Dear Neighbors,

If you came downtown last weekend, you were in good company. And if you didn’t, here’s what you missed!
Nearly half a million neighbors and visitors came to the party in Downtown San José last week. We filled our bars and restaurants — in fact, some San Pedro Square business owners reported a 300-400% increase in sales. We packed Discovery Meadow by the thousands for drone shows and filled City Hall plaza to the brim for Kehlani and Dom Dolla.

The goal was to give us all moments to celebrate, even without a ticket to the big game. So many of you told me how excited you were — that we’ve never had this kind of energy in San José before. Hearing that from you and seeing so many smiles over the week made me proud to be your Mayor and proud to be a San Josean. 

And this is just the beginning. March Madness is coming to SAP Center, the 20th Crossfit Games will be here in July, and the biggest event of all, FIFA World Cup, will be in town this summer. We’re learning from what did and didn’t work during Super Bowl Week, and we’ll be ready to give you plenty more to be proud of. 

Because 2026 is all about building civic pride. We’ve worked hard together to create a city that is safe, clean and full of opportunity — a city that’s leading the way for the rest of California. And our hard work is paying off. 

We talked about the progress we’ve made last weekend amidst all the action at our annual State of the City.
At least 500 of those half a million visitors came together during Super Bowl weekend to give back and get engaged. Together, we painted a mural (and luckily, most of the paint made it on the wall!), we planted trees, and we made San José just a little bit cleaner and more beautiful. 

Afterwards, we all came together, celebrated our community heroes, and I told you about someone very special to me. I actually spoke about this man at my inauguration, for those of you who have stayed engaged since way back then. 

My dad was a letter carrier, a lover of science and theology, and a person who believed, despite how hard he had to work, that he was the luckiest man in the world. And although he probably wouldn’t have cared about or even known who the national headliners we had in front of City Hall were — what he would have cared about is the fact we’ve delivered. 

He would care that we’ve increased trust in City Hall by nearly 40% over the last three years by getting back to basics. He would care that we’ve built more shelter than any city on the West Coast and thereby reduced unsheltered homelessness by nearly 1/3rd. He would care that we became the safest big city in America last year by building trust and implementing technology. 

Because as a mailman, my dad had a duty to deliver. He believed, as I do, that our government does, too. 

And that work is never done — I’m proud of our progress in San José but impatient for how much work remains. Let’s keep delivering.
Sincerely,