San Jose has a new leader.
NBC Bay Area’s Robert Handa sat down with San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan Monday, who is anxious to put the hard-fought campaign behind him and is looking ahead.
“It’s a busy job,” Mahan said.
Mahan is finding out how it feels going from a busy councilman to an even busier new mayor.
“My wife and I have two little kids. So, I still plan to drop them off at school in the morning, which has been our tradition, but maybe getting home a little later,” he said.
Mahan’s day started right away with a New Year’s Day tour at police headquarters. He said his top priority is addressing the shortage of officers and dispatchers by way of the budget and recruiting.
“I plan to be personally involved in getting out there and spreading the word at our local schools and getting young people to consider a career in public service,” he said.
Mahan pledged more affordable and long term, interim housing, but said the city can’t wait for those projects to address street homelessness.
“Well, we need to expand our overnight warming locations by Wednesday, because we have another large system coming in and the ground is already quite saturated. So, we’ve got to make sure that we have more places for people to go,” he said.
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Mahan also wants to adopt more technology.
“When it comes to blight, I want to expand our 311 applications to get more residents on that tool. So, they can tell us where they’re seeing blight and we will be more accountable for addressing it,” he said.
Accountability is a theme of his.
Mahan said he also been reaching out to San Jose City Council colleagues, since not one supported his candidacy, but said he’s hearing only support now.
“I think we’re gonna find ways to collaborate and get along and it’s going to be very productive,” he said.
Mahan’s sole supporter on the council during the campaign was his predecessor, Sam Liccardo, who Mahan credits with solving much of the budget crisis before he left office.
The former mayor’s advice?
“Sam texted me just after midnight on New Year’s Eve and said ‘Tag. You’re it. Don’t screw it up,'” he said.
