We’d like to extend a digital high five to the more than three dozen arts advocates who sent emails to the Mayor and City Council or showed up to speak out at the February 10 council meeting about the need for greater reciprocity between the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) and the creative sector. While the...

Since our inception, one of SJAA’s key priorities has been a reallocation of funding from the San José’s Transient Occupancy Tax, a voter-approved 10% surcharge placed on hotel stays citywide.  This funding currently falls into several buckets: For the 2025-2026 fiscal year, the total TOT is projected to be $45M, which means $6.75M for the...

If it seems like our last election alert was just a few months ago, that’s because it was. On the heels of the race to fill a vacant seat on the San José City Council, a special statewide election is underway. Ballots are landing in mailboxes, and voters have until November 4 to return them....

If you’ve been to the SoFA District in the past few years, you’ve probably seen posted notices of the Gateway Tower development at the confluence of South First, Market, and William Streets. This project received approval from city officials a number of years ago, but stalled out due to COVID and rapidly changing economic factors....

On Tuesday, March 18, at 4:00pm, the San José City Council will consider Mayor Mahan’s March Budget Message. This is the first step in the budget process, when the Mayor provides direction to the City Manager for how to structure the City’s budget for the coming fiscal year. You can read the full message here....

ICYMI: We’re hosting a District 3 Candidate Forum for the creative community at 7pm on March 3, and you’re invited! You can learn more and register to receive a Zoom link here. Want to do a deeper dive on the folks vying for this important seat on the City Council? A number of community organizations...

Today, the San José City Council will be considering Mayor Mahan's March Budget Message, which includes directions to the City Manager for how to structure the City's budget for the coming fiscal year beginning in July. We just sent a letter to the City Council letting them know where we stand!

As avid readers of our newsletter know, the San José City Council is holding a study session on Arts, Destination Marketing, and Destination Events tomorrow, February 16, beginning at 9:00am. In advance of this special meeting more than a year in the making, SJAA’s Core Team has been educating the Mayor, Councilmembers, and their staffs about...

The City budget process for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 more or less wrapped up on June 13, when the Council approved the Mayor’s June Budget Message — with a few modifications. While the debate mostly centered around housing issues, there were some big wins for the creative community, as well as a few disappointments. Here’s a quick breakdown for arts advocates.

The Mayor has released his June Budget Message, and the time has come for final City Council deliberations on how the City will spend its money in the year ahead. But first, they want to hear from you. So we're asking you to READ UP, SPEAK UP, and SHOW UP for the creative industry.