San Jose councilmembers have narrowed down their selections on who will fill the District 8 and 10 seats that were left vacant after the November elections.
An initial list of 37 applicants has been whittled down to 11 individuals between the two districts. In East San Jose’s District 8, once held by current Santa Clara County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas, a finalist will be chosen on Jan. 24. In Almaden Valley’s District 10, formerly held by Mayor Matt Mahan, a selection will be made on Jan. 26.
Combined, the finalists will represent roughly 200,000 San Jose residents.
The decision before councilmembers comes after a contentious battle last month over how the empty council seats would be filled. Mayor Mahan, along with former Mayor Sam Liccardo, argued that a special election would produce a candidate who is a better reflection of the community — while opponents of that option said it was too expensive. The council voted to make appointments in a 7-4 decision, the first time since 1994 that a special election wasn’t held to fill vacant seats — and marked a major rebuke of both Mahan and Liccardo’s leadership.
Here’s the list of prospective District 8 and District 10 candidates:
District 8
Patricia Andrade: Currently the President of the Board of Trustees of the Evergreen School District, Andrade was also a community relations staffer to former District 8 councilmember Arenas. In her application, Andrade said she would try tackling the lack of affordable housing and homelessness and help support small businesses. She is being endorsed by Arenas.
Salvador Alvarez: An analyst for the City of San Jose, Alvarez has a background in serving on community and neighborhood boards like Veggielution, a community farm in East San Jose. Alvarez said transportation, declining elementary school enrollment and lack of housing development are problems he intends to work on.
Sukhdev Bainiwal: A leader for San Jose’s Sikh community, Bainiwal is a software manager who has served on the city’s airport commission and is a past member of the county’s Democratic Central Committee. He says public safety is the biggest issue facing the district — along with the need for more road improvements and a better public transportation infrastructure. Bainiwal is also being endorsed by Arenas.
Domingo Candelas: Serving currently as Stanford University’s Director of Local Government Affairs, Candelas previously worked for state Sen. Jim Beall and the county’s Water District. Candelas believes housing affordability is the hardest issue facing the district, along with the need for stronger social services and clean public spaces.
Tam Truong: Truong is a sergeant in the city police department who has worked with community leaders to combat anti-Asian hate crimes. With an extensive background in law enforcement, Truong said he would work on improving public safety while bolstering the neighborhood’s public services and economic opportunities.
District 10
Ron Del Pozzo: Pozzo is a former deputy district attorney and county judge who has since been involved with a variety of community groups like the Rotary, Kiwanis and Boys and Girls clubs. He sees public safety as the district’s top priority and wants to strengthen police presence to combat package thieves and burglars. Pozzo said he also wants to improve the district’s electric infrastructure.
Arjun Batra: A retired Intel employee, Batra has experience on a variety of city-led committees that helped the city adopt better technology practices. He believes that the district’s roads, street lights and sidewalks could be improved — along with the bolstering of emergency services and utilities.
George Casey: Casey is an attorney for a New York-based home equity corporation and currently serves as the district’s planning commission representative. He believes that crime and homelessness are the two biggest issues facing the district.
Wendi Mahaney-Gurahoo: An education and childcare consultant, Mahaney-Gurahoo has sat on a variety of boards including the city’s school district and library and education commission. She considers combatting unhoused encampments, public safety and blight as her top priorities — and wants to focus on reducing the number of pedestrian fatalities in the district. Mahaney-Gurahoo is being endorsed by Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg.
Dennis Hawkins: A former city and county employee with a background in management, Hawkins has also served as a trustee of the Oak Grove School District. He believes connecting local residents with the government is a top priority, while also promoting public safety and childcare services.
J. David Heindel: Owner of the San Jose-based gym Hotworx, Heindel has been on the district’s leadership council since 2013 and has worked with both San Francisco and South Bay officials on budgeting. Heindel wants to increase public safety response times, combat homelessness and mental illness and bolster road and park infrastructure.
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