A Message from Mayor Matt

• Protect progress on homelessness and housing
• Prioritize public safety and crime reduction
• Support enforcement against blight and illegal dumping
• Increase police patrols at places of worship

• March Budget Message
• Homelessness count and interim housing expansion
• Coyote Meadows encampment abatement
• Fee reforms to increase housing development

• City Council public hearing on Budget Message (March 17)
• Picnic & Play Day at Arena Green East (March 21)
• CERT 5K Family Run at Almaden Lake Park (March 28)
• Arts, Culture, and Creativity Month events (April)

Last week, I released my March Budget Message, which provides guidance to the City Manager on how to best balance our budget while ensuring we make progress in our key focus areas. Dear Neighbor, Last week, I released my March Budget Message , which provides guidance to the City Manager on how to best balance our budget while ensuring we make progress in our key focus areas. With revenues slowing and costs rising, City Hall must make the types of tough tradeoffs families make when household budgets get tight. But tightening our belts doesn’t mean walking away from our priorities. Every year we ask what our residents want from City Hall, and you continue to send us a clear message: You want a San José that’s safe, clean and affordable — and most of all, a city that’s ending the suffering on our streets. Your priorities are my priorities, and together, our focus on what matters most is making a difference. At our next homelessness count, we will likely have a majority of our homeless neighbors living indoors, not outdoors, for the first time since we started counting — a direct result of expanding safe, dignified interim housing and shelter. Fee reforms we enacted last year have led to thousands of new homes breaking ground as we work to stabilize home prices and create opportunity for our kids and grandkids. Graffiti on public lands dropped nearly 18%, and over two-thirds of residents say their neighborhoods have become cleaner as we’ve prioritized enforcement against blight and illegal dumping. We reclaimed our title as the Safest Big City in America after crime rates dropped 15% year-over-year. We created public dashboards to keep you updated every step of the way, and as we’ve held ourselves accountable for delivering results, San José residents’ trust in City Hall has increased by nearly 40% since 2022. I don’t take your trust for granted, which is why you won’t find flashy new policies or programs in my budget message this year — just a relentless focus on what’s working. I’m proposing we protect the progress we’ve made together, and preserve the critical services we all rely on each day, while also minimizing cuts to programming focused on our youth and seniors. On Tuesday, March 17, likely after 3:00 p.m., the City Council will hold a public hearing on my Budget Message. Please drop by City Hall and make your voice heard as we fight for focus and continued progress. Sign Up Here! We’ve come a long way together in just a few short years, and while we will be forced to make difficult tradeoffs this year, we cannot lose sight of the progress we’ve made or the shared vision of the city we all want to call home. I’d be honored to have your support on Tuesday. Sincerely, Mayor Matt One of San José ’s last remaining large encampments has a colloquial name that may ring a bell: “The Jungle.” The City dismantled this encampment in 2014, but it’s since regrown, becoming a growing source of emergency calls and environmental destruction. It's time to permanently decommission The Jungle, bring everyone indoors, clean up the creek, and prevent future re-encampment of Coyote Meadows, the area’s often-forgotten name. Last month, we began the process of preparing Coyote Meadows for abatement, kicking off 50-days of outreach to the estimated 100 people living in unsafe, unmanaged conditions. We’re spending the outreach period getting a better idea of homeless neighbors’ needs while making them aware of what the abatement process will entail. As we add shelter capacity, we must work to restore public spaces for public use and connect people to the services they need to return to as much self-sufficiency as possible. Following this abatement, the area will be designated a no-encampment zone and monitored to ensure it remains clear of encampments. It’s been a difficult week for our Jewish community — from San José to West Bloomfield, Michigan. We not only take antisemitism, and any act of hatred, seriously, but we aggressively investigate and prosecute such acts. Over the past several days, I’ve spoken with our Police Chief, local Jewish community leaders, and others about the concerns many residents are feeling. Out of an abundance of caution, the San José Police Department has increased patrols at places of worship across our city. No one should ever feel unsafe practicing their faith. San José is one of the most diverse cities in the country. Nearly 40% of our residents were born outside the United States. That diversity is one of our greatest strengths — and it comes with a responsibility to speak openly about our differences while continuing to celebrate what we share. Hatred and intimidation have no place here. Our Jewish community — like every community in our city — deserves to feel safe, supported, and welcome in San José. Picnic and Play Saturday, March 21st from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM Arena Green East Join the Sharks, Earthquakes, and BayFC, and your community to celebrate San José’s Central Park a community Picnic & Play Day at Arena Green East! Instead of a traditional ribbon cutting, we’re bringing the park to life through play, connection, and community. Find more information and RSVP here. CERT 5K Family Run Saturday, March 28th at 8:00 AM Almaden Lake Park Join Councilmember George Casey and District 10 Neighborhood CERT to learn about caring for your family and neighbors in emergencies, and run for fun! Attendance is free, find more information here. We Create 408 Month of April 2026 Locations Vary Every week in April, we create! As part of Arts, Culture, and Creativity Month in April, the San José Office of Cultural Affairs is challenging San Joseans to use their creative expression every week throughout the month. Find more information, and the full list of events here. Stars on Ice Sunday, May 17th at 4:00 PM SAP Center Get ready to celebrate America’s skating superstars! Fresh off record-breaking World and National championship performances and bound for Olympic glory, the 2026 Stars on Ice tour brings the thrill of the Games to fans nationwide. Don’t miss out on the chance to catch Alysa Liu, Ilia Malinin, and other skating stars — grab your tickets here. Grand Iftar I was honored to join the Evergreen Islamic Center and other community leaders last Sunday for the Grand Iftar. Ramadan is a sacred time of reflection, prayer, fasting and generosity. It can be hard to feel hope seeing and feeling so much violence and suffering — but what gives me hope is our community continuing to come together on nights like this. Our city is lucky to have a community like the Evergreen Islamic Center who gives back not just during this sacred time, but all year long. Beautifying San Tomas Park Huge thank you to Councilmember Kamei and the District 1 Office, KASCL and all our volunteers who beautified San Tomas Park yesterday morning. This group has supported so many of our Service Saturdays, and this week, we had the chance to show up for their community by beautifying their park right here in our city. Join us next time: bit.ly/cleansj Reading is Cool with the Sharks Our San José Sharks (including Macklin Celebrini!!!) stopped by Bachrodt Elementary to remind us that Reading is Cool! Powered by the Sharks Foundation, this literacy program encourages us all to be the best versions of ourselves — from the classroom to the rink. NVIDIA Road Closures Starting Monday, NVIDIA GTC will be back bigger and better than ever, filling our hotels, bars and restaurants with 30,000 innovators! We’ve shut down a few streets Downtown to make the conference safe for everyone, and the map below will help you navigate Downtown over the next week: Visit our Website! Copyright © 2026 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