"There's no telling yet whether Mahan, a moderate Democrat in his third year as mayor, will break out from the crowded group of candidates all vying to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom. His candidacy, however, is not only shining a spotlight on this relatively unknown mayor, who has a limited national profile despite leading California's third largest city, but on the South Bay city that has long struggled to distinguish itself as well."
"Now, the eyes of the state and country are on an upstart Democrat leading San Jose, with a tech friendly, Silicon Valleyesque focus on practical problem solving. He established an online dashboard to chart the city's progress on its main priorities from building more housing to reducing homelessness, proposed tying pay raises for politicians and department heads to measurable progress, and implemented a controversial policy allowing police to arrest homeless people if they refuse shelter three times."
"You're happy for him, and you want him to succeed, but initially there might be a vacuum here downtown of leadership."
Matt Mahan, a moderate Democrat in his third year as San Jose mayor, announced a run for governor. Local business owners credit him with doing more to corral crime, homelessness and blight and with making staff and customers feel safer. Mahan shut down the Columbus Park encampment and helped restore San Jose's reputation as one of the safest large cities. He created an online dashboard to track priorities, proposed tying pay raises to measurable progress, and enacted a policy allowing police to arrest homeless people who refuse shelter three times. His candidacy raises concerns about a potential downtown leadership vacuum.
Read at The Mercury News
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]