Congressional representative Sam Liccardo (CA-16) announced $2 million in federal funding for a new 143-unit development on Evelyn Avenue in Mountain View during a Feb. 20 press conference in Mountain View.
Joined by a bevy of public officials at the site, Liccardo said $14 million in total was secured for affordable housing, homelessness, coastal resilience and infrastructure improvements across Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.
“Even with Washington at its most dysfunctional, we keep pushing to bring local taxpayer dollars back home,” Liccardo said. “These investments reach every corner of our district – supporting affordable housing, tackling homelessness, strengthening our resilience, and bolstering public safety. Local leaders pointed us toward our needs, and I’m proud we delivered.”
The apartments at 57-67 E. Evelyn Avenue will be in a five-story building that will offer studios, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units targeted at residents earning between 30% to 60% of the area median income. The property will include a fitness room, laundry room, and a courtyard space with climbing structures, picnic tables and barbeques.
The project is being developed with Charities Housing, a San Jose-based nonprofit.
“It’s an underutilized piece of property,” said Mountain View City Councilman John McAlister following the press conference. “We’re just continuing to look for opportunities.”
The press conference additionally included the announcement of new community projects across Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
“Our council is very supportive of affordable housing,” said Mountain View Mayor Emily Ramos following the meeting.
There was $1,145,144 for the Charleston Slough Tide Gates Improvement Project in Mountain View, which will improve flood protection and environmental management of coastal wasteways.
“The replacement of the tide gate system at Charleston Slough will reduce the risk of flooding during significant storms. We are grateful for Congressman Liccardo’s leadership, which made federal funding for these two major projects possible,” said Mountain View Mayor Emily Ann Ramos.
The funding for Santa Clara County also included $2 million for seismic retrofits, energy efficiency for lower-income renters in San Jose; $850,000 for a fire station in Palo Alto, $250,000 for pedestrian and bicycling improvements in Campbell and $200,000 for a mobile navigation center in Los Gatos,
In San Mateo County, funding includes $1.2 million for coastal resiliency; $850,000 for Mirada Road upgrades; $250,000 for the restoration of the Mountain Home Road Bridge in Woodside; and $250,000 for a trail restoration project in Half Moon Bay.
Liccardo’s staff said that in total, about $6 million of the $14 million has been directed to housing.
“I think it’s great. I think it’s much needed here,” said Analicia Herrera, a resident of a Charities Housing affordable housing property in San Jose since 2012.
The officials at the event included Mountain View Housing Director Wayne Chen, Pacifica School District Trustee Elizabeth Bredall, Pacifica School District Interim Superintendent Carisa Bowman and Los Gatos Mayor Rob Moore.
In addition to the funding announcements, federal policy and budgeting was a chief subject. On the Friday morning of Feb. 20, the U.S. Supreme Court made a 6-3 ruling that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he imposed tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
“Everyone has known from day one that these tariffs would not survive constitutional scrutiny,” Liccardo said. “While congressional Democrats and a small handful of Republicans fought to overturn them, corporate America quietly hoped for their invalidation. Now, the shareholders of every company racing to the U.S. Court of International Trade to seek tariff refunds should ask their executives why they couldn’t find the courage to speak up about the damage that this Administration has wrought to our economy and to America’s standing in the world. This authoritarian dumpster fire has one source of fuel: the capitulation of the powerful.”
