Dear Neighbor,

When disaster strikes, we see people come together. In its wake, we often see our government innovate and take bold action in response – prompted by newfound political will that was absent prior to the crisis.  

We saw this play out during the pandemic with Operation Warp Speed, which developed and distributed new vaccines in less than a year. We saw this after the Great Depression, with the introduction of Social Security, unemployment insurance, and early banking regulation. 

And we saw this after the 1906 earthquake that led San Francisco to deploy over 5,000 “earthquake cottages” to create housing for those who had been displaced. Some of these homes still stand – and have provided affordable-by-design housing for generations.

Now, we have a chance to take inspiration from the past and apply it to our most recent natural disaster. 

The fires in Los Angeles have been contained, but the housing crisis exacerbated by their flames is only growing worse. Tens of thousands of people are flooding an already brutal housing market in Southern California, and rents are soaring by thousands of dollars in some areas. Though terrible and tragic, the fires are also a rare opportunity to tackle housing affordability, not just in Los Angeles but also in San Jose and throughout California.

I am proposing that California establish a state program to negotiate the bulk purchase of up to 1 million factory-made backyard cottages – deploying them first to help those who have been displaced as they rebuild and then using them as deeply affordable housing stock that can generate income for homeowners and expand our housing supply at no long-term cost to taxpayers. 

Backyard cottages or ADUs aren’t for everyone. But they can make a huge difference in our housing crisis, create income for middle class families, and extend the opportunity of homeownership to the next generation of Californians. 

You can read more about my plan for bold action right here.

Sincerely,

Mayor Matt

Last week, we broke ground on our Cherry Ave. Interim Housing Community in District 9 – another example of how we're continuing to evolve our approach to providing basic, dignified shelter to homeless neighbors while stepping up enforcement of local laws and improving quality of life for all.

The Cherry Ave. project will prioritize ending homelessness in the vicinity of the site and preserve our progress through enhanced law enforcement. City Council has dictated that the first homeless neighbors to be offered interim housing at this site will be people living in encampments in the surrounding area. After offering housing to everyone in the area multiple times, we will clear any remaining encampments and remove trash.

To preserve our progress in this neighborhood, the City will establish a water resource protection zone from Blossom Hill Rd. to Branham Ln. along the Guadalupe River corridor, strictly prohibiting camping in this area. This will help us reduce the amount of trash and other pollution entering our waterways as we work to comply with our Stormwater Permit and the Clean Water Act. I want to thank Valley Water for working with us to make this possible by offering land and resources to protect this critical habitat. 

Across San Jose, we are beginning to introduce strictly enforced no encampment zones in a roughly two block perimeter around each of our interim housing sites. Because the bottom line is – when you welcome a solution to homelessness in your neighborhood, you should see the solution working and your neighborhood should be made tangibly better off. 

I also want to thank Vice Mayor Pam Foley for her leadership in moving forward this interim housing community and working closely with me and our colleagues to ensure we implement a holistic set of policies that make the entire community safer and cleaner.

Over the past week, we’ve heard from many residents – some of whom are scared for themselves or their neighbors. Some of whom are frustrated by the crisis at the border and our failed national immigration system. And all of whom deserve clarity on what the new administration’s focus on immigration enforcement means for the City of San Jose. 

In San Jose, we take a balanced and pragmatic approach. First, I want to be clear that we enforce our local laws irrespective of immigration status. If you are in San Jose and commit a crime our police department will do everything in its power to apprehend you and ensure justice is served. If a serious or violent offender harming our community is also undocumented, we can and will share information with other law enforcement agencies to ensure community safety, just as we would do with any serious law enforcement operation. If you happen to be undocumented, the consequence for your crime may include deportation. We do not harbor or extend any special protections to individuals committing crime in our community.

At the same time, our police officers do not ask residents to prove their citizenship and do not engage in law enforcement actions that are primarily focused on enforcing immigration laws, just as our department does not enforce IRS tax laws or EPA regulations. This is our policy for a couple of reasons: First, we want every person who resides in our city to feel comfortable calling 911 if they are a victim of crime and we want every resident to feel safe providing evidence as a witness irrespective of their immigration status. This approach makes all of us safer. Second, our thinly staffed police department does not have the capacity to take on the roles and responsibilities of other law enforcement agencies, and immigration enforcement is not within our scope of responsibility. Attempting to take on the work of a federal agency would divert SJPD resources away from enforcing our laws against violence and property crime. 

America’s immigration system has been broken for decades. We need to come together as a country to demand better from our Federal Government, which should be able to acknowledge that two things can be true at the same time: on the one hand, we can and should have a secure border and consistent enforcement of our laws, and on the other, and we can and should create a legal mechanism for bringing hardworking, otherwise law-abiding residents out of the shadows and legalizing their presence in our country, whether through work permits, a pathway to citizenship, or other means. In San Jose, we have–and for many decades have had–thousands of undocumented neighbors who are working hard, contributing to society, paying taxes, raising their children here, and want nothing more than to achieve the American Dream. My hope is that these families will not be torn apart and that we can give them a way to earn their citizenship here, while our nation also restores sanity to the border and deports dangerous criminals who intentionally cause harm to our community. 

If you’d like to learn more about San Jose’s policies, please take a moment to watch my recent interview with NBC anchor Raj Mathai here.

San Jose just got safer–thanks to the hard work of SJPD and collaboration from neighboring law enforcement agencies, we have three suspected burglars behind bars. These suspects explicitly targeted Asian American households in West San Jose and stole over $1 million worth of families’ belongings. But they stole a lot more than that – they stole a sense of security from thousands of D1 residents that we are committed to restoring. Given the targeted nature of these crimes, our DA is pursuing hate crime charges in addition to numerous other felony charges. Thanks to Councilmember Kamei for being the voice of the neighbors she represents and advocating for swift action.

District 3 has been through a lot over the past three months. And I'll be honest, it’s not over yet. But as of Tuesday, we have a caretaker. We finally have a voice and a vote on City Council for a district that deserves representation it can trust. 

Carl Salas. Councilmember Salas has been a resident of San Jose for 50 years. He has built a successful company, been a constant community volunteer and philanthropist alongside his wife Marianne, and he has managed big budgets through ups and downs – which will be vital experience as we work together to close a projected fiscal deficit this year. 

I have no doubt that Councilmember Salas will put the needs of District 3 first. He will listen to neighbors from Roosevelt to Naglee Park. And together they will hold the torch and keep it burning until we have a permanent, elected representative in place this fall. 

Councilmember Salas, thank you for stepping up!

Chúc mừng năm mới! Thank you to the Former Vietnam Armed Forces Alliance of Northern California and Councilmember Doan for making this year’s Lunar New Year celebration possible. 

P.S. Our Viet Museum at History Park has been reopened to celebrate the holiday – stop by TODAY from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.!

SJSU Men’s Basketball vs. Nevada

Friday, February 14th at 7:00 PM

Provident Credit Union Event Center, 290 S 7th St, San Jose, CA 95112

Cheer on the Spartans as they battle against the Nevada Wolf Pack on the basketball court! Learn more and buy tickets here. 

Mural Painting with Team Mahan

Saturday, February 15th at 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Arco Gas Station, 5498 Monterey Rd, San Jose, CA 95111

Last year, Team Mahan partnered with several neighborhood associations to add 9 brand new murals across the city — and the work continues in 2025! Join us on February 15th to paint a mural and add some more color to the Roundtable neighborhood. Sign up here. 

Friend Fest Marketplace with SJ Made

Saturday, February 22nd to Sunday, February 23rd at 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM

South Hall, 435 S. Market Street, San Jose, CA 95110

Shop over 250 local artists and small businesses at SJ Made’s sixth annual Friend Fest! In addition to the endless vendor marketplace, you can enjoy exclusive giveaways, special programming, and more. Learn more here.

Read to Succeed with Almaden Branch Library: Reading with a Police Officer

Monday, February 24th at 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Almaden Branch Library, 6445 Camden Avenue, San Jose, CA 95120

Join the Almaden Branch Library and SJPD to share the joy of reading with your kids! Read to Succeed is a partnership between the San José Public Library and SJPD to promote early childhood literacy, as well as build positive and inspiring interactions between police officers, children and their caregivers. Learn more and sign up here.

Spending a Saturday sharing the spirit of service with our kids? There’s nothing better.

Silvia, Nina and Luke joined me and nearly 100 volunteers for last week’s Saturday service project at Guadalupe Oak Grove Park. We cleared overgrown weeds and planted native plants, including milkweed, to support local pollinators such as the endangered monarch butterfly. Thanks to the Friends of Guadalupe Oak Grove Park nonprofit for helping us roll up our sleeves and make this gem of a city park a bit more beautiful. Join us for the next Saturday service project: bit.ly/cleansj

Every year, we survey San Jose residents to understand their priorities and concerns. This year, homelessness was ranked as the #1 issue as usual – mentioned almost twice as much as any other concern. Residents are asking us to get back to basics by prioritizing common sense solutions homelessness, public safety, blight and the high cost of living. My team and I are working hard every day to make sure City Hall and higher levels of government are listening.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, we planted 44 new trees at Bruzzone Park! Thanks to Our City Forest for helping us create a cleaner, greener city and to the over 100 dedicated volunteers for their hard work. Let’s continue to uphold MLK’s values of service and community building every day.