NOTonNOBLE.blogspot.com
Friday, August 15, 2025
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
SAYING IT LIKE IT REALLY IS .. in 60 seconds "GO!"
i have listened twice now to each (new) person's 60 seconds of truth.. [we've been hearing from non-profits, advocates for the homeless for years];
public safety is being utterly ignored, while homeless criminals are supported, enabled & empowered.
what law abiding, tax paying, hard working people of San Jose are being forced to put up with is CRIMINAL. just LISTEN to the testimonies regarding this truth begin at 3:21 on the youtube video of THIS MEETING.
my collage here is not of everyone who spoke at open mic. it is, on purpose, a collage of the people who shared their true horror stories of what is taking place because crimes by homeless people are allowed; ignored; excused. frustrating to me, that our government system gives people 60 seconds to encapsulate what they've been dealing with for years. But WOW to how well people condensed, highlighted and bullet pointed their experiences. VERY POWERFUL 60 SECOND SPEECHES!! all of them..
****
when time allows, i will post the various testimonies. it is one thing to be told, another to listen.. and another to read.
in progress..
My names is Elva Wilson. I came here from Mexico with my family working the fields as a migrant worker, enduring the dangers of crop dusters dropping pesticides over our heads.
As a woman and as a person of color, I have experienced poverty. I have experienced oppression.
My heart sinks when I see a drug addicted or mentally ill brown person living outdoors in squalor.
A vote against Responsibility to Shelter is an oppressive act against a vulnerable people.
This Council has the power to stop this oppression. Help people, who can’t help themselves. Please support the Mayor’s proposal.
And please support the Mayor’s Pay for Progress/Performance proposal. It would hold elected officials more accountable to residents. There should be no hesitation from the Council to accept this. Council should not be determining their own merit-based compensation utilizing public funds.
This proposal would only bring the matter before voters to decide. As Councilwoman Campos just stated, voters should always be the ultimate deciders.
*
I am a witness
I have witnessed this pattern over and over:
You have a thriving business
Homeless park themselves in front of the business
Paying customers stop going -the homeless remain.
The business loses customers, revenue, employees; and is forced to close.
The once thriving business is boarded up and covered in graffiti.
It is criminal to allow that to happen.
I am a witness
I have witnessed this pattern over and over:
You have a beautiful green belt, a lovely park, a dedicated walking/biking trail
enjoyed and respected by countless families.
Homeless set up camp and colonize. Destroy the health & beauty with toxic trash.
Countless Families avoid and then stop visiting the area. Never bring visitors.
These areas are literally being stolen from people who once enjoyed them
It is criminal to allow that to happen.
I stand 100% behind Mayor, Matt Mahan in his efforts to keep San Jose businesses open, and return our beautiful outdoor areas to safe and clean places people can enjoy again.
Sandra
Mickanen
*
My sister’s
son, who is mentally ill, drug addicted, and violent, has been in and out of
jail for years for assaulting her. Each time he was released with no
consequences, and no mandatory treatment. His assaultive attacks on her grew
more violent each time. Six years ago, he murdered my sister. My sister and my
family are the victims, not him.
Many of the homeless are mentally ill, drug addicted, and violent. They are committing multiple crimes in our city. They are not the victims, we are. They need to be held accountable for their crimes. Homelessness is not a free pass to commit crimes.
I worked as a Santa Clara County Correctional Deputy for 27 years. Many of the inmates are homeless, mentally ill, drug addicted, and violent. When they get released, they go back to living on the streets with no treatment. The city and county need to place these criminals in lockdown treatment facilities.
Robert Mickanen, Berryessa San Jose
*
-Tom Wilson..
The squalor in encampments is an extreme health risk to all. Perhaps worse, is the danger brought about by mental illness, drugs, weapons, crime and violence.
We must do better, yet, many Council members are content funding the non-profits, who have failed for decades to bring homeless people indoors.
To perpetuate their funding, the non-profits have stacked this podium today with shills spouting misinformation so they can continue riding the gravy trains of government contracts.
I support the Mayor’s “Responsibility to Shelter” proposal.
No one should be living and dying on the streets in San Jose. While we’re building needed shelter, we must act immediately to move the drug addicted and mentally ill into treatment.
Too many people are refusing shelter and treatment, even when offered private units with bathrooms, kitchens, and services.
By continuing with the current failed policies—people suffer, but, with new innovative solutions, we can save lives.
I urge the Council to support the Mayor’s proposal.
Thursday, May 8, 2025
OPEN LETTER TO NYT REPORTER: WE SUPPORT San Jose, CA MAYOR, MATT MAHAN
Hello Soumya, I've read, a few times, your 'San Jose Considers Arresting Homeless...' article; and have read your NYT bio,
Monday, February 17, 2025
No more WAITING 4 OR MORE HOURS to speak for 60 seconds AT CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS
"Thank You Natalie!"
link: sign this petition.
Not knowing when, or whether, or how long the wait will be to speak during open mic at city council meetings is BLATANTLY DISRESPECTFUL and wrong. It should be formally, legally, changed to recognize, respect and honor the people who volunteer their precious, valuable time and energy to participate in our democratic, free speech, process.
our current system is of the council, by the council, for the council.
we need to return to, -of the people, by the people, for the people!
*************
it was during our very hard; very long; very time and life consuming
NOTonNOBLE
protest we experienced the following:
open mics at city council meetings were:
1. on what days? at what times? it was difficult to even access basic information
2. open mics were sometimes suddenly canceled
3. open mic times were arbitrarily changed
4. open mic times went from 2 minutes, to 1 minute even when there were only 12 people..
but the MOST GRIEVOUS practice
is that the city council members could (and did) talk for as long as they wanted; with enormous amounts of repetitiveness, intentionally droning on and on,
causing anyone who showed up for open mic to wait
and wait... and wait.... and wait... FOR HOURS! -The majority of these people already working full time, taking care of children, parents, commuting long hours, having to skip dinner and hire child care to even show up. Already going way out of their way to arrive; to attend, TO SHARE 60 seconds of something very important to them, which they took the time to write in advance.
We suggest the following in rough draft form:
An easily accessible and very clear communication regarding set days and times for open mics.
That open mics be made available every city council meeting.
That there be alternating times; day time availability; evening availability
i.e., Tues 7pm, open mic, [first come, first serve/listen; a maximum time of 1 hour]
Weds, noon, open mic...
*****
i further share, from our experience, having witnessed and sat through numerous city council meetings; that the length of your current meetings are very much self-inflicted.
if you had time limits, per council member,
the same way open mics are restricted to 60 seconds, and force the speaker to edit accordingly
if you gave yourselves time limits per subject, this would also force you to pre-consider; force you to prioritize and organize your thoughts before you speak,
which would save enormous amounts of time that is currently wasted
and help you to demonstrate the efficiency you desire from others.
***
selah! & amen
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
from open mics @ San Jose City Council Budget Mtg 02/11/2025 by Robert & Sandra Mickanen, Tom Wilson
ROBERT MICKANEN’S 2 minute open mic @ san jose city council budget meeting 2/11/2025
(which he waited nearly 4 hours in council chambers to share)
The term homeless is too one-sided and misleading. The homeless we see on the streets are not in their situation because of financial difficulty. The people who end up homeless are the ones who destroy their relationships by their own actions. The actions that force friends, family, and apartment managers to have these dysfunctional people removed from their residence are as follows:
physical violent assaults,
intimidation,
fear,
threats,
stealing,
destroying the property,
drug addiction,
verbal assault,
conducting criminal activity,
not respecting others,
not obeying the home rules,
filth,
and refusing to be productive and get a job.
Just draining their friends and family financially and mentally. After many chances, there comes a point when their friends and family can’t take the abuse from them anymore and they must leave.
I worked as a Correctional Deputy for Santa Clara County for 27 years and spent a large portion of my time working the maximum-security jail units. Many of the inmates housed in these units were homeless, violent, mentally ill, or drug addicted individuals. They were placed in single cells because they were a danger to others. While they were in jail they were provided treatment. When they got released, they went back to living on the streets with no treatment.
These individuals need to be given a bed at a treatment facility, allowing them to get help, and by doing so, helps keep the public safe. By not receiving treatment in a facility, these individuals not only get worse, but they also continue to commit crimes. They are rearrested repeatedly. Going in and out of jail. This is putting an unnecessary burden on our Law Enforcement.
My sister was murdered by her son, who was violent, mentally ill, and drug addicted. He was for years in and out of jail for assaultive crimes. Each time after being released, he did not receive treatment for his behavior. His assaultive behavior grew exceedingly more violent each time, resulting in the murder of my sister.
*****
SANDRA MICKANEN’S 2 minute open mic @ san jose city council budget meeting 2/11/2025
(which i waited nearly 4 hours in council chambers to share)
TOM WILSON'S 2 minute open mic @ san jose city council budget meeting 2/11/2025
(which he waited nearly 4 hours in council chambers to share)
Our City’s budget deficit is alarming, but not surprising. The City Council has poured millions into non-profits to counter homelessness, but the spending is merely funding failure. Guided by homeless advocates, non-profits have enabled the unhoused to camp in squalor in our city, while providing little or no help to those in need of mental health and drug addiction treatment.
Surrounding, cities have had similar outcomes with their non-profits and advocates, and are now trying new, tough-love strategies, like strictly prohibiting camping in public. Unfortunately, the individuals displaced by other cities will go to where public camping is tolerated, like here in San Jose. To counter this, you must adopt similar policies to our neighbors. We cannot afford to house the entire Bay Area homeless population!
For our existing six thousand unhoused individuals, we must build temporary, emergency, congregate shelter like Dignity Acres, until permanent solutions are found.
Here is my 3-part plan for reducing the homeless population in our City:
Number one: Redefine San Jose’s “sanctuary city” policy. Since we have no sanctuary, or shelter to offer, we should not attract more unhoused people here with an offer of sanctuary.
Number two: Rather than investing in temporary, high cost, low density, tiny homes, we must partner with the County to build mental health and drug rehabilitation facilities. Until these are built and staffed, tent-cities like “Dignity Acres” must be implemented on an emergency basis.
Number three: Hire more police dedicated to enforcing laws to:
A. prohibit public camping and littering
B. to prohibit unregistered vehicles from parking on city streets, and…
C. to enforce a strict “no-return” policy for cleared encampments.
Saturday, June 8, 2024
No to sabotage; YES to Dignity Acres Emergency Campground
good morning beautiful. -we are opposed to having 80 RV's less than 1/2 mile from our new safeway & apartment complexes. -remember the memo about the high-school kids and how they had to have their own uprising because of the crime.. that was just a handful of RV's.. placing 80!?! that feels like sabotage to the businesses, grocery stores, families living nearby. we vote to have them in the outskirts. and continue to advocate for Dignity Acres Emergency Campground. and of GREAT CONCERN -what we see at monterey & bernal: the tiny homes did not result in the absence or removal of an encampment JUST AN ADDITION, so now they co-exist as neighbors. track record dictates that GOD FORBID, 80 sites get developed -this will only ADD to.. we'll STILL have the issue on Berryessa. We are actually grateful to learn this is not progressing...
Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
More reasons we need DIGNITY ACRES EMERGENCY CAMPGROUND
-if this 80+ 'safe' RV site is created
we wonder these things: when additional RV's show up to park along Berryessa or anywhere in the neighborhoods; but the site is full.. what then?
more than that, we wonder: if the new safeway (and/or any local businesses in that plaza) need to start hiring more security; if the new safeway (and neighbor stores/businesses) need to start locking up their products; if paying customers stop feeling comfortable.. and start shopping at grocery stores further away...
-what criteria are you using to call your plan a success? -that it gets built?
or will you be paying attention to the RESULTS?
this is preventable. -that is what we believe; it seems like you are sabotaging one of our newer, nicer, cleaner grocery stores & shopping plazas
We continue to advocate for Dignity Acres Emergency Campground as the solution; and a win/win.
Thursday, March 14, 2024
THIS IS AN EMERGENCY DAEC IS THE SOLUTION
*****
Robert
Mickanen & Sandra Harrison Kay
NOTonNOBLE.blogspot.com
WHO WE REPRESENT:
The HTLC Community
Hard-working.
Tax-paying. Law-abiding. Contributors.
WHAT WE SEEK: Dignity Acres Emergency Campground. The Solution.
SOLUTION: Dignity Acres Emergency Campground provides a
specific location (an
option!) that our first
responders can use to legally and IMMEDIATELY bring illegal campers, loiters,
transients, panhandlers.
PROBLEM
THIS SOLVES: The short-sighted, negligent
and counter-productive decision made by the 9th Circuit Federal
Court of Appeals which limits the ability of California public agencies to
relocate unsheltered individuals who are camping on public lands “.. cannot enforce ordinances that ban
public camping or criminalize sleeping outdoors on public property if there is no real option
for sleeping indoors..”
SOLUTION:
Dignity Acres Emergency Campground is in the OUTSKIRTS of San Jose/Santa
Clara County.
PROBLEM THIS SOLVES: ALL 10 DISTRICTS that make up San Jose say NO
TO EIH in their neighborhoods. No
one wants, or should be forced to have EIH.
EIH is failing in city after city; no one wants to spend one more tax
dollar investing in a failing program. Dignity
Acres Emergency Campgrounds is the alternative people are looking for; it
provides a place with services which helps restore dignity to ‘unsheltered
individuals’ without
encroaching on or threatening the safety and cleanliness of established neighborhoods,
school campuses, shopping plazas, parks, etc.
SOLUTION:
Dignity Acres Emergency Campground provides all the basic human
dignities: Portable toilets, garbage
pick-up, water/food/clothing donations; professional social services outreach
PROBLEMS THIS SOLVES:
Unsheltered Individuals
defecating/urinating on public property; toxic garbage accumulating in
dangerous proportions; compassionate donations inadvertently making matters
worse; begging/panhandling; untreated/undiagnosed growing demographic of
unsheltered individuals
Portable Toilets: Currently, our demographic of ‘unsheltered
individuals’ are defecating and urinating directly on sidewalks; in front of
and near school campuses, local businesses and restaurants; they are defecating
and urinating indiscriminately, in full public view, without human dignities
like portable toilets, toilet paper, and without means (or motivation,
apparently) for cleaning up afterward; themselves or the area they defecated
on. This is uncivilized, it is a health
hazard, and it is disturbing that anyone should experience or be made to
witness this behavior in San Jose City, Santa Clara County, California in 2024. Dignity Acres has portable
toilets/clean-up/maintenance.
Garbage Pick-Up: The majority of us living in San Jose/Santa
Clara County pay for and receive the benefits of garbage pick-up. It is convenient and a regular practice for
us to place our garbage/recycle cans on the streets in front of our
homes/businesses on a weekly basis. Our
‘unsheltered individuals’ do not pay for, and do not have garbage cans. They are not on truck-driver routes and their
garbage accumulates in gross and toxic and very hazardous ways. Dignity Acres has garbage and recycle cans
and is on the weekly garbage pick-up route.
One place for the truck drivers to go (vs. several different locations
throughout the 10th largest city in the nation) This keeps things
more streamlined, less expensive, less time-consuming, less human-resource
taxing, etc.
Money/Food Donations: Currently, our ‘unsheltered individuals’ do a
great deal of begging, stealing and panhandling. What we learned after direct conversations
with 24+ small business owners is this:
People with compassionate hearts who give food or money to
beggars/panhandlers sitting outside stores; while their intentions may be good,
the result is that this attracts several more beggars while
simultaneously deterring large numbers of paying customers. This contributes to our ‘unsheltered individuals’ colonizing and
closing our shopping plazas, store by store and it must be stopped! Dignity Acres Emergency Campground is
where compassionate people can donate and genuinely help people without
inadvertently destroying local businesses.
Panhandlers/Beggars: Currently we have ‘unsheltered individuals’
hanging out in dangerous locations; i.e., freeway off ramps, high traffic
medians, -and again, while the intention
may be good, giving to said individuals increases their numbers and the
population of beggars/panhandlers only grows.
In some cases, they become very aggressive and intimidating, which can
make it unsafe and very undesirable for people who are forced to wait in
traffic lines and worry about dealing with…
beggars/panhandlers often have signs which indicate they are
hungry. Dignity Acres has food/water;
food trucks; food donations; No one is
going to go hungry or thirsty. If
& when you see a panhandler, you can immediately call, and have someone
from Dignity Acres come pick up said individuals and bring them to wear
food/water are.. Now are streets,
medians, freeway on and exit ramps are free from ‘unsheltered individuals’ and ‘unsheltered individuals’ have a place to
go for food and water, shelter, etc.
Social Services Outreach
Professionals/Experts: ‘Unsheltered
Individuals’ are unsheltered for a myriad of reasons. Those reasons do not give
them the right to colonize/close businesses; to destroy students schools, to
threaten their walks to and from school; their reasons do not give them the
right to steal, to intimidate, to threaten, to litter, to degrade, to destroy;
to vandalize; their reasons
do not give them the right to ruin the quality of life for others. Dignity Acres Emergency Campground is where
trained/educated, Social Service Professionals/Experts are available to
interview and assess each ‘unsheltered individual’s’ unique circumstances and
prioritize and place accordingly.
CAVEATS:
While ‘sleeping outdoors’ cannot be criminalized; many
individuals who are sleeping outdoors are also stealing; vandalizing;
loitering; disturbing the peace; assaultive…
There should be a
population cap of ‘unsheltered individuals’ who reside at Dignity Acres
Emergency Campground at any given one time based on acres/space.
San Jose/Santa Clara County should not carry the
responsibility for the entire, wide-spread population of ‘unsheltered
individuals’ across the land ; but can provide a successful example/template
for other cities, counties, states to
follow
Repeat: The goal for
this demographic of ‘unsheltered individuals’ at all times is to DIGNIFY & DETER, not ENABLE
& ATTRACT
Location: DIGNITY
ACRES EMERGENCY CAMPGROUND must be in the OUTSKIRTS, or it does not problem
solve at all; being in the outskirts
immediately addresses all the very valid concerns of all districts (1-10) in
San Jose who do not want EIH in their neighborhoods. One Central location in the outskirts also
makes it very streamlined, cost-effective, logistically optimal for city
services and donations.
We believe the HTLC Community of San Jose and Santa Clara
County would love the opportunity to see Dignity Acres Emergency Campground
created and supported. We believe it
will provide a great deal of immediate relief to students, teachers, parents,
families, business owners, managers, employees, customers/shoppers, librarians,
park and recreation staff.. on and on; immediate relief being able to call and
report ‘unsheltered individuals’ and know that a first responder can and will
come and relocate said individual(s).
We know, said individuals who are relocated to DAEC will
have the basic human dignities and be professionally assessed, have shelter,
food/water/clothing and have opportunities and incentives for improving their
lives. We know DAEC gives people with
compassionate hearts a place to donate that will be benefit struggling
individuals directly without jeopardizing local businesses.
DAEC helps restore San Jose to its former glory, helps the
HTLC community maintain a healthy, civilized, safe, clean, productive and creative way of life,
which is often very hard earned and greatly appreciated. We want to make sure our efforts help and
lift the struggling vs. allowing the
strugglers to ruin and pull down the healthy.
We believe DAEC -the
idea of it- is well worth sharing and
supporting; that people will feel hopeful and grateful and be very willing to
give it a solid chance to prove its value as the solution we claim it is.
And that the energy and hope from the larger population will
itself result in the answer as to ‘where’ exactly it should be. That crowd-sourcing will yield great
results.
We understand cost are involved, but when we compare and
consider what it takes to find the space; build EIH; maintain EIH, battle,
district by district, neighborhood by neighborhood against EIH; the cost of the
failures.. -but see the money that seems
so available to invest in this unwanted and failing system -We have just as much confidence in the
ultimate funding, as we do in crowd-sourcing for the specific location in the
outskirts.
Candidate
for Dignity Acres Emergency Campground. This picture taken 3/13/2024 on the corner
of Capitol and Hostetter, where a larger encampment was recently removed ( -to where..?
by who? ) to the right of Popeyes. Not seen in the picture is a great deal of
graffiti/vandalism within the shopping plaza itself.. and a new encampment,
fenced in, where the now colonized/closed Carl’s Jr used to be
It is our hope and belief, that our 9th circuit
federal court of appeals judges would re-visit (and rescind) their decision upon
seeing the results and
consequences of not being able to enforce city ordinances.
-the inability to immediately address what you see here;
negligent! And as it grows
exponentially across the city and county; unaddressed.. -third world This is an emergency! Dignity Acres Emergency Campground is the
solution. DETAILS regarding the 4 different communities,
steps and incentives within DAEC attached/included.
Thursday, February 8, 2024
NOTonNOBLE results: encampments removal report
For over the past YEAR, two major encampments have existed and grown exponentially (McKee & Capitol and Hostetter & Capitol) without any action proactively taken by our city officials to remove them.
Friday, February 2, 2024
VOTE NO on Proposition 1 March Ballot
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
.png)
-
from open mics @ San Jose City Council Budget Mtg 02/11/2025 by Robert & Sandra Mickanen, Tom WilsonROBERT MICKANEN’S 2 minute open mic @ san jose city council budget meeting 2/11/2025 y outube link here: @ 4:29:48 (which he waited ...
-
"Thank You Natalie!" link: sign this petition . Not knowing when, or whether, or how long the wait will be to speak during...
-
i have listened twice now to each (new) person's 60 seconds of truth.. [we've been hearing from non-profits, advocates for the ho...