California hasn’t banned the death penalty; at least, not for our homeless neighbors. Nearly every night, another homeless Californian — or two or three or 12 — dies on our streets. They pay the ultimate price for a failure committed by our state: the failure to provide the life-saving care…

People who could be successfully treated are instead languishing, and dying, on our streets because of political inaction. We can change this. We can reduce crime, save lives and save millions of tax dollars by finally getting serious about the untreated mental health challenges that are driving up our population…

Too many politicians in California seem to have given up on actually solving our homeless crisis and instead have resorted to desperate, and losing, attempts to manage it. And what’s even worse is that too many politicians have essentially given up on the people living in our streets, creeks…

San Jose Inside, an independent local news publication, released its first Power Poll survey results today, demonstrating that our Smart Growth San Jose plan has far more community support than Opportunity Housing (also known as the Four-plex Plan). SJ Inside’s new Power Poll is a panel survey of nearly one…

[Newsletter readers: my full interview with Brian Stettin is continued below.] Dear Neighbor, We won’t be able to solve homelessness in our community until we — and specifically, our County and State governments — adopt stronger policies providing and, when necessary, requiring supportive services for mental illness and addiction. That…

[If you’d like to join our campaign for smart growth in San Jose, please sign on to the petition, which will be delivered (names only) to City Council prior to the upcoming vote on zoning changes: https://bit.ly/smartgrowthsj] There is a proposal coming soon to the San Jose City Council called…

Dear Neighbor, I hope this message finds you well. In recent weeks I’ve been focused on hiring my future office staff, who will serve the more than 100,000 residents of District 10. I’m thrilled to announce our incoming team today. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in building…

(Subscribe to Matt’s updates: https://forms.gle/ycvcf3fbKSFU2JfA6) Dear Neighbor, If there’s a public resource that I’ve most appreciated amidst the pandemic — and most missed as recent wildfires kept us indoors — it’s the open space we’re blessed with in and around San José. Walking through Quicksilver, Calero and other local parks…

(Subscribe to Matt’s updates: https://forms.gle/ycvcf3fbKSFU2JfA6) Dear Neighbor, My last post took a high-level look at how our tax dollars are collected and spent across various levels of government. I appreciate the positive feedback and follow up questions. The top request I received was to dive deeper into the City of…