City, local leaders call for election to fill SJ D3 CM opening

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and Irene Smith (runner-up in 2022 D3 council election) call for a special election to determine who will occupy the now-vacant position.

Mayor Mayor Mahan:

While the DA pursues these deeply disturbing charges against Omar Torres, residents of District 3 deserve representation they can trust and respect. Personally, as I advocated when districts 8 and 10 became vacant two years ago, I prefer a special election because I believe the voters of the district should choose their representative, not a handful of people elected to represent other districts.

Ultimately, the Council will need to make this decision via a majority vote in the coming weeks. Once a method of replacement is selected, the City Clerk will publish a clear process and timeline for replacing Torres.

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2022 D3 runner-up Irene Smith:

We desperately need strong, D3 leadership that's 100% exclusively committed to D3—not a City Hall placeholder. It saddens me to say this but it's the truth: our district is increasingly the dumping ground for SJ's and County's homeless encampments and failed subsidized housing schemes. We need someone leading us who reports to us—just to us. And not to colleagues who are happy to continue ditching the region's problems on our streets, creeks, and doorsteps.

D3's situation is unique and demands a direct election. The upcoming vacancy is the result of widespread rejection of the councilmember by D3 voters, our City Council, and by his endorsers—not a vacancy caused (as during 2022's appointments) by a popular CM moving on to another elected office. The only way to rectify this widespread repudiation of Torres is to re-establish trust through an election process.

This statement originally appeared in Irene Smith's newsletter.

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Related:

• Arguments against special district elections don't withstand scrutiny, city leaders say

• Understanding why City of SJ's citizen outreach efforts don't deliver real input

• Khamis on what to look for in D10 appointment candidates

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