San Jose is launching a program to relocate and reunify homeless people with their families as the city strives to end unsheltered homelessness. Homeward Bound, a pilot program proposed by Mayor Matt Mahan, will send outreach workers to make contact with homeless individuals and pay for transportation costs to bus them out of the city....
San Jose mayor wants to permanently shift affordable housing funds
Amid a budget shortfall, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan wants to move money allocated to affordable housing toward temporary housing solutions — indefinitely. San Jose is facing a potential $60 million deficit for the upcoming 2025-26 fiscal year, due in large part to a drop in sales tax revenue. At a City Council meeting earlier...
San Jose mayor says AI driving Spanish speakers’ participation
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan says Spanish-speaking participation at city meetings has increased 300% through the use of artificial intelligence translation software. But critics are finding errors in the tool — and question if it’s really driving the increase. Mahan made the declaration in Miami, Florida Thursday during a discussion about AI in government at...
San Jose mayor sees ADUs as housing crisis quick fix
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said the Los Angeles wildfires created a rare opportunity for the state to build tens of thousands of new homes for displaced residents while simultaneously tackling the housing crisis. Mahan made his proposal to the state housing and community development department in an opinion piece published last week where he advocated...
Silicon Valley gets millions from state to fight homelessness
San Jose and Santa Clara County are set to receive tens of millions of dollars for homelessness prevention and housing. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the latest round of funding last week, totaling $827 million across more than 100 communities, from the Homeless, Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) program. San Jose is getting $28.8 million and...
San Jose leaders push Proposition 36 as critics fight back
A coalition of elected officials that Gov. Gavin Newsom dismissed as “just a couple mayors,” is raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in an effort to reverse lenient rules on retail and drug crimes. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan announced the “Yes on 36” ballot measure committee with Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen and Sacramento...
San Jose sees safe sleeping sites as option for homeless residents
As San Jose develops plans for sanctioned homeless encampments, Mayor Matt Mahan traveled to San Diego to see what he could glean. San Diego, at the forefront of safe sleeping sites for unhoused people in California, has two sanctioned locations that support a total of 533 insulated tents. The locations provide on-site case management and resource referrals, restrooms,...
‘Absolutely stunned’: San Jose mayor inflates costs of not sweeping homeless camps
State officials are contradicting claims made by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan in his push to redirect affordable housing money to homeless sweeps and shelters. Mahan has argued the city faces $60,000 in daily fines per pollutant if the city doesn’t address pollution from homeless encampments near creeks by June 2025. It’s driving his renewed...
NAACP rebukes San Jose police over viral mayor security altercation
The region’s NAACP chapter is rebuking San Jose police for the viral incident earlier this week in which a pedestrian attacked Mayor Matt Mahan’s security detail after a verbal dispute turned physical. The Rev. Jethroe Moore, president of NAACP San Jose/Silicon Valley, on Wednesday sent a critical email to acting Police Chief Paul Joseph about the incident,...
San Jose election spending reached all-time high in 2022
Campaign funding flooded into San Jose elections in 2022, making that cycle the most expensive in city history. A report compiled by transparency watchdog Maplight found mayoral candidates and individuals vying for five San Joes City Council seats raised more than $7 million collectively in 2022, an all-time high. That amount omits independent expenditures, which...