THE BUZZ: BUCKING THE GOV — San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has become one of the chief spokespeople for a tough-on-crime November ballot measure — and he’s pissed off Gov. Gavin Newsom in the process. “For years, the story in San Jose and all of California has been allowing the perfect to be the enemy of the good,” Mahan told Playbook’s Tyler Katzenberger in an exclusive interview. The mayor added, “We haven't wanted to deal as a state sufficiently aggressively with addiction, mental illness, repeat low-level criminal activity. We've been fairly lax and almost avoidant on that end of the spectrum.” Mahan, a first-term mayor, was one of the first Democratic mayors to buck Newsom and support Proposition 36 — prosecutors’ and big-box retailers’ initiative to increase prison sentences for some drug and theft offenses. The mayor argues Democrats should support Prop 36 because it would give courts a crucial tool to compel more repeat offenders into addiction treatment. Newsom unsuccessfully tried to negotiate the measure off the ballot during the legislative session, and he condemned it as a return to the 1980s era of war on drugs policies. The governor has made no attempt to hide his frustration with Mahan. Last month, he traveled to a Home Depot in San Jose to sign a package of anti-theft bills — but Mahan wasn’t invited to the ceremony, even though he supported the bills, and had been in Sacramento a few days earlier to campaign for Prop 36. Newsom, who’s been coy about the extent he’ll campaign against Prop 36, previously dismissed the mayor’s opposition when Playbook asked about the intraparty split: “This is not the Democratic Party, it’s just a couple of mayors.” Newsom has also accused Mahan of lying to voters about Prop 36. Mahan is hardly the only mayor to endorse Prop 36 — other backers include London Breed of San Francisco and Todd Gloria of San Diego. But none have poked the bear in such a public manner: Mahan is helping to lead a fundraising committee in support of Prop 36 and he’s continued to stump for the measure around the state and appear in campaign ads. The San Jose mayor’s bravado has fueled speculation about whether he might be trying to bolster his profile for a statewide campaign. Tyler sat down with Mahan to discuss Prop 36, his homelessness strategy and other state issues. Here are the highlights. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Crime is poised to be a big issue in November, with Prop 36 seeking to undo changes under Prop 47 a decade ago that lessened certain penalties. Do you think state officials are doing enough to address crime? Our most basic responsibility in government is keeping people safe, and we need to do a better job of addressing repeat retail theft, untreated addiction and mental illness. I was the first Democratic mayor of a big city in California to come out in support of Prop 36. What would you have thought about a more measured solution or legislative compromise, rather than Prop 36, as some critics advocated? In general, I think we over-legislate at the ballot box in California. Unfortunately, changing Prop 47 requires us to go back to the voters because the voters approved it. I think it was inevitable that we were going to end up with the ballot to make meaningful change. That being said, I don't think Prop 36 is perfect. I think it's a step in the right direction. I would like to see a slightly more measured approach to how we're managing the addiction treatment piece of this. I would prefer that people be sentenced to county jail over state prison if their offense is addiction-related. The U.S. Supreme Court recently handed cities greater enforcement powers to clear homeless encampments. How has that decision impacted San Jose's approach? We're taking a very aggressive approach to ending the era of encampments. we are continuing to clear encampments and get people out of unsafe and unsanitary conditions. We are also making a historic investment in expanding safe and managed places for people to go. At a minimum, people need to be in locations that are safe, have access to sanitation and, ideally, case management. When those places are available, we need to require that people use them. Camping should not be a personal choice in a big, complicated, modern city. Opponents of clearing encampments have called the practice inhumane and claimed that the Supreme Court decision opens the door to essentially outlawing homelessness. What do you make of that argument? I think we need to have shelter and treatment mandates not just placed on homeless individuals, but on local governments. I would like to see the state move toward a comprehensive statewide framework — kind of like our targets for affordable housing — in which cities are responsible for providing, building and operating a certain amount of shelter capacity, and counties are the providers of social safety nets and health services. If we don't do that, I fear that we end up in a race to the bottom, where we spend a lot of precious taxpayer dollars busing people back and forth between jurisdictions. Cleaning up polluted creeks and waterways are part of the driver behind your homelessness strategy. Why do you think that message is resonating now? Almost every neighborhood in San Jose is touched by a significant creek or river. When you walk along the waterways and see the human suffering, the extensive environmental damage, the pollution flowing out to the bay, it is heartbreaking. And it demands action. Read Tyler’s full interview with Mahan in POLITICO Pro today. GOOD MORNING. Happy Thursday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. The governor’s office said he will be in discussions about the legislative special session on gas prices.
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