San Jose Standard

City of San Jose issued the following announcement on Dec 30.

Today, Mayor Liccardo delivered the State of the City address by video this year.  At the outset, Liccardo described the “state of the city” bluntly,  “Our city is suffering, as it has never suffered before. Between days filled with wildfire smoke, and nights of civil unrest, weeks of rising hospitalization, and months of unpaid bills, we have been bruised and we have been battered...But we remain unbowed.”

Yet Liccardo pointed to the community’s character—and specifically residents’ faith in themselves and their community —as a source of hope, “San Jose is a resilient city. Boundless hearts and creative spirits have enabled us to endure, to adapt, and to innovate.” He pointed to several inspiring examples of residents stepping up amid the crisis to lift and support others, to innovate, adapt, and persevere, such as the more than 3,000 residents who volunteered to help distribute food after the launch of Silicon Valley Strong, a digital resources hub that also facilitated the raising of tens of millions of dollars and provides one-stop information to residents seeking to get or give help.

The mayor noted that these moments of the generosity and resilience of others, “give us faith in our community. That faith strengthens our resilience in tough times—by forging our commitment to each other, and by emboldening us to adapt, try new methods, and to embrace risk. That is, our common faith...only allows us to not only survive in the moment, but to thrive after the crisis has passed.” 

Liccardo emphasized ways in which City staff embraced the community’s faith, pivoting amid the pandemic to create a “better normal” with innovative solutions to enduring hardships exacerbated by the pandemic, including: 

• Bridging the digital divide for more than 100,000 residents with free broadband, helping tens of thousands of students engage in distance learning.  In partnership with East Side Union High School District, the City has forged the path to digitally connect more than 300,000 residents, the size of the city of St. Louis, with free broadband by 2022. 
• Providing immediate construction of emergency housing sites for more than 300 homeless residents at ⅕ of the cost of typical apartments, built in 4 months instead of the typical 4 years.  In combination with other housing solutions such as rented motels and converted shelters, the City and County have worked with non-profit organizations since the pandemic to house more than 4,300 homeless individuals, and enable 1,533 people to obtain permanent housing. 
• Managing the distribution of more than 2.5 million meals a week in partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank, and becoming the first city in the nation to propose an eviction moratorium

In early 2021, after the current COVID-19 surge has abated, Liccardo said he will return with a more traditional articulation of policy proposals for the year ahead, but pointed to some specific efforts in improving police accountability and transparency, and expanding programs that address the intersection of racial, educational, and economic inequity.   

In the year ahead, Liccardo declared, “San Jose will continue to adapt, innovate, and lead the way to a ‘better normal’--together.”  Liccardo concluded by describing how history will describe our community’s toils through this pandemic, asserting that it “will tell our progeny about our common faith—one that inspired us to overcome our physical separation to act collaboratively, to give boldly, and to adapt courageously.”  

He concluded, “This is our moment to write a new chapter for our City, to define our generation’s special place in history, and to lead a badly ailing nation on a path of healing.” 

To watch the 2020 State of the City, visit here.

To read a full transcript of the State of the City, visit here.

Original source can be found here.