A California residents' meeting got nasty this week, with residents shouting over their Democratic Mayor Matt Mahan, who wants to build a semi-permanent homeless camp near their multi-million dollar homes.

Mahan, a former tech entrepreneur, grinned uncomfortably at the San Jose community forum on Wednesday evening, as homeowners in chorus shouted 'No' when he suggested erecting tents on a paved lot donated by a utility company.

Homes near the proposed site at Willow Street and Lelong Street are worth millions. A newly-built five-bedroom with porcelain kitchen countertops and hardwood floors is on the market for $3.6 million.

Tensions in San Jose epitomize the housing crisis in California, with some 180,000 homeless people posing a worsening problem for liberal-leaning residents who worry about their prized assets tumbling in value.

At the meeting, Mahan pleaded with residents to let him turn the makeshift encampment of homeless people more permanent and safer, erecting tents on a paved area, with security patrols to prevent drugs and crime.

'We can take the area across the street that's Valley Water land that is paved we can do a safe sleeping site,' Mahan said.

The mayor assured the angry crowd it would have 'some rules, with tents in a row with trash pickup, with some amount of security and case management.'

Relocating the unhoused to a 'managed' site would tackle the 'noise, drugs, crime' and other scourges they were complaining about, he insisted.