San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and other local Democratic leaders on Wednesday announced their support for Proposition 36, a crime reform measure on the November ballot that they hope will force eligible Californians who routinely commit drug offenses to receive substance abuse treatment.
“People are dying who don’t need to die, and businesses are closing that don’t need to close. There is an answer. The answer is treatment,” Mahan said at a morning news conference announcing a new fundraising committee he created with two other elected officials. “That’s why we’re here today to support Prop. 36. Not because we want to go back to an era of mass incarceration, but because we want to move toward an era of mass treatment.”
His support runs counter to Gov. Gavin Newsom and top Democratic leaders in the state Legislature, who have come out against the measure, fearing it would return California to an ineffective, tough-on-crime era that swelled the state's prison population to unconstitutional levels.
But Mahan, who just won reelection, said Prop. 36 will help provide needed treatment for those addicted to the deadly drug fentanyl by imposing court-mandated drug treatment for those convicted of a third drug offense. The measure will also change parts of Prop. 47, a decade-old ballot measure that downgraded some nonviolent property and drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors to reduce prison populations.
He was one of the first major city mayors to endorse the ballot measure, along with Mayors London Breed of San Francisco and Todd Gloria of San Diego.
Eight lawmakers have already endorsed Proposition 36 this week. Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) and several members of the Legislative Black Caucus have opposed the measure.
Mahan created the new committee to support Prop. 36 alongside Sacramento District Attorney Tien Ho and Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen. They have been vocal advocates for the DA-led ballot initiative and link it to homelessness, the fentanyl crisis and rising retail theft, which are three cornerstones of the November ballot measure.
The Prop 36 campaign received more than $9 million in support from major retail corporations, including Walmart, Home Depot, Target and In-N-Out Burger.
