A man speaks into a microphone at a government meeting
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan at a City Council meeting on Jan. 28, 2025. Photo by Vicente Vera.

The mayor of the Bay Area’s largest city may have scored a limited window to push through his agenda with the temporary appointment of District 3 Councilmember Carl Salas.

Salas — San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s pick during last month’s appointment process — potentially secures the business-backed mayor a six-vote majority amid the City Council’s labor and business divide. Salas is only in the seat for a couple months, giving Mahan an opportunity to advance policies such as temporary housing over permanent affordable housing, conservative spending and developer incentives.

The District 3 entrepreneur’s selection could have profound impacts on the city budget and organization of City Hall, according to Bob Staedler, a business and land use consultant and former San José Spotlight columnist who unsuccessfully sought the District 3 appointment.

“Mahan really wanted someone in there to help with this budget cycle and now he has the votes to bring an austerity budget through, so you can probably anticipate layoffs. Maybe even a reorganization,” Staedler told San José Spotlight. “Mahan has all the control and what comes with that is accountability — like every mayor he has strove for a six-vote majority. Now all the excuses on why things aren’t changing go away.”

Mahan’s power during council votes is less expansive than that of a typical big city “strong mayor.” That’s because San Jose is a weak mayor-council form of government, where the mayor vote holds the same weight as the other councilmembers. His predecessor Sam Liccardo, now a congressman, unsuccessfully proposed a “strong mayor” system in 2020.

Mahan has faced an uphill battle with two politically powerful, but opposing interests influencing the council. He took office in 2023 — right when candidates backed by labor interests won a council majority for the first time in years, locking the new mayor in a tough spot on issues such as the priority of city housing funds.

That year, Mahan proposed diverting affordable, permanent housing funds from Measure E, a property transfer tax approved by voters in 2020, toward temporary housing. The idea met fierce opposition, and his colleagues settled on a compromise that still favored affordable housing development. But Mahan’s colleagues flipped unanimously his way last year, diverting even more Measure E funds to temporary housing.

Tasha Dean, spokesperson for Mahan, pushed back on the idea of the new council makeup giving the mayor an advantage.

“As always, Mayor Mahan is focused on solving problems, not counting votes,” she told San José Spotlight. “The political makeup of the council doesn’t impact the type of policies or programs proposed by our office. We will continue to pursue solutions to the challenges residents care about the most — including homelessness, housing and public safety.”

Salas didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The founder of engineering and technical services firm Salas O’Brien will represent the downtown core until district voters permanently select someone in an April 8 special election — though that could extend to the summer if there’s a runoff. The results will instill a District 3 representative until 2026, and could flip the council’s dynamics once again.
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The special election is expected to be a duel between labor and business interests hoping to tip the scales of power. Labor-backed councilmembers held a narrow majority with former District 3 Councilmember Omar Torres on the dais, and would have continued to had he not been charged with child molestation.

A key sign of the stakes appeared well before Salas’ temporary appointment. Shortly after Torres’ Election Day arrest, a historically labor-backed official proposed replacing Torres with a permanent appointment by council vote, which could have maintained the council’s thin labor majority. But that was opposed by the city’s pro-business faction under Mahan, which is supported typically by older and wealthier voters who are more likely to vote in a special election.

Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.

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