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 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....

In 2024, San José’s Mayor and five City Council seats (in even-numbered districts) are up for election, and there are competitive races for two Santa Clara County supervisor seats. This is our chance to have an impact on who makes the decisions on arts and culture policy at the city and county level. With that...

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...

With six brand new City Councilmembers and a fresh face in the Mayor’s chair, it’s time for us to come together and refocus our advocacy as they begin to set a path forward. We can’t wait to get started with you!

The City Manager’s latest draft budget for FY2021-2022 earmarks $2 million in American Rescue Plan funds to support arts and cultural programs that have been devastated COVID-19. And now, the Mayor has proposed using additional one-time relief funds to backfill shortfalls in the Transient Occupancy Tax (aka TOT or Hotel Tax). While we thank the...

As we begin to emerge from the pandemic, San José Arts Advocates believes that a significant investment in our creative ecosystem will help rebuild our local economy and reactivate our city for residents, workers, and visitors. The City of San José budget process is an opportunity for advocates to speak up and let city leaders...

The SJAA Core Team has reviewed the Mayor’s budget message for items that would have a direct impact on the creative community.