After a 10-hour City Council meeting filled with protests and impassioned testimony, the San Jose Council voted to sell public land in downtown to Google for its mega-campus. Hundreds of San Jose residents raised concerns that the deal, which had been marred by a lack of transparency and community engagement, could displace families, worsen the housing crisis and fail to provide family-sustaining jobs for Google’s shuttle drivers, cafeteria workers, janitors and security officers.
Emotions ran high amidst unprecedented security and restrictions, with the final vote happening inside an empty meeting hall after all attendees were cleared from the room following civil disobedience. Unlike past council meetings where hotly debated issues have been discussed, this meeting had a significantly higher police and private security presence, backpacks were not allowed in the Council Chambers, and rows of seats were roped off for security purposes. Additionally, some members of the public were told the City was no longer allowing entry to the meeting, people were directed to sit in the overflow section despite many seats in the Chamber remaining empty, and the parking lot under City Hall had signage saying it was full even though parking spots were available.
The Council agreed that community benefits like affordable housing, education and opportunities for local residents must be a core part of the project. However, right now addressing those issues is just a promise, since there are no firm implementation plans or concrete commitments from Google. San Jose has the unique opportunity to set a new standard for how tech growth can create widespread opportunity — rather than the trail of gentrification and evictions that so many community members spoke about.
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