Proposal to use San Jose tiny homes for jail diversion program prompts outrage

Some residents in South San Jose are up in arms about a proposal to use a current homeless facility as a jail diversion site.

Residents said the way the plan was delivered to the community didn't help.

It started a couple of weeks ago when Issa Ajlouny got a notice from the county for an online "neighborhood meet and greet." Ajlouny is founder of a community group called S.A.F.E.R. San Jose

"I wasn't even going to attend it," he said. "And then I got a phone call from a whistleblower."

At the meeting, Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Services announced that they intend to use an $8 million state grant to buy the emergency homeless housing site at Monterey and Bernal, and another on Vermont Street, to use as a jail diversion program which they say caters to "mostly people with mental illness, substance use disorders, or both."

"I was the first one to raise my hand," said Ajlouny. "And I said, well, my head is spinning right now. I can't even think of the questions I want to ask because you just did a core dump on something that we knew nothing about. And you want to vote on it in 12 days."

Aljouny said housing people with mental illness and substance abuse problems is a lot different than just putting up a tiny-house village for the homeless.

"We all know addiction is tough," he said. "As much as that person wants to get over the addiction, and their family does, sometimes it just doesn't work. And we're going to get the brunt of that addiction."

The county is looking for ways to address behavioral health problems without sending people to jail.

No one would go on camera Tuesday, but in an email, they said, "This program aims to help unhoused individuals with a mental illness improve their health, obtain permanent housing, and avoid unnecessary involvement with the justice system."

But the city has reportedly been flooded with angry letters and emails, and while it might be a tough sell in any neighborhood, City Councilmember Sergio Jimenez acknowledged they could have done a better job presenting the idea.

"I think the representative from the county maybe didn't do as good a job as he or she could have." he said.  "Quite frankly, I think we, as councilmembers, were a little taken aback as to how quickly things spun out of control."

The council has put the matter on hold while they gather more information about the proposal. And, despite the fact that they were scheduled to vote on the matter at Tuesday's meeting, Jimenez said he's still not sure who would be housed in the facility.

"No, all I have heard, all the emails that I've received and people who have called me personally that I represent in that particular area, that it's going to be a 'jail diversion' program.  Folks with criminal records, on and on and on. I've just heard a lot of information, but I haven't been able to pin it down to any concrete facts or language related to the grant agreement."

The county was hoping to get the grant secured and have the first diversion subjects in the facility beginning Nov. 1. And the city seems interested in selling the site to generate funds to build more permanent housing.

But Jimenez promised there will be a "do over" and the community will have time to learn the facts about what is planned for the site. But it might not make much difference to the people living near it: trust is something easily broken and not easily repaired.