To our members:

This was week one in the office for our new CEO Alex Stettinski, and begins the final 30 days for Scott Knies, who will leave the organization he spent 34+ years building into what it is today.  We hope you can join us on October 29 for the Scott Knies Exit Interview (Roast) at the Signia Hotel. The annual meetingnext Friday at the Hammer Theatre will be the first opportunity to meet Alex in person, but you can also attend via livestream.  Register here whether you intend to attend in person or not.

If you missed it, check out Scott's interview with the Mercury News that ran last Sunday for his insights on the future of downtown.

2022 Member Survey and election of Board of Directors

In addition, please participate in the 2022 Member Survey and election of SJDA’s Board of Directors for the 2023-2025 term by filling out SJDA's online Board Ballot and Member Survey.

Members located within the Business Improvement District are eligible to vote. As for the survey, SJDA takes the results very seriously and helps the board and staff adjust strategies and initiatives accordingly.

As an incentive, all ballots received by Oct. 13 will be eligible for a drawing for one of three downtown prize packages.  It’s always fun to win something!

Hope to see you on the 14th!

• San Jose's back-to-work report
• Annual transit passes for employees reimbursed by the City
• Street closures
• Groundwerx keeps it clean
• Downtown is hiring
• Events
• Downtown and Silicon Valley in the News

Last week's Kastle Report measuring workers' return to to the office remained flat, with San Jose still hovering around 40 percent.  However, a recent report from the Altamont Corridor Express, which is the train that brings commuters from Livermore/Pleasanton into Diridon Station, shows a 116 percent increase in 2022 over 2021.  That's 6,400 riders a day, which has got to be a good sign.

City of San Jose will reimburse businesses providing transit passes to all their employees

To help get people out of their cars and into public transit, the City of San Jose's Department of Transportation has started a pilot program that provides reimbursement to businesses (not residential or colleges/schools) that enroll in VTA’s SmartPass program. 
 
Using the Parking Fund, the City (DOT) will reimburse companies on a first-come-first-served basis, with a total of $100,000 available this fiscal year and another $100,000 next fiscal year.  Large and small companies in any metered district (Downtown, Japantown, East Santa Clara) can qualify.

Businesses must get passes for every employee -- not just some employees -- by signing up on the VTA website.  Once businesses get their passes they will need to go to DOT with proof that they purchased passes for every employee.  

The downtown passes range from $165 for non-profits to $180.  More information:
Determining SmartPass Categories
Determining Service Level
Determining your Annual Rate per Participant 

To receive reimbursement for VTA SmartPass enrollment, email DOT at parking@sanjoseca.gov.

Groundwerx Cleaning Crews help keep downtown clean with sidewalk sweeping, anti-graffiti efforts, pressure washing and more. The special equipment used by Groundwerx is designed to be as quiet and environmentally friendly as possible. 

If you see a mess that needs immediate attention, call Groundwerx at 408-287-1520. Groundwerx also has an app that can be downloaded on Apple App Store and Google Play.