Twenty-eight years ago, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, then a commuter student at Bellarmine College Preparatory, saw a glimpse of what he believed the American dream symbolized.

Related Articles

San Jose mayor calls for reforms after latest animal shelter death

San Jose mayor’s pay-for-performance proposal faces some pushback from councilmembers

Why do Bay Area homeless people turn down shelter beds?

Will San Jose get a new police unit to arrest homeless residents who refuse shelter?

San Jose proposes $5.57 billion budget without significant cuts to services

Coming from Watsonville, which at the time was a small farming town with a 20-plus percent unemployment rate and one of the highest per capita homicide rates in the state, he received the “golden ticket” of a work-study scholarship that allowed him to work on the maintenance crew all Summer before going to school in the city, where he witnessed its growth and promise.

Despite some significant challenges over the past few years, Mahan said he sees an opportunity for more housing, jobs and a more efficient and effective government by building on the basics, as he laid out the progress San Jose has made this year and what lies ahead during his State of the City Address Saturday at Arena Green East.

“I had an incredible experience of watching the dot-com boom unfold and I was fascinated by the growth in the innovation, the diversity and dynamism of our city,” Mahan said in an interview with The Mercury News. “When I came over, I saw the opposite of what I was leaving … and (now), we are on the cusp of the next great transformation in our valley, where we can expand the quality of life for all. It’s in our hands and what we do now will determine what happens next.”

Since his time in office, Mahan has stressed that the city needs to be more focused on residents’ priorities, targeting a handful of core pillars such as reducing unsheltered homelessness, increasing public safety and cleanliness, and attracting investment.

Highlighted in Mahan’s speech, he made several announcements, including that the city is close to an agreement to keep the San Jose Sharks, which will allow the NHL franchise to extend its tenure in the city for another 25 years.

The deal, which Mahan expected to be finalized in June, includes a shared public-private investment that will major upgrades at the SAP Center, the home venue for the team.

“We still don’t have the final signature, but we’re announcing we have a tentative agreement to sign the Sharks for another 25 years in San Jose, which is paired with a huge investment in the SAP Center to completely rehab it,” Mahan said.

Along with lauding the strides the San Jose police department has made in lowering crime and embracing technology to become more efficient, Mahan said that San Jose police have solved the last homicide in 2024, marking the third year in a row the department has achieved a 100% closure rate.

“I am incredibly proud of our San Jose Police Department — not just today, but every day,” Police Chief Paul Joseph said. “Like our firefighters, they put their lives on the lines to keep all of us safe, which is the most fundamental responsibility of government. Any they’ve made it clear — crime comes with consequences in San Jose.”

Mahan touted the efforts to reduce sideshows and catalytic converter thefts, which saw a 50% year-over-year drop. He added that the city’s automated license plate reader network solved a kidnapping case and helped recover $3 million in stolen vehicles.

“It indicates we’re making investments and supporting our department and on the cusp of San Jose becoming the safest big city in America once again,” Mahan said.

While acknowledging that San Jose has a long way to go in solving the unsheltered homelessness crisis, Mahan highlighted the progress the city has made, first by pointing to the large investment the city has made in increasing its shelter system.

This year alone, the city will increase the number of placements by more than 1,400 through hotel and motel conversions, tiny home communities, safe parking, and safe sleeping sites.

This week, the city broke ground on a 200-unit tiny home community in North San Jose at the VTA’s Cerone Yard.

“The fact that we’re adding more new, safe shelter and interim housing placements than any other city on the West Coast, if not the country, this calendar year, is a means to the end,” Mahan said. “The real proof point is how many people we get off the streets and reduce our unsheltered homelessness population.”

Mahan said he would also judge the city’s progress on how many complaints it receives about encampments, including crime and blight associated with them, and the extent to which the housing department can work with nonprofit service providers to drive efficiency and the costs per person served.

“We don’t have endless money and we can’t always just pass another bond or tax to expand services,” Mahan said. “We have to do more with what we’ve got.”

However, while the city’s most significant problems are still a work in progress, Mahan said that residents have many things to look forward to, including better government service and increased investments as the artificial intelligence boom continues.

For example, the city and San Jose State have collaborated to unlock huge productivity gains.

“There is nothing more important than partnership, and SJSU has been excited to work with the city to educate staff in the city office on technologies that help make their jobs better,” San Jose State provost Vin Del Casino said. “Our team has brought its knowledge of generative AI to the conversation, working together to build customized analytic engines to address real problems.”

San Jose also stands to benefit from the incredible demand for data centers and research and development labs, he said.

“I believe we will see projects come forward to the Council for significant data center and R&D expansion in San Jose over the coming year or so,” Mahan said. “We have to make sure we can facilitate that investment – not scare it away – and there are some big uncertainties at the state level and a number of bills at the state legislature that could put those investments at risk.”

While he said that San Jose still has significant work to do, Mahan said he feels that same energy, opportunity and momentum he saw when he first moved to the city in 1997.

“We’re on the cusp of something great,” Mahan said. “The public sector decisions we make today will determine if we realize that opportunity.”