KQED interview Guy Marzorati
phone interview w/Sandra Harrison Kay
02/17/2023
WHAT
INSPIRED ME TO PROTEST
What inspired me was just knowing and understanding how
dangerous, negligent AND completely
inappropriate the noble site is for a 100 bed site
1.
The Noble site is an open space park families
use everyday for walks, hikes, bike rides
-it’s a natural reserve for wildlife
2.
This is land that also serves as a water supply
facility -
3.
It is directly across the street from an
elementary school, a day care, a library, and down the street from a middle
school..
4.
And the Noble site had already been voted down
and found not viable in 2017.. it
should have never been put back on the table for consideration
KEYS
THAT LEAD TO OUR VICTORY
FIRST KEY -first and foremost we had to go door to door
and business to business sounding the alarm, because so many people didn’t even
know this vote took place, and as they did learn about it, they were
livid! And they wanted to join us and
take action
SECOND KEY: And then we were blessed
with such a diverse range of gifts/talents among the neighbors, everyone
contributing.. some making signs, some distributing signs, people writing the
council and alerting news media and social media.. people spreading the word to
their own social groups, people organizing protests at city hall, participating
in open forums, people contacting open space organizations, neighborhood
groups, schools/teachers.. collecting
official letters of opposition.. having change.org, a blog to keep people
informed, a gofundme fundraiser to hire an attorney..
THIRD & FINAL KEY: everyone had to remain steadfast, determined
and patient without knowing how long it would all take. THE EFFORT took an enormous toll on all of
us. So grateful for the core group that
hung in there..
DID YOU WIN OVER COHEN?
Did we win over cohen? Let me share this about cohen.. he was one of
the two who voted no to the site, and it is in his district, so obviously
theres some political motivation to do so, but, cohen told me on more than one
occasion, he was, on a personal level,
okay with having these densely populated caged tiny home sites directly
across from schools. It would be so
negligent to do so, I asked him on three separate occasions, and each time, he
said he’d be ok with it. So I’m
appalled by his values, but grateful for his honesty. And he is to thank for strengthening the
language for our victory, and including the word ‘permanently’ in the official
documents, so that, the Noble site is now permanently removed from
consideration in the future. This was
very important because this neighborhood already had to fight in 2017, then
2022, and really did not want to have to wonder if they’d have to do this all
again every few years. It is hard and
exhausting
MAHAN
intro/votes/allegiance
We met matt mahan for the first time at one
of our protest picnics.. what I
appreciated, is that, both politically and personally he was opposed to the
idea of these densely populated caged tiny homes sites being anywhere near
schools or parks. Much of what he said
at the picnic lined up with our values, and he did earn the allegiance and
votes from many of the NOTonNOBLE group.
The biggest overall issues with tiny homes, this is my favorite question..
Because I have done an enormous amount of
research since the protest began,
And
1.
I
strongly and completely believe we will never solve the homelessness crisis
until we correct the vocabulary.
This ‘homeless’ or ‘unhoused’ umbrella term is painfully vague, and
dangerously euphemistic
This is not one demographic. We
have people with drug addictions, we have people with severe mental
illness, people with combinations of the
two. We have prematurely released
criminals that should return to jail. We
have freeloaders and we have a very small percentage of people exclusively
experiencing temporary financial hardship.
We need to address and problem
solve for each group independently.
2.
The current
panel for problem solving is way too small, and loaded with conflicts of
interest. I have been writing and
sharing throughout, that the city desperately needs a larger problem solving
panel, and that panel should absolutely include law enforcement, healthcare
workers, first responders in general, small and large business owners, residents/parents
from various neighborhoods.. I have a
longer list, but, we desperately need a larger problem solving panel with more
voices contributing to the solution. Solve group by group, issue by issue,
obstacle by obstacle -and make the
activity public.
What can SJ do
better in the future?
I would never use the blanket term homeless
We have to be specific
What can San Jose do to remove drug addicts from our streets and
neighborhoods and relocate them into rehab centers?
What can San Jose do to remove people with severe mental illnesses away
from our parks, stores and neighborhoods and relocate them into hospitals?
What can San Jose do to remove criminals from our streets, stores and
neighborhoods and relocate them into jail?
And for the small % of people who are exclusively dealing with financial
hardship.. the city already has 3 pages
worth of services -but I do believe
some rent control practices would help us so we can avoid forcing otherwise
healthy, hard working, contributors out on the street only to spend gazillions
for temporary shelters so we can get them back into subsidized housing. The current practice makes no sense at all.
So,
we need to STOP using the word homeless, like we are talking about one
demographic, and be much more specific.
And we need a larger problem solving panel with more voices at the
table.
Excerpts from this interview included in THIS ARTICLE
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