Executive Update: SVBC’s 2023 San Jose safe-streets budget campaign

Feb 21

Shiloh Ballard is Executive Director of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition.

It was a year ago that SVBC decided to take on something big, to win safer streets through the City of San Jose’s most mysterious process – the Budget!

We’re now in the throes of what we have dubbed – and it is a very unmarketing-friendly name – The San Jose Budget Campaign.

So, where are we in the campaign and how does this mysterious budget process work? And, most importantly, how can you help?

San Jose Local Team members may recall that about a year ago, when we decided to take this on, we didn’t really know how to do it. To learn, we invited a seasoned budget veteran to share his wisdom, Bob Brownstein. Bob was the Budget Director under former Mayor Susan Hammer and has since become San Jose’s policy guru. Bob knows everything and he spent an hour with us helping us understand how we could convince the City to invest more of its budget in safe streets.

After that, we started organizing folks and laying the foundation for a campaign, knowing that one of the important steps is to get what you want included in the Mayor’s March Budget Message. Only problem was, with Mayor Sam Liccardo terming out, we didn’t know who the Mayor was going to be. Combine that with the fact that there were three council members termed out. And then, two additional seats opened up with the election of Coucilmember Sylvia Arenas to the County Board of Supervisors and Councilmember Matt Mahan being elected to Mayor. (Are you lost yet in all those details?) The sum: As of today, the San Jose City Council has a new mayor and five (of 10) new councilmembers. And, the budget process is a mystery to all those new folks too!

Getting the street-level view

One of the first things we did was organize a bike ride to help inform the new Councilmembers. Details about that ride are here and we’re so appreciative that Councilmembers Bien Doan, Rosemary Kamei, Omar Torres and David Cohen rode with us, in addition to staff from Councilmember Dev Davis’s office.

The point was to show councilmembers and key staff how street design impacts safety. So we took them for a spin on some Vision Zero corridors and talked about the resulting reduction in crashes after design improvements were made. We were also fortunate to be joined by Gina LaBlanc, mother of Kyle LaBlanc. Kyle was killed by a tow truck driver while walking on Curtner Avenue and her story, at the ride, and in subsequent meetings and press has been helping policy makers and staff understand that the death of people on our streets is not abstract and it is not something we have to accept. It is preventable. On average San Jose has 20 crashes a day and those are real people, each one with a family and friends. You can read Gina’s story here.

One of the new Mayor’s first actions was to form five transition committees. The goals of the Committees were to come up with metrics and outcomes that would become priorities in the Mayor’s budget message.

Four traffic safety recommendations emerge

One of the Committees was on traffic enforcement and crime. Ah-ha! If there’s ever a committee SVBC should be on, it is traffic enforcement. We are the only advocacy organization that focuses on traffic enforcement, namely through street design and as a member of the City’s Vision Zero Task Force. We were appointed to the Committee and we are very pleased to detail the Committee’s recommendations on traffic enforcement below:

Fully fund the City’s Vision Zero Action Plan: This is estimated to cost $12 million and is the subject of the petition drive we started a few months ago. Thank you to those of you who have already signed it and if you haven’t yet, it is here.
Increase Department of Transportation Staff Capacity: One of our asks is to not only fund the Vision Zero Action Plan but to make sure all our street safety projects are built out at a much faster clip. People are dying now and we can’t wait a decade for projects. To do that, DOT needs more staff, both for project implementation and to bring in additional grant dollars.
Fund the Bike Plan: Hallelujah! On this one, it is important to note that it is a recommendation for future budget years.
Pedestrian Safety Program: The final recommendation out of the Committee is to create a pedestrian safety program.

What you can do

These are all great recommendations and now is the time for you to tell the City Council to make them priorities. The City Council will give City staff direction on Feb. 28. Please write to them now and tell them you support making these a priority. You can find instructions on how to do that below. And, don’t forget to sign the Vision Zero petition here.

It is also important to note that the budget process goes on for months, with a final decision in June. We’re just at the beginning and will need your help all along the way to make sure the Council knows that this is a priority. San Jose had a record number of deaths on the roads last year. This is the time to make sure the budget meets the moment.

Fund Vision Zero

San Jose saw a record 65 traffic fatalities by the end of 2022. And that is unacceptable. Although San Jose leaders have committed to funding Vision Zero, our communities cannot afford the pace at which the city is currently funding and implementing Vision Zero. We need Vision Zero funded and implemented now! We are demanding that our city leaders prioritize funding and implementing Vision Zero in the next two fiscal years.