5 candidates envision a safer downtown
This is one of the top races to watch in the June 7 primary election to replace termed-out councilman
Five candidates are jostling to win what's considered one of the highest-profile seats on the San Jose City Council — that of District 3, which represents the greater downtown area.
And with Councilman Raul Peralez terming out and running for mayor, the contenders won't have an incumbent standing in their way in the June 7 primary election.
The candidates are attorneys Elizabeth Chien-hale and Joanna Rauh, small-business owner Irene Smith, health care professional Ivan Torres and San Jose-evergreen Community College District board trustee Omar Torres. Ivan and Omar Torres aren't related.
District 3 encompasses the downtown core, Japantown, Mineta San Jose International Airport, San Jose State University, and the neighborhoods of Washington-guadalupe and Spartan Keys. In recent years, the District 3 seat has been a catapult to higher office, producing Mayor Sam Liccardo, former mayors Tom Mcenery and Susan Hammer, and Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, who is now running for San Jose mayor.
Major endorsements for the upcoming District 3 contest are split among three candidates. Rauh has been backed by the San Jose Police Officers' Association and Liccardo, Smith by the Silicon Valley Biz PAC, and Omar Torres by the South Bay Labor Council and Santa Clara County Democratic Party.
Smith is the race's early fundraising front-runner, having collected about $49,500 in outside donations in December. Chien-hale raised about $1,450 that month and the other candidates haven't reported any campaign contributions.
The next fundraising reporting deadline is April 28.
During interviews, all of the candidates expressed an interest in cleaning up blight and illegal dumping within the district and creating a vibrant downtown core where residents and visitors can feel safe to walk and enjoy parks.
Chien-hale, 60, considers herself a “middle of the road” candidate who's running an independent campaign. She has lived in the downtown core for more than a decade and is president of the San Jose Downtown Residents Association. She works as an attorney with the San Jose-based firm Appletonluff and previously served on the city's appeals hearing board.
If elected, Chien-hale said she wants to boost San Jose's economy by leveraging resources and relationships with some of the region's biggest tech firms to create development deals such as the one reached between the city and Google last year. She also wants to provide a “missing voice on the council” for the city's Asian population.
“I think it's time for a change for a variety of reasons — for a demographic change and time for a representative who's not beholden to any specific organization and who is really responsible to the residents,” she said.
Rauh, 40, works as an attorney for the accounting firm Deloitte, where she leads the legal team's pro bono and philanthropic work.
She moved to the downtown area about three years ago, though her great-grandparents immigrated to the city more than 100 years ago, she said.
“I'm an expert at bringing people to the table to overcome their differences, to get things done and get to solutions,” she said. “I'm thrilled at the opportunity to leverage my expertise on behalf of my community and my family.”
With three children under the age of 4, Rauh said she has “very real skin in the game” in addressing homelessness, blight and making sure everyone feels safe visiting and walking through downtown. If elected, she hopes to work toward ensuring that every unhoused resident in the city has a bed to sleep in — and that none of those beds go unused.
“I'm not interested in fighting or taking an extreme position that'll cause us to be playing tug of war,” she said. “I'm interested in getting everyone pulling in the same direction.”
Smith, 61, has had a diverse career. She started off in finance at IBM, worked inside a mental health facility in downtown San Jose, got her law degree and started her own mediation business, and has been a property manager in downtown San Jose since she moved to the area in 1989. In addition, she served as a volunteer attorney with the Pro Bono Project of Santa Clara County for several years.
Smith, who prides herself as an independent, wants to see the city and county work together to create sanctioned encampments for the homeless. She also would like to see the city create a voucher program to help fund independent housing for residents who need it but are struggling to get through similar but cumbersome state and federal programs. She has proposed launching a new office of public outreach to promote better transparency and outreach between city government and residents.
“What I see is that politicians seem to get distracted by shiny objects pretty quickly and they fail to focus on the core issues like safety and cleanliness,” she said. “I don't have a vision of becoming mayor or president. I really just want to go in, fix these major issues and get out.”
Ivan Torres, 38, was born and raised in San Jose and is a pharmacy worker at Stanford Health Care. He first became involved in political activism in 2020 when he volunteered as a political organizer for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential run. That led him to launch an unsuccessful run for Congress against Rep. Zoe Lofgren in 2020, finishing fourth among five candidates.
In his latest attempt at public office, the progressive candidate is proposing a range of ambitious policies, including free public transportation and tuition-free community college for all San Jose residents.
When asked how he would fund such initiatives, Ivan Torres said that “if we can spend $450 million a year on the police department budget, then I think we can spare 5 to 6 million so people can attend tuition-free community college.”
“I think that historically our response to an influx in crime has always been more police and what we should really be doing is figuring out the root cause of the crime and where it's coming from,” he said.
Omar Torres, 40, was also born and raised in District 3 and has spent most of his career serving the residents of the city both in the public and private sectors. He is director of the California Democratic Party, a San Jose-evergreen Community College District board trustee and works as a business resiliency manager for the San Jose Downtown Association, where he helps people launch small businesses and stay afloat amid trying times. He is also Councilwoman Magdalena Carrasco's former deputy chief of staff and previously served on the Franklin Mckinley School District.
Omar Torres is the only candidate in the race with experience in elected office, and if he wins would be the first openly gay man of color on the council. He says the relationships he's cultivated and his track record in solving problems in the community both through his work and volunteerism are “unmatched.”
“When it comes to working with our community to get rid of encampments in the area, I've been there. Covering up graffiti in a D3 neighborhood? I've done that. Helping our (un)housed get mental health care? I've also done that,” he said. “While the other candidates continue to talk about it, I continue to be on the ground, getting things done.”