Tordillos trumps Quevedo for spot in San Jose District 3 City Council runoff

A recount by Santa Clara County electoral process authorities has affirmed Anthony Tordillos second-place finish in the San Jose City Council District special voting advancing him to a runoff against leading vote-getter Gabby Chavez-Lopez on June Related Articles Is San Jose making progress on homelessness or are particular of its wins superficial San Jose District City Council special referendum will undergo recount San Jose seeks a way to win residents buy-in for parks spending Where will the homeless in Columbus Park go when San Jose s largest encampment is cleared for revitalization project Tordillos slightly widens lead to enter runoff for San Jose City Council seat Although Chavez-Lopez maintained the top spot over the seven-person field vying to replace disgraced former City Councilmember Omar Torres since the polls closed she failed to receive the majority of votes needed to clinch an outright supremacy turning the race into a showdown between Tordillos and Matthew Quevedo for the other spot in a runoff After switching places in the pecking order multiple times during the week following the balloting Tordillos emerged with a slim six-vote advantage triggering an automatic recount which began last Thursday and certified the results While this has been a long process with numerous twists and turns I am very excited that our campaign will advance to the June th runoff polling Tordillos commented I want to thank my band donors and the helpers who all made this accomplishable As we prepare for the next chapter of this campaign I d also like to thank Matthew Quevedo Irene Smith Adam Duran Tyrone Wade and Phillip Dolan for all stepping up and volunteering to serve our public in this turbulent time Once the field for the voting was set Chavez-Lopez the executive director of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley and Quevedo San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan s deputy chief of staff were considered by pundits as the frontrunners in the race to replace Torres who resigned last year on sex abuse charges that he later pleaded no contest to in April But Tordillos who leads a crew of engineers at Google s YouTube and is chair of the city s planning commission expeditiously emerged as a dark-horse candidate earning the co-endorsement of the Santa Clara County Democratic Party along with Chavez-Lopez and also showing a strong ability to fundraise at the grassroots level In the end Chavez-Lopez received approximately of the vote followed by Tordillos with and Quevedo with Rounding out the rest of the leaderboard Smith the former challenger to Torres in the voting process finished in fourth with of the vote followed by Duran Wade and Dolan County approach mandated a recount because the margin of win was either less than of the ballots cast or fewer than votes Had Quevedo and Tordillos finished in a tie the city clerk would have written their names on slips of paper and then conducted a random drawing to determine which candidate would advance With the runoff set Tordillos and Chavez-Lopez will have a quick turnaround as the Registrar of Voters will send out the next round of ballots starting on the week of May Quevedo s loss could signify a likely setback for Mahan who struggled at times in his first two years to advance his protocol agenda due to the more progressive makeup of the City Council Both Quevedo and Mahan referenced the importance of the seat and the need to challenge establishment politics and the status quo during the campaign With Carl Salas at this time representing the District seat in an interim limit and so far serving as a rubber stamp for the mayor s agenda Mahan has enough votes to push proposals forward however the framework platforms of the remaining candidates could become an obstacle once a winner emerges in June Tordillos has identified homelessness affordable housing maturation populace safety and improving downtown vibrancy as his chief priorities Meanwhile Chavez-Lopez has targeted improving safety and cleanliness increasing housing density and streamlining progress ensuring small business success and creating a vibrant inclusive downtown core However while there is several agreement on the city s biggest issues there are notable disparities between the candidates and the mayor in their plans to drive results For example Mahan has supported a permanent strategy shift allowing greater flexibility for using Measure E funds the voter-approved ballot initiative for affordable housing homelessness prevention and assistance programs While the City Council has approved using the funds for interim housing solutions over the past scarce years both Chavez-Lopez and Tordillos have opposed a permanent shift noting that such a procedures would contradict the will of the voters and their belief that the city necessities to increase its production of affordable housing Chavez-Lopez and Tordillos also opposed Mahan s latest Responsibility to Shelter proposal which called for changes to the municipal code that would allow trespassing charges against homeless residents who refused offers of available shelter three times over months Mahan has argued that the strategy proposal would create a layer of accountability for homeless residents to come indoors and an avenue for the city to petition behavioral physical condition courts to get them into rehabilitation in cases when drug or mental fitness afflictions are causing people to be service-resistant With Mahan s preferred candidate out of the race he reported he plans to meet with the other candidates before deciding whether he will get involved in the upcoming voting My plan is to meet with the two advancing candidates to discuss the challenges facing our city and our respective views on the right solutions and see who I am aligned with Mahan announced I have not decided yet whether or not I ll weigh in on this race but I m eager to endorsement candidates who are independent data-driven and relentlessly focused on outcomes over ideology