Governor Gavin Newsom touted a reduction in homelessness in the state; an issue that’s been front and center in so many Bay Area cities – San Jose among them.
In his final state of the state address, Newsom touted early data showing homelessness plummeted in California in 2025, the biggest drop in 15 years.
“His comments on homelessness were optimistic, and he is right that we are making progress, I would have liked to hear more detail about why and what’s working because it’s working thanks to the cities like San Jose, San Diego,” said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.
Homelessness has been top of mind for Mahan.
Santa Clara County’s 2025 point-in-time count found a 10% drop in unsheltered homelessness in San Jose since 2023.
Those numbers represent people living on the streets, not in RVs or shelters.
Mahan has said building shelter, helping people move indoors and connecting people to job training and drug treatment has been working.
Newsom said the state will be redirecting a billion dollars a year in annual mental health funding for housing and treatment for people living in the streets.
“Providing counties what they’ve been asking for, a billion predictable every year, so I say this with love and respect to the counties, no more excuses, it’s time to bring people off the streets and our of encampments and into housing and treatment,” Newsom said.
“I’d like to see the state take more responsibility for the outcomes. I don’t think it’s good enough to say we’ve given some money and now it’s just up to cities and counties to figure it out, we’re really in this together,” Mahan said.
Not just the problem of homelessness – Newsom says California still has more work to do, but he feels the state is headed in the right direction.
Mahan says he’d like to see more accountability.
“There’s a lack of accountability in California, I want to see a candidate for governor who is going to speak plainly about that and offer real solutions like the kinds of things we’re doing in San Jose,” Mahan said.
And could that candidate be him? NBC Bay Area asked Mahan if he’s considering a run for governor.
“I haven’t ruled it out, I just want our next governor to solve problems and focus on the issues that Californians wake up every day worried about, homelessness, crime, high cost of living, and I think our state could be radically more accountable,” Mahan said.