The dust has mostly settled after a fervid debate over how to fill two vacant San Jose city council seats, but now new battle lines are being drawn as candidates seek to replace Mayor-elect Matt Mahan and outgoing councilmember Sylvia Arenas in their former districts.
In Almaden Valley’s D10, former city councilmember Forrest Williams is among nine residents who have applied to replace Mahan. In East San Jose’s D8, which Arenas is leaving for a Santa Clara County board position, there’s a single applicant.
The application deadline is Jan. 2 and councilmembers will be making appointments at the end of the month. The appointees will serve two years until the 2024 general election.
Applications for Arenas’ seat are expected to climb, as a handful of community leaders say they are considering throwing their hats in the ring. They include Evergreen School Board President Patti Andrade, Sikh community leader Sukhdev Bainiwal and Domingo Candelas, Stanford University’s Director of Local Government Affairs. So far, only one resident, Matthew Giordono, has officially applied for the seat.
Joining Williams in seeking Mahan’s D10 spot are Gabriel Gomez, Sandeep Chaparala, Nooran Bayzaie, Greg Holsen, Maylyne Ho, Mike Wilson, Ann Chung and Jean D’Innocenti.
The application process follows a raucous fight earlier this month over whether to appoint residents to the vacant seats or conduct a special election. Mahan, with support from Mayor Sam Liccardo, argued that the 200,000 residents that live in the two districts deserved to choose their own representatives in an election.
But opponents of that position, which included Arenas and the council’s progressive bloc, argued that the multi-million dollar price tag of the election would be too costly and the winner would have to quickly start campaigning for the 2024 general election. The council ultimately voted 7-4 for appointments, with moderate councilmember Dev Davis voting against the special election. After the vote, Liccardo said the decision brought “shame” to San Jose.
The moment represented a repudiation of both Liccardo and Mahan’s leadership, and starts the mayor-elect off on shaky footing after he is formally sworn in next month.
Once the January deadline passes, councilmembers will then offer their recommendations, and candidates that receive support from at least four will be interviewed by the council on Jan. 24. Councilmembers are expected to vote on the candidates that same day. The appointees must garner the votes of two-thirds of the council to nab the empty seat. In January, only nine of 11 councilmembers will be seated, so eight must vote yes for an appointment to be approved, according to City Clerk Toni Taber.
Appointees must be residents of the district for which they are applying and an American citizen for at least a year prior to their appointment. As part of the application process, candidates must also respond to the following questions in writing:
- Why are you interested in representing this district on the City Council?
- Please list your past community experience and other qualifications for the role.
- Do you plan to run for the full term of this seat?
- What do you think is the biggest challenge the City of San José faces?
- What is the biggest challenge specific to the council district you aspire to be appointed to represent?
In interviews, D8 candidates Andrade, Bainiwal and Candelas all mentioned housing affordability and homelessness as top priorities. “I’m very familiar with the issues,” said Andrade, who has headed the Evergreen school district since 2020. “I know that I can continue to provide resources for the community.”
Candelas, who previously worked for state Sen. Jim Beall and the Santa Clara Valley Water District, said he will hit the ground running on Day One and knows who to call to “fix a pothole or a street light.”
Bainiwal, who has previously served on the San Jose Airport Commission, said he’s hoping to improve “people’s quality of life… That is where all my work has been.”
D10 candidate and former councilmember Williams, who served in the 2000s, did not respond to a request for comment.
For outgoing Mayor Liccardo, whose eight-year reign is ticking down to its last days, the appointments are still a sore spot and he hinted at the possiblity of a recall. “I can’t help but think that anyone who will be elected will be viewed as illegitimate,” he said.
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