San Jose, CA

Downtown San Jose, California has the solution for homelessness. Employ the homeless for the “Clean Team” Which I think is a great idea. On Santa Clara and first there are nearly 10 – 20 homeless people hanging out with nothing to do. Why not give them the opportunity to clean up the city that they live in and earn a way at the same time.

The San Jose Downtown Association will employ Ambassadors that will direct people to stores, restaurants, and current events. The Ambassadors will be trained in CPR and will be constantly connected to the San Jose Police Department via radio.

Though I have to agree with a writer for The Metro. The San Jose Downtown Association needs to train them in more than CPR and business locations. Ambassadors also need to be trained in community, languages and history of San Jose.

Why do I say languages? Believe it or not, we have conventions streaming into our convention center. I have seen visitors from Germany, Japan, and many other countries. Each time they are holding a map of the city in their hand wondering what public transportation should they take to get to each event. If the Ambassadors spoke different languages, then perhaps tourism would increase even more.

Why do Ambassadors need to know about the community and history of San Jose? One simple question, “What is there to do?” I’m sure San Jose residents don’t want their Ambassadors to stare back with a blank expression. Ambassadors should be able to list off the historical buildings of San Jose, the museums of San Jose, our cities fairgrounds, our cities water park, San Jose parks, lakes, and other community adventures.

So yes, build a “Clean Team” to keep downtown looking clean. It works in Hollywood, California where they steam clean the walk of fame every morning. Yes, build an group of Ambassadors but just make sure that the tax dollars are used wisely.

San Jose Homeless, San Jose Ambassador, San Jose Downtown Association, community, tourism, san jose tourism