Dear Neighbor, 

Since the start of this year (and long before that for some of you!), our work together has been about getting San Jose back on track. And getting our city back on track means keeping City Hall focused on the basics. 

The world is so complicated. But what we need is so simple. We need a city that works for everyone: A city that is safe for everyone. A city where everyone has a place to sleep indoors and where everyone can find a job that pays the bills. A city that knows we have a hundred things we want to do, but a few things we must do to make the rest possible. 

And last week, nearly 1,000 neighbors came out to reaffirm their commitment to the common sense solutions that will propel our city forward toward a cleaner, safer future. To those of you that joined us – thank you for taking action to create the city you want to live in.

Whether you picked up a map and pledged to support our small businesses, grabbed a graffiti kit to take cleanliness into your own hands (please email me your before and after pictures so I can highlight your good work!), or signed up for a shift at Martha’s Kitchen or a course in emergency response training – you are helping keep City Hall focused on the basics and doing your part to make San Jose a better place to call home.

If you weren’t able to join us this year, no worries! We are constantly sharing opportunities to get involved. In fact, we have a clean up this coming Saturday – I hope to see you there! 

Sincerely,

Mayor Matt

Leading up to State of the City, Team Mahan got out into the community during our week of action! We hosted a neighborhood conference to connect residents with resources, volunteered at Martha’s Kitchen, joined a ridealong with BeautifySJ to clean up the streets, broke ground on a new fire station and more. Check out our week of action here! 

San Jose’s Downtown is bouncing back faster than any other downtown in California and third fastest in the nation! We are not just recovering from the pandemic — we are rising up and reaffirming our commitment to solving the problems that all big cities face. It is this commitment to keeping our neighbors safe, ending street homelessness, and cleaning up our city that has allowed us to bounce back. 

We aren’t just aiming for a 100% recovery – we’re doing everything we can to push ourselves beyond 2019 levels to create a more vibrant city center that attracts residents and visitors alike! Learn more here.

Less than 2 weeks after our big win at VTA that pushed forward 200 tiny homes in North San Jose, we approved another site in South San Jose — providing homes for an additional 150 people currently living on our streets! This site, located on Via Del Oro in Edenvale, is unique because it’s on private land and designed to be movable when the City’s lease runs out.

Huge thank you to John and Sue Sobrato, who own the land, for offering the City a $1 per year lease to set up this quick-build community. The Sobrato Family’s philanthropy is legendary and this contribution is especially exciting because it allows us to test a new approach that could help get privately-owned but currently unused land off the sidelines and into the effort to end homelessness in San Jose. Do you have a few acres of private land in San Jose you are willing to lease to the city to help end our era of encampments? Let’s chat – email me! 

I’m proud of our city for pushing the envelope on homelessness and constantly striving to better our approach so we can help more people suffering and improve the quality of life for everyone.

Thank you to Dignity Moves for pushing this project and approach forward in the fight to end street homelessness.

Calling all local eateries and foodies in San Jose! Every month, Team Mahan hosts our Snack with Matt town hall. These town halls are a great way to get updated on what’s happening at City Hall while enjoying some delicious food and supporting a local entrepreneur. Sign up or volunteer your favorite small business to be our next host here: http://bit.ly/SWMHostSignUp



Levitt San Jose Fall Concert Series 2023

Sunday, October 29th at 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM

St. James Park, N 2nd St &, E St James St

Join Friends of Levitt San Jose as they build community through free, all-ages, high-quality live music shows and performances in San Jose’s historic St. James Park. Enjoy the live music and stop by the food trucks, beer and wine garden, and more! Learn more here.



Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful and Bay Ridge Trail Day of Service

Saturday, November 4th at 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Viet Heritage Garden, 1499 Roberts Avenue San Jose, CA 95122

Help Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful and the Bay Area Ridge Trail create a healthy creek! Neighbors will be gathering at Viet Heritage Garden on Saturday, November 4th to beautify the Coyote Creek and surrounding trails through a community cleanup. Come celebrate the Earth, improve the environment and enjoy nature! Learn more and RSVP here. 

2023 Bay Area Panthers: Mayors Challenge Kick, Throw, & Go at CEFCU Stadium

Saturday, November 4th at 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM

CEFCU Stadium, 1257 S 10th St, San Jose, CA 95112

Parking is available at the South Campus Garage (1278 S 10th St)

The San Jose Sports Authority is proud to announce the inaugural Mayors Challenge Youth Football Clinic in collaboration with the Bay Area Panthers, Mayor Matt, and Morgan Hill Mayor Mark Turner! This free non-contact camp is open for boys and girls from 3rd - 8th grade, and will feature drills including: passing distance and accuracy, kicking distance, punting accuracy, and running speed and agility. Come join a fun and competitive atmosphere under the lights at CEFCU Stadium for the chance to win a pair of Panthers 2024 season tickets! RSVP here.

SJSU Dept. of Film & Theatre Presents: The Addams Family

Friday, November 10th to Sunday, November 19th

Hammer Theatre Center, 101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose, CA 95113

Indulge in The Addams Family, a comical feast that embraces the wackiness in every family. SJSU’s Dept. of Film & Theatre’s production features an original story that’s every father’s nightmare: Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family – a man her parents have never met. And if that wasn’t upsetting enough, Wednesday confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before – keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents. You can purchase your tickets here. 

Even our biggest challenges can be overcome when we build community and work together. At this year’s annual Neighborhoods Conference, we hosted neighborhood leaders from across the city to learn new skills, meet other residents, and strategize how we can work together to make our neighborhoods safer, cleaner and more vibrant. Huge thanks to PRNS staff for making this gathering possible. Hope to see you at next year’s conference! Sign up here for more info: http://bit.ly/NeighborhoodInterest 

While we’ve been hosting community clean-ups every Saturday, today’s event at Meadowfair Park was especially fun because some of the neighbors wore Halloween costumes while we worked! Thanks to PRNS for bringing the tools, Councilmember Candelas for loaning me a costume, and especially to everyone who came out to pull weeds, spread mulch and build community in Meadowfair! Join us for the next one: bit.ly/cleansj

I had a great time volunteering with Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley at their biannual Rebuilding Day event! Rebuilding Together gathers hundreds of volunteers across the Bay Area to help repair low-income, elderly, and veteran neighbors’ homes. We stopped by Rudy’s house to re-paint the exterior, clean out his shed, redo his landscaping, and more. Thanks to Rebuilding Together for organizing a fantastic event and to all the volunteers for their hard work — I can’t wait for next year’s Rebuilding Day! Learn more at www.rebuildingtogethersv.org

Just last week, my team and I volunteered at Martha’s Kitchen to distribute meals to neighbors struggling with food insecurity. This week, I went back to Martha’s Kitchen to welcome U.S. Energy Secretary Granholm to San Jose and help her announce a new federal initiative that invests in energy efficiency upgrades in local nonprofits’ facilities to help them reduce emissions and operations costs. The Renew America’s Nonprofits grant and President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will allow Martha’s Kitchen to focus on their mission and be more efficient and sustainable as they help our vulnerable residents access healthy meals. Thank you to Secretary Granholm for visiting San Jose and making this investment in nonprofits that do such important work in communities across the country.