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San Jose unveils sharper “FOCUS” performance framework, ties budget to measurable goals
Summary
City staff presented a revised “FOCUS” model that links five council priorities — including homelessness, public safety and housing — to near‑term goals, dashboards and monthly learning cycles. Council directed staff to continue work and to bring updates into committee and budget timelines.
On Sept. 30 the San Jose City Council heard a semiannual status report on the city’s five FOCUS priority areas, as staff unveiled “Focus Area 2,” a retooled performance model intended to bind strategy, budget and measurable outcomes.
City Manager Jennifer McGuire told the council the revised approach sharpens the city’s attention on results and on learning in public. “Today, I am very proud to present to you all a very a much stronger and more effective model for how we manage and show progress and results on the city council’s 5 focus areas,” McGuire said during the presentation.
The new model, developed with the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy, replaces a program‑tracking scorecard with a logic‑model framework that ties long‑term goals to nearer‑term “success measures” and to specific change initiatives. Dr. Shannon Arviso, who advised on the redesign, said the technical challenge is as much cultural as technical: “The hard part is not creating the systems. The hard part is creating the culture that uses them.”
Staff described how the structure will be applied to each FOCUS area: increasing community safety; reducing unsheltered homelessness; cleaning up neighborhoods; growing the economy; and building more housing. For each focus, staff laid out a long‑term indicator, a small set of near‑term goals to show early progress, and the change initiatives meant to produce those results. The city plans monthly “retrospectives” for execution teams and quarterly briefings to the council and committees.
Public safety: Deputy City Manager Jennifer Schembri outlined police, fire and crisis‑response goals designed to reduce response times and improve alternatives to arrest. Near‑term targets include increasing police academy enrollment to 40 recruits per class (including laterals), piloting report transcription technology to reduce officers’ administrative load, completing three patrol‑deployment pilots, opening Fire Station 32 with a single company by June 2026 and implementing closest‑unit dispatch for medical calls.
Staff also set measurable aims for crisis response: increasing 988 call transfers from under 10 to 75 per month by June 2026 and launching a first‑responder fee program in January 2026 with compassionate billing and forgiveness protections. On targeted crime strategies, the police plan includes expanding a real‑time intelligence center with cameras and license‑plate readers, scaling responses to organized retail theft and evaluating expanded diversion opportunities to the Mission Street Recovery Station.
Homelessness and shelter capacity: Housing staff described a dual strategy of rapid shelter expansion plus system optimization. The city is on track to bring a planned 705 new interim shelter and safe‑parking units online and aims to standardize operations across 24 sites to improve throughput and lower per‑bed costs. Staff estimated a structural shortfall of more than 3,000 units beyond current plans, and described work on a real‑time forecasting tool that will integrate outreach, shelter utilization and placements so administrators can allocate resources proactively.
Clean neighborhoods and code enforcement: Staff highlighted progress in trash pickup and graffiti removal while noting rising illegal dumping volumes citywide. Near‑term actions include a chronic‑offender enforcement pilot, a full fine study and outreach to increase use of the city’s free junk pickup — particularly by multifamily properties.
Growing the economy and housing: The economic plan ties business attraction and workforce training to measurable indicators including jobs, tax revenue, downtown vibrancy and new small‑business licenses. The Building More Housing focus will target land‑use policy alternatives through the General Plan four‑year review, development‑services improvements and financing analyses to close feasibility gaps.
Transparency and public dashboards: Staff emphasized a new public dashboard that will show indicators, disaggregated data for equity analysis and narrative “data stories” explaining what the numbers mean. Arviso said that leading practice cities combine timely data, adequately resourced improvement projects and leadership that promotes collaborative learning.
What’s next: Staff will return with committee briefings in December, more detailed change‑initiative metrics and a link from this work to the March budget message so the council can direct funding toward initiatives that show impact. Several council members praised the framework and asked staff to be explicit about expected tradeoffs and timeframes for deliverables.
Ending: Councilmembers and community advocates urged continued emphasis on equity, disaggregated outcomes and explicit links between the FOCUS work and budget priorities. The council voted to accept the semiannual report and scheduled follow‑up committee briefings and budget integration as staff continues to implement the new model.
