SAN JOSE MAYOR Matt Mahan wants Santa Clara County to scale up shelter and health treatment options in response to the city’s renewed crackdown on homelessness.
During the City Council’s March 18 discussion on Mayor Matt Mahan’s 2025-26 March budget message, Councilmembers David Cohen and Domingo Candelas sought to involve county officials in the mayor’s “Responsibility to Shelter” initiative — which would allow for police to arrest homeless residents who refuse shelter after three attempts within 18 months. But county officials continue to scoff at the city’s plan to increase the detainment of homeless residents, leaving San Jose with an uphill battle in putting Mahan’s initiative to work.
Cohen said the relationship between the city and county has been strained and it’s time to start cooperating with each other.
“That’s why Councilmember Candelas and I requested that we set up a meeting (by June) to better understand the roles we can each play in addressing this big challenge,” he told San José Spotlight. “It will likely take multiple meetings to develop a clear set of expectations, and I am committed to making sure we do what it takes to better serve our community.”
Following council’s approval of his budget message, Mahan said the county needs to align its resources with his plan.
“For those who are unable or unwilling to accept (shelter) there’s often a more serious underlying behavioral health issue, and that’s where we need our partners at the county to lean in,” he said Wednesday.
Shelters near capacity
San Jose has about 3,000 beds for homeless residents, but its shelters are nearly full. Officials anticipate creating another 1,000 spaces this year, but San Jose has roughly 5,500 unsheltered homeless people living on the streets.
Mahan told San José Spotlight residents with overwhelming complaints about street homelessness blame him and other city leaders, often unaware who represents them in the county.
“There’s no intention of criminalization,” he said. “But we have to get this person into the care of the county and make sure the county knows who they are and that they have a responsibility for getting that person indoors one way or another.”
Last week, Mahan and his team met with Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Otto Lee and the District Attorney’s Office, which he described as “productive.”
“Next, I’m inviting all of the key stakeholders from both the county and city to come together to discuss better integrating our efforts to get everyone off of our streets,” Mahan told San José Spotlight. “But the one thing on which I will not compromise, is that we need to hold everyone accountable, from the city and county for our responsibility to provide shelter and in-patient treatment beds to homeless neighbors for the responsibility to come indoors.”
But Lee said Friday the county is still awaiting outreach from San Jose officials, and isn’t going to budge on its approach to addressing homelessness. While the county and city collaborated in the past to make inroads on housing and mental health services needs, there have been missed opportunities.
“Our county needs more shelter capacity — it is as simple as that,” Lee told San José Spotlight. “Clearly, any type of incarceration against our unhoused neighbors does not work, and we don’t believe that was the mayor’s intent. Through the ‘Responsibility to Shelter’ initiative, individuals who are experiencing homelessness are now at risk of further trauma by way of a citation and arrest for trespassing.”
Catch and release
A spokesperson for the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office told San José Spotlight homeless residents arrested under the initiative would most likely be released. One way county officials are addressing mentally ill and drug-dependent people in the criminal justice system as an alternative to incarceration is with pre-trial jail diversion programs, including crisis treatment, outpatient behavioral health services and temporary community-based housing.
San Jose has previously blocked proposals from the county to purchase city-owned sites for jail diversion programs, but ultimately allowed the sale of Vermont House, a smaller site, in December.
“Our county needs more shelter capacity — it is as simple as that.” Supervisor Otto Lee
County officials said last year they want to double their mental health and substance use treatment beds to 530 beds by 2030. The increase in treatment beds could double the number of people receiving substance use treatment to 20,000 by 2030, according to the county.
Mahan said the county, by its own admission, is spending less than 1% of its annual budget on moving people directly out of encampments and into shelter.
“The measure of success is the number of people living outside in tents and in vehicles, and until the county gets serious about scaling up shelter and in-patient treatment, and requiring that people come indoors, our community will continue to have low trust in local government and rightly believe that we are failing to deliver on their top concern,” Mahan said.
Contact Vicente Vera at vicente@sanjosespotlight.com or follow @VicenteJVera on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This story originally appeared in San Jose Spotlight.