A Message from Mayor Matt

• Support AI upskilling for city employees
• Prioritize power infrastructure to attract tech jobs
• Invest in workforce training to enhance productivity
• Promote community engagement through internships

• AI Upskilling and Data Upskilling training programs
• Agreement with PG&E on power readiness
• Federal and regional grants for EV chargers
• Use of AI tools for 311 service report analysis

• Fall internships application period in Mayor’s Office

When I ran for mayor, I told you I wanted to create a data-driven, technology-enabled city that cares about results. Long Story Short... Here’s what you need to know this week — in 30 seconds or less: - AI & city services — We’re training city employees to use AI to save time and serve you better. - Powering future growth — San Jose and PG&E struck an agreement that holds both parties accountable for delivering on jobs and affordability. - Internships — Applications are now open for neighborhood outreach, communications, data, and policy fall internships in the Mayor’s Office. Keep scrolling for all the data and details. Dear Neighbor, When I ran for Mayor, I argued that making City Hall work requires embracing new tools and methods. AI has rapidly emerged as one of the most powerful tools available and we’re aggressively finding ways of leveraging its potential to make your city government more efficient and effective. In past newsletters, we’ve talked about various AI pilots the city is running that are already showing results: 20% faster buses on all of our major routes, earlier detection of potholes and other on-street hazards that enables DOT to respond faster, better evidence and faster apprehension of criminal suspects, more accurate and less expensive real-time language translation in more languages at more public meetings and events, just to name a few examples. Today I want to share what we’re doing to ensure AI supports our most valuable asset: our people. AI is rapidly changing the nature of work across many sectors of the economy. At City Hall, we believe that AI can help our workforce be happier and more productive in their roles because it can automate the slow, repetitive and less interesting elements of certain jobs while empowering the individual to spend more time on the kinds of tasks that humans are uniquely well-suited for. But we can’t take for granted that AI will simply augment workers' productivity without replacing them, which is why we’re intentionally investing in our workers’ AI knowledge and skills. We call this employee training “upskilling” and, thanks to the expert insight and collaboration of our partners at San Jose State University, our IT team is now equipped with a 10-week skill-building curriculum that teaches employees how to use new tools like GPTs (stands for “generative pre-trained transformer,” which is essentially a set of natural language-based algorithms that can process and analyze human language to generate trends, insights, etc.) to automate various elements of their work. To put it simply, we’re teaching our workforce how to use AI safely and effectively, giving them back hours of work time to grant permits faster, process transactions faster, respond to more constituent requests, or however success is measured in their specific role. We currently offer two tracks: AI Upskilling and Data Upskilling. The AI Upskilling Track, which is geared toward a general office workforce, focuses on customized training for specific departmental projects and has resulted in a 10-20% percent efficiency gain — over an hour saved per day — for the initial cohort of employees who have completed the course. The Data Upskilling Track is designed for more technical roles, such as data analysts in various departments, and provides training in tools like Power BI, Tableau, SQL, Python, and GIS. Participants have saved over 200 staff hours and helped nine departments handle inquiries more efficiently, while saving $50,000 by reducing consulting costs and over 100 hours annually in internal data collaboration. One recent success comes from an upskilling graduate in the Department of Transportation, Andrea Arjona, who used a custom AI assistant to secure a $12 million federal grant to install 14 fast chargers and 109 Level 2 chargers for electric vehicles at 12 city-owned locations. When the grant was abruptly suspended in early 2025 due to changes in federal funding, Andrea leveraged her custom GPT to quickly pivot by finding and applying for another relevant grant just before the deadline, and secured a $2.5 million grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission for 60 new EV chargers across six community centers and libraries in underserved neighborhoods — all in a fraction of the time it would have taken her just a year or two earlier. Another success story comes from Stephen Liang, an analyst at the city’s Information Technology department, who created a custom AI assistant to analyze and categorize unstructured text in the “Other Issues” section of 311 service reports. This tool automatically identifies recurring themes, such as “Junk Removal” and “Water Issues,” saving over 500 staff hours annually by streamlining the process of categorizing and addressing resident concerns. In Silicon Valley fashion, we’re one of the first major U.S. cities to roll out AI training at this scale. So far, 80 people have gone through the two curricular tracks, and we have another 30 employees signed up for the fall. By 2026 we want to expand to 1,000 employees — about 15% of our workforce. People seek purpose in their work, and automating monotonous tasks gives each of us the opportunity to do more meaningful work. Because no one joins public service to get bogged down in bureaucracy — we’re here to solve problems for our community. AI gives us a whole new set of capabilities for doing so. Sincerely, Mayor Matt You may have heard in national news this week that “AI Capex” is driving the world economy right now. The term refers to investment in companies’ capital expenditures on the physical assets, such as data centers and R&D labs, they need to harness AI to transform their businesses. As the world’s largest and most innovative companies reinvent themselves with AI, they are hungry for power. And where they choose to invest in the next generation of infrastructure and jobs will be determined by what they call “speed to power” (how quickly they can connect to the electrical grid and use large amounts of energy). Sadly, in recent years California has not been winning this race. We’ve seen more and more companies choose to locate their next-generation computing facilities in other states and, frankly, we’re at risk of losing our long-term competitive edge in Silicon Valley if we can’t scale up our infrastructure. This isn’t just a local economic competitiveness issue; it’s also vitally important for maintaining our global position relative to China and other competitors. Here at the state and local level, cities and utilities have pointed fingers at each other as we’ve fallen behind more than they’ve figured out how to problem-solve. And we’re changing that in San Jose. Last week, we announced a new agreement with PG&E focused on how we attract and serve “large-load customers.” This agreement is rooted in shared accountability for making San Jose the most power-ready city in California so we can attract and retain the next generation of jobs and companies. The opportunity in front of us is real and it is consequential. As we speak, PG&E has received requests for over 1,800 megawatts of future energy supply for data center, manufacturing, R&D and other economic uses right here in San Jose. Even if only half of these proposals are ultimately built out, they will roughly double the city’s power load. In our status quo situation, we would not be able to attract and serve those customers, but with this new agreement and PG&E’s commitment to make billions of dollars’ worth of grid upgrades to serve this future demand, San Jose can compete. A component of this new deal includes PG&E funding for a few strategic roles in public works and economic development within City Hall. We will use our expanded staffing to function as “one team” with PG&E’s local energy delivery team so we can process applications faster, upgrade infrastructure faster, and get shovels in the ground before they leave the state. We’re holding PG&E accountable to specific timelines and performance standards, and we’re holding ourselves accountable for processing permits and delivering on our related tasks faster and more consistently. Because there is a lot at stake. If we are successful, we anticipate that these projects will translate into roughly 40,000 high-paying jobs and a significant increase in our local tax base without raising your taxes. In fact, to put it in perspective, just one new 99MW data center built in San Jose generates approximately $6M in net revenue for our General Fund (and we’re talking about demand for potentially dozens of projects of this scale). $6M in new public revenue could hire 30 new police officers to keep our streets safe, build 60 beds to help us end unsheltered homelessness, or restore and maintain Sunday library hours citywide — so many of the things our residents want and deserve. You’ll see the benefits of this agreement on your power bill, too. Every 1,000 MW of new demand served on the grid anywhere in Northern CA is estimated to reduce the unit cost of power (the cost per kilowatt hour) for all customers by roughly 1-2% as the cost of maintaining the grid is spread across more users. And yes, we are also aggressively moving toward our goal of carbon-neutrality in San Jose, which means we won’t have to choose between growing our economy and protecting our environment. Our residents deserve the opportunities and prosperity that come with economic growth and innovation. They also deserve relief from energy bills that have gotten out of control. This new agreement puts us on a new and better trajectory that will help us deliver on both fronts. Calling all high school and college students with a passion for civic engagement! Our office is looking for capable young people to join our dynamic team. As an intern, you’ll have the opportunity to do exciting, hands-on work with our Neighborhood Outreach, Communications, Data, and Policy teams. Apply for our Fall/Winter cohort by August 11, 2025 at sjmayormatt.com/internships . Santa Clara County Fair 2025 Wednesday, July 30th to Sunday, August 3rd Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, 344 Tully Road, San Jose, CA 95111 Happening TONIGHT - bring your friends and family for a night of fun at the last night of the Santa Clara County Fair! Enjoy exciting carnival rides, games for all ages, dozens of food vendors, and more. Learn more and buy your tickets here . Bay Area Panthers Playoffs Round 1 Sunday, August 3rd at 5:00 PM SAP Center, 525 W Santa Clara St, San Jose, CA 95113 TONIGHT, the Panthers are back in the hunt for their second title in three years - and Round 1 is on home turf. Join the Panthers as they take on the Las Vegas Knight Hawks in round one of the IFL Western Conference Semi Finals! Help the panthers pack the jungle, and get your tickets here. San Jose Giants - Harry Potter Night Saturday, August 9th at 5:00 PM Excite Ballpark, 588 E Alma Ave, San Jose, CA 95112 They solemnly swear they’re up to nothing but good! Join the San Jose Giants for a spellbinding evening of magic and baseball as Excite Ballpark transforms into part of the wizarding world. Purchase your tickets here. 35th Annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest Friday, August 8th - Sunday, August 10th Plaza de Cesar Chavez, 194 South Market Street, San Jose, CA 95113 3 days. 9 stages. 1 weekend of fun! San Jose’s annual jazz festival is back, bringing world-class musicians from around the world and an unbeatable summer experience to our downtown. Check out this year’s lineup , make plans with your friends, and buy your tickets today. I’ll see you there! GalaxyCon Friday, August 15th to Sunday, August 17th San Jose McEnery Convention Center, 150 W San Carlos St, San Jose, CA 95113 More than a comic-con, GalaxyCon is a 3-Day festival celebrating community and fandom! Join fans from across the galaxy and celebrate Comic Books, Pop Culture, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Anime, Gaming, Cosplay, and more! Grab your tickets here. work2future Job Fair Thursday, August 21st, 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM Mexican Heritage Plaza, 1700 Alum Rock Ave, San Jose 95116 Looking to make a career move? Join us at the HIRING NOW Job Fair hosted by work2future and connect with employers in healthcare, manufacturing, and more! Job seekers of all ages and experience levels are welcome. Register here. Yesterday, over one hundred San José neighbors joined Councilmember Salas, Councilmember Mulcahy and me to revitalize Discovery Meadow — a Downtown gem and home to the world’s largest Monopoly board — as we get ready for the global spotlight in 2026. Huge thanks to the Children’s Discovery Museum, the City’s PRNS Department, Trash Punx, Keep California Beautiful, and all the volunteers who are making this service revolution possible. John Paye may have won this year’s Italian Family Festa grape stomp, but I’ll be coming for his crown next year! Make sure you check out this annual, family-friendly festival when it comes back around next summer. Last weekend we celebrated Frank Nguyen and Dave Mulvehill’s latest venture, Playback Coffee, at San Pedro Square! A huge thank you to Frank and Dave for continuing to invest in Downtown San Jose. They’ve brought analog nostalgia, San Jose’s radio history and digital culture into a coffee shop concept — give their cold brew a try! Visit our Website! Copyright © 2025 Office Of San José Mayor Matt Mahan, All rights reserved. | 200 E Santa Clara St # 18 | San José, CA 95113-1903 US | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice