Matthew William Mahan (born November 18, 1982)[1] is an American politician and tech entrepreneur who has served as the mayor of San Jose since 2023[update].

[7] While in high school, Mahan worked with former State Senator Jim Beall and former Santa Clara Counsel Ann Ravel.

[11] Together, they formed Causes, an early Facebook application focused on grassroots and public engagement that helped raise money for nonprofit organizations.

He also pledged to end the current system of automatic raises for politicians and city department heads unless progress is shown.

[17] In November 2022, he was elected mayor of San Jose, defeating Santa Clara County supervisor Cindy Chavez.

[20] Individuals who endorsed Mahan for the city council included the Santa Clara County Assessor (Larry Stone), the San Jose Mayor (Sam Liccardo), the Vice Mayor (Chappie Jones), and city council members (Lan Diep and Pam Foley).

[24] Liccardo explained his endorsement by stating that he liked Mahan's commonsense and realistic solutions and disliked Chavez's campaign of fear politics.

[27] Mahan received endorsements from the Business San Jose Chamber Political Action Committee, based in Silicon Valley, when he ran for city council in 2020.

[21] There is a divide in who is supported by what group of businesses, building alliances and getting votes on the city council is important to get things done.

Mahan also noted in the speech that he is committed to ensuring San Jose becomes “the safest big city” in the United States.

Reiterating his stance on crime in June 2023, Mahan held an unscheduled press conference [33] outside of a convenience store in downtown San Jose regarding open air drug and homeless encampments.

Mahan stated that “well-intentioned efforts to ease prison overcrowding” have led to heightened rates of drug overdose, petty theft, and homelessness.

Recently, the San Jose city council has faced controversy [36] upon the allegations that (now former) councilman Omar Torres was under investigation for child sexual misconduct, and other accusations followed.

The plans include temporary housing solutions, and building tiny homes and modular units on public land.

The committees were set in place to implement new approaches to addressing these issues and provide recommendations to Mahan's budget proposals.

[44] On April 12, 2022, Mahan had the Measure E allocation of funds for affordable housing modified down to 75% to make shelter construction a priority.

[47] Mahan's decision to divert the Measure E funds was a response to the high pollutant levels along the creeks and rivers that the immense homeless population currently inhabits.