San Jose won’t sell interim housing site for jail diversion program after community backlash

In the wake of community backlash, San Jose is shelving a controversial proposal to sell one of its tiny home sites to Santa Clara County for a jail diversion program.

Along with thousands signing a petition to halt the sale of the interim housing site at 6066 Monterey Road, hundreds of South San Jose residents blasted city and county officials during a pair of community meetings in the past few weeks for both a lack of transparency and failing to consider their safety concerns.

After community input swayed San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan not to support the proposal, city officials say they will follow suit in a letter to the community Monday.

“While no formal vote has been made by the Mayor and Council regarding the sale of the Monterey/Bernal site, the City’s Housing Department and the City Manager’s Office is not bringing forward a recommendation for the sale of the Monterey/Bernal site and may explore alternative options with the County,” Housing Director Erik Solivan wrote.

Santa Clara County had expressed interest in buying the Monterey Road site and properties at 1072-1082 Vermont St. after receiving $8 million in grant funding from the California Health Facilities Financing Authority. Under the terms of the grant, the county needed to have the facilities up and running by the end of November.

The South San Jose property is currently managed by HomeFirst Services and can serve up to 78 unhoused residents.

County officials said the programming they wanted to offer would not result in a significant change from the clientele currently using the interim housing site because homelessness, mental health issues and “justice involvement” were interrelated.

“About 15% of people had been to jail within six months of enrolling in the site, and almost half of the participants reported that they had some sort of behavioral health concern, so we’re already serving these people at the Monterey-Bernal site,” program manager Hilary Barroga said at a community meeting last week.

County officials attempted to assuage safety concerns by noting that precautions were built into its jail diversion program, including the need for courts and District Attorneys’ and Public Defender’s offices to sign off on any person’s participation. They also said that the California Penal Code prevented people who pose an unreasonable risk to public safety from receiving jail diversion consideration.

“It’s important to recognize that many unhoused people who are not involved in serious crimes are already being released without housing, as they are not considered a high risk to the community,” the Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Services Department told The Mercury News. “This program seeks to provide them with the support they need to break the cycle of homelessness and justice system involvement. A successful diversion program for unhoused, justice-involved people will mean safer neighborhoods.”

Mahan said the city was initially interested in offloading the site because the county was in a better position to offer services to homeless residents. Along with the $8 million the city would receive, San Jose would have saved nearly $2.5 million the city pays in operating expenses for the site annually, allowing the city to balance this year’s budget and potentially provide other services to taxpayers.

But Mahan and District 10 City Councilmember Arjun Batra, who vowed to block the proposal, said they were unaware of the county’s proposed use and were led to believe the county intended to run the interim housing site as is during this year’s budget sessions.

The proposal has become such a hot-button topic that Batra and George Casey, his adversary in the coming election, have attempted to use it for political purposes.

“County officials and some politicians at City Hall at first circled the wagons and attempted to push the sale through (or in the case of our appointed incumbent, did nothing until we put their feet to the fire), but thanks to your tireless commitment to the safety of our neighborhoods, we finally got them to do the right thing and take this project off the table,” Casey wrote in an email blast Monday evening.

Regardless of what happened before Monday’s announcement, community leaders rejoiced in knowing that the city listened to their concerns.

“The community is very happy to hear that their voices were heard,” Issa Ajlouny, president of Safety Advocate for Empowering Residents, or S.A.F.E.R. San Jose, told The Mercury News.