Homeless Camps, Area Hiring, Cannabis Use Round Out SJ Priorities

SAN JOSE, CA -- The City Council finalized a list of 25 priorities on Tuesday, choosing to focus on issues ranging from local hiring to safe parking and sanctioned encampments for the next year or so.

Among the list of 25 are six new priorities, including paid family leave, childcare and early education, a universal development fee, cannabis land use, a cannabis equity applicant program and updates to the city's wage theft policy.

The priority-setting process was initially created in 2011 to accommodate the city's budget restrictions, but has since developed into a guide for the city's policy agenda. The city also removed the following five items from the priority list, marking them "complete" after being added in October 2017: rental right and referrals program update, homeless veterans vouchers, personal care business compliance initiative, downtown active storefronts initiative and medical marijuana.

Each of the city council members submitted items to be placed on the priority list. Mayor Sam Liccardo's picks were a universal development fee, intended to streamline the "bureaucratic pinball" of residential development, and accessible and affordable childcare and early education.

Ranked from top to bottom, local hiring, local business and an apprentice utilization program came out on top, with a private property graffiti abatement ordinance ranking 25th on the list.

Other priorities include electronic billboards, smoke-free housing, a commercial linkage fee for affordable housing, a downtown zoning code update and an accessory dwelling unit and garage conversion ordinance.

--Bay City News