1 week Ago By Brandon Pho
Disgraced San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres’ replacement will be decided in a special election. The San Jose City Council’s 8-2 vote on Tuesday was met with applause. Councilmembers Sergio Jimenez and David Cohen voted against the special election.
Councilmembers who favored an appointment argued special elections are more costly and tend to yield lower voter turnout favoring wealthier candidates. But a majority of councilmembers argued it’s time to let voters choose their next leader and close off one of the darkest chapters in city history. “We have a lot of work to do to ensure that everyone is aware that an election is happening and I take seriously (the) point about participation rates, though I would still prefer the collective wisdom of 100,000 District 3 residents over the collective wisdom of 10 councilmembers,” Mayor Matt Mahan said before the vote.
Councilmembers will hammer out the details of the special election process at their next meeting on Dec. 3. They’ll also mull over how to appoint an interim leader.
Officials agreed to hold off on an appointment until after the period closes for the special election candidates to throw their hats in the ring — ensuring none of the candidates have an incumbent advantage. A speaker wearing military clothes goes on an explicit tirade about council-appointed council members, speaking over Mayor @MattMahanSJ and drawing several police officers toward him at the podium @SJSpotlight pic.twitter.
com/VnUgfFVAgb — brandon pho (@brandonphooo) November 19, 2024 More than a dozen residents spoke at the meeting, with most favoring a special election. “I know it’s expensive, but no one said democracy is easy. It’s the price we have to pay.
If you make an appointment and we wait for another two years to come up with an election, you’re going to have a lot of disgruntled people in District 3,” resident Jeff Levine said in public comment. Various downtown economic interest groups showed up to echo Levine’s position, including Alex Stettinski, executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association, and Kat Angelov, a representative for the San Jose Chamber of Commerce. Local economist and Planning Commission Vice Chair Chuck Cantrell joined other speakers’ last ditch appeal for an appointment.
“I think to spend $3 million on a special election, which is likely to be very low turnout, is likely going to disenfranchise the very people you’re trying to protect,” Cantrell said. “When you run these elections in such short periods of time, the outcome is generally the person who has the most money wins. And that is not how we do democracy.
” Several residents are lining up to represent the city’s downtown core, including Mayor Matt Mahan’s Deputy Chief of Staff Matthew Quevedo, Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley Executive Director Gabriela Chavez-Lopez, Planning Commission Chair Anthony Tordillos, engineer Carl Salas, attorney Irene Smith and County Housing Policy Analyst and longtime politico Aimee Escobar. Related Stories The District 3 seat’s new officeholder could tip the scales of power between labor and business interests in the Bay Area’s largest city. Torres’ successor will have another task: picking up the pieces of an unprecedented scandal.
Torres’ Nov. 5 arrest and resignation — amid an ongoing criminal investigation into alleged child sex abuse — has fueled weeks of City Hall unrest , a resident-led recall initiative , scrutiny over the city charter and a divide over how to fill his vacant seat . Torres’ downfall began when police detained and released him after confiscating his electronic devices and searching his home and car.
He dismissed the criminal investigation into him as “political retaliation” and maintained he was a victim. A week later, a police affidavit revealed he sent lewd texts about minors with a Chicago man allegedly extorting him. Torres dismissed the texts as role-play and fantasy.
But the affidavit prompted a relative to come forward to police with new allegations that Torres molested him while he was a minor in the 1990s. Torres resigned on Election Day just hours before his stunning arrest. He has been denied bail and is now awaiting a plea hearing scheduled for Friday.
Labor interests held a narrow council majority with Torres in power and would have continued to, even after Election Day, had he not been charged with child molestation. Now Torres is in jail — and the result could shape policies around developer incentives and worker safety protections, among others. Appointment proponents came out on top the last time San Jose faced this crossroads in late 2022 — when officials had to fill seats left vacant when Mahan moved up to mayor and then-Councilmember Sylvia Arenas won election to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.
The cost of a special election could come with a $2 million to $3.2 million price tag. A special election likely wouldn’t happen until late spring 2025 with a runoff and certification of votes in the summer.
Story updated Nov. 19 at 4:44 p.m.
Original story published Nov. 19 at 4:17 p.m.
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X, formerly known as Twitter..
