The Democratic mayor is tired of the way homelessness has multiplied in his state. He proposed a bold new solution for his city.
“No matter how well they are designed, there is a very vulnerable subset of people who reject these options,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan told Fox News Digital in an interview Wednesday. “It speaks to me about the enduring challenges we face addiction and mental illness on the streets. We have built a system that is biased towards helping people seeking help, turning a blind eye to those trapped in the addiction cycle. And reality is deadly.
The move comes when California Gov. Gavin Newsom last year held local governments responsible for securing homeless encampments in some of the state’s most populous cities. In San Jose alone, around 6,000 people are homeless, in stark contrast to the city’s image as the heart of Silicon Valley’s tech boom.
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Mayor Matt Mahan wants to crack down on homeless people who refuse housing in his city. (Getty Images)
Last month, Mahan observed that homeless people in his town avoided the housing services offered and offered suggestions to speak to recovery groups to find the ones that most often break the cycle of addiction.
A new study from the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative (BHHI) at the University of California, San Francisco found last month that around 37% of California’s homeless population are regular illicit drug users. The study also found that 48% had complex behavioral health needs, covering regular drug use, heavy drinking, hallucinations, or recent psychiatric hospitals. Additionally, 66% reported experiencing mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, hallucinations, and cognitive difficulties.
“I think the right response is to say you have to at least come indoors,” Mahan said. “When we provide housing, camping is not a choice, and if you’re caught up in the pain of addiction, if you can’t say yes to a temporary housing complex or a dignified shelter, we need to create accountability. ”
“It’s a consequential threat, an intervention, and it’s confusing the patterns that actually drive people most susceptible to addictions to get out of that cycle.”
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Homeless encampment in Balboa Park, San Diego on January 8, 2025 (Derek shaking at Fox News Digital)
Mahan’s proposal is a departure from the progressive side of his party, but this month, it is a poll from Politico and Citrine Center in Berkeley, California that supports arresting homeless people if 37% of voters, including political experts, refuse to shelter this month. As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco and Sacramento are seeing an increase in the number of homeless people arrested in illegal camps in the wake of the City of Grant City Pass v. Johnson, in which the Supreme Court ruled that municipalities have the power to make public camps illegal.
State Senators The session also considers bills brought by Sen. Sasha Rene Perez, a Los Angeles County Democrat.
But for Mahan, who campaigned to reduce homelessness before taking office in 2023, it is not a “partisan issue.”
“I’m just interested in understanding what works,” he said. “And obviously, what we do with homelessness in California is not working. We are… about almost half of the country’s unsheltered population, so we’re quickly acknowledging that the status quo is failing and the current state of homelessness in California is failing.
California’s “home first” model, adopted statewide in 2016, prioritizes providing permanent housing for homeless individuals without prerequisites such as participation in treatment programs as a prerequisite. Policy critics argue that providing housing without forced care only made the problem worse and more expensive, as estimates of building a single unit reaching up to $1.2 million in cities like San Francisco.
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The homeless camp is one of the urban issues that Matt Mahan addressed during his 2022 Mayoral run. (Aric Crabb/Medianews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images)
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Of that policy, Mahan said, “We have to meet the person they are.”
“The insight we first took from home is worth saving. We designed these interim housing communities with low barriers. We allow people to bring pets, partners and belongings.
Jamie Joseph is a US political reporter for Fox News Digital, covering transgender and cultural issues, the departments of education, health and welfare, and state legislative development.
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