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SAN JOSE — San Jose must make a big push to tackle homelessness in the coming 12 months, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said, describing the problem as the “biggest crisis” that faces the Bay Area’s largest city. The mayor made the call to action as part of the annual State of the City event, which was held Saturday in a meadow at San Jose’s Happy Hollow Zoo. “Our biggest crisis, the humanitarian, environmental and fiscal crisis of homelessness” must be San Jose’s top priority, Mayor Mahan said during the State of the City speech.

Part of that effort is to find ways to shift hundreds of people from streets and waterways into locations and situations deemed to be far safer than their current living conditions. “Over the next year, we will move over 1,000 additional people out of unsafe conditions who would otherwise continue to live on our streets and along waterways,” Mahan said during his state of the city speech. This includes efforts to move 500 people who are living next to waterways in “life-threatening situations,” Mahan said.



San Jose officials, including the City Attorney, have raised the ominous prospect that the municipality could face fines and litigation from the Regional Water Board or other agencies regarding pollution and impact in waterways arising from nearby homeless encampments. “At the end of the day, it’s pretty simple,” Mahan said during a press conference before the event. “We ought to provide safe, dignified places for people.

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