing Department: City Manager’s Office

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Fund activities of a newly formed, Citywide, cross-sector, communitybased COVID-19 Recovery Task Force that would provide 

recommendations to the City Council on matters of COVID-19 economic 

and social recovery. 

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

To ensure the City’s planned and current use of COVID-19 related funds captures diverse feedback 

from constituents, community-based organizations, and the communities themselves, the City is 

convening and staffing a Citywide, cross-sector, community-based COVID-19 Recovery Task Force 

(“Task Force”) that would provide recommendations to the City Council on matters of COVID-19 

economic and social recovery. The Task Force is contemplated to be convened for no more than a year. 

The City of San José will utilize its Greater Downtown San José Economic Recovery Task Force and the 

Health & Racial Equity Task Force as models. It is contemplated approximately thirty-five local 

organizations, including CBOs, NGOs, educational institutions, and other partners and stakeholders will 

have representation on the Task Force. This project funds the activities of the Task Force for this effort.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

As City of San José’s COVID-19 recovery efforts are implemented, we want to ensure that our efforts 

reach every neighborhood, especially the most vulnerable communities. To hold ourselves accountable 

to reaching the most vulnerable communities, the City will develop a set of metrics applied (i.e., 

mapped) on a neighborhood level. These metrics will be used to assess need, target outreach and 

programming, and, over time, track whether programming is having its intended impact.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 N/A  Number of participating 

agencies

 Diversity of participating 

agencies

 Number of Task Force 

meetings

 Report to City Council

 Actionable items for City 

Council consideration
PAGE 81 | 122 

CHILD CARE AND EDUCATION INITIATIVES

Digital Equity

Child Care Learning Pods

Family, Friend, and Neighborhood Program

Child and Youth Success
PAGE 82 | 122 

DIGITAL EQUITY COMMUNICATIONS, OUTREACH + COMMUNITY

ENGAGEMENT

Recovery Plan Category: EC 3 : Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities

3.5 : Education Assistance: Other

Funding amount: $ 750,000 Timeline: 08/01/2021 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: Digital Equity

City Enterprise Priority: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

Managing Department: Library

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Provide the community with additional digital learning resources as well as 

awareness of resources available to them through the San José Public 

Library. 

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention based on City research

DESCRIPTION

This project allocates funding for additional digital resources (eResources) available through the San José

Public Library for use by the general public. These skill-building tools and information resources will be 

available to all Library members.

This project allocates funding for marketing and outreach to ensure that members of the general public 

are aware of the connectivity devices, computing devices, and digital resources available to them with a 

library membership. The marketing and outreach plan will focus heavily on areas of San José that have 

lower home internet adoption. 

This project funds three (3) staff positions to oversee program management, resource allocation, digital 

devices, and equity. For additional information, please see www.sjpl.org/sjaccess.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Deeply ingrained in the Library's mission is equity and inclusion. To inform this body of work, the 

Library has created a Digital Equity Priority Index that calculates need by census tract based on the 

following factors: Census data reflecting households without internet and households without a 

computer, poverty rate, density of children ages 0-18, and the percentage of the population that speaks 

English less than well. This index drives place-based decision-making on distributing new resources, 

siting new investments, and conducting relevant and culturally competent outreach campaigns.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of students 

participating in evidence-based 

tutoring programs

 Outreach campaign should 

produce at least 80,000 

impressions on media

 Circulation of SJ Access devices 

should be over 85% in DI 

priority library branches for 9 

of 12 months
PAGE 83 | 122 

COMMUNITY WIFI 

Recovery Plan Category: EC 5 : Infrastructure

5.17: Broadband: Other projects

Funding amount: $ 750,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: Digital Equity

City Enterprise Priority: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

Managing Department: Library

Existing or New Project: Existing

Purpose: Build free and accessible outdoor wireless networks available for the 

community to use in areas of low digital equity.

Qualified Census Tracts: Yes

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention based on City research

DESCRIPTION

The City of San José has partnered with the East Side Union High School District (ESUHSD) to costshare the building of community wi-fi networks in ESUHSD attendance areas. The infrastructure holds 

two networks: one available to students with ESUHSD credentials, and a second, freely available 

network to all residents in the surrounding area. 

This project will build three (3) wi-fi network areas by the close of FY 2021-2022.This project allocates 

funding for additional digital resources (eResources) available through the San José Public Library for use 

by the general public. These skill-building tools and information resources will be available to all Library 

members. For additional information, please see https://www.sjpl.org/sjaccess#internet.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Deeply ingrained in the Library's mission is equity and inclusion. To inform this body of work, the 

Library has created a Digital Equity Priority Index that calculates need by census tract based on the 

following factors: Census data reflecting households without internet and households without a 

computer, poverty rate, density of children ages 0-18, and the percentage of the population that speaks 

English less than well. This index drives place-based decision-making on distributing new resources, 

siting new investments, and conducting relevant and culturally competent outreach campaigns.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 N/A  Projects completed within 

timeline and budget

 Student educational outcome 

measures retained by ESUHSD
PAGE 84 | 122 

DEVICE ACCESS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 5 : Infrastructure

5.16 : Broadband: Last mile projects

Funding amount: $ 2,120,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: Digital Equity

City Enterprise Priority: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

Managing Department: Library

Existing or New Project: Existing

Purpose: Provide high quality connectivity and computing devices to the public 

through school distributions and the San José Public Library.

Qualified Census Tracts: Yes

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention based on City research

DESCRIPTION

The San José Public Library is managing the distribution of hotspots and computing devices to members 

of the community in need. SJPL is doing this through two main distribution methods: 1) directly to K-12 

students in need through their school, and 2) directly to members of the general public through the 

public library. This project is funding the devices managed through the Library that do not have internet 

filters. For additional information, please see https://www.sjpl.org/hotspot.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Deeply ingrained in the Library's mission is equity and inclusion. To inform this body of work, the 

Library has created a Digital Equity Priority Index that calculates need by census tract based on the 

following factors: Census data reflecting households without internet and households without a 

computer, poverty rate, density of children ages 0-18, and the percentage of the population that speaks 

English less than well. This index drives place-based decision-making on distributing new resources, 

siting new investments, and conducting relevant and culturally competent outreach campaigns.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 N/A  Device circulation maintained 

over 85% checkout for 9 of 12 

months

 85% or more customers report 

that device helped them achieve 

their goals.
PAGE 85 | 122 

DATA EQUITY LEAD

Recovery Plan Category: EC 7 : Administrative and Other

7.2 : Evaluation and data analysis

Funding amount: $ 200,000 Timeline: 09/27/2021 to 09/23/2022

City Roadmap: Digital Equity

City Enterprise Priority: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

Managing Department: Civic Innovation

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Fund a Data Equity position with overall accountability for strategy and

execution of a program that delivers data-to-goal insights, advances

effectiveness along equity outcomes, engages stakeholders through data, 

and supports departments in making continuous improvements with an 

equity lens.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

For this project. the Data Equity Lead’s responsibilities include the following:

• Co-create and manage the development and operations of a city data transformation roadmap and set of 

OKRs with a racial equity lens in partnership with the City’s Data Center of Excellence and Office of Racial 

Equity;

• Collaborate with the City’s Data Center of Excellence, Office of Racial Equity, and other departments in 

development of data tools and insights to define and deliver budgets and services with a racial equity lens;

• Collaborate with external stakeholders and engage community perspectives related to data insights;

• Evaluate new technologies, standards and approaches to accelerate data driven government;

• Practice and promote proven innovation techniques including an agile approach to planning and execution;

• Support the Director of Civic Innovation and the Deputy City Manager of Technology and Innovation on 

special projects as required;

• Democratize the value of data and remove both the barriers and privacy risks to its access and use for the 

elected officials, City staff, and people of San José;

• Foster communities of practice that grow the breadth, depth, and expertise with which the City uses data to 

achieve the goals of City Council and residents; and

• Enable data-driven actions and decisions through cultures, processes, and systems that guide and aid the use of 

data to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of City services.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The Data Equity Lead will focus on using data to ensure new and existing services are created/modified 

to include a racial equity lens and will therefore provide benefit those communities.
PAGE 86 | 122 

DATA EQUITY LEAD

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 N/A  Number of services modified to 

include insights from data 

equity analysis

 Increased usage of services by 

low income communities of

color
PAGE 87 | 122 

CONTINUED CHILD CARE SERVICES

Recovery Plan Category: EC 3 : Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities

3.6 : Healthy Childhood Environments: Child Care

Funding amount: $ 800,000 Timeline: 08/15/2021 to 08/31/2022

City Roadmap: Child Care

City Enterprise Priority: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

Managing Department: Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services

Existing or New Project: Existing

Purpose: Continue to prioritize childcare by administering high quality and affordable 

childcare through a variety of programs and services throughout the City 

of San José. 

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention using prior City programs

DESCRIPTION

The childcare branch of the City Emergency Operations Center (“EOC”) was established in response to 

the COVID-19 pandemic emergency in March 2020, with the realization that the City of San José would 

serve a pivotal role in childcare throughout the pandemic. The Department of Parks, Recreation and 

Neighborhood Services (PRNS) and the Library began collaborating on childcare programs and options 

for vulnerable families in March 2020. The childcare branch administered programming for over 400 

school aged students, providing academic support, enrichment, and physical activities in a safe and 

supervised environment during the 2020-2021 school year. In conjunction with school year 

programming, the branch coordinated childcare programs in the summer of 2020 and the summer of 

2021 to continue to provide full-day childcare to approximately 900 youth weekly during the summer 

months.

Through the utilization of internal department scholarship funding, CDBG funds, and federal

Coronavirus Relief Funds, the childcare branch was able to provide these programs at no cost to those 

most in need throughout the City of San José, thereby having a positive impact to those in desperate 

need of affordable childcare and distance learning support. While the City transitions from emergency 

to a recovery model, there is growing concern that the pandemic has shifted the childcare landscape in 

our city, and the need for affordable childcare options for families will only increase. PRNS will continue 

to utilize funds to reduce the cost to the community for childcare programs, prioritize scholarship 

eligible families, and administer a variety of afterschool programs, preschool classes, and summer camps 

throughout 2021 and 2022.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

These programs have been developed and expanded to address the increased need for childcare in San 

José, which has only been exacerbated during COVID-19. Communities most negatively impacted by 

COVID-19 within the City of San José are those with the most socio-economic challenges and have the 

highest need for high quality and affordable childcare options. Programs have been strategically placed

and added in these communities, and PRNS has partnered with multiple school districts to develop and

utilize a referral system for those youth and families most in need of childcare. Along with a referral
PAGE 88 | 122 

CONTINUED CHILD CARE SERVICES

system that has been used for a few of these programs, additional funding has been used to provide 

scholarships to families that are financially impacted, and a priority registration period was developed for 

scholarship eligible families.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of people or 

households receiving eviction 

prevention services (including 

legal representation)

 Number of children served by 

childcare and early learning 

(pre-school/pre-K/ages 3- 5)

 Total number of locations that 

PRNS utilizes to offer childcare 

programs.

 Total number of youths

enrolled in PRNS programs 

related to childcare (San José

Recreation Preschool, 

Recreation of City Kids, 

Afterschool Education and 

Safety, and Youth Centers)
PAGE 89 | 122 

SAN JOSÉ LEARNS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 3 : Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities

3.2 : Education Assistance: Aid to High-Poverty Districts

Funding amount: $ 500,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: Child Care

City Enterprise Priority: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

Managing Department: Library

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Support eligible expanded learning programs in efforts to mitigate adverse 

impacts of the pandemic on high-risk youth.

Qualified Census Tracts: Yes

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention based on City research

DESCRIPTION

The San José Learns initiative (“SJ Learns”) aims to bolster academic achievement by funding promising 

and innovative out of school programs for San José students in transitional kindergarten through third 

grade.

SJ Learns was created in response to low academic performance among students in low-income 

communities in San José, where approximately half of third-graders are not proficient in English 

Language Arts (ELA), Reading, and Mathematics, and nearly 5,000 at-risk K-3 students lack access to 

free, quality, school-based after school programs.

High-quality extended learning programs provide crucial academic support for students who are 

struggling in the classroom and are especially important for students from families who cannot afford 

fee-based alternatives. For additional information, please see https://www.sjplf.org/sjlearns/.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The program aims to serve students who are most at risk of falling behind academically, which is 

inclusive of all students - but students who are from low-income households, speak a language other 

than English at home, and are non-white represent a majority of students served. Following is an 

overview of 2019-20 students; active grant impact data will be analyzed Fall 2021 – 54% English 

Learners; 73% Latinx; 10% Other; 9% Asian; 8% White
PAGE 90 | 122 

SAN JOSÉ LEARNS

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of students 

participating in evidence-based 

tutoring programs

 Provide funds for direct 

programming

 Community of Practice 

Meetings (5 meetings in 2021-

22)

 Evaluation Reports (Interim and 

Final Reports)

 Student: agency, school 

engagement, academic 

achievement, and social and 

emotional learning skills

 Families: partnerships with 

schools/programs; academic 

involvement, and family efficacy

 Programs: alignment with 

quality standards; partnerships 

with schools, families, and 

others; proliferation of 

promising practices

 Community: community-wide 

support for high-quality OST; 

educated City and workforce
PAGE 91 | 122 

FAMILY, FRIEND & NEIGHBORHOOD PROGRAM

Recovery Plan Category: EC 3 : Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities

3.6 : Healthy Childhood Environments: Child Care

Funding amount: $ 500,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: Child Care

City Enterprise Priority: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

Managing Department: Library

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Expand the Family, Friend, & Neighbor program solely for one-time

expenditures that reduce barriers for new childcare providers, such as 

paying for certification of care providers, city permits and fees related to 

new sites, and expert assistance with sites and tenant improvements.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention using prior City programs

DESCRIPTION

Investing in care infrastructure will yield jobs in the care sector and support the employ-Investing in care 

infrastructure will yield jobs in the care sector and support the employment of caregivers, including 

parents. These elements are crucial for economic recovery.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent need to protect, improve, and ensure the viability 

of childcare and early education providers in San José. This project will not only enable providers to stay 

open and help stabilize the early care workforce, but it will also increase access to quality childcare for 

our City's working families.

The project utilizes a multi-level approach to professional development designed to support the various 

types of informal caregivers, while eliminating potential barriers to opportunities to improving the 

quality of care they provide. Each pathway will be linked to opportunities and resources. Partner 

agencies will play a key role in promoting quality early learning experiences for children through a 

unified, comprehensive program model specifically designed to meet the varying needs of the informal 

care providers in our community.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Supporting caregivers is an equity and justice issue. The lack of infrastructure and the undervaluing of 

care work contributes to significant gender and racial inequities. According to the Aspen Institute, 9 out 

of 10 caregivers are women and are disproportionally Black, Latinx, or Asian immigrant woman. This 

project aims to provide support and advocacy to help support the racial equity issue that currently 

plagues our current childcare landscape. (Source: Dyvonne Body, The True Cost of Caregiving, Aspen 

Institute, June 2020, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/The-True-Cost-ofCaregiving.pdf
PAGE 92 | 122 

FAMILY, FRIEND, & NEIGHBORHOOD PROGRAM

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of people or 

households receiving eviction 

prevention services (including 

legal representation)

 Number of children served by 

childcare and early learning 

(pre-school/pre-K/ages 3- 5)

 Participants complete a

minimum of 21 professional 

development hours

 Program participants in need of 

digital devices and internet 

connectivity will receive 

Chebooks and Wi-Fi hotspots 

and digital literacy training and 

support.

 CPR and First Aid certification 

will be made available to 

program participants.

 Number of participating Family 

Friend and Neighbors (FFN)

 % of FFN participants attending 

Community of Learning 

activities

 % of FFNs who completed 21 

professional development hours

 Number of Quality 

Improvement Plans (QIPs) 

created

 % of QIPs goals completed

 # of FFN participants applying 

for Family Child Care Licenses

 # of children served by 

participating FFN providers

 85% of Participants indicating an 

increased confidence in their 

role as a caregiver

 85% of Participants indicating an 

increased confidence in child 

development

 85% of Participants indicating an 

increased confidence in health 

and safety practices
PAGE 93 | 122 

CHILD AND YOUTH SUCCESS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 3 : Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities

3.6 : Healthy Childhood Environments: Child Care

Funding amount: $ 500,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2023

City Roadmap: Child Care

City Enterprise Priority: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

Managing Department: City Manager’s Office

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Create a comprehensive "Cradle to Career" Youth Development Master 

Plan and identify potential consolidation of existing multi-departmental 

services.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

Since 2015, the City has launched several new programs to help lift the aspirations and opportunities of 

children and youth from low-income families, including San José Learns, Coding 5K, San José Works, and 

San José Aspires, in addition to the City’s preexisting youth programs in our Parks, Recreation & 

Neighborhood Services and Library Departments. Greater alignment of our programs could better 

provide a continuum of support for our youth in high-need neighborhoods and could ensure greater 

uniformity of standards and performance metrics across programs. Dedicated staff with an overview of 

all of the programs could also more strategically seek grants and other external funding sources and 

ensure better internal alignment. This project will fund one (1) Full-Time Equivalent, limit-dated position 

for two years, and a one-time allocation of consulting services of $75,000 to support and oversee this 

effort. This allocation of resources is “seed” funding for the potential development of an office focused 

on youth development and programs. With this funding, the project is contemplated to deliver:

• Creation of a comprehensive "Cradle to Career" Youth Development Master Plan

• Identification of appropriate performance metrics and best practices

• Identification of opportunities for potential consolidation of existing multi-departmental services

• Facilitation of partnerships with community partners and external funders; and

• Alignment with City of San José Education Policy (#0-30) and our equity goals.

Consulting services will help inform and expedite an integrated program approach, conduct research in 

relevant best practices and current improvements in peer cities, and make recommendations for data 

management to track outcomes across the system.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The City of San José is one of the most diverse communities in the United States and strives to create a 

welcoming and safe place for all persons to call home. The City views its work in the education space 

with the same regard, and through the education efforts and services provided by or with City 

resources, seeks to provide a welcoming, safe, and fully accessible resource that supports and enables all 

individuals to achieve their full potential. City programs covered by the City of San José Education Policy 

(#0-30) will make an intentional effort to build relationships with residents and program participants 

based on understanding, respect, trust, and a celebration of diversity, and will work to understand the 
PAGE 94 | 122 

whole individual in the context of family, culture, community, and the broader society to provide the 

best and most responsive service. The high-need neighborhoods being targeted with this program have 

disproportionately been impacted by COVID-19 and experienced higher rates of learning loss, according 

to schools-provided data.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of people or 

households receiving eviction 

prevention services (including 

legal representation)

 Number of children served by 

childcare and early learning 

(pre-school/pre-K/ages 3- 5)

 Report to City Council with 

recommendations on potential 

consolidation of current 

relevant City programs

 Actionable recommendations

on potential consolidation of

current relevant City programs
PAGE 95 | 122 

EMERGENCY HOUSING INITIATIVES

Emergency Housing Construction and Operation

Sheltering + Enhanced Encampment Services

Encampment Management + Safe Relocation Policy
PAGE 96 | 122 

HOMELESS SERVICES OUTREACH ASSISTANCE +RESOURCES (SOAR)

PROGRAM

Recovery Plan Category: EC 3 : Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities

3.12 : Housing Support: Other Housing Assistance

Funding amount: $ 3,000,000

City Roadmap: Sheltering + Enhanced Encampment Services

City Enterprise Priority: Creating Housing + Preventing Homelessness

Managing Department: Housing

Existing or New Project: Existing

Purpose: Provide basic needs support along with street-based case management to 

unsheltered residents.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention using local Point-in-Time surveys

DESCRIPTION

The Services, Assistance, Outreach and Resources (SOAR) program provides street-based services to 

ten of the City's largest homeless encampments. During the COVID-19pandemic and even as the City 

shifts to recover, many unsheltered are left without access to current COVID-19 health and safety 

information, proper personal protective equipment and even basic food and water. The SOAR program 

provides support in three areas; 1) hygiene and trash support, 2) COVID-19 health information and 3) 

street based case management and housing support. 

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The homeless population is disproportionately Native Americans, African Americans and Latino/a. The 

SOAR program will provide services in multiple languages including Spanish and Vietnamese. Services 

are provided in a harm-reduction model and trauma-informed approach. The program collaborates with 

and uses the expertise of individuals with lived experience of homelessness to provide continuous 

program feedback.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

• Number of people or 

households receiving eviction 

prevention services (including 

legal representation)

• Number of affordable housing 

units preserved or developed

• Homeless served

• Demographics of homeless 

population

• Increase the number of 

homeless sheltered

• Increase the number of 

homeless able to better their

housing situation
PAGE 97 | 122 

SITE IDENTIFICATION + CONSTRUCTION

Recovery Plan Category: EC 3 : Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities

3.12 : Housing Support: Other Housing Assistance

Funding amount: $ 2,500,000 Timeline: 09/28/2021 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: Emergency Housing Construction + Operation

City Enterprise Priority: Creating Housing + Preventing Homelessness

Managing Department: Housing

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Construct new 76 unit interim housing community to temporarily provide 

emergency shelter for unhoused individuals during and after the pandemic.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention using local Point-in-Time surveys

DESCRIPTION

This funding will fund a portion of construction of a 76 unit emergency interim housing project to serve 

as temporary shelter of unhoused individuals during the pandemic. After the pandemic, the site will be 

used to temporarily house unhoused individuals who are in the process of transitioning to permanent 

housing. The site will consist of 16 prefabricated modular buildings used as sleeping rooms with private 

restrooms. The project will also consist of two large common buildings which will house 

operations/support staff, laundry facilities, shared kitchens, and case management space. The community 

will be constructed to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, including all 

amenities and six accessible sleeping units. The interim site will be connected to permanent utilities. A 

non-profit operator will provide site management as well as on-site supportive services.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

This project will serve homeless individuals which according to local Point in Time (PIT) surveys as well 

as national statics disproportionately impacts people of color. By working to address homelessness in 

our community, San José is also working to address these racial inequities through housing.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

• Number of people or 

households receiving eviction 

prevention services (including 

legal representation)

• Number of affordable housing 

units preserved or developed

 Number of individuals sheltered 

annually

 Number of individuals exiting to 

permanent housing
PAGE 98 | 122 

ENCAMPMENT SERVICES/BEAUTIFY SJ INITIATIVE
PAGE 99 | 122 

BEAUTIFYSJ CONSOLIDATED MODEL

Recovery Plan Category: EC 3 : Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities

3.11 : Housing Support: Services for Unhoused persons

Funding amount: $ 11,000,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: Encampment Waste Pick-Up BeautifySJ

City Enterprise Priority: Safe, Vibrant, + Inclusive Neighborhoods + Public Life

Managing Department: Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Provide waste removal (trash, debris, biohazards and household hazardous 

waste) at 190+ homeless encampment sites throughout the City of San 

José as part of the Encampment Trash Program. This program is part of 

the City Encampment Management Strategy.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention based on City research

DESCRIPTION

The City of San José is approaching unsheltered homelessness through a public health framework that is 

in alignment with the City Council-adopted Santa Clara County Community Plan (“Community Plan”)

to End Homelessness. Upon the onset of the pandemic, the CDC issued guidance stating that homeless 

people should shelter-in-place, which led to deteriorating conditions at encampments. BeautifySJ 

launched the Encampment Trash Program in 2020 to directly support Pillar 3 of the Community Plan, 

which calls to "Improve the quality of life for unsheltered individuals and create healthy neighborhoods 

for all".

After an intensive process to determine where homeless residents resided and the magnitude of trash 

including biowaste at encampments, the BeautifySJ Program developed a three-tier service model. This 

model categorized sites based on size, the amount of trash and debris and residents’ willingness to 

support cleanup efforts at encampments. In the past, the City had utilized an abatement only approach;

the newly developed Encampment Trash Program and protocols uses a variety of strategies to work 

with residents to better manage and cleanup homeless encampments, limiting the need for abatements

and therefore leading to a cleaner environment for those residing in encampments and the community 

as a whole. 

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The BeautifySJ Program ensures that racial equity and inclusion are paramount to the delivery of 

services within encampments and the neighborhoods impacted. The Encampment Trash Program 

provides services to those in the encampment and surrounding neighborhoods and businesses based on 

need ensuring that communities of color and those less advantaged receive resources to effectively 

address the problem. In the past, a complaint-driven system did not adequately address the needs of the 

community as whole and left communities of color to bear the brunt of the effects of trash and debris 

and that is located at encampments.
PAGE 100 | 122 

BEAUTIFYSJ CONSOLIDATED MODEL

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of people or 

households receiving eviction 

prevention services (including 

legal representation)

 Number of affordable housing 

units preserved or developed

 Number of encampments 

serviced each week

 Total tons of debris removed 

each month

 Number of new encampments 

assessed each week

 Total number of abatements 

coordinated monthly

 Cleanliness rating of 

encampments improves by 20%

 Residents report that the City 

is cleaner

 Encampments receiving 

scheduled service 80% of the 

time

 Number of encampments 

receiving service as scheduled 

80% of the time

 Increase in cleanliness at 

encampments as determined by 

the encampment assessment
PAGE 101 | 122 

BEAUTIFYSJ GRANTS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 3 : Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities

3.13 : Social Determinants of Health: Other

Funding amount: $ 100,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: Encampment Waste Pick-Up BeautifySJ

City Enterprise Priority: Safe, Vibrant, + Inclusive Neighborhoods + Public Life

Managing Department: Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Expand Beautification and Community-Building Efforts in Affected 

Neighborhoods.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention based on City research

DESCRIPTION

This project will expand beautification and community-building efforts in neighborhoods with grants to 

support community celebrations, such as National Night Out and block party events. The monies will 

also fund murals, tree plantings, and community garden/urban agriculture projects.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The BeautifySJ Grant Program includes both established and "emerging" neighborhood groups for less 

established, and typically underserved, areas. The grant program will provide informational sessions to 

newer neighborhood groups in identified qualified census tracts to increase outreach efforts with key 

stakeholders.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 N/A  Provide 130 beautification 

projects and neighborhood

organization events.

 Organize and conduct activities 

that address issues important to 

neighborhood quality of life by 

creating cleaner, safer, and 

more engaged neighborhoods
PAGE 102 | 122 

VEHICLE ABATEMENT PROGRAM, PROACTIVE PATROL, + COMPLAINT 

RESPONSE

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.11 : Aid to Tourism, Travel, or Hospitality

Funding amount: $ 450,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: Encampment Waste Pick-Up BeautifySJ

City Enterprise Priority: Safe, Vibrant, + Inclusive Neighborhoods + Public Life

Managing Department: Transportation

Existing or New Project: Existing

Purpose: Remove truly abandoned vehicles that pose safety and blight concerns 

from the public right-of-way citywide

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention based on City research

DESCRIPTION

The Program is designed to utilize staff, technology, and equipment to accomplish its goal of removing 

abandoned vehicles that pose safety and blight concerns from City streets. Through proactive patrols 

and review of SJ311 service requests our staff would identify abandoned vehicles that meet a described 

criterion to initiate the process of impounding vehicles from City neighborhoods. The proactive patrols 

ensure that Program resources are equitably distributed amongst all neighborhoods within the City.

This will ensure that any area of the City that has been historically underreporting through the SJ311 

service, will get the needed available resources to address its blight and safety concerns. Once a vehicle 

is identified, a strict process is followed to ensure that the impound meets all legal requirements before 

it is removed from City streets.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The Vehicle Abatement model introduces a second input source, proactive citywide vehicle patrols, that 

provide services to areas identified as having need. City staff proactively drive every city street 

approximately every 14 days identifying vehicles to be investigated for abatement due the vehicle being 

inoperable, or being a blight, safety or health concern. These proactive patrols are bringing vehicle 

abatement services to areas that have historically underreported their need for service.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Number of towed vehicles  Number of towed vehicles
PAGE 103 | 122 

DOWNTOWN AUTOMATED PUBLIC TOILETS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.11 : Aid to Tourism, Travel, or Hospitality

Funding amount: $ 400,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: Encampment Waste Pick-Up BeautifySJ

City Enterprise Priority: Safe, Vibrant, + Inclusive Neighborhoods + Public Life

Managing Department: Transportation

Existing or New Project: Existing

Purpose: Continue the operation and maintenance of five (5) Automated Public 

Toilets to address blight in throughout Downtown San José

Qualified Census Tracts: Yes

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention based on City research

DESCRIPTION

This is a program which contracts with JC Decaux San Francisco LLC to operate and maintain five 

automatic self-cleaning public restroom facilities in Downtown San José. These public restrooms were 

installed for the benefit of residents and visitors to downtown San José and to help minimize the 

inadequacy of public restrooms in San José and related blights. 

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

This program benefits all residents and visitors to downtown San José and to help minimize the 

inadequacy of public restrooms in San José and related blights. 

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Inspect each APT at least twice

per day, every day

 Repair of damage, vandalism, or 

graffiti, within twenty-four (24) 

hours

 Continuously maintain APTs in 

a clean, graffiti-free, safe, and 

good working condition
PAGE 104 | 122 

SJ BRIDGE PUBLIC RESTROOMS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 3 : Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities

3.11 : Housing Support: Services for Unhoused persons

Funding amount: $ 300,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2023

City Roadmap: Encampment Waste Pick-Up BeautifySJ

City Enterprise Priority: Safe, Vibrant, + Inclusive Neighborhoods + Public Life

Managing Department: Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Provide job training and housing search assistance for homeless San José 

residents to enable them to transition to more stable housing 

opportunities.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Intervention based on City research

DESCRIPTION

The San José Bridge Program (SJ Bridge) is an employment program for homeless San José residents. 

The SJ Bridge will employ homeless individuals, assist in job training and long-term career goals and 

placement, as well as housing search and placement in San José. This previously implemented program 

employed homeless individuals as part of cleaning crews to combat blight and supported homeless 

individuals to reclaim a path to self-sufficiency in the form of job training and good wages.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

This project will serve homeless individuals which according to local Point in Time (PIT) surveys as well 

as national statics disproportionately impacts people of color. The local homeless community is 

disproportionately represented by Native American, African-American and Latino/a. By working to 

address homelessness in our community, San José is working to also address these racial inequities 

through housing.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of people or 

households receiving eviction 

prevention services (including 

legal representation)

 Number of affordable housing 

units preserved or developed

 Homeless served

 Demographics of homeless 

population

 Provide employment and job 

training opportunities to the 

homeless population

 Increase the number of

homeless able to obtain 

temporary housing
PAGE 105 | 122 

RECOVERY FOUNDATION INITIATIVES

Federal + State Stimulus

Continuity of City Services

Safe Workplace, Employee Health

Drive to Digital

Effective Teams
PAGE 106 | 122 

HYBRID WORKPLACE

Recovery Plan Category: EC 7 : Administrative Expenses

7.1 : Administrative and Other

Funding amount: $ 1,000,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2023

City Roadmap: Drive to Digital

City Enterprise Priority: Powered by People

Managing Department: Information Technology

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: To provide tools and systems to blend of physical + online meetings for 

staff and public; meeting spaces that have audio-visual setups that support 

effective interactions with both types of attendees; communications, 

collaboration and process automation technologies that provide the ease 

and reliability staffs and residents can depend on.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: N/A

DESCRIPTION

The City is moving to a hybrid operational model that creates a “mixed-mode” environment of on-site 

+ virtual work locations, along with online and physical interactions with the public in providing City 

services. In April 2021, City teams identified over fifteen (15) new customer personas to support, which 

will require time and investments. To accommodate, the City will need to continue making investments 

in technology including: 

• Digital-collaboration and communication tools;

• Automation and redesign of business processes to be more efficient while supporting safe and remote work;

• Technologies to support safe and frictionless use of facilities across online and on-premise work;

• Equipment and access to support a mobile workforce; and

• Enhanced cybersecurity tools to protect the City’s information and systems based on the exposure of City 

assets to a more dangerous online world. 

A “hybrid work environment” demands a blend of physical + online meetings; meeting spaces that have 

audio-visual setups that support effective interactions with both types of attendees; communications 

and collaboration technologies that provide the ease and reliability staffs and residents can depend on; 

elimination of paper processes in favor of secure digital processes wherever possible; and new levels of 

logistical support from the Public Works-Facilities, Human Resources, and Information Technology 

departments is expected.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Providing hybrid (remote and physical) access to public meetings such as City council and Committee 

meetings has increased public participation dramatically and has improved racial equity by broadening 

access to local government policy making bodies for populations that previously had lower participation 

rates in public meetings.
PAGE 107 | 122 

HYBRID WORKPLACE

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 N/A  # of outdated technology 

equipment replaced to support 

Hybrid public meetings

 # of staff meeting rooms 

equipped with technology to 

support hybrid work

 Sustainable increases in public 

meeting participation

 Sustained flexible workplace to 

increase appeal in public service
PAGE 108 | 122 

OMNICHANNEL STRATEGY, PROCESS ENGINEERING, AND SERVICE 

DELIVERY AUTOMATION

Recovery Plan Category: EC 7 : Administrative Expenses

7.1 : Administrative and Other

Funding amount: $ 460,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2023

City Roadmap: Drive to Digital

City Enterprise Priority: Powered by People

Managing Department: Information Technology

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: To develop a full digital services strategy across all channels used by the 

public and develop a prioritized list of customer-facing services and 

processes to be automated across all digital channels, define and/or reengineer business processes, and migrate existing and new services to 

customer facing service delivery platforms.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: N/A

DESCRIPTION

Since the launch of San José 311 (formerly My San Jose) in July 2017, the City committed to moving 

towards an omni-channel experience to engage residents and help the City become more responsive to 

the needs of the community. The 2017 launch was the tip of the spear for the City’s digital strategy to 

meet San José’s Smart City early objectives, involving re-engineering City processes, making services 

more accessible and responsive through technology, and resourcing service delivery based on the data 

trends that surface through integrated service delivery. 

Since the initial launch, and particularly within the last 18 months, substantial progress has been made in 

advancing improvements to San José 311 (SJ 311) and the City’s digital service delivery strategy, 

including: the 9-1-1 to 3-1-1 call transition , the rebranding of the SJ 311 web portal and mobile 

application, the implementation of virtual agent services, the refresh of the SJ 311 technology platform 

and architecture, the addition of language translation (Spanish and Vietnamese), and the addition of 

Resident Garbage and Recycling.

Improvements to SJ 311 usability, functionality, and service level expectations reflect in SJ 311 

performance metrics. Beginning July 30, 2017, when the SJ 311 mobile app and web portal were 

launched, the number of reports stalled at around 165,000 annually from 39,000 active users. Reports 

for the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 are now exceeding 192,000 from nearly 42,500 active users. In addition, 

the City is beginning to see customer satisfaction ratings improve significantly – in 2021, 68% of SJ 311 

users reported a “Good” to “Excellent” experience – a marked increase from only 28% of users 

reporting a “Good” to “Excellent” experience in the previous year.

The Mayor’s March Budget Message for Fiscal Year 2021-2022, and the subsequent City Council 

Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2021-2022, partially invested in a two-year program to expand San 

José 311 feature development and customer experience. This project provides data science and
PAGE 109 | 122 

OMNICHANNEL STRATEGY, PROCESS ENGINEERING, AND SERVICE 

DELIVERY AUTOMATION

implementation strategies to represent the ‘voice of the customer’ in terms of most requested City 

services that should be digitized through SJ 311 to increase inclusive and equitable access to City 

services. For additional information, please see https://www.sanjoseca.gov/yourgovernment/departments-offices/customer-service/san-jose-311.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Equity workshops and data analytics: The SJ 311 team partnered with the Mayor’s Office of Technology 

and Innovation (“MOTI”) to complete a series of workshops to define what data equity might look like 

for each individual service team, stakeholders, and constituents. This work resulted in an agreed-upon SJ 

311 Equity Objective, “Empower all who live, work, and play in San José, especially underreporting and 

heavily impacted communities, to submit reports via SJ 311 and ensure that services are delivered per 

committed turnaround times,” for which the two teams MOTI and SJ 311 are working to identify and/or 

add data sets that will inform staff if equity objectives are being met and to support subsequent 

monitoring and evaluation.

In addition, data scientists at Dell Technologies provided pro bono services to analyze free-text 

comments in service-requests – particularly for the category “Other Issues” which accounts for 33 

percent of all SJ 311 service requests. The most prevalent theme found in Dell’s analysis was: People of 

different levels of means need different things from SJ 311. Livability concerns (complaint driven) are 

more likely to be reported in areas with lower incomes. As the City considers what services to add 

next to SJ 311, a strong consideration should be given to balance addressing basic opportunity and 

access needs (equity in education access, affordable housing, internet connectivity) for areas of lower 

income in parallel with efforts to address blight issues and complaints.

Accessibility assessment: As our residents’ one-stop shop for City services, it is critical for SJ 311 to 

support accessibility for all residents with an added emphasis on meeting federal accessibility guidelines. 

Our goal is to offer optimal user experiences for the differently abled community, considering that onein-four individuals in the United States lives with a disability. 

To support this goal, the SJ 311 Team completed an accessibility assessment project which provided a 

list of recommendations that can enhance the user experience for the differently abled community and 

will be implemented in phase II of this project. The outcome of this effort will prepare the City to build 

upon efforts to meet Federal Government requirements, often referred to as Section 508 and Web 

Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards. Major findings of this assessment included: 

• Recognizing the importance of including and compensating disabled residents for sharing their expertise and 

lived experiences.

• Prioritizing web accessibility in procurement and contract decisions.

• Building relationships with community organizations and partners to improve engagement and accessibility. 

Providing hybrid (remote and physical) access to public meetings such as City council and Committee meetings 

has increased public participation dramatically and has improved racial
PAGE 110 | 122 

OMNICHANNEL STRATEGY, PROCESS ENGINEERING, AND SERVICE 

DELIVERY AUTOMATION

equity by broadening access to local government policy making bodies for populations that 

previously had lower participation rates in public meetings.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 N/A  # of City service requests 

through SJ 311

 # of Active Users of SJ 311

 # of Vietnamese and Spanish 

Speakers using app in native 

language

 % of service requests meeting 

service delivery targets

 Customer satisfaction 

exceeding 80%
PAGE 111 | 122 

ONECITY WORKPLACE

Recovery Plan Category: EC 7 : Administrative Expenses

7.1 : Administrative and Other

Funding amount: $ 400,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2023

City Roadmap: Drive to Digital

City Enterprise Priority: Powered by People

Managing Department: Information Technology

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: As we plan for the future of work, a major question facing the City is how 

the City will provide the platforms, tools, practices, and staff training 

necessary to keep employees engaged and informed, while optimizing 

productivity. This project replaces existing intranet platforms that do not 

meet the needs of a Hybrid work environment.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: N/A

DESCRIPTION

The City Roadmap Project Drive to Digital has developed functional requirements for a platform and 

set of approaches that are beyond what was stereotypically thought of as an intranet for keeping our 

employees engaged and informed while optimizing productivity. We have identified the following 

additional needs:

• common tools to promote employee engagement in a culture of remote work;

• easy employee access to all internal applications and resources to perform day to day duties; and, 

• promoting organizational culture that aligns ‘=”ONE” City workforce with the City core mission, vision and 

priorities.

The effort to replace our existing intranet and implement this new platform will include a dedicated

multi-disciplinary, cross-trained team of technical and functional experts to transition to OneCity 

Workplace to modernize our approach to informing, engaging and optimizing productivity for City staff 

through a modernized intranet.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Consistent employee experience and awareness of policies, procedures and priorities ties directly to 

the culture and quality of public service. Although these tools are internally focused, they do have 

implications on improving equity and inclusion by keeping our staff engaged, informed and productive in 

providing City services that are efficient, effective and equitable.
PAGE 112 | 122 

ONECITY WORKPLACE

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 N/A  All OneCity Workplace 

functional measures are 

completed

 OneCity Workplace is 

delivered on time and within 

budget

 Staff can find all relevant City 

Policies

 Staff have access to necessary 

City applications

 Staff can receive communication 

alerts and notifications related 

to critical city information or 

emergencies
PAGE 113 | 122 

RECOVERY RECRUITING & HIRING

Recovery Plan Category: EC 7 : Administrative Expenses

7.1 : Administrative and Other

Funding amount: $ 500,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2023

City Roadmap: Effective Teams

City Enterprise Priority: Powered by People

Managing Department: Human Resources

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Increase capacity in Human Resources to hire for recovery-focused staff 

positions for critical community and economic recovery priorities on the 

City Roadmap, such as Small Business Recovery, Day Care, Digital Equity, 

BeautifySJ, etc.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: N/A

DESCRIPTION

The project funds four (4) Full-Time Equivalent positions to support and direct hiring for 98 positions 

for the City community and economic recovery priorities.

The City of San José is one of the leanest staffed agencies in the state (San José Auditor's report) and 

currently has a more than 700 vacancies (about 11% vacancy rate). Given the scale and criticality of the 

recovery effort in the City, short-term staffing is needed in the next year to focus exclusively on 

recovery related staffing needs which are for programs and initiatives for some of our most vulnerable 

and under-served communities of color. Not filling these positions in a timely manner may put the 

continuity of response services and planning for recovery work at risk.

The team will act as a Business Partner to about seven hiring departments by providing guidance on 

policies and procedures, develop and implement strategies to meet the EOC Recovery recruitment 

needs, establishing and maintaining clear and timely communications with hiring departments, providing 

strong customer service to applicants and hiring departments, and completing transactions. The team 

also will be responsible for directly hiring some of the 98 positions.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The positions identified in this Recovery Hiring Project includes Small Business Recovery, Housing 

Stabilization, Homeless Encampment Waste Pick Up, and Digital Equity. These recruitment efforts will 

include bilingual staff to work directly with communities who have been disproportionately impacted by 

the pandemic.
PAGE 114 | 122 

RECOVERY RECRUITING & HIRING

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 N/A  Launch recruitments for 98 

recovery positions during FY 

2021-2022

 Deploy 20 of the 80 Recovery 

positions during Q2

 Deploy 30 of the 80 Recovery 

positions during Q3

 Deploy 30 of the 80 Recovery 

positions during Q4

 Hire 80 of the 98 Recovery 

positions during FY 2021-2022

 Hire 20 of the 80 Recovery 

positions during Q1

 Hire 20 of the 80 Recovery 

positions during Q2

 Hire 20 of the 80 Recovery 

positions during Q3

 Hire 20 of the 80 Recovery 

positions during Q4
PAGE 115 | 122 

SAFE WORKPLACE

Recovery Plan Category: EC 7 : Administrative Expenses

7.1 : Administrative and Other

Funding amount: $ 228,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2022

City Roadmap: Effective Teams

City Enterprise Priority: Powered by People

Managing Department: Human Resources

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Fund Program Manager to educate staff, track injuries, and document 

trends to reduce overall injuries and costs associated with injuries 

(workers' comp costs).

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: N/A

DESCRIPTION

The project funds one (1) Full-Time Equivalent position to identify incident rates (frequency and 

severity) and associated workers’ compensation costs for each department to set meaningful reduction 

goals, conduct trend analysis to understand the types and causes of injuries by department, develop 

Safety Improvement plans, and develop and implement CAL/OSHA compliant safety policies, 

procedures and training that will educate employees on injury prevention.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Per City Policy, hiring activities and decisions shall be conducted in a manner consistent with City of San

José Charter provisions regarding selection based on merit and fitness, and consistent with local, state, 

and federal laws, statutes, and regulations governing employment.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 N/A  Identify Incident rates 

(Frequency and Severity)

 Reduction in both frequency 

and severity
PAGE 116 | 122 

OTHER CITY INITIATIVES
PAGE 117 | 122 

ENERGY-SAVING RETROFITS

Recovery Plan Category: EC 2 : Negative Economic Impacts

2.2 : Household Assistance: Rent, Mortgage, and Utility Aid

Funding amount: $ 500,000 Timeline: 09/01/2021 to 06/30/2025

City Roadmap: Build Back Better + Recovery Task Force

City Enterprise Priority: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

Managing Department: Community Energy

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Supplement the San José Single-Family Residential Program authorized by 

the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to incentivize energysaving retrofits in low-income homes.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Evidence-Based Interventions based on CPUC research

DESCRIPTION

The SJCE Single-Family Residential Program will provide discounts and incentives to moderate-income 

SJCE residential customers in single-family homes for replacing older, less efficient appliances with new 

energy efficient electric appliances. The program will center its focus on serving two classes of 

customers:

• Residents of disadvantaged communities (DACs);

• Families whose household income exceeds California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) Program 

eligibility guidelines and within the moderate-income thresholds defined by the CPUC (200-400% of 

the Federal Poverty Guidelines).

SJCE will employ an innovative program model that leverages neighborhood outreach and bulk buying 

power to drive down the cost of appliances. Layered with other program incentives, the bulk discount 

will provide customers with replacement appliances at a lower price, reducing electric load and 

generating customer satisfaction and energy bill savings. SJCE contemplates 250 homes will be able to be

retrofitted using the first tranche of California state funding currently pending award. This project will

expand the program beyond the initial 250 homes.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Equity is a core focus for the City of San José. San José has a very diverse community of residents, with 

roughly 36% of its population Asian, 32% Hispanic, and 26% white per 2019 U.S. Census Bureau data. 

The CalEnviroScreen tool identifies fourteen (14) census tracts in the City of San José that score within 

the top 25% of communities with the highest pollution burden. Those 14 tracts have a population total 

of 63,925 and around 12,000 San José Community Energy (“SJCE”) accounts. This program would serve

residents of disadvantaged communities and families whose household income exceeds California 

Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) Program eligibility guidelines and within the moderate-income 

thresholds defined by the CPUC (200-400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines).
PAGE 118 | 122 

ENERGY-SAVING RETROFITS

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 Number of people or 

households receiving eviction 

prevention services (including 

legal representation)

 Number of affordable housing 

units preserved or developed

 Number of workers enrolled in 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of workers completing 

sectoral job training programs

 Number of people participating 

in summer youth employment 

programs

 Provide appliance discounts and 

incentives as well as self-install 

and direct installation options 

to customers.

 Number of completed projects

 Number of homes served

 Program energy savings

 Number of participants in DAC 

and moderate-income 

communities 

 Percentage of program funding 

directed to DAC and 

moderate-income communities

 Cost-effectiveness calculations

 Percentage of recommended 

measures installed by 

customers

 Percentage of customers 

audited who install at least one 

program measure
PAGE 119 | 122 

SAN JOSÉ ASPIRES ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT

Recovery Plan Category: EC 7 : Administrative Expenses

7.1 : Administrative and Other

Funding amount: $ 538,000 Timeline: 07/01/2021 to 06/30/2025

City Roadmap: Effective Teams

City Enterprise Priority: Powered by People

Managing Department: Library

Existing or New Project: Existing

Purpose: This project funds administrative support for the San José Aspires

program.

Qualified Census Tracts: Yes

Use of Evidence: N/A

DESCRIPTION

This project funds administrative support for the San José Aspires program. San José Aspires provides 

college and career readiness guidance to high school students in Title I schools. Through San José 

Aspires, high school students claim awards based on in-school and out-of-school work they do that 

provides them with post-secondary financial support to help them achieve their college and/or career 

goals. Students in San José Aspires can claim up to $5,000 in financial support for their post-secondary 

educational needs (community college, college or university, or technical or trade school) by claiming a 

variety of awards. The awards are separated into two categories: core and supplemental. Core awards 

help students prioritize their academics and college application requirements; supplemental awards 

allow students to highlight their extra-curricular or out-of-school time efforts. Students claim these 

awards by providing evidence to San José Aspires. When the student graduates from high school and 

enrolls in a post-secondary institution, the funds are distributed to the student to help cover tuition, 

fees, technology, materials, and other post-secondary-related costs. For additional information, please

see www.sjpl.org/sj-aspires.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

San José Aspires is focused on providing opportunity to under-resourced students. The program is at 

two high schools in San José: San José High School and William C. Overfelt High School. Both schools 

are Title 1 schools and are minority-majority schools.
PAGE 120 | 122 

SAN JOSÉ ASPIRES ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 N/A  Private funding raised to 

support students in San José 

Aspires

 Increase in non-financial 

opportunities such was job 

shadows or mentoring for 

students in San José Aspires

 Data sharing agreements with 

schools and districts to 

expedite the claiming of awards 

for students in San José Aspires

 Development and growth of 

San José Aspires Student 

Community Portal to further 

engage students in San José 

Aspires

 Literacy Program Specialist to 

manage day-to-day program 

operations and oversee longterm growth and strategic 

planning

 Administrative staff to support 

the students in and resolve 

technical issues related to San 

José Aspires

 Increase in percentage of 

graduates attending a postsecondary educational 

institution

 Five year graduate rate of San 

José Aspires students at college 

and universities

 Percentage of San José Aspires 

students who graduate from 

community college with a 

career certificate

 Percentage of San José students 

who graduate from community 

college with an Associate's or 

Associate's for Transfer Degree

 Percentage of San José students 

who transfer from a community 

college to a four-year college or 

university

 Percentage of San José Aspires 

who receive a technical trade 

certification or license
PAGE 121 | 122 

YIGBY LAND USE POLICY DEVELOPMENT

Recovery Plan Category: EC 3 : Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities

3.10 : Housing Support: Affordable Housing

Funding amount: $ 75,000 Timeline: 07/28/2021 to 05/02/2022

City Roadmap: Build Back Better + Recovery Task Force

City Enterprise Priority: COVID-19 Pandemic: Community + Economic Recovery

Managing Department: Planning, Building & Code Enforcement

Existing or New Project: New

Purpose: Perform outreach for a “Yes, In My Back Yard” (YIGBY) Public/QuasiPublic (PQP) policy to leverage private fundraising for affordable housing, 

and to examine PQP-conversion of school-district-owned lands.

Qualified Census Tracts: Citywide

Use of Evidence: Program Evaluation

DESCRIPTION

Some City of San José churches have expressed a willingness to build 100% affordable housing for 

homeless and low-income families and individuals on their parking lots, but current City land use 

designations have posed a longstanding barrier. In the fall of 2020, the San José City Council approved 

developing a “Yes, In My Back Yard” (YIGBY) land use policy as part of the Citywide Residential AntiDisplacement Strategy. The City has identified approximately 435 acres of assembly use properties 

owned by nonprofit faith organizations zoned Public/Quasi Public (PQP), a significant portion of which is 

underutilized surface parking lots that could be converted into affordable housing. In contrast to the 

recent conversion of a local school district’s PQP-designated land for a market-rate project that will 

produce predominantly $1.4+ million homes, the City has the opportunity to create truly affordable 

housing at a scale worthy of consideration for the conversion of publicly designated land. Much of the 

work lies in community outreach which could be performed by local non-profits like Catalyze SV on a 

contractual basis. This project will contract with an outreach consultant to accelerate the work 

necessary to bring forward a YIGBY PQP policy as soon as possible so the City can take advantage of 

offers by philanthropic partners willing to develop affordable housing. To the extent possible, the 

consultant should also perform work of PQP-conversion of school-district-owned lands to save time 

and generate efficiencies.

RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The development of this policy is estimated to create between 300-500 units of affordable housing that 

will alleviate the disproportionately high cost of renting for families of color in the City. 
PAGE 122 | 122 

YIGBY LAND USE POLICY DEVELOPMENT

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Mandatory Key

Performance Indicators Output Measures Outcome Measures

 N/A  Amend the land use designation 

in the General Plan for 541 

parcels including 203 sites with 

existing assembly uses.

 Amended land use designation 

should support the creation of 

300 to 500 new units of 

affordable housing.