Our Priorities
If Google wants to build a mega-campus in San Jose, it must be a good neighbor.
Google is asking to buy some of San Jose's most valuable public land, and its plans rely on zoning changes and taxpayer investments worth over $10 billion. In return for these public resources, we're calling on Google to negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement that addresses the serious impacts of its mega-campus.
At three town hall meetings and our community survey, more than 1,500 San Jose residents identified five core principles for any deal with Google:
Partner with us to fight displacement, gentrification and homelessness
73% of survey respondents think Google has a responsibility to protect current residents from being displaced.
- Fund a community-administered affordable housing fund focusing on low-income residents to stop any direct or indirect displacement or homelessness as a result of the project.
- Require residential developments to allocate 25% of units for the lowest-income residents.
- Ensure legal defense for Santa Clara County tenants facing eviction.
- Support tenants' rights policies, including providing the community with financial support for local housing policy campaigns.
Ensure family-supporting jobs and a voice at work for local workers in construction and operations
82% of survey respondents think Google has a responsibility to provide jobs with livable wages for residents.
- Commit to a First Source Hiring policy, providing San Jose residents first consideration for jobs.
- Ensure that all service contractors and long-term tenants give workers a fair process to decide whether or not to join unions, free from intimidation or retaliation.
- Commit to responsible contracting standards to ensure contracted-out jobs are good quality jobs with fair and safe working conditions. Google and long-term tenants must commit to hiring companies recommended by industry watch-group responsiblecontractorguide.com to ensure good working conditions in the property services industry.
- Sign a Project Labor Agreement to ensure good, local construction jobs.
- Ban the box to remove questions on previous convictions from hiring applications.
- Provide annual reports to the community on the quality of jobs.
Support local schools to promote education and career opportunities for all children
69% of survey respondents think Google has a responsibility to fund local schools and youth programs.
- Support affordable, accessible, quality early childhood education and child care.
- Collaborate with local parents, teachers, students and school districts to support public schools serving minority and low-income neighborhoods across San Jose.
- Help provide low-income and disadvantaged children with access to quality education and enrichment.
- Support housing access for teachers and school employees, especially those working in the highest-poverty schools.
Broaden access to transit and mitigate traffic impacts
77% of survey respondents think Google has a responsibility to develop transportation solutions to deal with traffic.
- Commit to pay its full contribution for any necessary traffic mitigations.
- Develop a Transportation Demand Management plan to mitigate local traffic impacts, including providing both directly-employed and subcontracted workers access to public transit systems, employer shuttles and mode-shift systems.
- Provide funding to expand public bus services overall, including expanding service hours on specific routes that lead to Diridon Station and providing assistance to pay for free fares for youth, seniors and disabled populations.
Provide community oversight of community benefits
68% of survey respondents do not trust the City government will prioritize community needs as it negotiate with Google.
- Negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement with members of Silicon Valley Rising with enforcement mechanisms including a community oversight committee representing San Jose community, labor, and faith leaders to oversee the implementation of the agreement, modeled after the enforcement tools in the Oakland Army Base Community Benefits Agreement.
