San Jose mayor pushes more dollars for short-term housing

San Jose’s mayor wants to up the ante and divert millions more from Measure E funds toward homeless solutions.

The City Council — at the direction of Mayor Matt Mahan — is considering whether to upend its original plans for Measure E spending. Last year, council voted to spend 75% of Measure E dollars on affordable housing development. In the 2023-24 fiscal year, Mahan doesn’t want to spend any new Measure E revenue on affordable housing development. Instead, he wants to use an anticipated $50 million in funding plus $38 million from prior Measure E for a total of $88 million for homeless supportive services and new short-time housing construction. This would be a one-time change for the upcoming fiscal year.