San José Community & Economic Development Committee Meeting – October 26, 2026

The Community & Economic Development Committee (CED) met on Monday, October 26, 2026, at 1:30 PM in a hybrid format (Council Chambers and virtually via Zoom). Chair Pam Foley presided alongside Vice Chair Rosemary Kamei and Councilmembers Peter Ortiz, Michael Mulcahy, and George Casey; a quorum was established. The committee approved a two-item consent calendar, received three staff reports (Team San José semi-annual status, City Council Policy 6-30 public outreach update, and citywide planning activities), and heard one public comment. Chair Foley opened the meeting by challenging colleagues to set a record for the fastest CED meeting and closed by declaring the 2:18 adjournment a record.

Consent Calendar

• CC 26-104 – Arts Commission Annual Report and Work Plan: Accepted the Arts Commission Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 and Work Plan for Fiscal Year 2026-2027, in compliance with City Municipal Code requirements for boards and commissions.
• CC 26-103 – Housing and Community Development Commission Annual Accomplishments Report and Work Plan: Accepted the Commission's FY 2025-2026 accomplishments report and FY 2026-2027 work plan.
• No member of the public spoke on the consent calendar; the motion to approve carried unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Jordan Moldow (District 3 resident) – on Policy 6-30: Supported expanding mailing radii, noting frequent resident complaints about not receiving notifications; recommended digitally retrievable notifications using push and pull models, including email sign-ups within a custom radius of a user's chosen point, and a map/calendar of all upcoming planning hearings. He also urged broadening the outreach model to other departments (e.g., DOT, Environmental Services) to save money and effort across the organization.
• No public comment was offered on the consent calendar, the Team San José report, the citywide planning report, or during open forum.

Discussion Items

1. Team San José Semi-Annual Status Report (CC 26-105)

• Rosalynn Hughey (City Manager's Office) noted that the June budget message directed additional information on benchmarking with peer cities, competitiveness, and market potential, which is included in the posted memorandum. A council-directed RFI/RFP process will begin after the start of 2027.
• Team San José leadership (John, Matthew, and Laura Shameluski) gave a forward-looking presentation focused on 2027 strategies and opportunities.
• Capital projects: All four theaters are up 8% in performances and 9% in attendance versus pre-pandemic; the Civic is up 40-41% in performances and 47% in attendance. The completed South Hall floor-leveling project (requested by NVIDIA and OCP, the city's two biggest groups) has opened the hall to sporting events, including a four-year volleyball deal for the first week of January, with futsal and karate discussions underway. Other projects: CPA sound system upgrade, two large video screens at the Civic, CPA boiler/chiller replacement (ETA August 2027), convention center restroom upgrades (ETA September 2027), HVAC upgrades (ETA November 2028), and fire alarm panel replacements (ETA 2029). John thanked Jim Shannon and Jennifer Tell for securing funding.
• Sales and marketing: Last fiscal year, 27 of 53 contracted groups and 55,000 of 105,000 contracted room nights were first-time events for San Jose. Show dates totaled 63 in 2023, 74 in 2024, and 91 in 2025; 2026 would have exceeded 100 but for a couple of cancellations. For 2027, 70 shows were contracted by the end of June, versus 42 at the same time last year.
• OCP departure and replacement: Matthew explained that OCP (Open Compute Project), the year's second-largest group, "outgrew" San Jose's finite convention center and hotel capacity, with 3,000 people on its waiting list, and will move to San Francisco beginning in 2027. A smaller company, secured through an intermediary relationship, will replace the program at a nearly equal size while using space more efficiently, freeing October dates to sell. NVIDIA has roughly 400 exhibitors waiting for space.
• Convention center expansion: At Councilmember Mulcahy's request, John discussed a Wednesday meeting with the mayor and staff about the CSL report on expansion; an alternative would remove a wall between the executive ballroom and exhibit halls 1-3 to create about 30,000 square feet of additional contiguous space.
• Marketing and communications: Laura Shameluski reported that paid media generated $35.8 million, including 64,000 hotel room nights and 30,000 flight bookings into SJC — a $76 return for every $1 invested. She described adapting to AI "no-click search" (ChatGPT, Claude) through AI audits of digital assets, a November 12 event with the AI lead from their agency (the largest buyer of travel media on the planet, with 200 global offices), first-time paid influencer partnerships, a New York media mission with four chefs cooking at the James Beard House for about 150 media, a new Fodor's guide for San Jose (the first in California outside Los Angeles and San Francisco), and planned integration into Reddit and TripAdvisor reviews — potentially a first among California destinations. She cited San Jose's diversity (92 languages spoken; 42% of residents born in a foreign country) as a culinary storytelling strength and noted upcoming events including the California Theatre centennial (with San Jose Jazz, Cinequest, the Longest Table, and Peter's Bakery attempting the world's largest burnt almond birthday cake) ahead of San Jose's 250th anniversary.
• Councilmember Kamei expressed support for exploring expansion, stating that remaining with the same footprint limits future growth. Chair Foley stressed that communicating "San Jose is open for business" is critical. The committee voted to accept the report.

2. Update to City Council Policy 6-30 – Public Outreach Policy for Pending Land Use and Development Proposals (CC 26-106)

• Principal Planner Jared Ferguson presented the status update. Policy 6-30, first adopted in 1999 and last revised in 2004, sets expectations for how the city informs and engages the public on land use and development proposals. Ferguson noted that traditional media has lost reach, online and social media have grown, and residents face barriers related to language, accessibility, scheduling, and technology access.
• Drivers include the 2019 City Auditor's report, the Racial and Social Equity Action Plan, the upcoming Environmental Justice Element, and the Six-Cycle Housing Element (Strategy I-7). Recommended improvements include language access and translation, accessible plain-language information, online access to project and hearing information, proactive outreach to community organizations, and review of notice timing and mailing distances.
• The work plan has four components: focus groups prioritizing underrepresented residents (persons with disabilities, monolingual Spanish and Vietnamese speakers, youth, renters) plus developers and neighborhood associations; meetings with internal staff who implement the policy; a virtual community meeting; and a project web page with potential online survey methods.
• Ferguson cautioned that the timeline predates the prior week's City Council decisions on missing middle housing; the added workload will likely push out the schedule, and revised dates will be communicated.
• Chair Foley directed staff to add seniors to the focus groups and to send the survey and web page to council offices for inclusion in newsletters. Councilmember Kamei thanked Foley for including seniors, emphasized the importance of youth participation ("it is their future"), supported creating a shared outreach template for other departments, and expressed concern that roughly 90% of planning work is driven by regulated/unfunded mandates, leaving little time for community outreach. Before the vote, Chair Foley added that members of the disability community should also be included. The committee voted to accept the status report.

3. Citywide Planning Activities Semi-Annual Status Report (CC 26-107)

• Ruth Gueto (with Jared Ferguson, Martina Davis, and Maneira Sand) presented the semi-annual update. The division spans general plan analytics, housing and housing element, ordinances and policies, urban villages, and special projects including transit-oriented communities (TOC) compliance. It has 19 authorized positions and one vacancy.
• The four-year General Plan review task force process was completed with eight public task force meetings, in-person open houses, a virtual open house, and presentations to neighborhood groups and other stakeholders. On August 18, council directed implementation of the policy framework with additional analysis, including missing middle housing densities; further direction came the prior week. Work continues through December 2027, including environmental review and outreach, with timelines being re-evaluated.
• The general plan and analytics team delivered the 2025 General Plan annual progress report and an early consideration hearing for privately initiated general plan amendments. Upcoming work includes state-mandated updates to the safety, open space, and environmental justice elements.
• The housing policy team completed the reasonable accommodation zoning update and will begin the annual housing element progress report cycle in December; the development fee framework continues, and the downtown ministerial approval ordinance will proceed next year.
• Urban villages: Five Wounds draft posted in August with comments accepted through October; amendments are being prepared for December 2026 council hearings. Alum Rock East will have another outreach round in early 2027 with council consideration in February-March. Saratoga is tracking with the four-year review CEQA, with a November community touchpoint on parks and open space. A new "neighborhood villages strategy" will streamline planning for smaller shopping-center villages with a unified approach and combined outreach.
• Transit-oriented communities: In response to Metropolitan Transportation Commission policy, the city is adopting minimum densities and allowing maximum densities for residential development within a half mile of 54 transit stations, plus minimum and maximum floor area ratios for commercial office development. Approximately $1.4 million in grant funding is focused on 26 stations. A transit area commercial overlay concept from the four-year review will be coordinated with this work.
• Ordinances and policies: Standard permit findings were made objective (a state law and housing element action); a state law compliance maintenance update was completed in June. A November zoning update will address demolition definitions for historic resources, extend the legal nonconforming timeframe to three years, and streamline tree removal permits needed for defensible space in high fire hazard severity areas. Additional state law work will address downtown minimum densities, vape shops, and detention centers. Two sign code items were noted orally: digital wayfinding (early next year) and arena freeway marquees.
• Long-term priorities include adopting the seven-cycle housing element, four-year review implementation, the safety/open space/environmental justice elements update, and a comprehensive General Plan update directed through the June budget process.
• No public comment was offered. The motion to accept the report passed 4-0.

Key Outcomes

• Consent calendar approved unanimously: Arts Commission FY 2025-2026 annual report / FY 2026-2027 work plan, and Housing and Community Development Commission FY 2025-2026 accomplishments report / FY 2026-2027 work plan.
• Team San José semi-annual status report accepted; RFI/RFP process confirmed to begin after the start of 2027; CSL convention center expansion report to be discussed Wednesday; approximately 30,000 sq ft reconfiguration concept presented.
• Policy 6-30 status report accepted; outreach revision work plan endorsed, with direction to include seniors and disability community members as focus groups and to route survey/web materials through council offices; timeline to be revised due to missing middle housing workload.
• Citywide planning semi-annual status report accepted 4-0.
• No open forum comments; the meeting adjourned at 2:18 PM, which Chair Foley declared a record for the fastest CED meeting.