OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

San Jose City Council Meeting May 19, 2026: Proclamations, Customer Experience, CEQA Streamlining

City Council — Tuesday, May 19, 2026
BodySan Jose, California
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, May 19, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:57:50
Transcript — Verbatim
0:14

Good afternoon, everyone.

0:16

Going to call this meeting to order.

0:18

Tony, could you take the role, please?

0:22

Kamei here.

0:23

Campos.

0:25

Tordillos?

0:26

Here.

0:27

Cohen.

0:29

Ortiz.

0:31

Mulcahi.

0:32

Here.

0:32

Juan.

0:33

Candeles.

0:34

Here.

0:35

Casey.

0:36

Foley.

0:37

Here.

0:37

Mayhan, you have a quorum.

0:39

Thank you.

0:41

Now, if you're able, please join me in the pledge of allegiance.

0:46

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

0:51

And to the Republic for which Japan is one nation under God.

1:02

Thank you.

1:04

Today's invocation will be provided by Nguyen T.

1:07

Not Big Beak, former president of the Association of the Vietnamese Elderly of the Bay Area.

1:14

And Councilmember Ortiz, please tell us more.

1:17

Thank you so much, Vice Mayor.

1:19

Today's invocation recognizes May as an important month of remembrance, resilience, and reflection for our Vietnamese refugee community.

1:27

This month marks 51 years since the first group of Vietnamese refugees were officially welcomed to the city of San Jose and to the United States.

1:35

Their strength and perseverance helps shape the vibrant Vietnamese American community that continues to enrich our city today.

1:43

To help lead us in this moment of reflection, I am honored to introduce Miss Nguyen T.

1:49

Noak Vick, former president of the Vietnamese Senior Association of San Jose.

1:54

Since arriving in California in 1971, Miss Bick has dedicated herself to uplifting the Vietnamese community through decades of advocacy, service, and leadership.

2:06

And she is also a district five resident.

2:09

Her lifelong commitment to community remembrance and service makes her especially fitting to lead us in today's invocation.

2:24

Thank you so much, Council.

2:34

Hello.

2:36

Can anybody hear me?

2:39

First, excuse for my English, because uh actually it's not my native language.

2:50

I speak Vietnamese very well.

2:54

So I hope everybody hear me and please forgive me, understand me and forgive me, please.

3:05

Of course.

3:26

I'm honored to be here today.

3:30

As we serve it, and Vietnam.

3:53

As an educator, the teacher Vietnamese language, and culture, and defend language, foreign language center at the cito of Monterey.

4:12

At a time, I was simply a foreign teaching, living and working in America.

4:21

But on April 30, 1975, the form of Saigon, Vietnam.

4:34

I want no longer be able to return to my home.

4:40

Overnight, my life, chance.

4:44

And I become one of the fourth Vietnamese, revisit in America.

4:53

Everything changed from that day forward.

4:59

Yes.

4:56

We remain deeply grateful to America for welcoming us.

5:10

Allow us to stay and helping us to adapt to a new life.

5:21

Like so many Vietnamese.

5:25

With the kindness, compassion, support of America fan, American fan, and neighbor.

5:35

We also slowly rebuild our life.

5:42

We become proud American citizens.

5:56

Economically, culturally, spend it, educationally, and to public service.

6:07

Today, Vietnamese Americans serve as a lead in every field.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Technology and Innovation█████████████████████████████████33%
Climate and Environment███████████████████████23%
Community Engagement███████████████15%
Procedural███████████11%
Parks and Recreation██████6%
Affordable Housing████4%
Engineering And Infrastructure███3%
Public Safety█1%
Youth Services█1%
Summary of Proceedings

San Jose City Council Meeting – May 19, 2026

The San Jose City Council met on May 19, 2026, to consider ceremonial proclamations, a consent calendar, a city manager report, and several major discussion items. Key actions included adopting a customer experience transformation work plan, approving new clean energy programs, and streamlining environmental review processes. The meeting also featured public comment on a variety of topics.

Ceremonial Items

  • World Neurofibromatosis Awareness Day: Proclaimed by Councilmember Casey. Summer, a constituent, shared her son Miles’ diagnosis with NF1 and called for awareness and research.
  • Older Americans Month: Proclaimed by Vice Mayor Foley (who humorously suggested “Vibrant Adults Month”). Maria de Leon from the Senior Citizens Commission accepted and promoted the annual Color Walk on June 5, 2026, at Lake Cunningham.
  • Affordable Housing Month: Proclaimed by Councilmember Campos. Regina Celestin Williams, Executive Director of SB at Home, spoke about the need for deeply affordable housing and a movement to end housing insecurity.
  • Adjournment in Memory of Tony Allen Santos: Tony Santos (1948-2026), a Vietnam War veteran and Alviso community leader, was honored. His brother, Valley Water Board Director Richard Santos, delivered an emotional tribute criticizing the city’s neglect of Alviso and calling for equal services.

Consent Calendar

  • Item 2.9 – Seeds of Peace Monument: Councilmember Mulcahy recused himself due to a business relationship with donor Diane Brandenburg. Public comment was taken from Diane Brandenburg, Kimberly Mulcahy, and Matt Breaker (Rotary Club). The item approved unanimously.
  • Remaining Consent Items (including Item 2.16 – Youth Conservation Corps Grant): Mayor Mahan highlighted a $4.5 million state grant for the Resilience Corps, which will employ 38 youth in learning pathways and 52 in climate change work. The consent calendar passed unanimously.

City Manager Report

  • Wildfire Awareness Month: Fire Chief Robert Sapien’s team conducted door-to-door outreach to nearly 7,000 homes in wildland-urban interface areas, distributed multilingual materials, and launched the Genesis Protect app. The campaign received a CAPIO award of distinction. The Fire Department was recognized with applause.

Discussion Items

  • 3.3 – Citywide Customer Experience Transformation: Staff presented a multi-year plan to improve service delivery across 20+ departments using a shared technology platform, streamlined workflows, and performance metrics. Council discussed the need for better non-emergency reporting, community engagement, baseline metrics, and in-house capacity. A motion to accept the report passed unanimously.
  • 6.1 – San Jose Clean Energy Programs Roadmap: Staff recommended continuing 12 existing programs and adding two new ones: free technical assistance for commercial electrification (with a restaurant track) and a pilot for low/no-cost portable heat pumps for income-qualified renters. Councilmember Cohen moved adoption, noting the renter pilot’s importance. Passed unanimously (11-0).
  • 10.2 – Environmental Review Policy: Staff presented the Environmental Review Handbook and standard permit conditions to streamline CEQA/NEPA reviews, implementing 2022 audit recommendations. Councilmember Campos introduced a joint memo directing further work on thresholds and exemptions for common projects (e.g., construction noise, daycare operations). The motion, including staff’s supplemental memo, passed unanimously.

Open Forum

  • Rick Rio: Urged the city to fence and designate the former Arco station at 510 East Santa Clara as abandoned, citing health and safety concerns ahead of the World Cup.
  • Elena Churchill: Requested help resolving a warrant issue and reclaiming commissary funds from the Santa Clara County jail.
  • Religious speaker: Delivered a message invoking scripture and calling for repentance from leaders.
  • Speaker on legal defense: Questioned the city’s use of public resources to defend a councilmember in a personal defamation lawsuit.
  • Van Lee and another speaker: Raised concerns about the unauthorized replacement of Little Saigon banners (removing the yellow flag) without community consultation, asking about funding and the status of previously donated banners.

Key Outcomes

  • All three discussion items (Customer Experience, Clean Energy, Environmental Review) were approved unanimously. The CEQA streamlining motion included a directive to report back on further reforms at a future CED committee meeting.
  • The consent calendar, including the Seeds of Peace Monument donation, passed unanimously.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon, everyone. Going to call this meeting to order. Tony, could you take the role, please? Kamei here. Campos. Tordillos? Here. Cohen. Ortiz. Mulcahi. Here. Juan. Candeles. Here. Casey. Foley. Here. Mayhan, you have a quorum. Thank you. Now, if you're able, please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which Japan is one nation under God. Thank you. Today's invocation will be provided by Nguyen T. Not Big Beak, former president of the Association of the Vietnamese Elderly of the Bay Area. And Councilmember Ortiz, please tell us more. Thank you so much, Vice Mayor. Today's invocation recognizes May as an important month of remembrance, resilience, and reflection for our Vietnamese refugee community. This month marks 51 years since the first group of Vietnamese refugees were officially welcomed to the city of San Jose and to the United States. Their strength and perseverance helps shape the vibrant Vietnamese American community that continues to enrich our city today. To help lead us in this moment of reflection, I am honored to introduce Miss Nguyen T. Noak Vick, former president of the Vietnamese Senior Association of San Jose. Since arriving in California in 1971, Miss Bick has dedicated herself to uplifting the Vietnamese community through decades of advocacy, service, and leadership. And she is also a district five resident. Her lifelong commitment to community remembrance and service makes her especially fitting to lead us in today's invocation. Thank you so much, Council. Hello. Can anybody hear me? First, excuse for my English, because uh actually it's not my native language. I speak Vietnamese very well. So I hope everybody hear me and please forgive me, understand me and forgive me, please. Of course. I'm honored to be here today. As we serve it, and Vietnam. As an educator, the teacher Vietnamese language, and culture, and defend language, foreign language center at the cito of Monterey. At a time, I was simply a foreign teaching, living and working in America. But on April 30, 1975, the form of Saigon, Vietnam. I want no longer be able to return to my home. Overnight, my life, chance. And I become one of the fourth Vietnamese, revisit in America.

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