A San Jose community is fed up with living in a neighborhood they say is plagued by violence and vandalism and on Wednesday, they showed their living conditions to the city’s top leaders.
“We see a lot of gang activity in this area, we see a lot of violence in this area, a lot of graffiti, when we walk it’s really dark at night,” said Yvonne Rivera, who lives in the Cadillac Winchester neighborhood.
She has been living there for over 20 years now and said she’s been fighting for better lighting, more police presence and a commitment from the city to invest in this community.
“I have a teenager, she’s afraid to walk at night, even in the day,” said Rivera. “A lot of people live very sad, they feel afraid to talk about this.”
After what she says has been years of silence from the city, her neighborhood association, and other community advocates from the Silicon Valley Sponsoring Committee, gave Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei and San Jose PD a night tour.
Each resident got a chance to speak up and get their questions answered by the vice mayor herself.
Neighbors hope the walk will give their community a sense of safety again.
“I think they will see changes, in terms of the time frames, some will take longer than others, so on our side I commit to really do as much as I can as much as my office can to address some of the issues,” said Kamei.
Source: NBC Bay Area