Dear Neighbor,

This week I met Sandy. I spoke to her at her home, about her home – Rue Ferrari Interim Housing Community.

I was there alongside our Congressman, Jimmy Panetta, to celebrate the $1 million he brought home from the federal government to help expand this community to help more people in need. 

Rue Ferrari is one of the first interim housing communities San Jose built to get our homeless neighbors off the streets and onto a better path. This site has already served over 300 people since it opened in 2021, and we hope that by 2025, we’ll have capacity to serve 134 more.  

Sandy told me about how she’d been experiencing homelessness for two years, and her home at Rue Ferrari gave her back what she had been missing for those two years – a sense of dignity, the recognition that her life mattered, and an understanding that there were people willing to help if she chose to accept that help. 

She spoke about how close so many people are to falling into homelessness. One accident or health scare, a lost job or ailing relative is all that it can take to lose everything. Which is why places like Rue Ferrari change lives. They allow people to get back on their feet, get the counseling, addiction support or job training they need, and reconnect with loved ones – all of which is near impossible for our homeless neighbors while they live in unsafe, unsanitary conditions on our streets. 

We have 700 additional interim housing units in the pipeline. We need to move faster to get these beds online so that we can give more people like Sandy a second chance and reclaim our public space for everyone. 

But the truth is — we simply don’t have the financial capacity to create units like Sandy’s for the more than 4,000 people living on our streets today. And we certainly can’t build every single one of them a brand-new apartment any time soon. 

That’s why my March Budget Message asks our city government to explore the creation of safe sleeping sites so that we can move people out of the dangerous, unmanaged conditions that have moral, fiscal and environmental ramifications for our entire community. While minimalistic, these sites would offer basic sanitation – regular trash pick up, porta potties, handwashing stations – and some basic rules and structure, and they would allow us to begin closing the unsafe and unmanaged encampments we see in far too many parts of our city and state today. 

We need an all-of-the-above approach to solve the crisis on our streets. And we can’t be afraid to invest in the immediate solutions that will make life better for all of us while maintaining a commitment to the end goal – a more affordable city for all of us. 

We’ll need help from all levels of government to end the era of encampments – which is why I am so grateful to Congressman Panetta for leaning in instead of checking out. 

Sincerely,

Mayor Matt

I had the immense honor of chopping the ribbon on our brand new Fire Training Center and Emergency Operations Center! Our firefighters keep us safe — it’s our job to give them the tools and training they need to keep themselves safe in the process.

This new facility will help us better respond and collaborate between different departments and agencies when disaster strikes. It will support our firefighters and the emergency personnel who serve our community. And I think it will provide all of us with a little peace of mind – knowing that we have so many dedicated people learning how best to protect us on our city’s worst days.

There is nothing more heartwarming than watching your children be inspired. And last week, at BayFC’s first home opener in San Jose, Nina couldn’t take her eyes off the field. She started playing soccer last year, and seeing the incredible women of BayFC excel on the pitch was almost more than she could handle. I am so excited that the only professional women’s sports team in Northern California has chosen to call San Jose home. Nina and little girls across our city will have the opportunity to cheer on a team that looks like them and reminds them of all they are capable of. Can’t wait for the next game! 

California has declared treatment, not tents for our most vulnerable neighbors by passing Prop 1. We have a long way to go to fix decades of failed policy, but I’m glad to see us take a step in the right direction by mandating that counties across California use some of their mental health funding to get people indoors and connected to in-patient and residential treatment. We need to rebuild our mental health care system and ensure we have the treatment beds and supportive services required to turn the corner on homelessness and get our most vulnerable the help they need. Let’s get to work! Read more here.

Every person living in San Jose, housed or unhoused, has rules to follow that help us maintain a better quality of life for everyone. We have a code of conduct that establishes limits on how large encampments can be and we have laws against illegal dumping. And in this year’s budget message, I asked that we dedicate resources to finally, actually and comprehensively enforce these rules while we continue to expand safe, dignified spaces for everyone living outdoors. If the June budget is passed by the entire council, this work can begin. We got a taste of what that might look like while joining PRNS to clean up an encampment in Alviso alongside Councilmember Cohen and Valley Water District Director Santos. If you’d like to help make sure our June budget passes, click here.

Teatro Visión's La Mariposa and Breaking Through 

Thursday, April 11th — Sunday, April 14th

Mexican Heritage Plaza, 1700 Alum Rock Ave., San José, CA 95116

Teatro Visión presents Francisco Jiménez’s La Mariposa and Breaking Through: two one-act plays that demonstrate the power of love, the importance of one’s mentors, and the beauty of the American dream. La Mariposa is presented in Spanish and Breaking Through in English, with both plays including projected subtitles. To learn more and order your tickets, click here. 

Great American Litter Pick-Up with BeautifySJ

Saturday, April 20th at 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM

Multiple Locations

Celebrate Earth Day and help beautify your city! On Saturday, April 20th, BeautifySJ will be out across the city, picking up litter and inspiring community action. Join us in creating a cleaner San Jose! Find the full list of clean-up events in your neighborhood and sign up here. 

Viva CalleSJ: SoFA to the Streets

Sunday, April 21st at 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

SoFA District (South 1st Street, San Jose, CA 95113), Santa Clara County Fairgrounds (344 Tully Rd, San Jose, CA 95111), and Martial Cottle Park (5283 Snell Ave, San Jose, CA 95136)

Explore San Jose like never before! Viva CalleSJ is a free program that temporarily closes miles of San Jose streets to bring communities together to walk, bike, skate, and play. Come out and explore the food trucks, vendors, live performances, family-friendly activities, and more along the route. Learn more here. 

Tree Planting at Plata Arroyo Park

Saturday, April 27th at 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM

Plata Arroyo Park, North King Road San Jose, CA 95116

We’re working every day towards a safer, cleaner, greener city — but we need your help to do it! Join Team Mahan, Plata Arroyo neighbors, and volunteers from across San Jose to plant trees and beautify Plata Arroyo Park. Sign up and become part of the solution here. 

I had the privilege of joining Meals on Wheels to pack and deliver a meal to Michael, a life long San Jose resident. Meals on Wheels provides vital support to our vulnerable seniors and neighbors who may otherwise struggle to access food. To help them serve our seniors, click here to volunteer: http://healthtrust.org/volunteer.

We’re creating a safer, cleaner city — one tree at a time! Last month, the Lone Bluff Senter Neighborhood Association and the SCC Sheriff’s Office cadets rolled up their sleeves and planted 9 new trees. Lone Bluff Park is greener thanks to their hard work. And across the city, the Martin-Fontana Parks Neighborhood Association hauled several dumpsters worth of residents’ unwanted junk, creating a cleaner community for everyone! Sign up here to join us at our next community clean-up: http://bit.ly/cleansj.

Last month, Councilmember Torres and I got to chat with some of our SJSU students for our Snack with Matt Spartan edition! It was so inspiring to hear from young people about the issues that matter to them most. In the months ahead I look forward to seeing these students continue to push for the change they want to see in local government. Join us at the next Snack with Matt town hall event and ask me your toughest questions: qrco.de/SnackWithMatt-Interest.