The time to open the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds to our homeless (unhoused) citizens is now! 

We are in the middle of a humanitarian crisis.  According to the latest count, on any given night there are 9,705 human beings that are homeless in Santa Clara County[1].  Right now, the limited number of shelters beds available are full every night. This means that the majority of our homeless have nowhere to live. In all of Santa Clara County, there is no approved place for our homeless to live. So the question is, where shall these thousands of people go?  Our answer is to use the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds to temporarily house our homeless citizens.

The barren land you see in the picture above represents approximately 80 acres of unused land. A portion of this vacant land would be an ideal space for providing our homeless a safe place to temporarily live. 

Did you know?

• Only 1.7% of Santa Clara County residents use the Fairgrounds[2]. 
•  The main source of income for the Fairgrounds is online horse race gambling[3].
• The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds was investigated by a Grand Jury once in 2011 and again in 2019 for fraud and possible embezzlement[4].
• In 2021, the City of San Jose has cleared over 200 encampments[5].
• On May 19, 2021 the City of San Jose voted against sanctioned (city approved) encampments[6].

We are requesting the following:

• Use the Pavilion (large building in the middle of the picture) as a Crisis Center to provide various services: medical, substance abuse and mental health treatment, job training, and other social services.
• Use a portion of the unused land for 24/7 safe parking.
• Use a portion of the unused land for immediate occupancy providing temporary structures.

Santa Clara County is failing it's citizens: https://main-sjspotlight-sanjosespotlight.content.pugpig.com/2021/12/16/homeless-deaths-soar-in-santa-clara-county/content.html

The citizens of Santa Clara County own the Fairgrounds and the vacant land. We depend on our elected officials to decide how the land will be utilized. The sooner we provide these services and tend to the needs of our homeless, the sooner we can get these people into the next stage, which is affordable housing. 

Please join us to strongly encourage the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to open the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds immediately to address the urgent needs of our homeless residents. By signing our petition you will be helping to save countless lives.

We thank you for your support!

Footnotes:
[1] 2019 Point in Time Count
[2] 2019 Grand Jury Investigation of Fairground Management Corporation
[3] 2019 Grand Jury Investigation of Fairground Management Corporation
[4] 2019 Grand Jury Investigation of Fairground Management Corporation
[5] Dec. 4, 2021, Tran Nguyen, San Jose Spotlight; “It’s Very Disturbing: San Jose Clears More than 200 Homeless encampments this year.”
[6] May 19, 2021. Alaban, Lloyd, San Jose Spotlight; “San Jose Rejects Homeless Encampments”