San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan unveiled a "pay for performance" proposal on Monday that asks voters to support tying city leaders' future pay raises to specific city goals.
This proposal would apply to himself, councilmembers and other high-level administrators in hopes to "incentivize progress" in the city's goals, Mahan said.
He hopes the move will increase San Jose's government efficiency, one of his campaign promises.
"I am asking that we hold ourselves at City Hall accountable for results, results that matter most to our residents. Because if we aren’t making progress, we shouldn’t be getting pay raises," Mahan said.
He wants to give council members and administrators clear priorities in tackling four primary issues: reducing homelessness, public safety, cleaning up blight and attracting investments in jobs and housing.
Lisa Jimenez, a San Jose resident, finds the proposal helpful, especially in reducing homelessness.
"I think it’s beneficial, especially for the homeless. People need to be held accountable, there's a lot of people out here that are homeless and struggling, and it's their lives that are on the line," Jimenez said.
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Jeanine Corneliussen, another San Jose resident, had mixed reactions to the proposal.
"I’m definitely in favor of solving those problems, I'm just not sure how the measurements would be made," Corneliussen said.
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San Jose already has dashboards to track the city's progress on the aforementioned four focus areas. The mayor said the new approach will be similar to performance evaluations in the private sector.
Mahan wants voters to decide whether to make the change, and if approved by the City Council, the issue will go to voters next year.
