About No Digital Billboards San Jose
We are a coalition of over 800 individuals which include representation from several neighborhood associations, as well as environmental and historic preservation organizations, all of whom oppose allowing digital billboards to preserve the historic character, architectural integrity & natural environment of San José.
Proposed two-sided digital billboard at San Jose International Airport.
How did we get here?
Back in 1972, then Mayor Norman Y. Mineta and the San Jose City Council banned new billboards on City-owned land, and that all existing billboards be removed from that land within a period of five years.
In 1985, the City Council extended the ban on new billboards city-wide. The ban was established after a three year study by the planning commission concluded that an “an abundance of billboards is “visual blight”, and that beautification was the best way to encourage economic development.
We believe that still holds true today, even though billboard lobbyists have convinced the current City Council and City staff otherwise and voted to repeal the sign ban in Sept, 2018 without significant public awareness or outreach.
Once residents started learning about the City’s plan to implement up to 112 digital billboards throughout San Jose, neighbors and people who care about our City started coming together in a unified opposition. A Steering Committee was formed, and we held our first neighborhood forum November, 2020 where dozens of concerned residents voiced their concerns, and we strategized how to address the situation.
We started attending City Council meetings, City sub-committee meetings, met with individual council members & City staff. We also met with leaders of several neighborhood associations and local advocacy organizations to raise awareness and enable folks with tools on how to voice their opposition.
In February, 2021, we scored our first major win by convincing the City Council to table or deprioritize allowing new digital billboards on private property (aka Phase 2). However, at the same meeting they allowed City staff to continue pursuing opportunities on City-owned property (aka Phase 1).
During November, 2021, our supporters made another impact by emailing or speaking at both the Airport Commission and City Council meetings, opposing the proposed digital billboards at San Jose International Airport. The Council failed to muster enough votes during the meeting, but kicked the can down the road by sending the proposal back to the Airport Commission for further review.
The ongoing battle to preserve the aesthetics, cultural integrity, and environment of our city. Check out our other tabs for more information and how you can help make a difference.
The Steering Committee
Les Levitt is a long-time resident of downtown San Jose in the historic Naglee Park neighborhood, a Wireless Product Developer, and has followed local politics over the years. One benefit of making connections in the community, Les has established connections with certain folks in local government, which has been beneficial at times to bend an ear willing to listen to his concerns about ugly, monolithic billboards going up in our neighborhoods. His son Andrew has contributed his media editing skills to help develop the minute-long video that was circulated shortly after the founding of our grassroots organization.
Jason Hemp is a Bay Area transplant that has worked in the Silicon Valley tech sector as a Software Test Engineer. He is also passionate about human rights, equitable treatment, and preserving the remaining green spaces in our neighborhoods. In his down time he prefers to get his hands dirty in the garden, travel internationally to learn about other cultures, or teach yoga. He settled in the Naglee Park neighborhood with his husband and two playful kitties about 4 years ago. When he first heard about the digital billboards proposal from his neighbors, he was shocked and angered that there had not been more effort by the City to engage the public in the discussion. That’s when he met John & Les and a few other neighbors on how to strategize to stop the proposal and establish our grassroots organization to raise awareness.
John Miller has been following the billboard industry for decades. He is a public relations consultant whose writing on public policy and the environment has appeared in the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and other publications. He is a co-founder of Washington, D.C.-based Scenic America and author of a book entitled Egotopia: Narcissism and the New American Landscape. John lives in the mountains above Los Gatos and cares passionately about preserving our local city aesthetics, architecture, and visual vistas for current and future residents.
Steering Committee members meeting with District 10 City Council Member Arjun Batra at City Hall. From left: John Miller, Les Levitt, CM Batra, Jason Hemp.
Honorable mentions
We’d like to acknowledge several neighbors who have put countless hours into helping to build our coalition to allow our collective voices to be heard. The following deserve special mention:
Judy Turner resides in downtown Naglee Park and is one of the original grassroots organizers, helping to raise awareness about the City’s proposal by reaching out to neighbors, and building a list of contacts of concerned neighbors in the community. She also sponsored a full page ad in the local Mercury News paper in December, 2020, alerting readers about the billboard proposal and why it was a bad idea.
