San Jose mayor, county officials continue war of words over controversial homeless arrest proposal

San Jos Mayor Matt Mahan and Santa Clara County executives continue to spar over his controversial proposal to arrest homeless residents who repeatedly turn down shelter as well as its anticipated impacts to populace safety and the criminal justice system The City Council will vote on the initiative next month Related Articles Letters San Jose s animals are underserved by beleaguered shelter City VTA officers break ground on -unit tiny home society in North San Jose Editorial Two candidates vie for downtown San Jose council seat One stands out San Jose executives push city to find alternative site for Berryessa Flea Domain San Jose mayor s pay-for-performance proposal faces particular pushback from councilmembers Board of Supervisors President Otto Lee District Attorney Jeff Rosen County Executive James Williams and Sheriff Robert Jonsen sent a letter earlier this week to the city s elected leaders saying it would impact in unnecessary and ineffective bookings and divert already stretched residents safety tools However Mahan and his allies on the dais have fired back at the county arguing misdemeanor charges have been used in the past to compel medication especially with the city looking to address instances in which drug addiction or mental soundness issues have led to unhoused residents becoming resisting to accepting services It is not enough to criticize the use of misdemeanor arrests for municipal code violations without offering a realistic alternative for those who continue to refuse help and fall through the cracks of our current system Mahan explained If the County has a plan for reaching the hardest-to-help we would welcome the opportunity to learn more about that plan through a joint meeting between the San Jos City Council and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Adding to Mahan s comments District Councilmember George Casey blasted the county for its actions or inactions in response to the homelessness dilemma which he disclosed should not dictate city program We have a feckless county that has been derelict in its duty Casey declared The notion that we are going to sit here and set protocol based on their lack of will to do what the people want is ridiculous Preponderance people don t know who their county supervisor is or what the county is responsible for and we re the ones who catch hell Santa Clara County representatives did not respond to a request for comment by publication The war of words this week continued a debate between city and county executives over the effectiveness of Mahan s initiative proposal which could allow the city to arrest an unhoused person for trespassing if they refuse available shelter three or more times over months As San Jose has invested heavily in increasing its shelter maximum Mahan announced it came with the expectation that unhoused residents need to be held accountable for using the materials But despite the city s aggressiveness in adding more than shelter placements this year it still does not have enough beds for the estimated residents who are homeless In acknowledging that nonviolent misdemeanors do not outcome in incarceration Mahan reported the goal was to petition behavioral vitality courts to mandate restoration if someone has underlying mental healthcare issues or is in the throes of addiction that impacts their ability to leave the streets As part of its strategy the city has proposed creating a new police unit staffed with one sergeant and six officers that would be tasked with enforcing this strategy when outreach efforts have entirely failed Officers also will patrol for quality of life offenses San Jos is redirecting police materials to staff the new unit with a projected budget of million next year prompting county leaders to question whether Mahan s guidelines will have its intended effect The county also has raised concerns about the unintended consequences for community safety departments Mahan responded that the homelessness problem has resulted in the police and fire department responding to tens of thousands of calls last year alone Our police and fire departments respond daily to encampment fires behavioral physical condition crises and violent incidents on our streets Mahan wrote in his letter The absence of enforcement doesn t conserve support it consumes them That s why our Police and Fire unions representing nearly two thousand first responders strongly endorse our proposal to require that people choose shelter or healing Mahan also criticized the county for denying the city s request to embed a trained behavioral strength professional in the dispatch center to help with diverting mental fitness calls to non-police alternatives With homelessness the top concern on residents minds this is not the first combative exchange between Mahan and county leaders on solutions to ending unsheltered homelessness For example Mahan had sponsored a bill which was later gutted that called for large counties to cover at least half of their cities shelter and interim housing operating costs While Mahan and county leaders have argued the merits of his arrest proposal over the past two months he could also face stiff resistance from several members of the City Council who have questioned why he craved to move forward with the initiative without engaging in a more robust conversation with county bureaucrats first To say the county is unwilling or doesn t want to or refuses to step up I think is a false narrative District Councilmember Domingo Candelas commented I don t think that s right and I think we should have an opportunity as a council to be able to discuss this with the county with them in the room prior to doing a protocol that s supposed to be effectuated by them