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The decision to fill the vacancy with an election, rather than picking a replacement to serve until the next regular election, is a marked reversal from 2022, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11934261/san-jose-council-to-fill-vacancies-with-appointments-not-special-elections\">the council opted to fill two vacancies through appointments\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This will ensure the voice as well as the vision of District 3 residents and community is part of the progress of this great city,” said Meenakshi Nieto, a D3 resident who told the council she supported a special election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The election could take place as soon as April, according to a memo presented by the city clerk. If no candidate receives a majority of votes, a runoff will be held between the top two finishers, with the winner likely taking office in August.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Politically, the special election could swing the balance of power in city government and give Mayor Matt Mahan a clear majority of allies on the council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres was a progressive who was largely backed by organized labor. A victory in District 3 by a business-aligned moderate could give Mahan a reliable sixth vote in step with his agenda on the city budget and issues such as homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early next year, the council will make a placeholder appointment to the District 3 seat. The council agreed to delay that selection until after the candidate filing period for the special election closes in order to prevent anyone running for the seat from being considered for the caretaker role.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just two years ago, the council voted against scheduling special elections to fill two vacancies and instead appointed current Councilmembers Domingo Candelas in District 8 and Arjun Batra in District 10. This time around, council members opted for an election in an 8–2 vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I completely understand the merits of an appointment more than most,” Candelas said. “I think it’s important and imperative for our community to have a voice through a special election, and this special election, most importantly, is going to help rebuild that trust in our city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres has been absent from his council duties for weeks since San José police said he was the subject of an investigation involving sexual misconduct with a minor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 5, Torres was arrested in a different case and charged with three counts of child molestation, including sodomy, oral copulation, and lewd and lascivious acts on a minor under the age of 14. Prosecutors said Torres assaulted a teenage relative in 1999 when he was 18.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hours before the arrest, Torres submitted his resignation, effective Nov. 27.[aside postID=news_12014643 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Dev Davis, who voted for appointments in 2022, said she believed the Torres scandal entitled D3 residents to a “do-over” vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council members who voted against the special election — Sergio Jimenez and David Cohen — argued that the election would burden the city with added costs and leave residents with a representative immediately focused on running for reelection. District 3 voters will select a representative for a full, four-year term in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we’re running for reelection, we’re not always present, both mentally and physically,” Jimenez said. “If we go down the road of a special election, you’re going to have a group of people perpetually running for office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents who spoke at the meeting said Torres left the city’s largest business district without a voice on the council. In recent weeks, Torres’ staff has handled constituent services with assistance from the mayor’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re greatly concerned about the lack of representation D3 has endured in the past month,” said Alex Stettinski, CEO of the San José Downtown Association. “We need someone who understands our downtown community, including our property owners, small businesses and residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The representative should not be polarizing, as the community needs someone who can lead the charge — united — and will find a path of healing and recovery for our downtown.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The election could take place as soon as April, according to a memo presented by the city clerk. If no candidate receives a majority of votes, a runoff will be held between the top two finishers, with the winner likely taking office in August.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Politically, the special election could swing the balance of power in city government and give Mayor Matt Mahan a clear majority of allies on the council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres was a progressive who was largely backed by organized labor. A victory in District 3 by a business-aligned moderate could give Mahan a reliable sixth vote in step with his agenda on the city budget and issues such as homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early next year, the council will make a placeholder appointment to the District 3 seat. The council agreed to delay that selection until after the candidate filing period for the special election closes in order to prevent anyone running for the seat from being considered for the caretaker role.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just two years ago, the council voted against scheduling special elections to fill two vacancies and instead appointed current Councilmembers Domingo Candelas in District 8 and Arjun Batra in District 10. This time around, council members opted for an election in an 8–2 vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I completely understand the merits of an appointment more than most,” Candelas said. “I think it’s important and imperative for our community to have a voice through a special election, and this special election, most importantly, is going to help rebuild that trust in our city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres has been absent from his council duties for weeks since San José police said he was the subject of an investigation involving sexual misconduct with a minor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 5, Torres was arrested in a different case and charged with three counts of child molestation, including sodomy, oral copulation, and lewd and lascivious acts on a minor under the age of 14. Prosecutors said Torres assaulted a teenage relative in 1999 when he was 18.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hours before the arrest, Torres submitted his resignation, effective Nov. 27.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Dev Davis, who voted for appointments in 2022, said she believed the Torres scandal entitled D3 residents to a “do-over” vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council members who voted against the special election — Sergio Jimenez and David Cohen — argued that the election would burden the city with added costs and leave residents with a representative immediately focused on running for reelection. District 3 voters will select a representative for a full, four-year term in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we’re running for reelection, we’re not always present, both mentally and physically,” Jimenez said. “If we go down the road of a special election, you’re going to have a group of people perpetually running for office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents who spoke at the meeting said Torres left the city’s largest business district without a voice on the council. In recent weeks, Torres’ staff has handled constituent services with assistance from the mayor’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re greatly concerned about the lack of representation D3 has endured in the past month,” said Alex Stettinski, CEO of the San José Downtown Association. “We need someone who understands our downtown community, including our property owners, small businesses and residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The representative should not be polarizing, as the community needs someone who can lead the charge — united — and will find a path of healing and recovery for our downtown.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In early October, residents in San José’s District 3 learned that their city councilmember, Omar Torres, was being investigated for child sexual misconduct. After weeks of public pressure — and new sexual assault allegations stemming from when he was a young man — Torres resigned. He has since been arrested and charged with three felonies. KQED’s Joseph Geha explains what happened, and how all of this has affected local residents.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC3742480627&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there are errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:01:19] Omar Torres was raised in San Jose, in the Washington-Guadalupe neighborhood, which is just south of the downtown core. It’s part of the district that he represents and has represented as a councilmember in District 3. He’s a first term council member, know elected just in November 2022. But he wasn’t new to politics and he wasn’t new to working in the city of San Jose. For people and for local businesses and for getting involved with non-profits and advocacy organizations. You know, when he was a teenager, he said he’s told this story many times. He witnessed a drive by shooting that really impacted him and impacted his neighborhood. And it helped kind of spark a drive in him to want to, you know, make things better for people like himself and his neighbors and his friends and his family. He had served on a local school board, a local community college district, and he was the deputy chief of staff for former Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco. So he was definitely was not new to city hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Omar Torres \u003c/strong>[00:02:28] So where we allocate our budget reflects what we value.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:02:34] He’s definitely a progressive candidate and he’s never shied away from that, while he’s definitely worked with businesses in his career and helped to advocate for businesses, I don’t think he’s considered a business candidate. He’s more of a Labor candidate, more of a progressive candidate. But he certainly tried to advocate for affordable housing and for policies that would help provide places for homeless people to stay and live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Omar Torres \u003c/strong>[00:02:57] We need to continue to ensure that our families do not fall into homelessness. That is why we need to prioritize creating affordable housing, especially permanent supportive housing for our families and for our unhoused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:03:17] Tell me a little more about the district. District 3, we’re talking downtown San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:03:23] Yeah, absolutely. And more. Most people, when they hear District three, if they’re familiar with San Jose, they’re definitely thinking downtown. It does include the majority, I would say, of the downtown core that most people are familiar with. If you’re going out in San Jose for nightlife or for entertainment, if you work at one of the tech companies like Zoom or Adobe, you’re in the downtown core or if you work at City Hall, it also includes a lot of other neighborhoods that are really vibrant and really, you know, crucial to kind of the fabric of San Jose. Vendome and Naglee Park, as well as Japantown, which is a really great place to live, to work. It’s a very important district for the vitality of the city. I think the biggest issue in District three, you know, unsurprisingly, has been the pandemic, right? And then the subsequent recovery efforts. So both in the downtown core, where you have a ton of mom and pop type businesses, restaurants and establishments, but also, again, in those surrounding neighborhoods where people are running businesses day to day are counting on the foot traffic, are counting on not just business, not just business people, but you remember that in District 3 includes the entirety of San Jose State University, which is, you know, really interconnected with the city. There’s the Martin Luther King Junior Library, brings a lot of people to the area on foot. So a lot of these places were facing serious problems after the pandemic. And San Jose’s downtown, you know, was shown to have done a lot better in the recovery than many other downtowns, both in California and the nation. But it still was struggling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:04:56] Sounds like Councilmember Torres had been active in District three in the community for quite a while. But we’re talking now, Joseph, because a bit more than a month ago, a huge story broke that Omar Torres was being investigated for child sexual misconduct. There was a lot of back and forth about whether he should resign. Now, he has not only resigned, but has been charged with multiple crimes and arrested. So help me understand the timeline of of how we got here. Where does this story begin?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:05:27] We have to start before this went public, before people started to learn about this in news reports. According to some police documents that have been revealed, essentially it was late August when Omar Torres himself went to San Jose police and said that he was being extorted by a young man in Chicago or in the Chicago area, that he had had an online, you know, digital sexual relationship with. And this man was allegedly extorting Omar Torres, threatening to essentially publish photos and videos of him, including nude photos and videos if if Omar Torres did not pay him money. So Omar reported it himself. And then in the course of that investigation, police and authorities eventually started to turn their investigation to point back at Omar Torres. And that’s because in the course of their investigation, they found some communications with this person in Chicago on his devices. And they’d also seized Omar’s devices. And they found some text messages, you know, where he expressed interest in having, you know, sexual encounters with people under the age of 18. And so that may have been the basis of it. But again, police have been very tight lipped about the full breadth of that investigation. So that’s where things kind of unfolded through October. Is is the district three residents and the general public started to become aware that Omar was being investigated for this child sexual misconduct allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:06:54] Just so I’m understanding it here, Torres goes to the police and says, I’m being extorted by an adult man to be clear, in Chicago. But in the course of that investigation, police find texts between them that indicate that Torrez might have potentially committed sex crimes against minors or had indicated an interest in that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:07:15] That’s correct. Yeah, The potential allegation, I guess it wasn’t a charge, but during the month of October, as this became public and as these details kind of started trickling out, residents, business owners, his colleagues on the council, it took a while, but eventually there was a massive wave of people calling for him to resign because they said they were disturbed and sickened and disgusted by what they saw in his text message communications and what the investigation had revealed to that point. I think it broke people’s hearts for some and then for others it was more of a practical issue, which is they were really disturbed by the fact that once this started to really spill out that he wouldn’t resign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Elizabeth Chien-Hale \u003c/strong>[00:08:04] Downtown in particular, I think needs constant representation because we just have so many problems, so many issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:08:12] Elizabeth Chien-Hale, for example, she’s a leader in the San Jose Downtown Residents Association. She actually ran against Omar in the primary in 2022. But she, for example, was very concerned that the seat would be open without representation while Omar refused to resign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Elizabeth Chien-Hale \u003c/strong>[00:08:33] We’re paying for a bad mistake. We made a bad mistake that was concealed and would have been nearly impossible to discover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:08:45] He also had residents in District three start a recall campaign against him in late October, which now is a moot point. But they said they fully intended to see a months long recall process through to remove him from office if he would not resign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:09:01] So when this news was becoming public, how did Omar Torres handle it and what did he say to those who wanted him to step down?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:09:10] Omar Torres not only would not resign, but he denied any wrongdoing and his attorney didn’t discredit the validity of the text messages that were kind of at the center of this. But he did characterize them as, you know, quote, fantasy and role play and said that they didn’t represent any real life intentions of Omar Torres. And, you know, they they continued as a united front to say that they would wait for the investigation to complete before making public statements and addressing everyone’s concerns. And then eventually we started to see that Omar Torres would not resign and he put his district responsibilities kind of in a state of limbo. He was not showing up to council meetings. He also was not showing up to these various committees and commissions and boards that he’s appointed to to represent San Jose. Things like the Library Commission, things like transportation boards that help make very important decisions about regional transit. And as a result, people were feeling like they’d lost their representation so he wouldn’t resign. But he also wasn’t fulfilling his duties and he was asking his council colleagues through memos for excused absences for either illness or to take a 30 day leave of absence for time away for his mental health. So there was all these concerning signs that he was going to try to continue to extend holding on to his elected power while not personally being involved in the day to day work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:10:45] What changed then, if at the time Omar Torres says, I’m not resigning? What ultimately led to his resignation?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:10:54] What changed is that in the midst of all of that swirling around Omar Torres and the residents of District three, a family member, a relative of Omar Torres, came forward to San Jose police having seen the reports about what he was being investigated for and reported a decades old sexual assault. Years of sexual assault starting when he was a minor and continuing even while Omar had turned 18. And on the basis of that story that this family member told police, they did an investigation which included a recorded phone call with Omar in which police say he admitted to his family member what he had done and apologized to him and admitted his guilt. According to the transcripts, he’s repeatedly apologizing for what he did to his family member. He says that he himself was sexually abused and as a result, he looked to sexually abuse others. And it’s a it’s a really heart wrenching document to read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:11:59] Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:11:59] Very quickly, the D.A. had announced charges against Omar Torres for child molestation. And on Election Day, November 5th, Omar Torres submits a letter of resignation from the city council to the city clerk of San Jose and alerts his colleagues that he’ll be resigning. And just hours later, he is arrested by San Jose police. And, you know, it is announced that there are charges that are going to be filed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:12:27] So Omar Torres is arrested and resigns on Election Day. And just to be clear, he wasn’t running in this election because he won a seat two years ago. What is he been charged with and what consequences could he face?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:12:43] So the Santa Clara County District attorney’s office brings three charges of child molestation against Torres. They’re all felonies and they’re all stemming from this series of weeks. In 1999, when Torres was 18 and his family member was still a minor. So with these three charges, if he’s convicted, district attorney officials have said he could face more than 20 years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:13:10] So, I mean, this is just an awful story, just really heartbreaking. But I want to I want to zoom out a little bit and talk about what this has meant for the city of San Jose, because District three, which includes downtown San Jose, now has no active member of city council. Right. What has the reaction been? You know, I guess starting again with the residents who have been most directly affected by all this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:13:52] We have heard from many residents of District three, both in the downtown core, in the areas of Japantown and other neighborhoods, business owners who have in various ways come out and said we are very concerned about the lack of representation right now. We don’t have a voice on the council. So this was part of the frustration with Omar Torres. Not being willing to resign initially is that folks in the district felt that they were losing out on their representation even when it came to just mundane items that the council would discuss on the dais during meetings where he was not there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:14:28] And what’s the reaction from. Officials in city government been. I mean, I know earlier on, before Torres was arrested, they had been calling for his resignation. But what are they saying now that he has been arrested, has resigned and that there is now a vacant seat on the council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:14:47] In the lead up to his resignation and arrest Omar Torres. His colleagues, as I said, had called for his resignation, but some were a bit more vocal than others even after the fact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Bien Doan \u003c/strong>[00:14:58] When you have a representative with these heinous allegations, it destroys the trust and integrity of our community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:15:06] One councilmember that comes to mind is been to one of District seven who has called not only for Omar Torres to resign, but in the wake of what has happened and how the council felt that it was almost powerless to get rid of Omar Torres from the council. He has even suggested that he’d like to change the city charter so that future councils, if they were to run into a similar situation, would not be so hamstrung.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Bien Doan \u003c/strong>[00:15:33] And I think we should look into changing that charter that gives us another avenue to put a council member on administrative leave or remove a council member when things like this happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:15:45] These allegations are every parent’s worst nightmare. But you don’t have to be a parent to be sickened by the charges against Omar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:15:53] Mayor Matt Mahan of San Jose. Even before he and the council called for Omar Torres to resign, had said very clearly that he was disgusted and sickened by some of the allegations against Torres. But he’s also been focused on how this seat will be filled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:16:12] As I think you all know, the charter provides two options which can be combined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:16:16] One is and one is a special election which could take more time and cost a few million dollars roughly. Matt Meehan favors that approach because he says it allows residents to, you know, scrutinize and question their potential. Next representative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:16:33] The public, the community, the voters should decide on who their representatives are, not folks elected to represent other districts in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:16:42] But there’s other members of the council who believe that an appointment process where the actual council body itself would would interview and vote on a candidate to fill the seat through the end of the term in 2026. And that could be a little bit faster and much cheaper. But it’s unclear which way the council will vote to decide how to fill this seat. And that that question is coming up at a council meeting tomorrow night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:17:08] Has anyone put their name forward as a potential council member, whether they get appointed or run for the seat?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:17:17] Yeah, I mean, certainly there has been a lot of interest in who will take over the District three seat. And so far, just, you know, days after Omar Torres has been arrested and resigned, we’ve seen several people toss their hat in the ring. Elizabeth Chien-Hale from the San Jose Downtown Residents Association, who ran against Omar in 2022, in the primary, has said she is very seriously considering running for this seat again. Someone else who ran in 2022 and lost against Omar in the general election is Irene Smith. She’s also said she’ll be running for the seat again. And there are other members as well of the downtown and District three community who have expressed serious interest in in taking over this role.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:18:02] Wrapping up here, Joseph and just taking a breath because there’s so much to this story. The details are just really difficult to process, frankly. And at the end of all this, you know, is a district, a community of people who have basically been betrayed by their representative. What will the next council member need to do, whoever it is, to repair the damage that’s been done by this whole saga?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:18:27] Yeah, it’s a very difficult time for District three residents, and I think everybody is a bit worried about, you know, how this is all going to play out. Ultimately, I think there’s a sense of relief that Omar Torres has moved into the legal process and is now no longer holding up the process for filling the seat. But the next person taking on this role, whomever they are, is going to have to work doubly hard to connect with residents to show them who they are, to be up front with people, because obviously there is going to be heavy skepticism and a very, very big hesitance to trust the next representative since Omar Torres was viewed as a very favorable candidate and a very favorable representative. And that’s all blown up in people’s faces. They want to see is this next person who’s going to try and represent me in District three? Are they who they say they are? Are they interested in my interests? Do they care about this part of the city?\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In early October, residents in San José’s District 3 learned that their city councilmember, Omar Torres, was being investigated for child sexual misconduct. After weeks of public pressure — and new sexual assault allegations stemming from when he was a young man — Torres resigned. He has since been arrested and charged with three felonies. KQED’s Joseph Geha explains what happened, and how all of this has affected local residents.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC3742480627&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there are errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:01:19] Omar Torres was raised in San Jose, in the Washington-Guadalupe neighborhood, which is just south of the downtown core. It’s part of the district that he represents and has represented as a councilmember in District 3. He’s a first term council member, know elected just in November 2022. But he wasn’t new to politics and he wasn’t new to working in the city of San Jose. For people and for local businesses and for getting involved with non-profits and advocacy organizations. You know, when he was a teenager, he said he’s told this story many times. He witnessed a drive by shooting that really impacted him and impacted his neighborhood. And it helped kind of spark a drive in him to want to, you know, make things better for people like himself and his neighbors and his friends and his family. He had served on a local school board, a local community college district, and he was the deputy chief of staff for former Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco. So he was definitely was not new to city hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Omar Torres \u003c/strong>[00:02:28] So where we allocate our budget reflects what we value.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:02:34] He’s definitely a progressive candidate and he’s never shied away from that, while he’s definitely worked with businesses in his career and helped to advocate for businesses, I don’t think he’s considered a business candidate. He’s more of a Labor candidate, more of a progressive candidate. But he certainly tried to advocate for affordable housing and for policies that would help provide places for homeless people to stay and live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Omar Torres \u003c/strong>[00:02:57] We need to continue to ensure that our families do not fall into homelessness. That is why we need to prioritize creating affordable housing, especially permanent supportive housing for our families and for our unhoused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:03:17] Tell me a little more about the district. District 3, we’re talking downtown San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:03:23] Yeah, absolutely. And more. Most people, when they hear District three, if they’re familiar with San Jose, they’re definitely thinking downtown. It does include the majority, I would say, of the downtown core that most people are familiar with. If you’re going out in San Jose for nightlife or for entertainment, if you work at one of the tech companies like Zoom or Adobe, you’re in the downtown core or if you work at City Hall, it also includes a lot of other neighborhoods that are really vibrant and really, you know, crucial to kind of the fabric of San Jose. Vendome and Naglee Park, as well as Japantown, which is a really great place to live, to work. It’s a very important district for the vitality of the city. I think the biggest issue in District three, you know, unsurprisingly, has been the pandemic, right? And then the subsequent recovery efforts. So both in the downtown core, where you have a ton of mom and pop type businesses, restaurants and establishments, but also, again, in those surrounding neighborhoods where people are running businesses day to day are counting on the foot traffic, are counting on not just business, not just business people, but you remember that in District 3 includes the entirety of San Jose State University, which is, you know, really interconnected with the city. There’s the Martin Luther King Junior Library, brings a lot of people to the area on foot. So a lot of these places were facing serious problems after the pandemic. And San Jose’s downtown, you know, was shown to have done a lot better in the recovery than many other downtowns, both in California and the nation. But it still was struggling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:04:56] Sounds like Councilmember Torres had been active in District three in the community for quite a while. But we’re talking now, Joseph, because a bit more than a month ago, a huge story broke that Omar Torres was being investigated for child sexual misconduct. There was a lot of back and forth about whether he should resign. Now, he has not only resigned, but has been charged with multiple crimes and arrested. So help me understand the timeline of of how we got here. Where does this story begin?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:05:27] We have to start before this went public, before people started to learn about this in news reports. According to some police documents that have been revealed, essentially it was late August when Omar Torres himself went to San Jose police and said that he was being extorted by a young man in Chicago or in the Chicago area, that he had had an online, you know, digital sexual relationship with. And this man was allegedly extorting Omar Torres, threatening to essentially publish photos and videos of him, including nude photos and videos if if Omar Torres did not pay him money. So Omar reported it himself. And then in the course of that investigation, police and authorities eventually started to turn their investigation to point back at Omar Torres. And that’s because in the course of their investigation, they found some communications with this person in Chicago on his devices. And they’d also seized Omar’s devices. And they found some text messages, you know, where he expressed interest in having, you know, sexual encounters with people under the age of 18. And so that may have been the basis of it. But again, police have been very tight lipped about the full breadth of that investigation. So that’s where things kind of unfolded through October. Is is the district three residents and the general public started to become aware that Omar was being investigated for this child sexual misconduct allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:06:54] Just so I’m understanding it here, Torres goes to the police and says, I’m being extorted by an adult man to be clear, in Chicago. But in the course of that investigation, police find texts between them that indicate that Torrez might have potentially committed sex crimes against minors or had indicated an interest in that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:07:15] That’s correct. Yeah, The potential allegation, I guess it wasn’t a charge, but during the month of October, as this became public and as these details kind of started trickling out, residents, business owners, his colleagues on the council, it took a while, but eventually there was a massive wave of people calling for him to resign because they said they were disturbed and sickened and disgusted by what they saw in his text message communications and what the investigation had revealed to that point. I think it broke people’s hearts for some and then for others it was more of a practical issue, which is they were really disturbed by the fact that once this started to really spill out that he wouldn’t resign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Elizabeth Chien-Hale \u003c/strong>[00:08:04] Downtown in particular, I think needs constant representation because we just have so many problems, so many issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:08:12] Elizabeth Chien-Hale, for example, she’s a leader in the San Jose Downtown Residents Association. She actually ran against Omar in the primary in 2022. But she, for example, was very concerned that the seat would be open without representation while Omar refused to resign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Elizabeth Chien-Hale \u003c/strong>[00:08:33] We’re paying for a bad mistake. We made a bad mistake that was concealed and would have been nearly impossible to discover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:08:45] He also had residents in District three start a recall campaign against him in late October, which now is a moot point. But they said they fully intended to see a months long recall process through to remove him from office if he would not resign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:09:01] So when this news was becoming public, how did Omar Torres handle it and what did he say to those who wanted him to step down?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:09:10] Omar Torres not only would not resign, but he denied any wrongdoing and his attorney didn’t discredit the validity of the text messages that were kind of at the center of this. But he did characterize them as, you know, quote, fantasy and role play and said that they didn’t represent any real life intentions of Omar Torres. And, you know, they they continued as a united front to say that they would wait for the investigation to complete before making public statements and addressing everyone’s concerns. And then eventually we started to see that Omar Torres would not resign and he put his district responsibilities kind of in a state of limbo. He was not showing up to council meetings. He also was not showing up to these various committees and commissions and boards that he’s appointed to to represent San Jose. Things like the Library Commission, things like transportation boards that help make very important decisions about regional transit. And as a result, people were feeling like they’d lost their representation so he wouldn’t resign. But he also wasn’t fulfilling his duties and he was asking his council colleagues through memos for excused absences for either illness or to take a 30 day leave of absence for time away for his mental health. So there was all these concerning signs that he was going to try to continue to extend holding on to his elected power while not personally being involved in the day to day work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:10:45] What changed then, if at the time Omar Torres says, I’m not resigning? What ultimately led to his resignation?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:10:54] What changed is that in the midst of all of that swirling around Omar Torres and the residents of District three, a family member, a relative of Omar Torres, came forward to San Jose police having seen the reports about what he was being investigated for and reported a decades old sexual assault. Years of sexual assault starting when he was a minor and continuing even while Omar had turned 18. And on the basis of that story that this family member told police, they did an investigation which included a recorded phone call with Omar in which police say he admitted to his family member what he had done and apologized to him and admitted his guilt. According to the transcripts, he’s repeatedly apologizing for what he did to his family member. He says that he himself was sexually abused and as a result, he looked to sexually abuse others. And it’s a it’s a really heart wrenching document to read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:11:59] Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:11:59] Very quickly, the D.A. had announced charges against Omar Torres for child molestation. And on Election Day, November 5th, Omar Torres submits a letter of resignation from the city council to the city clerk of San Jose and alerts his colleagues that he’ll be resigning. And just hours later, he is arrested by San Jose police. And, you know, it is announced that there are charges that are going to be filed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:12:27] So Omar Torres is arrested and resigns on Election Day. And just to be clear, he wasn’t running in this election because he won a seat two years ago. What is he been charged with and what consequences could he face?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:12:43] So the Santa Clara County District attorney’s office brings three charges of child molestation against Torres. They’re all felonies and they’re all stemming from this series of weeks. In 1999, when Torres was 18 and his family member was still a minor. So with these three charges, if he’s convicted, district attorney officials have said he could face more than 20 years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:13:10] So, I mean, this is just an awful story, just really heartbreaking. But I want to I want to zoom out a little bit and talk about what this has meant for the city of San Jose, because District three, which includes downtown San Jose, now has no active member of city council. Right. What has the reaction been? You know, I guess starting again with the residents who have been most directly affected by all this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:13:52] We have heard from many residents of District three, both in the downtown core, in the areas of Japantown and other neighborhoods, business owners who have in various ways come out and said we are very concerned about the lack of representation right now. We don’t have a voice on the council. So this was part of the frustration with Omar Torres. Not being willing to resign initially is that folks in the district felt that they were losing out on their representation even when it came to just mundane items that the council would discuss on the dais during meetings where he was not there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:14:28] And what’s the reaction from. Officials in city government been. I mean, I know earlier on, before Torres was arrested, they had been calling for his resignation. But what are they saying now that he has been arrested, has resigned and that there is now a vacant seat on the council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:14:47] In the lead up to his resignation and arrest Omar Torres. His colleagues, as I said, had called for his resignation, but some were a bit more vocal than others even after the fact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Bien Doan \u003c/strong>[00:14:58] When you have a representative with these heinous allegations, it destroys the trust and integrity of our community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:15:06] One councilmember that comes to mind is been to one of District seven who has called not only for Omar Torres to resign, but in the wake of what has happened and how the council felt that it was almost powerless to get rid of Omar Torres from the council. He has even suggested that he’d like to change the city charter so that future councils, if they were to run into a similar situation, would not be so hamstrung.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Bien Doan \u003c/strong>[00:15:33] And I think we should look into changing that charter that gives us another avenue to put a council member on administrative leave or remove a council member when things like this happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:15:45] These allegations are every parent’s worst nightmare. But you don’t have to be a parent to be sickened by the charges against Omar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:15:53] Mayor Matt Mahan of San Jose. Even before he and the council called for Omar Torres to resign, had said very clearly that he was disgusted and sickened by some of the allegations against Torres. But he’s also been focused on how this seat will be filled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:16:12] As I think you all know, the charter provides two options which can be combined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:16:16] One is and one is a special election which could take more time and cost a few million dollars roughly. Matt Meehan favors that approach because he says it allows residents to, you know, scrutinize and question their potential. Next representative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:16:33] The public, the community, the voters should decide on who their representatives are, not folks elected to represent other districts in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:16:42] But there’s other members of the council who believe that an appointment process where the actual council body itself would would interview and vote on a candidate to fill the seat through the end of the term in 2026. And that could be a little bit faster and much cheaper. But it’s unclear which way the council will vote to decide how to fill this seat. And that that question is coming up at a council meeting tomorrow night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:17:08] Has anyone put their name forward as a potential council member, whether they get appointed or run for the seat?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:17:17] Yeah, I mean, certainly there has been a lot of interest in who will take over the District three seat. And so far, just, you know, days after Omar Torres has been arrested and resigned, we’ve seen several people toss their hat in the ring. Elizabeth Chien-Hale from the San Jose Downtown Residents Association, who ran against Omar in 2022, in the primary, has said she is very seriously considering running for this seat again. Someone else who ran in 2022 and lost against Omar in the general election is Irene Smith. She’s also said she’ll be running for the seat again. And there are other members as well of the downtown and District three community who have expressed serious interest in in taking over this role.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Alan Montecillo \u003c/strong>[00:18:02] Wrapping up here, Joseph and just taking a breath because there’s so much to this story. The details are just really difficult to process, frankly. And at the end of all this, you know, is a district, a community of people who have basically been betrayed by their representative. What will the next council member need to do, whoever it is, to repair the damage that’s been done by this whole saga?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha \u003c/strong>[00:18:27] Yeah, it’s a very difficult time for District three residents, and I think everybody is a bit worried about, you know, how this is all going to play out. Ultimately, I think there’s a sense of relief that Omar Torres has moved into the legal process and is now no longer holding up the process for filling the seat. But the next person taking on this role, whomever they are, is going to have to work doubly hard to connect with residents to show them who they are, to be up front with people, because obviously there is going to be heavy skepticism and a very, very big hesitance to trust the next representative since Omar Torres was viewed as a very favorable candidate and a very favorable representative. And that’s all blown up in people’s faces. They want to see is this next person who’s going to try and represent me in District three? Are they who they say they are? Are they interested in my interests? Do they care about this part of the city?\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "bay-area-voters-embrace-political-outsiders-in-historic-mayoral-shake-ups",
"title": "Bay Area Voters Embrace Political Outsiders in Historic Mayoral Shake-ups",
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"headTitle": "Bay Area Voters Embrace Political Outsiders in Historic Mayoral Shake-ups | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Amid continued frustration over the cost of living, public safety and homelessness, voters in the Bay Area’s largest cities are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013761/this-was-not-a-good-election-to-be-an-incumbent\">embracing mayoral candidates and campaigns that promise a shake-up at city hall\u003c/a> — putting aside concerns about experience and stability and embracing political outsiders in this year’s elections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, nonprofit founder and philanthropist Daniel Lurie \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013464/daniel-lurie-clinches-victory-become-sfs-next-mayor-unseating-london-breed\">toppled incumbent mayor London Breed and bested a field of candidates\u003c/a> with decades of combined city hall experience. In San Jose, Mayor Matt Mahan \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/liveblog/election-2024#matt-mahan-sails-to-second-term-as-mayor-of-san-jose\">cruised to an early re-election in March\u003c/a>, riding the momentum of his own insurgent victory less than two years ago. And in Oakland, Mayor Sheng Thao \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012357/sheng-thao-accepts-defeat-in-contentious-oakland-mayoral-recall\">was removed from office after an unprecedented\u003c/a> recall election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Candidates have long rode promises of change to victory, but in Mahan and Lurie, voters in the region’s two largest cities have chosen leaders with a historic lack of government experience who touted their outsider status as evidence of a fresh and independent perspective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Matt Mahan felt like an outsider, and I think Daniel Lurie does, too,” said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the business advocacy group the Bay Area Council and a former mayoral chief of staff in San Francisco. “I think their campaigns were sort of saying, ‘Things aren’t being run the way they could be, and I could do a better job, and I won’t be afraid to make the changes.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After his surprising victory in 2022, Mahan \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11967395/san-jose-labor-groups-dont-like-mayor-matt-mahan-so-why-does-his-re-election-seem-assured\">faced no organized opposition in the mayoral contest held in March\u003c/a> after the city moved its mayoral elections to presidential years. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013667/daniel-lurie-san-franciscos-next-mayor-what-will-that-look-like\">Lurie prevailed in a ranked-choice election, winning the most first-choice votes\u003c/a> and also drawing second-choice support from voters across San Francisco’s political spectrum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This wave of political change in Bay Area cities could have profound impacts on city management, government transparency and local labor unions — especially those representing city workers. Some progressives worry that a new preference for upstart campaigns could challenge the traditional pipelines of power that allow candidates without access to large financial resources to build support while slowly moving up the ranks of local government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010904/whos-pouring-millions-into-san-franciscos-expensive-mayors-race\">benefited from record spending, much of it self-financed\u003c/a>, to become the city’s first mayor elected without any government experience since Jim Rolph in 1911. When Mahan won the mayorship in 2022, he did so after just two years on the city council — the least government experience of any mayor since San Jose voters began directly electing the position in 1966.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11984099\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11984099\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08.jpg\" alt=\"A white middle aged man speaks into microphones wearing a blue suit and a white collared shirt with no tie.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan at the press conference on April 25, 2024. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Both Mahan and Lurie were able to seize on voter discontent over widespread and highly visible homelessness, a rise in shoplifting and commercial burglaries and ongoing disruptions from the pandemic by blaming city hall “insiders.” They argued that their years of experience outside of government — Mahan as CEO of the civic engagement tech platform Brigade, Lurie as founder of the anti-poverty nonprofit Tipping Point Community — would allow them to engineer a culture shift within the municipal bureaucracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013667/daniel-lurie-san-franciscos-next-mayor-what-will-that-look-like\">At his victory press conference on Friday\u003c/a>, Lurie promised “a government centered on accountability, service and change” that would move past years of corruption scandals. It was a message with echoes of Mahan’s 2022 campaign call for “common sense, accountability and transparency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neither candidate emerged completely independent of their cities’ existing power structures. Lurie grew up amid San Francisco’s financial elite, and his work with Tipping Point brought him close contact with city leaders trying to reduce homelessness. Mahan was backed by the incumbent mayor, Sam Liccardo, and the city’s powerful business community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Wunderman said voters viewed these political outsiders as better equipped to take a data-driven approach to reducing homelessness, crime and blight — and more likely to ask tough questions of city department heads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Like ‘Why do we have so many employees in the city? What are we getting from the work of these departments and the individuals in them?” Wunderman said. “‘What kind of management do we have in place?’’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of those questions could portend conflict with existing city employees and the unions that represent them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan has sparred with municipal worker unions since taking office, and he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11958290/san-jose-city-council-approves-agreements-with-unions-to-avoid-strike\">voted against a deal that raised wages and benefits for city employees\u003c/a> last year. Lurie’s relationship with labor is less defined. While he received the support of a few unions, most labor groups backed other candidates in the mayoral race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>IFPTE Local 21, which represents municipal workers across the Bay Area’s largest cities, has opposed Mahan and strongly supported Sheng Thao in Oakland. In San Francisco, they recommended only that voters leave former interim mayor Mark Farrell off of their ranked-choice ballots for mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s our fervent hope that Daniel Lurie’s administration is going to make it a priority to support the workers that actually make this city run,” said Bianca Polovina, president of IFPTE Local 21.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polovina said the mayoral election results should not be read as a rebuke to organized labor — pointing to the success of a majority of IFPTE-endorsed candidates for supervisor and city council across the three cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside tag='politics' label='More Politics Coverage.']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Working people across the San Francisco Bay Area are demanding bold leadership that prioritizes high-quality public services,” Polovina added. “Voters are pretty adamant that they want core essential services, they want clean streets, effective public transportation, and comprehensive public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only did Mahan and Lurie win without major backing from labor, incumbent elected officials across the political spectrum also opposed them. All of Mahan’s fellow city council members endorsed his 2022 opponent, Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, and not a single sitting San Francisco supervisor picked Lurie as their first choice for mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facing entrenched interests and the daunting task of introducing themselves to voters, Lurie’s personal wealth and Mahan’s Silicon Valley connections provided them with access to capital, argued Kimi Lee, executive director of Bay Rising, a coalition of progressive groups working to build political power among working-class voters of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we see is that there’s definitely an influence of corporations and billionaires and outside money and venture capitalists,” said Lee, who also noted the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11998651/a-hedge-fund-manager-is-funding-bid-to-oust-oaklands-mayor-and-its-not-his-first-recall\">outsized role of a single hedge-fund manager\u003c/a> in funding the Thao recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the losing end of last week’s electoral upheaval were two incumbents, Thao and Breed, who had spent years working their way up the ranks of city government before breaking barriers as their city’s first Hmong-American and Black female mayors, respectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there is still something there, where people overly criticize women, women of color,” said Lee. “They expect higher things from them — just more critical, saying they’re soft on crime…or saying that they’re not someone who can handle this job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie’s lack of experience will be tested quickly, as he will face the immediate challenges of building an administration, establishing relationships within city hall and closing an ongoing budget deficit. After a rocky first year in office in which he was often on the losing end of high-profile votes, Mahan found his footing in 2024 — winning \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989926/san-jose-council-approves-budget-with-historic-shift-in-unhoused-spending\">unanimous support for his homeless housing plan\u003c/a>, emerging as a leading supporter of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012656/proposition-36-californias-newest-tough-on-crime-measure-appears-headed-for-victory\">new criminal sentencing law approved by California voters\u003c/a>, Proposition 36, and garnering 87% of the vote in his run for re-election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next test for insurgent campaigns will be in Oakland, where voters will likely pick a new mayor in a special election next spring. Any outsider running there will face a familiar historical obstacle: since the city returned to directly electing the position in the 1950s, every Oakland mayor has come into office with prior government experience.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Insurgent campaigns for mayor such as Daniel Lurie in San Francisco and Matt Mahan in San Jose, along with a recall in Oakland, succeed with promises to upend city hall. ",
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"title": "Bay Area Voters Embrace Political Outsiders in Historic Mayoral Shake-ups | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Amid continued frustration over the cost of living, public safety and homelessness, voters in the Bay Area’s largest cities are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013761/this-was-not-a-good-election-to-be-an-incumbent\">embracing mayoral candidates and campaigns that promise a shake-up at city hall\u003c/a> — putting aside concerns about experience and stability and embracing political outsiders in this year’s elections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, nonprofit founder and philanthropist Daniel Lurie \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013464/daniel-lurie-clinches-victory-become-sfs-next-mayor-unseating-london-breed\">toppled incumbent mayor London Breed and bested a field of candidates\u003c/a> with decades of combined city hall experience. In San Jose, Mayor Matt Mahan \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/liveblog/election-2024#matt-mahan-sails-to-second-term-as-mayor-of-san-jose\">cruised to an early re-election in March\u003c/a>, riding the momentum of his own insurgent victory less than two years ago. And in Oakland, Mayor Sheng Thao \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012357/sheng-thao-accepts-defeat-in-contentious-oakland-mayoral-recall\">was removed from office after an unprecedented\u003c/a> recall election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Candidates have long rode promises of change to victory, but in Mahan and Lurie, voters in the region’s two largest cities have chosen leaders with a historic lack of government experience who touted their outsider status as evidence of a fresh and independent perspective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Matt Mahan felt like an outsider, and I think Daniel Lurie does, too,” said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the business advocacy group the Bay Area Council and a former mayoral chief of staff in San Francisco. “I think their campaigns were sort of saying, ‘Things aren’t being run the way they could be, and I could do a better job, and I won’t be afraid to make the changes.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After his surprising victory in 2022, Mahan \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11967395/san-jose-labor-groups-dont-like-mayor-matt-mahan-so-why-does-his-re-election-seem-assured\">faced no organized opposition in the mayoral contest held in March\u003c/a> after the city moved its mayoral elections to presidential years. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013667/daniel-lurie-san-franciscos-next-mayor-what-will-that-look-like\">Lurie prevailed in a ranked-choice election, winning the most first-choice votes\u003c/a> and also drawing second-choice support from voters across San Francisco’s political spectrum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This wave of political change in Bay Area cities could have profound impacts on city management, government transparency and local labor unions — especially those representing city workers. Some progressives worry that a new preference for upstart campaigns could challenge the traditional pipelines of power that allow candidates without access to large financial resources to build support while slowly moving up the ranks of local government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010904/whos-pouring-millions-into-san-franciscos-expensive-mayors-race\">benefited from record spending, much of it self-financed\u003c/a>, to become the city’s first mayor elected without any government experience since Jim Rolph in 1911. When Mahan won the mayorship in 2022, he did so after just two years on the city council — the least government experience of any mayor since San Jose voters began directly electing the position in 1966.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11984099\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11984099\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08.jpg\" alt=\"A white middle aged man speaks into microphones wearing a blue suit and a white collared shirt with no tie.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan at the press conference on April 25, 2024. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Both Mahan and Lurie were able to seize on voter discontent over widespread and highly visible homelessness, a rise in shoplifting and commercial burglaries and ongoing disruptions from the pandemic by blaming city hall “insiders.” They argued that their years of experience outside of government — Mahan as CEO of the civic engagement tech platform Brigade, Lurie as founder of the anti-poverty nonprofit Tipping Point Community — would allow them to engineer a culture shift within the municipal bureaucracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013667/daniel-lurie-san-franciscos-next-mayor-what-will-that-look-like\">At his victory press conference on Friday\u003c/a>, Lurie promised “a government centered on accountability, service and change” that would move past years of corruption scandals. It was a message with echoes of Mahan’s 2022 campaign call for “common sense, accountability and transparency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neither candidate emerged completely independent of their cities’ existing power structures. Lurie grew up amid San Francisco’s financial elite, and his work with Tipping Point brought him close contact with city leaders trying to reduce homelessness. Mahan was backed by the incumbent mayor, Sam Liccardo, and the city’s powerful business community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Wunderman said voters viewed these political outsiders as better equipped to take a data-driven approach to reducing homelessness, crime and blight — and more likely to ask tough questions of city department heads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Like ‘Why do we have so many employees in the city? What are we getting from the work of these departments and the individuals in them?” Wunderman said. “‘What kind of management do we have in place?’’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of those questions could portend conflict with existing city employees and the unions that represent them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan has sparred with municipal worker unions since taking office, and he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11958290/san-jose-city-council-approves-agreements-with-unions-to-avoid-strike\">voted against a deal that raised wages and benefits for city employees\u003c/a> last year. Lurie’s relationship with labor is less defined. While he received the support of a few unions, most labor groups backed other candidates in the mayoral race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>IFPTE Local 21, which represents municipal workers across the Bay Area’s largest cities, has opposed Mahan and strongly supported Sheng Thao in Oakland. In San Francisco, they recommended only that voters leave former interim mayor Mark Farrell off of their ranked-choice ballots for mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s our fervent hope that Daniel Lurie’s administration is going to make it a priority to support the workers that actually make this city run,” said Bianca Polovina, president of IFPTE Local 21.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polovina said the mayoral election results should not be read as a rebuke to organized labor — pointing to the success of a majority of IFPTE-endorsed candidates for supervisor and city council across the three cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Working people across the San Francisco Bay Area are demanding bold leadership that prioritizes high-quality public services,” Polovina added. “Voters are pretty adamant that they want core essential services, they want clean streets, effective public transportation, and comprehensive public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only did Mahan and Lurie win without major backing from labor, incumbent elected officials across the political spectrum also opposed them. All of Mahan’s fellow city council members endorsed his 2022 opponent, Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, and not a single sitting San Francisco supervisor picked Lurie as their first choice for mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facing entrenched interests and the daunting task of introducing themselves to voters, Lurie’s personal wealth and Mahan’s Silicon Valley connections provided them with access to capital, argued Kimi Lee, executive director of Bay Rising, a coalition of progressive groups working to build political power among working-class voters of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we see is that there’s definitely an influence of corporations and billionaires and outside money and venture capitalists,” said Lee, who also noted the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11998651/a-hedge-fund-manager-is-funding-bid-to-oust-oaklands-mayor-and-its-not-his-first-recall\">outsized role of a single hedge-fund manager\u003c/a> in funding the Thao recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the losing end of last week’s electoral upheaval were two incumbents, Thao and Breed, who had spent years working their way up the ranks of city government before breaking barriers as their city’s first Hmong-American and Black female mayors, respectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there is still something there, where people overly criticize women, women of color,” said Lee. “They expect higher things from them — just more critical, saying they’re soft on crime…or saying that they’re not someone who can handle this job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie’s lack of experience will be tested quickly, as he will face the immediate challenges of building an administration, establishing relationships within city hall and closing an ongoing budget deficit. After a rocky first year in office in which he was often on the losing end of high-profile votes, Mahan found his footing in 2024 — winning \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989926/san-jose-council-approves-budget-with-historic-shift-in-unhoused-spending\">unanimous support for his homeless housing plan\u003c/a>, emerging as a leading supporter of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012656/proposition-36-californias-newest-tough-on-crime-measure-appears-headed-for-victory\">new criminal sentencing law approved by California voters\u003c/a>, Proposition 36, and garnering 87% of the vote in his run for re-election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next test for insurgent campaigns will be in Oakland, where voters will likely pick a new mayor in a special election next spring. Any outsider running there will face a familiar historical obstacle: since the city returned to directly electing the position in the 1950s, every Oakland mayor has come into office with prior government experience.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Omar Torres Faces 3 Felonies, Including Child Molestation",
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"headTitle": "Omar Torres Faces 3 Felonies, Including Child Molestation | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 4 p.m. Wednesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Note: This story has been updated to include Wednesday’s arraignment and details from the charging documents.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former San José Councilmember Omar Torres, who resigned Tuesday under multiple active police investigations, is facing three charges of child molestation stemming from when he was a young man, authorities said Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres is accused of sexually assaulting a teenage relative over a period of weeks in 1999 when Torres was 18.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres, 43, is facing charges of sodomy, oral copulation, and lewd and lascivious acts on a minor under the age of 14, according to charging documents the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office filed in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a shocking police report, investigators say Torres admitted to the crimes during a phone call with the victim earlier this week that police recorded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From the bottom of my heart, I’m so sorry that I hurt you,” Torres said to his alleged victim during the call, according to the police report. “I’m in intense therapy right now to, you know, to work on myself, and I haven’t stopped thinking about the harm that I caused you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres was arraigned in court in San José Wednesday afternoon, staying mostly out of view of the courtroom in a hallway where people in custody wait to appear in court. He is being held without bail, and his next court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 14.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The case brought by prosecutors only surfaced this week, when Torres’ alleged victim came forward to police to share their account of the abuse from Torres that they allegedly endured when they were both minors, which continued when Torres aged into adulthood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The victim alleged that Torres’ abuse began when they were only four years old and continued for nearly another decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is a separate case from the ongoing and parallel police investigation into Torres for different allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor, which has been active since late August, authorities said Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Please know that this department will always support survivors of sexual violence and abuse and need to know that it’s never too late to come forward,” San José Police Chief Paul Joseph said during a news conference on Wednesday about the arrest. “Doing so takes courage, but know that you will be supported.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12013307\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12013307\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241106-Election-Mom-Folo-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241106-Election-Mom-Folo-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241106-Election-Mom-Folo-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241106-Election-Mom-Folo-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241106-Election-Mom-Folo-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241106-Election-Mom-Folo-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241106-Election-Mom-Folo-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Santa Clara County Chief Assistant District Attorney Jay Boyarsky speaks to the press about the child molestation case against former San José Councilmember Omar Torres on Nov. 6, 2024. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chief Assistant District Attorney Jay Boyarsky expressed gratitude to the person who reported the alleged assault.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes people look askance at survivors who come forward years after they were victimized and wonder what took them so long to come forward. As a sex crime prosecutor, I’ve spoken with many of these survivors. They are heroic,” Boyarsky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many have lived with the pain and suffering inflicted upon them for decades, often wondering, ‘Is there anyone they can talk to? Is there anyone that will listen to them? Will anyone understand?’ We understand, and we care. We understand perfectly why they keep the violent crimes against them secret. We understand the incredible courage, the strength that it takes to finally come forward,” Boyarsky added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor Matt Mahan said he and the entire city council are “absolutely horrified” at the allegations against Torres.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These allegations are every parent’s worst nightmare. But you don’t have to be a parent to be sickened by the charges against Omar Torres, which are some of the most serious charges imaginable,” Mahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He credited the police department for its investigation of the prior allegations against Torres and said he believes the alleged victim in the current case felt comfortable to come forward because of the diligent work by investigators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have full faith in our police department and the district attorney’s office to get to the bottom of this case and ensure that Omar Torres is held accountable if proven guilty,” Mahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres — who had been under mounting pressure to resign while being investigated on the prior allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor — submitted a letter of resignation to the city late Tuesday afternoon, and police arrested him the same day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More South Bay News' tag='south-bay']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s unclear if Torres knew he would be arrested Tuesday. His resignation letter, addressed to his council colleagues and constituents, was received by the city clerk’s office around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to a copy obtained by this news organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After careful consideration, I have made the difficult decision to resign from my position as Councilmember, effective Nov. 27, 2024. This choice comes with a heavy heart, but I believe it is in the best interest of my constituents and my community,” Torres wrote in the letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Serving the people of San José has been one of the greatest honors of my life. Together, we have shared victories, tackled challenges, and strived for a more resilient community. I am humbled by the trust you placed in me and forever inspired by the passion and resilience of our district,” Torres wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres’ attorney, Nelson McElmurry, and Torres’ chief of staff, Kiara Arreola, both did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan, in an interview on Tuesday night, said it was “past time” for Torres to resign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m glad that his final decision as a councilmember was the right one, which was to resign for the sake of the community,” Mahan said. “And it’s time for us to move forward and ensure that the residents of District 3 have representation that they can trust, that they have faith in, and that is going to be able to come to work every day and focus on their needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan shared a similar sentiment on Tuesday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s about time,” Doan said of Torres’ resignation. “It’s about time that he allows the community to heal. It’s about time he allows trust and integrity to go back to city hall. It’s about time in his life to do the right thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan said he hoped to see a special election held to fill the District 3 seat so that candidates can face scrutiny from the public and the press.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before his arrest and resignation on Tuesday, Torres had not been formally charged with a crime and denied any wrongdoing consistently, as allegations surfaced in early October and later that month as more details were revealed in a police affidavit supporting a search warrant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that affidavit, police said they were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009671/san-jose-mayor-and-council-call-on-councilmember-omar-torres-to-resign-amid-sexual-misconduct-allegations\">investigating Torres\u003c/a> on suspicion of oral copulation of a minor and abnormal interest in children, a felony and a misdemeanor, respectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police first started looking into claims from Torres that he was being extorted by a 21-year-old man from Chicago, Terry Beeks, with whom Torres had an online sexual relationship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the investigation seemed to turn to focus on Torres after police found texts from Torres to Beeks in 2022 describing the genitalia of an 11-year-old boy and writing that he had performed oral sex on a 17-year-old boy while working at a college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In another text exchange with Beeks about having a sexual encounter, according to the affidavit, Torres asked, “U got any homies under 18.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McElmurry, Torres’ attorney, did not deny the authenticity of the texts but previously characterized the conversations as “outrageous fantasy and role play.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s unclear if the charges Torres was arrested for on Tuesday are directly connected to the details revealed in the affidavit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres has been absent from public view since the investigation into him was first revealed. He missed meetings of the city council, committees and other regional boards and commissions he serves on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of his council colleagues, including Mahan, have called for him to resign and later voted to strip Torres of his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010529/san-jose-council-could-limit-omar-torres-power-amid-sexual-misconduct-investigation\">committee and commission assignments\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A group of residents and business owners in Torres’ district, including Mahan’s deputy chief of staff Matthew Quevedo, pledged on Oct. 25 to begin a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12011120/embattled-san-jose-council-member-faces-recall-push-amid-sex-crimes-investigation\">recall campaign\u003c/a> against Torres if he didn’t resign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Juan Carlos Lara contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Omar Torres Faces 3 Felonies, Including Child Molestation | KQED",
"description": "The former San Jose City councilmember resigned Tuesday, just before he was arrested related to alleged lewd acts with a child dating back to the 1990s. ",
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"headline": "Omar Torres Faces 3 Felonies, Including Child Molestation",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 4 p.m. Wednesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Note: This story has been updated to include Wednesday’s arraignment and details from the charging documents.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former San José Councilmember Omar Torres, who resigned Tuesday under multiple active police investigations, is facing three charges of child molestation stemming from when he was a young man, authorities said Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres is accused of sexually assaulting a teenage relative over a period of weeks in 1999 when Torres was 18.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres, 43, is facing charges of sodomy, oral copulation, and lewd and lascivious acts on a minor under the age of 14, according to charging documents the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office filed in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a shocking police report, investigators say Torres admitted to the crimes during a phone call with the victim earlier this week that police recorded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From the bottom of my heart, I’m so sorry that I hurt you,” Torres said to his alleged victim during the call, according to the police report. “I’m in intense therapy right now to, you know, to work on myself, and I haven’t stopped thinking about the harm that I caused you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres was arraigned in court in San José Wednesday afternoon, staying mostly out of view of the courtroom in a hallway where people in custody wait to appear in court. He is being held without bail, and his next court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 14.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The case brought by prosecutors only surfaced this week, when Torres’ alleged victim came forward to police to share their account of the abuse from Torres that they allegedly endured when they were both minors, which continued when Torres aged into adulthood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The victim alleged that Torres’ abuse began when they were only four years old and continued for nearly another decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is a separate case from the ongoing and parallel police investigation into Torres for different allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor, which has been active since late August, authorities said Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Please know that this department will always support survivors of sexual violence and abuse and need to know that it’s never too late to come forward,” San José Police Chief Paul Joseph said during a news conference on Wednesday about the arrest. “Doing so takes courage, but know that you will be supported.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12013307\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12013307\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241106-Election-Mom-Folo-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241106-Election-Mom-Folo-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241106-Election-Mom-Folo-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241106-Election-Mom-Folo-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241106-Election-Mom-Folo-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241106-Election-Mom-Folo-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241106-Election-Mom-Folo-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Santa Clara County Chief Assistant District Attorney Jay Boyarsky speaks to the press about the child molestation case against former San José Councilmember Omar Torres on Nov. 6, 2024. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chief Assistant District Attorney Jay Boyarsky expressed gratitude to the person who reported the alleged assault.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes people look askance at survivors who come forward years after they were victimized and wonder what took them so long to come forward. As a sex crime prosecutor, I’ve spoken with many of these survivors. They are heroic,” Boyarsky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many have lived with the pain and suffering inflicted upon them for decades, often wondering, ‘Is there anyone they can talk to? Is there anyone that will listen to them? Will anyone understand?’ We understand, and we care. We understand perfectly why they keep the violent crimes against them secret. We understand the incredible courage, the strength that it takes to finally come forward,” Boyarsky added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor Matt Mahan said he and the entire city council are “absolutely horrified” at the allegations against Torres.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These allegations are every parent’s worst nightmare. But you don’t have to be a parent to be sickened by the charges against Omar Torres, which are some of the most serious charges imaginable,” Mahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He credited the police department for its investigation of the prior allegations against Torres and said he believes the alleged victim in the current case felt comfortable to come forward because of the diligent work by investigators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have full faith in our police department and the district attorney’s office to get to the bottom of this case and ensure that Omar Torres is held accountable if proven guilty,” Mahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres — who had been under mounting pressure to resign while being investigated on the prior allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor — submitted a letter of resignation to the city late Tuesday afternoon, and police arrested him the same day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s unclear if Torres knew he would be arrested Tuesday. His resignation letter, addressed to his council colleagues and constituents, was received by the city clerk’s office around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to a copy obtained by this news organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After careful consideration, I have made the difficult decision to resign from my position as Councilmember, effective Nov. 27, 2024. This choice comes with a heavy heart, but I believe it is in the best interest of my constituents and my community,” Torres wrote in the letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Serving the people of San José has been one of the greatest honors of my life. Together, we have shared victories, tackled challenges, and strived for a more resilient community. I am humbled by the trust you placed in me and forever inspired by the passion and resilience of our district,” Torres wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres’ attorney, Nelson McElmurry, and Torres’ chief of staff, Kiara Arreola, both did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan, in an interview on Tuesday night, said it was “past time” for Torres to resign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m glad that his final decision as a councilmember was the right one, which was to resign for the sake of the community,” Mahan said. “And it’s time for us to move forward and ensure that the residents of District 3 have representation that they can trust, that they have faith in, and that is going to be able to come to work every day and focus on their needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan shared a similar sentiment on Tuesday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s about time,” Doan said of Torres’ resignation. “It’s about time that he allows the community to heal. It’s about time he allows trust and integrity to go back to city hall. It’s about time in his life to do the right thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan said he hoped to see a special election held to fill the District 3 seat so that candidates can face scrutiny from the public and the press.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before his arrest and resignation on Tuesday, Torres had not been formally charged with a crime and denied any wrongdoing consistently, as allegations surfaced in early October and later that month as more details were revealed in a police affidavit supporting a search warrant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that affidavit, police said they were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009671/san-jose-mayor-and-council-call-on-councilmember-omar-torres-to-resign-amid-sexual-misconduct-allegations\">investigating Torres\u003c/a> on suspicion of oral copulation of a minor and abnormal interest in children, a felony and a misdemeanor, respectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police first started looking into claims from Torres that he was being extorted by a 21-year-old man from Chicago, Terry Beeks, with whom Torres had an online sexual relationship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the investigation seemed to turn to focus on Torres after police found texts from Torres to Beeks in 2022 describing the genitalia of an 11-year-old boy and writing that he had performed oral sex on a 17-year-old boy while working at a college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In another text exchange with Beeks about having a sexual encounter, according to the affidavit, Torres asked, “U got any homies under 18.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McElmurry, Torres’ attorney, did not deny the authenticity of the texts but previously characterized the conversations as “outrageous fantasy and role play.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s unclear if the charges Torres was arrested for on Tuesday are directly connected to the details revealed in the affidavit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres has been absent from public view since the investigation into him was first revealed. He missed meetings of the city council, committees and other regional boards and commissions he serves on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of his council colleagues, including Mahan, have called for him to resign and later voted to strip Torres of his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010529/san-jose-council-could-limit-omar-torres-power-amid-sexual-misconduct-investigation\">committee and commission assignments\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A group of residents and business owners in Torres’ district, including Mahan’s deputy chief of staff Matthew Quevedo, pledged on Oct. 25 to begin a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12011120/embattled-san-jose-council-member-faces-recall-push-amid-sex-crimes-investigation\">recall campaign\u003c/a> against Torres if he didn’t resign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Juan Carlos Lara contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Law Enforcement, Schools in the Bay Area Prepare for Post-Election Turmoil",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 11:30 a.m. Tuesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State and local law enforcement officers are preparing for the possibility of mass protests — and even violent riots — if Republican nominee Donald Trump wins the 2024 presidential election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His 2016 election win \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11168447/photos-days-of-protest-in-the-bay-area-after-the-election\">touched off a week of continuous protests\u003c/a> across the Bay Area, including in Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco and San José. A few turned violent, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101857514/after-trump-victory-protest-conflict-at-bay-area-schools\">including at some schools across the region\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was a lot of vandalism, destruction, things set on fire, things like that,” said Huy Nguyen, president of the Oakland Police Officers’ Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Law enforcement agencies are calling for peaceful demonstrations this week should there be similar unrest as election results roll in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our officers are out there to help make sure that every resident out there has the opportunity to express their First Amendment right, the freedom of speech,” Nguyen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12012625\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12012625\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/161109_OaklandProtest_bhs08.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/161109_OaklandProtest_bhs08.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/161109_OaklandProtest_bhs08-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/161109_OaklandProtest_bhs08-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/161109_OaklandProtest_bhs08-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/161109_OaklandProtest_bhs08-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Thousands of people attended the anti-Trump protest in Oakland, California, on Nov. 9, 2016 \u003ccite>(Alex Emslie/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Oakland Police Department, which \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/donald-trump-protest-oakland-protests/1599421/\">dealt with vandalism, Molotov cocktails and fires\u003c/a> in 2016, said it plans to provide extra staffing this year “to facilitate people’s rights to peaceful gatherings and to address any crime-related incidents.” The department also said it’s coordinating with law enforcement agencies in other cities, “enabling a regional response if needed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some buildings in downtown Oakland were reportedly boarded up Monday night, and Oakland police headquarters was surrounded by barricades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Berkeley Police Department declined to share its plans to address potential civil unrest, but a spokesperson said the department is unaware of any specific threats or large-scale events related to the election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, the police department said its stations are fully staffed and prepared to respond to emergencies on the day and night of Tuesday’s election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are welcome to exercise their First Amendment rights. We will not tolerate acts of violence nor the destruction of property,” a spokesperson for SFPD said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/SanJosePD/status/1851388772535132217\">In a statement on social media platform X\u003c/a>, the San José Police Department said it won’t be sending officers to polling locations but that it’s in close contact with the registrar of voters to ensure a safe voting environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Bay Area schools are also preparing for potential demonstrations in the coming days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"From the 2024 Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/president,Learn about the U.S. Presidential Election' hero=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/2024/09/Aside-Presidential-2024-General-Election-1200x1200-1.png]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Sonoma State University, school staff and campus police officers recently participated in a preparation exercise with local and state agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some states have \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/02/us/washington-oregon-nevada-national-guard-election/index.html\">National Guard troops on standby\u003c/a>, including Washington and Oregon, where officials say \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12011898/after-ballot-box-fires-elsewhere-bay-area-elections-officials-urge-trust-in-the-vote\">hundreds of ballots were damaged\u003c/a> or destroyed after three ballot boxes were set on fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, Gov. Gavin Newsom has not taken similar precautions, though his department is coordinating with the secretary of state and the attorney general’s office, as well as federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to ensure potential demonstrations remain peaceful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Californians’ right to vote, demonstrate peacefully, and live safely and free from violence, intimidation and fear are core democratic values that our state will always stand ready to protect,” Newsom’s office said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area is no stranger to mass demonstrations, and public safety experts say \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">there are a number\u003c/a> of ways participants can keep themselves safe, including making a plan ahead of time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Suss out the location that you’re going to for the protest. Understand what precautions have been put in place, understand that location in terms of exits and where you will be situated,” said Stephanie Cyr, faculty lecturer of personal defense at San Francisco State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re out there, she said, stay aware and use your internal alarm system, as things can change quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Listen to your gut. Take a look around. Always, even when you’re relaxed and alert, you should be scanning your environment,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If a protest turns violent, Cyr’s advice is simple: run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 11:30 a.m. Tuesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State and local law enforcement officers are preparing for the possibility of mass protests — and even violent riots — if Republican nominee Donald Trump wins the 2024 presidential election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His 2016 election win \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11168447/photos-days-of-protest-in-the-bay-area-after-the-election\">touched off a week of continuous protests\u003c/a> across the Bay Area, including in Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco and San José. A few turned violent, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101857514/after-trump-victory-protest-conflict-at-bay-area-schools\">including at some schools across the region\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was a lot of vandalism, destruction, things set on fire, things like that,” said Huy Nguyen, president of the Oakland Police Officers’ Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Law enforcement agencies are calling for peaceful demonstrations this week should there be similar unrest as election results roll in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our officers are out there to help make sure that every resident out there has the opportunity to express their First Amendment right, the freedom of speech,” Nguyen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12012625\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12012625\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/161109_OaklandProtest_bhs08.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/161109_OaklandProtest_bhs08.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/161109_OaklandProtest_bhs08-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/161109_OaklandProtest_bhs08-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/161109_OaklandProtest_bhs08-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/161109_OaklandProtest_bhs08-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Thousands of people attended the anti-Trump protest in Oakland, California, on Nov. 9, 2016 \u003ccite>(Alex Emslie/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Oakland Police Department, which \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/donald-trump-protest-oakland-protests/1599421/\">dealt with vandalism, Molotov cocktails and fires\u003c/a> in 2016, said it plans to provide extra staffing this year “to facilitate people’s rights to peaceful gatherings and to address any crime-related incidents.” The department also said it’s coordinating with law enforcement agencies in other cities, “enabling a regional response if needed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some buildings in downtown Oakland were reportedly boarded up Monday night, and Oakland police headquarters was surrounded by barricades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Berkeley Police Department declined to share its plans to address potential civil unrest, but a spokesperson said the department is unaware of any specific threats or large-scale events related to the election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, the police department said its stations are fully staffed and prepared to respond to emergencies on the day and night of Tuesday’s election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are welcome to exercise their First Amendment rights. We will not tolerate acts of violence nor the destruction of property,” a spokesperson for SFPD said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/SanJosePD/status/1851388772535132217\">In a statement on social media platform X\u003c/a>, the San José Police Department said it won’t be sending officers to polling locations but that it’s in close contact with the registrar of voters to ensure a safe voting environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Bay Area schools are also preparing for potential demonstrations in the coming days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"link1": "https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/president,Learn about the U.S. Presidential Election",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Sonoma State University, school staff and campus police officers recently participated in a preparation exercise with local and state agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some states have \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/02/us/washington-oregon-nevada-national-guard-election/index.html\">National Guard troops on standby\u003c/a>, including Washington and Oregon, where officials say \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12011898/after-ballot-box-fires-elsewhere-bay-area-elections-officials-urge-trust-in-the-vote\">hundreds of ballots were damaged\u003c/a> or destroyed after three ballot boxes were set on fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, Gov. Gavin Newsom has not taken similar precautions, though his department is coordinating with the secretary of state and the attorney general’s office, as well as federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to ensure potential demonstrations remain peaceful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Californians’ right to vote, demonstrate peacefully, and live safely and free from violence, intimidation and fear are core democratic values that our state will always stand ready to protect,” Newsom’s office said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area is no stranger to mass demonstrations, and public safety experts say \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">there are a number\u003c/a> of ways participants can keep themselves safe, including making a plan ahead of time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Suss out the location that you’re going to for the protest. Understand what precautions have been put in place, understand that location in terms of exits and where you will be situated,” said Stephanie Cyr, faculty lecturer of personal defense at San Francisco State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re out there, she said, stay aware and use your internal alarm system, as things can change quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Listen to your gut. Take a look around. Always, even when you’re relaxed and alert, you should be scanning your environment,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If a protest turns violent, Cyr’s advice is simple: run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "santa-clara-county-is-about-to-elect-its-first-vietnamese-american-supervisor",
"title": "Santa Clara County Is About to Elect Its First Vietnamese American Supervisor",
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"headTitle": "Santa Clara County Is About to Elect Its First Vietnamese American Supervisor | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Santa Clara County is about to elect its first ever Vietnamese American to the Board of Supervisors. In District 2, which includes downtown San Jose and the east side, Madison Nguyen and Betty Duong are vying for a seat that is open for the first time in over a decade. Whoever wins will play a major role in overseeing how the county spends money on issues like health care, housing, and human services.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Links:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/propfest\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Prop Fest\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/voterguide\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED’s Voter Guide\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://kqed.applytojob.com/apply/ECNyMQ12yY/The-Bay-Podcast-Intern\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Apply to be our intern\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC6021388936&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:01:04] \u003c/em>I often think that, like County Board of Supervisors is a really overlooked position for local government because they really have the purse strings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:01:16] \u003c/em>Guy Marzorati is a politics and government correspondent for KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:01:21] \u003c/em>The county has a huge budget, in this case, $12 billion roughly, that they’re spending every year. Roughly half of that is just on health care and the hospital system. But supervisors also do oversee other parts of county government, from the sheriffs to the county jails, the elections office and also in the South Bay and Santa Clara County. The board has gotten more involved in housing development in the last decade, using public funds to address the affordable housing shortfall we have in the South Bay. So there’s a huge responsibility and a huge kind of fiscal oversight that the county board has.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:02] \u003c/em>There are two open seats now on this board of supervisors. One in District five, which represents Palo Alto, Mountain View, Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Gatos, and District two, which is the the race we’re talking about today, which is entirely within San Jose and kind of a big deal, right, Guy?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:25] \u003c/em>Yeah. I mean, San Jose is the only city in District two and this seat covers a real variety of neighborhoods. You have downtown San Jose, you have some neighborhoods south of downtown and in the city’s East side, Alum Rock, Little Saigon. So it’s really an ethnically and racially diverse district. Just looking at registered voters, it’s basically like a third Latino, a third Asian and a third white. So to win this seat, they’re going to need to run campaigns that really speak to voters across race and ethnicity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:58] \u003c/em>And what have voters in this part of the county told you about some of the issues that they’re thinking about this election?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:07] \u003c/em>Yeah, I’ve heard a lot of, you know, the same issues come up from voters, but from different perspectives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Aaron Resendez: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:13] \u003c/em>You know, both are good candidates, but I’m voting for Madison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:16] \u003c/em>So I talked to Aaron Resendez. He’s a longtime resident of the East Side. He’s been really involved in community politics. He’s a business consultant. He’s supporting Madison Nguyen in this race. And he talked about kind of just like the feeling of almost like shame he has, as a longtime resident of seeing homelessness and so much blight in his community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Aaron Resendez: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:39] \u003c/em>But he did that, like with Cindy Chapman was that was not enough. And we just have the homeless population so bad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:48] \u003c/em>I also talked to Christina Bui, who is a business owner, runs a bridal shop in Line Plaza, and she kind of pointed to the same conditions as Rezendes. But from a small business perspective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christina Bui: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:00] \u003c/em>We want our streets to be clean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:03] \u003c/em>She says. You know, these same kind of issues of blight make it hard to run a business and be in this race is supporting Betty Duong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christina Bui: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:11] \u003c/em>With the county and the city and their help. You know, we can make this place a better place for not just the community, but for our businesses as well. So let’s get into the race for this open seat in District two, then Guy, a seat that’s left open by supervisor Cindy Chavez, a longtime politician in the South Bay for the last 25 years. But she is turning out of the supervisor seat. What does it mean that she’s leaving?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:46] \u003c/em>Yeah, it’s a big deal. And when you think about kind of the two traditional wings of South Bay politics, the business moderate wing, the kind of labor progressive wing Cindy Chavez has been the face of that labor wing of politics in the South Bay. She’s been in this seat since 2013. So you have the fact of this, you know, longtime voice for labor and voice for these communities leaving. You also have this seat now that I think a lot of labor groups feel like we have to defend this seat on the county board of supervisors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:05:18] \u003c/em>Right. And there are two women running to replace her. One is actually Chavez’s chief of staff, Betty Duong, and a former San Jose City Council member, Madison Nguyen. And before we get into the specifics of each candidate, they do have one thing in common, which is that if either of them wins, they’ll be the first Vietnamese-American on the board of supervisors, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:05:43] \u003c/em>That’s right. And it’s certainly, I think, definitely a moment of history for the Vietnamese-American community in the South Bay. There is roughly 140,000 Vietnamese Americans in Santa Clara County. San Jose, by some estimates, has the largest Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam. And this district, District two, has, it’s safe to say, has really been historically shaped by Vietnamese residents. Since they started arriving in the county in the mid-seventies after the fall of Saigon. You know, we saw initially a lot of refugees settle around downtown, really revitalized San Jose’s core in the late 70s. And then leading up to today, where you have these really thriving commercial districts in Little Saigon like Vietnam Town. So Vietnamese-American residents have shaped San Jose for decades and decades. And certainly this moment would be a big achievement in terms of political representation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:33] \u003c/em>And both these candidates are really part of that legacy. And I want to talk more a little bit about who they are starting with, Madison Nguyen, what’s her sort of personal bio? What are her roots in San Jose and how how did she get started in politics?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Madison Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:48] \u003c/em>So I am what you call a a boat baby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:53] \u003c/em>Yeah. So Madison Nguyen came with her family from Vietnam to the U.S. as a refugee. I think she was 3 or 4 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Madison Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:59] \u003c/em>We were rescued by a Philippine freighter who took us to the Philippines refugee camps. So we were there for about almost three years. And before we were sponsored by a Lutheran church to go to America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:13] \u003c/em>She grew up in the Central Valley and worked kind of in the agricultural business. Her family was then she was picking almonds, apricots, peaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Madison Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:22] \u003c/em>We live in a Section eight, you know, house that was that was subsidized by the local government. And I had, you know, free lunches at the elementary school, middle school and high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:34] \u003c/em>She went to UC Santa Cruz. She was eventually a community college instructor at Danza and then eventually ran for this local school board seat in the Franklin McKinley School District. She became, at that time, the first Vietnamese-American woman in state history to hold public office. She also was the first Vietnamese-American council member in San Jose history when she won election in 2005, later became the city’s vice mayor. So she’s already, you know, made history and been a real name in South Bay politics before this election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:05] \u003c/em>And how does when talk about the issues that matter to her in this race for board of supervisors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:13] \u003c/em>So when really comes from that more moderate business flank of South Bay politics, although she had labor support earlier in her career, she’s more of a business aligned candidate at this point. And how that translates into issues, you can start with housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Madison Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:28] \u003c/em>I definitely think that we should spend a differently than what we have been doing in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:32] \u003c/em>I think Nguyen would like to see Santa Clara County align more with the strategies we’ve seen the city of San Jose pursue under Mayor Matt Mahan, which is a shift in funding away from permanent affordable housing towards more short term transitional housing and.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Madison Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:48] \u003c/em>Shelter For a minute, affordable housing, that’s always going to be the goal, the end goal, right? But before we get there, we have to get them transitioned into temporary temporary housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:59] \u003c/em>She’s also probably a little bit more to the center in terms of criminal justice and policing. She’s been an outspoken supporter of Proposition 36 to enact some tougher sentences statewide. So that’s kind of the framing policy wise in which she’s approaching this election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Madison Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:09:16] \u003c/em>We need to get drug dealers off the street. We need to make sure that when people commit a felony, that they pay for their crime. And we need to be very diligent in working together to ensure that, you know, that that we provide public safety for our residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:09:35] \u003c/em>And who’s coming out in support of her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:09:37] \u003c/em>So we have seen support for Nguyen come from some of the leading moderate politicians in the region, most notably San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who’s endorsed her candidacy. And I think this speaks to really the integral relationship that the District two supervisor will have with the city of San Jose. Right. As the person representing downtown and much of the east side. Like that’s that’s a really important relationship. And then she’s also gotten financially more of the, you know, kind of traditional business backing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:15] \u003c/em>Coming up, what candidate Betty Duong is all about and how the two represent a shift in Vietnamese-American politics in the South Bay. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:35] \u003c/em>And what about Betty Duong? What is her personal bio and and what was her pathway into politics like?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Betty Duong: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:43] \u003c/em>So my mom and dad came to Santa Clara County in the late 70s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:47] \u003c/em>Yeah. So Betty Duong is a San Jose native. Her family participated in this refugee resettlement program in Santa Clara County. Growing up in Section eight housing in downtown San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Betty Duong: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:57] \u003c/em>And at that time when we were growing up, we relied heavily on county services as well. So that actually comes with lots of visits from social workers, inspections just to make sure the family’s doing well. So that again, that was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:11:08] \u003c/em>I think it’s safe to say, like she probably has more government experience than most first time candidates. She’s been Cindy Chavez’s chief of staff. That means basically her like top deputy running her office. She previously ran the county’s Office of Labor Standards Enforcement. She also led the campaign back in 2016 to pass a huge, affordable housing bond. This was measure A, this really kickstarted the county’s efforts to be involved in the housing development business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Betty Duong: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:11:37] \u003c/em>We really were the first county to say, hey, we’re going to step in, even though nothing says it’s our job, we’re going to step and we’re going to take on housing as a response, playing a role for public safety, for health and for health and wellness and for just the humanity of it. Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:11:52] \u003c/em>So the issues that she’s emphasizing, they align a lot with what Madison Women’s emphasized as far as housing, homelessness, public safety, the strategies and the policy views are a little different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Betty Duong: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:12:04] \u003c/em>So my priorities are to build more and more expanse and expand the type of housing that we’re going to build to be able to meet the needs of everybody who is housing insecure and unhoused right now and also build up prevention system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:12:18] \u003c/em>Young would kind of more aligned with Cindy Chavez in supporting the development of affordable housing, putting more money towards prevention of homelessness, making sure that people have, you know, rent assistance and are not, you know, losing their apartments and ending up on the street and probably a kind of a staying the course as far as the county’s focus on permanent affordable housing rather than shifting towards a more shelter based approach in reducing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Betty Duong: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:12:45] \u003c/em>I can tell you this, in the years that I have supported and been a part of the county’s housing efforts, helping someone stay house is going to be infinitely easier, right? Less costly, better outcomes and helping someone off the streets. I’m not saying we don’t do that still, but there’s an opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:01] \u003c/em>And I imagine Labor is coming out in support of Betty Duong here. Who else?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:08] \u003c/em>Yeah. So she certainly has the support of organized labor in the county and also of a lot of, you know, labor backed politicians, whether that’s Cindy Chavez, whether that’s Dave Cortez, the the state senator, and the labor spectrum, It really is across the board from home health care workers to teamsters to county employees. I think you are seeing a broad labor coalition get behind Yang’s candidacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:37] \u003c/em>Guy. How are both these candidates pitching themselves to voters?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:43] \u003c/em>Yeah, well, one thing I’ve really been interested in watching is like that dynamic of how both of these candidates are pitching themselves as change candidates. Madison Nguyen has been clear the county needs a new approach, like that’s her change argument. She’s offering change on the policy front and a move away from maybe how Cindy Chavez represented the district. Then you have Betty Duong, who has said again and again, like I’m a first time candidate, she’s offering change, really on the personal front. You know, Madison win is a more established figure, but that kind of comes with all the baggage that you see in local politics. You maybe have more established support. You also have a lot of established opposition. I mean, Nguyen survived a recall while she was on the city council. There was a recall attempt against her in 2009 over her push to change the name of Little Saigon to the Saigon business district. You still have some people upset over that. So she has this longer life in public office. And I think Young’s case is the change candidates. I’m a new face on the elected stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:49] \u003c/em>And what about spending here? What’s that looking like?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:53] \u003c/em>Yes. So spending’s been really interesting to track. Duong has spent around $460,000 Nguyen has spent around 400,000. So there has been a lot of campaign spending. And then when you look outside of that, like the outside groups who have no limits on their abilities to spend, Yang is definitely benefited from hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by labor groups, including groups who are county employees like sheriffs, for example. The real thing that stood out to me, though, and caught my eye in the campaign. Spending is this new dynamic of this group called the California Alliance of Family Owned Businesses. They are funded by fast food franchise owners, and they’ve poured more than half $1 million roughly into this campaign. Both money opposing Duong and also supporting Nguyen. As you all have talked about, like this issue of local fast food wages, labor standards, this is really getting heated up in local politics. And we’ve seen this fight over, you know, fast food working conditions now move to the local level, you know, whoever is going to be elected, the next supervisor. This could potentially be an issue coming before the board whether Santa Clara should enact more local protections for fast food workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:16:11] \u003c/em>And I mean, again, we are talking about a history making election here between these two. I mean, it would be a historic first, whoever it is who wins. There’s been media coverage about all this. But how front and center has this sort of representation factor been in the actual campaigning?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:16:36] \u003c/em>It’s not the first thing that these candidates are interested in talking about. I think part of that is the fact that with two Vietnamese Americans in this general election, it’s a guarantee that history is going to be made. And I think in some ways that’s kind of opened up the dialog between the candidates to be more about the issues because it’s a foregone conclusion. Whoever wins will become the county’s first Vietnamese-American supervisor. I also think it’s it speaks to districts, to diversity. Right. And just winning the Vietnamese American vote is not going to be enough to win this district. And you’ve seen both candidates really bring to this race long histories of working across community lines. I mean, Madison Nguyen represented District seven on the council. A plurality of residents there are Latino. And so I think the work that she did, you know, backing housing projects in the district, those were not specifically like Vietnamese-American issues. Same thing with Betty Duong. She’s worked in this district to office. One of the issues the board is is working on right now is setting up a Latino wellness center. So I think both Duong and Nguyen understand deeply that getting elected and effectively serving this district to community is not going to be through the kind of narrow lens of Vietnamese-American representation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:17:51] \u003c/em>Yeah, but it is interesting because you have these two candidates from the same community, but who represent sort of different kinds of politics. Like how do you see these two women representing the changes in politics within the Vietnamese-American community in San Jose over the years?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:18:13] \u003c/em>Yeah, this was something I talked about with Phillip Nguyen who’s with the Vietnamese-American roundtable about this kind of being like a real second generation election within the communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Philip Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:18:23] \u003c/em>For the younger generation, at least my generation of folk, right? There is a there is a hope. And in being able to see that sort of representation in the political.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:18:31] \u003c/em>Process and we talked about that in two aspects. The first of which is the issues of, you know, Vietnam and some of the more polarizing issues around communism. Those are not front and center in this election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Philip Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:18:45] \u003c/em>Folks in San Jose probably have seen parades or cars with like flags going around like Eastridge Mall into Grand Central, Right. That are calling for freedom for Vietnam and like human rights for Vietnam, down with the communists. I think for that, for a long time, that was the only image of who Vietnamese Americans were in in San Jose. In San Jose. Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:19:07] \u003c/em>You know, you have the candidates focused on issues that you would likely hear about from any supervisor candidate, housing, public safety. Those have been, at least by the candidates themselves, what they’ve been centering in their campaigns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Philip Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:19:20] \u003c/em>What I and I think a lot of the Vietnamese American community see and in both candidates is a lot of hope and a direction forward, a way to move forward while still acknowledging that we are not yet done with healing from the past. Right. That these these wounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:19:35] \u003c/em>This the second piece of that, I think, is the fact that as you see Vietnamese-American candidates like white candidates, like Mexican-American candidates in San Jose fall within this kind of spectrum of labor and business. It just means really that this is just like a San Jose story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Philip Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:19:52] \u003c/em>And I think those camps have emerged in a way that is in alignment with how San Jose politics has kind of fallen into. Right. The Vietnamese-American community is is conforming to that political discourse. Right. Of like Vietnamese Americans who support more business oriented interests and more labor oriented interests. And then who? Those folks?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:20:11] \u003c/em>As you know, communities take hold within the region. You see kind of these broader political divides cut across different races, cut across different ethnicities. And I do think that’s something you definitely see at play here, even with two Vietnamese-American candidates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:20:31] \u003c/em>Okay. How might you summarize, I guess, the stakes of this specific election for San Jose and the South Bay more broadly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:20:39] \u003c/em>There’s a huge responsibility that the county board has. And so it makes it a really important position and one that could really define policy direction within Santa Clara County for a while, because these are seats in which the winner gets three terms. You get to run for three, four year terms. And so when you’re talking about the winner of this race potentially holding this office for more than a decade, you really start to understand the significant impacts that this election could have on this community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:21:12] \u003c/em>Well, Guy, thank you so much for breaking this one down. I really appreciate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:21:17] \u003c/em>Yeah, Thanks so much for having me.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Santa Clara County is about to elect its first ever Vietnamese American to the Board of Supervisors. In District 2, which includes downtown San Jose and the east side, Madison Nguyen and Betty Duong are vying for a seat that is open for the first time in over a decade. Whoever wins will play a major role in overseeing how the county spends money on issues like health care, housing, and human services.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Links:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/propfest\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Prop Fest\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/voterguide\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED’s Voter Guide\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://kqed.applytojob.com/apply/ECNyMQ12yY/The-Bay-Podcast-Intern\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Apply to be our intern\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC6021388936&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:01:04] \u003c/em>I often think that, like County Board of Supervisors is a really overlooked position for local government because they really have the purse strings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:01:16] \u003c/em>Guy Marzorati is a politics and government correspondent for KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:01:21] \u003c/em>The county has a huge budget, in this case, $12 billion roughly, that they’re spending every year. Roughly half of that is just on health care and the hospital system. But supervisors also do oversee other parts of county government, from the sheriffs to the county jails, the elections office and also in the South Bay and Santa Clara County. The board has gotten more involved in housing development in the last decade, using public funds to address the affordable housing shortfall we have in the South Bay. So there’s a huge responsibility and a huge kind of fiscal oversight that the county board has.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:02] \u003c/em>There are two open seats now on this board of supervisors. One in District five, which represents Palo Alto, Mountain View, Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Gatos, and District two, which is the the race we’re talking about today, which is entirely within San Jose and kind of a big deal, right, Guy?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:25] \u003c/em>Yeah. I mean, San Jose is the only city in District two and this seat covers a real variety of neighborhoods. You have downtown San Jose, you have some neighborhoods south of downtown and in the city’s East side, Alum Rock, Little Saigon. So it’s really an ethnically and racially diverse district. Just looking at registered voters, it’s basically like a third Latino, a third Asian and a third white. So to win this seat, they’re going to need to run campaigns that really speak to voters across race and ethnicity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:58] \u003c/em>And what have voters in this part of the county told you about some of the issues that they’re thinking about this election?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:07] \u003c/em>Yeah, I’ve heard a lot of, you know, the same issues come up from voters, but from different perspectives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Aaron Resendez: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:13] \u003c/em>You know, both are good candidates, but I’m voting for Madison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:16] \u003c/em>So I talked to Aaron Resendez. He’s a longtime resident of the East Side. He’s been really involved in community politics. He’s a business consultant. He’s supporting Madison Nguyen in this race. And he talked about kind of just like the feeling of almost like shame he has, as a longtime resident of seeing homelessness and so much blight in his community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Aaron Resendez: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:39] \u003c/em>But he did that, like with Cindy Chapman was that was not enough. And we just have the homeless population so bad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:48] \u003c/em>I also talked to Christina Bui, who is a business owner, runs a bridal shop in Line Plaza, and she kind of pointed to the same conditions as Rezendes. But from a small business perspective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christina Bui: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:00] \u003c/em>We want our streets to be clean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:03] \u003c/em>She says. You know, these same kind of issues of blight make it hard to run a business and be in this race is supporting Betty Duong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christina Bui: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:11] \u003c/em>With the county and the city and their help. You know, we can make this place a better place for not just the community, but for our businesses as well. So let’s get into the race for this open seat in District two, then Guy, a seat that’s left open by supervisor Cindy Chavez, a longtime politician in the South Bay for the last 25 years. But she is turning out of the supervisor seat. What does it mean that she’s leaving?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:46] \u003c/em>Yeah, it’s a big deal. And when you think about kind of the two traditional wings of South Bay politics, the business moderate wing, the kind of labor progressive wing Cindy Chavez has been the face of that labor wing of politics in the South Bay. She’s been in this seat since 2013. So you have the fact of this, you know, longtime voice for labor and voice for these communities leaving. You also have this seat now that I think a lot of labor groups feel like we have to defend this seat on the county board of supervisors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:05:18] \u003c/em>Right. And there are two women running to replace her. One is actually Chavez’s chief of staff, Betty Duong, and a former San Jose City Council member, Madison Nguyen. And before we get into the specifics of each candidate, they do have one thing in common, which is that if either of them wins, they’ll be the first Vietnamese-American on the board of supervisors, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:05:43] \u003c/em>That’s right. And it’s certainly, I think, definitely a moment of history for the Vietnamese-American community in the South Bay. There is roughly 140,000 Vietnamese Americans in Santa Clara County. San Jose, by some estimates, has the largest Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam. And this district, District two, has, it’s safe to say, has really been historically shaped by Vietnamese residents. Since they started arriving in the county in the mid-seventies after the fall of Saigon. You know, we saw initially a lot of refugees settle around downtown, really revitalized San Jose’s core in the late 70s. And then leading up to today, where you have these really thriving commercial districts in Little Saigon like Vietnam Town. So Vietnamese-American residents have shaped San Jose for decades and decades. And certainly this moment would be a big achievement in terms of political representation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:33] \u003c/em>And both these candidates are really part of that legacy. And I want to talk more a little bit about who they are starting with, Madison Nguyen, what’s her sort of personal bio? What are her roots in San Jose and how how did she get started in politics?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Madison Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:48] \u003c/em>So I am what you call a a boat baby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:53] \u003c/em>Yeah. So Madison Nguyen came with her family from Vietnam to the U.S. as a refugee. I think she was 3 or 4 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Madison Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:59] \u003c/em>We were rescued by a Philippine freighter who took us to the Philippines refugee camps. So we were there for about almost three years. And before we were sponsored by a Lutheran church to go to America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:13] \u003c/em>She grew up in the Central Valley and worked kind of in the agricultural business. Her family was then she was picking almonds, apricots, peaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Madison Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:22] \u003c/em>We live in a Section eight, you know, house that was that was subsidized by the local government. And I had, you know, free lunches at the elementary school, middle school and high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:34] \u003c/em>She went to UC Santa Cruz. She was eventually a community college instructor at Danza and then eventually ran for this local school board seat in the Franklin McKinley School District. She became, at that time, the first Vietnamese-American woman in state history to hold public office. She also was the first Vietnamese-American council member in San Jose history when she won election in 2005, later became the city’s vice mayor. So she’s already, you know, made history and been a real name in South Bay politics before this election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:05] \u003c/em>And how does when talk about the issues that matter to her in this race for board of supervisors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:13] \u003c/em>So when really comes from that more moderate business flank of South Bay politics, although she had labor support earlier in her career, she’s more of a business aligned candidate at this point. And how that translates into issues, you can start with housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Madison Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:28] \u003c/em>I definitely think that we should spend a differently than what we have been doing in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:32] \u003c/em>I think Nguyen would like to see Santa Clara County align more with the strategies we’ve seen the city of San Jose pursue under Mayor Matt Mahan, which is a shift in funding away from permanent affordable housing towards more short term transitional housing and.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Madison Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:48] \u003c/em>Shelter For a minute, affordable housing, that’s always going to be the goal, the end goal, right? But before we get there, we have to get them transitioned into temporary temporary housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:59] \u003c/em>She’s also probably a little bit more to the center in terms of criminal justice and policing. She’s been an outspoken supporter of Proposition 36 to enact some tougher sentences statewide. So that’s kind of the framing policy wise in which she’s approaching this election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Madison Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:09:16] \u003c/em>We need to get drug dealers off the street. We need to make sure that when people commit a felony, that they pay for their crime. And we need to be very diligent in working together to ensure that, you know, that that we provide public safety for our residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:09:35] \u003c/em>And who’s coming out in support of her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:09:37] \u003c/em>So we have seen support for Nguyen come from some of the leading moderate politicians in the region, most notably San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who’s endorsed her candidacy. And I think this speaks to really the integral relationship that the District two supervisor will have with the city of San Jose. Right. As the person representing downtown and much of the east side. Like that’s that’s a really important relationship. And then she’s also gotten financially more of the, you know, kind of traditional business backing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:15] \u003c/em>Coming up, what candidate Betty Duong is all about and how the two represent a shift in Vietnamese-American politics in the South Bay. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:35] \u003c/em>And what about Betty Duong? What is her personal bio and and what was her pathway into politics like?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Betty Duong: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:43] \u003c/em>So my mom and dad came to Santa Clara County in the late 70s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:47] \u003c/em>Yeah. So Betty Duong is a San Jose native. Her family participated in this refugee resettlement program in Santa Clara County. Growing up in Section eight housing in downtown San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Betty Duong: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:57] \u003c/em>And at that time when we were growing up, we relied heavily on county services as well. So that actually comes with lots of visits from social workers, inspections just to make sure the family’s doing well. So that again, that was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:11:08] \u003c/em>I think it’s safe to say, like she probably has more government experience than most first time candidates. She’s been Cindy Chavez’s chief of staff. That means basically her like top deputy running her office. She previously ran the county’s Office of Labor Standards Enforcement. She also led the campaign back in 2016 to pass a huge, affordable housing bond. This was measure A, this really kickstarted the county’s efforts to be involved in the housing development business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Betty Duong: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:11:37] \u003c/em>We really were the first county to say, hey, we’re going to step in, even though nothing says it’s our job, we’re going to step and we’re going to take on housing as a response, playing a role for public safety, for health and for health and wellness and for just the humanity of it. Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:11:52] \u003c/em>So the issues that she’s emphasizing, they align a lot with what Madison Women’s emphasized as far as housing, homelessness, public safety, the strategies and the policy views are a little different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Betty Duong: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:12:04] \u003c/em>So my priorities are to build more and more expanse and expand the type of housing that we’re going to build to be able to meet the needs of everybody who is housing insecure and unhoused right now and also build up prevention system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:12:18] \u003c/em>Young would kind of more aligned with Cindy Chavez in supporting the development of affordable housing, putting more money towards prevention of homelessness, making sure that people have, you know, rent assistance and are not, you know, losing their apartments and ending up on the street and probably a kind of a staying the course as far as the county’s focus on permanent affordable housing rather than shifting towards a more shelter based approach in reducing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Betty Duong: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:12:45] \u003c/em>I can tell you this, in the years that I have supported and been a part of the county’s housing efforts, helping someone stay house is going to be infinitely easier, right? Less costly, better outcomes and helping someone off the streets. I’m not saying we don’t do that still, but there’s an opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:01] \u003c/em>And I imagine Labor is coming out in support of Betty Duong here. Who else?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:08] \u003c/em>Yeah. So she certainly has the support of organized labor in the county and also of a lot of, you know, labor backed politicians, whether that’s Cindy Chavez, whether that’s Dave Cortez, the the state senator, and the labor spectrum, It really is across the board from home health care workers to teamsters to county employees. I think you are seeing a broad labor coalition get behind Yang’s candidacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:37] \u003c/em>Guy. How are both these candidates pitching themselves to voters?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:43] \u003c/em>Yeah, well, one thing I’ve really been interested in watching is like that dynamic of how both of these candidates are pitching themselves as change candidates. Madison Nguyen has been clear the county needs a new approach, like that’s her change argument. She’s offering change on the policy front and a move away from maybe how Cindy Chavez represented the district. Then you have Betty Duong, who has said again and again, like I’m a first time candidate, she’s offering change, really on the personal front. You know, Madison win is a more established figure, but that kind of comes with all the baggage that you see in local politics. You maybe have more established support. You also have a lot of established opposition. I mean, Nguyen survived a recall while she was on the city council. There was a recall attempt against her in 2009 over her push to change the name of Little Saigon to the Saigon business district. You still have some people upset over that. So she has this longer life in public office. And I think Young’s case is the change candidates. I’m a new face on the elected stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:49] \u003c/em>And what about spending here? What’s that looking like?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:53] \u003c/em>Yes. So spending’s been really interesting to track. Duong has spent around $460,000 Nguyen has spent around 400,000. So there has been a lot of campaign spending. And then when you look outside of that, like the outside groups who have no limits on their abilities to spend, Yang is definitely benefited from hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by labor groups, including groups who are county employees like sheriffs, for example. The real thing that stood out to me, though, and caught my eye in the campaign. Spending is this new dynamic of this group called the California Alliance of Family Owned Businesses. They are funded by fast food franchise owners, and they’ve poured more than half $1 million roughly into this campaign. Both money opposing Duong and also supporting Nguyen. As you all have talked about, like this issue of local fast food wages, labor standards, this is really getting heated up in local politics. And we’ve seen this fight over, you know, fast food working conditions now move to the local level, you know, whoever is going to be elected, the next supervisor. This could potentially be an issue coming before the board whether Santa Clara should enact more local protections for fast food workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:16:11] \u003c/em>And I mean, again, we are talking about a history making election here between these two. I mean, it would be a historic first, whoever it is who wins. There’s been media coverage about all this. But how front and center has this sort of representation factor been in the actual campaigning?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:16:36] \u003c/em>It’s not the first thing that these candidates are interested in talking about. I think part of that is the fact that with two Vietnamese Americans in this general election, it’s a guarantee that history is going to be made. And I think in some ways that’s kind of opened up the dialog between the candidates to be more about the issues because it’s a foregone conclusion. Whoever wins will become the county’s first Vietnamese-American supervisor. I also think it’s it speaks to districts, to diversity. Right. And just winning the Vietnamese American vote is not going to be enough to win this district. And you’ve seen both candidates really bring to this race long histories of working across community lines. I mean, Madison Nguyen represented District seven on the council. A plurality of residents there are Latino. And so I think the work that she did, you know, backing housing projects in the district, those were not specifically like Vietnamese-American issues. Same thing with Betty Duong. She’s worked in this district to office. One of the issues the board is is working on right now is setting up a Latino wellness center. So I think both Duong and Nguyen understand deeply that getting elected and effectively serving this district to community is not going to be through the kind of narrow lens of Vietnamese-American representation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:17:51] \u003c/em>Yeah, but it is interesting because you have these two candidates from the same community, but who represent sort of different kinds of politics. Like how do you see these two women representing the changes in politics within the Vietnamese-American community in San Jose over the years?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:18:13] \u003c/em>Yeah, this was something I talked about with Phillip Nguyen who’s with the Vietnamese-American roundtable about this kind of being like a real second generation election within the communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Philip Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:18:23] \u003c/em>For the younger generation, at least my generation of folk, right? There is a there is a hope. And in being able to see that sort of representation in the political.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:18:31] \u003c/em>Process and we talked about that in two aspects. The first of which is the issues of, you know, Vietnam and some of the more polarizing issues around communism. Those are not front and center in this election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Philip Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:18:45] \u003c/em>Folks in San Jose probably have seen parades or cars with like flags going around like Eastridge Mall into Grand Central, Right. That are calling for freedom for Vietnam and like human rights for Vietnam, down with the communists. I think for that, for a long time, that was the only image of who Vietnamese Americans were in in San Jose. In San Jose. Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:19:07] \u003c/em>You know, you have the candidates focused on issues that you would likely hear about from any supervisor candidate, housing, public safety. Those have been, at least by the candidates themselves, what they’ve been centering in their campaigns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Philip Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:19:20] \u003c/em>What I and I think a lot of the Vietnamese American community see and in both candidates is a lot of hope and a direction forward, a way to move forward while still acknowledging that we are not yet done with healing from the past. Right. That these these wounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:19:35] \u003c/em>This the second piece of that, I think, is the fact that as you see Vietnamese-American candidates like white candidates, like Mexican-American candidates in San Jose fall within this kind of spectrum of labor and business. It just means really that this is just like a San Jose story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Philip Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:19:52] \u003c/em>And I think those camps have emerged in a way that is in alignment with how San Jose politics has kind of fallen into. Right. The Vietnamese-American community is is conforming to that political discourse. Right. Of like Vietnamese Americans who support more business oriented interests and more labor oriented interests. And then who? Those folks?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:20:11] \u003c/em>As you know, communities take hold within the region. You see kind of these broader political divides cut across different races, cut across different ethnicities. And I do think that’s something you definitely see at play here, even with two Vietnamese-American candidates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:20:31] \u003c/em>Okay. How might you summarize, I guess, the stakes of this specific election for San Jose and the South Bay more broadly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:20:39] \u003c/em>There’s a huge responsibility that the county board has. And so it makes it a really important position and one that could really define policy direction within Santa Clara County for a while, because these are seats in which the winner gets three terms. You get to run for three, four year terms. And so when you’re talking about the winner of this race potentially holding this office for more than a decade, you really start to understand the significant impacts that this election could have on this community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:21:12] \u003c/em>Well, Guy, thank you so much for breaking this one down. I really appreciate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guy Marzorati: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:21:17] \u003c/em>Yeah, Thanks so much for having me.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "These 2 Bay Area School Bonds Could Help Build Teacher Housing",
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"headTitle": "These 2 Bay Area School Bonds Could Help Build Teacher Housing | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>For \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/03/24/470710747/more-teachers-cant-afford-to-live-where-they-teach\">years\u003c/a>, Bay Area teachers have said one of their biggest concerns is finding affordable housing close to where they work. For some teachers, the fact that their salaries \u003ca href=\"https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/better-pay-would-keep-teachers-from-quitting-but-theres-more-to-it/2022/07\">can’t keep up with the increased cost of living\u003c/a> has some considering leaving the profession altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, more school districts across California are taking matters into their own hands by getting into the business of building housing for their teachers and staff on empty parking lots, unused office buildings and other excess land. And, in the Bay Area, two districts are turning to bond measures to help pay for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those two bonds — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/santaclara/measures#measure-r\">Measure R in Santa Clara County\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/sanmateo/measures#measure-k\">Measure K in San Mateo County\u003c/a> — would raise $1.15 billion and $153 million, respectively, to pay for upgrades to school district facilities. Both measures include building affordable housing for teachers and staff in their descriptions for what the bond could fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measures come as state leaders ask voters to consider a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/proposition-2\">$10 billion bond measure\u003c/a> to upgrade school facilities across California. And, as state leaders are faced with a lofty goal to plan for 2.5 million new homes statewide by 2030, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11997949/california-schools-keep-losing-teachers-the-state-wants-to-help-build-homes-for-them\">they are encouraging school districts to be more proactive\u003c/a> about building housing for their staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Mateo County, a group of parents and teachers at the Cabrillo Unified School District saw other school districts develop housing for their employees and were inspired to campaign to get Measure K on the ballot. If approved by voters, most of the $153 million will be used to fix classrooms, according to members of the board. Some of the money can also be used to construct educator housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José Unified School District’s Measure R anticipates dedicating approximately $283 million of the total $1.15 billion bond to build housing for staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12010731\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12010731\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-12-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-12-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-12-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-12-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-12-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A brochure supporting Measure R In San José. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Renata Sanchez, president of the San José Teachers Union, said the district has seen employee vacancy rates rise, especially among instructional associates, the staff who support special education teachers, and who are often paid less than teachers. She said the bond could help keep those associates from leaving the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody here wants to be in the business of developing land for housing,” Sanchez said. “We just feel that we’re cornered into it. We have to do something because nobody else is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, opponents of local bond measures say school districts should focus on educating their students, and that bond measures are often proposed too lightly, without thought to how they will impact future residents who have to pay back the debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anybody who owns a home is going to pay more for that home every year,” said Mark Hinkle, president of the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association, which is opposed to both measures R and K. “And even if you’re a renter, guess where the landlord gets the money to pay these taxes?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"2024 Bay Area Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/bayarea,Learn about every single race and measure across the nine Bay Area counties' hero=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/2024/02/Aside-Bay-Area-Voter-Guide-2024-Primary-Election-1200x1200-1.png]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, only a handful of school districts across the state have successfully completed construction on new workforce housing. Santa Clara Unified School District was the first district to build housing for its staff, according to the California School Board Association. The apartment complex, \u003ca href=\"https://www.santaclarausd.org/about-us/departments/facility-development-and-planning/teacher-housing-foundation\">named Casa Del Maestro\u003c/a>, opened in 2002 and has 70 one- and two-bedroom apartments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This summer, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11997949/california-schools-keep-losing-teachers-the-state-wants-to-help-build-homes-for-them\">Department of Education announced an initiative\u003c/a> to help schools navigate the muddy waters of housing development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August, the California School Board Association hosted a summit with school district staff, affordable housing advocates and researchers to look into how schools can more effectively build housing. According to Scott Roark, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, more than 150 districts across the state are now in “some stage of developing housing on district property.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Troy Flint, a spokesperson for the California School Board Association, said districts are well-positioned to develop housing because they already own the land. And he argued such projects tend to have a shorter timeline than traditional affordable housing projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The land or the buildings that the school districts own — that is under their control, and they have a lot of autonomy,” he said. “You can get from concept to people moving into housing in as little as five years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez and others in the San José Unified School District have concrete plans for where they would build the new housing if their bond passes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One project would turn an empty parking lot into 75 studio and one-bedroom apartments with parking underground. Another would move a magnet school to a larger campus and use the existing land to build approximately 120 apartments and townhomes. Their third site would build educator housing on what is currently a special education school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12010729\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12010729\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-4-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-4-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-4-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-4-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-4-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-4-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-4-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The proposed site for educator housing on Lenzen Avenue, currently used as an employee parking lot for the San José Unified School District in San José. If approved, the project would create 75 studio and one-bedroom units. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The biggest project would transform an open field on a technical education campus into an estimated 300 two-bedroom apartments and townhomes. Sanchez said funds from Measure R could fund two of the smaller projects or the one with 300 units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even if the bond measures are approved, the projects will have to go through each city’s complicated and often costly permitting process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, in Half Moon Bay, the proposed housing has already caused consternation amongst neighbors who worry the new development could be “out of character” with the existing homes. Mike Alifano, a Half Moon Bay resident and member of previous school bond oversight committees, said this is the district’s first bond measure to mention teacher housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re a community that doesn’t like a lot of change, and it’s because we want to keep this look and feel of the way things are right now,” he said. “There were other areas [the district] was looking at in different communities, and we had a bit of pushback in those communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez said there have been plans to develop teacher housing in San José since 2020, but once the pandemic hit, the district had to put the projects on hold. But she said she didn’t want to wait any longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are losing teachers across the state, but in this area, at an alarming rate,” she said. “Our kids will suffer if we don’t do something soon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>What housing questions do you have for KQED? \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true\">Let us know\u003c/a>:\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\nhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Two Bay Area school districts are proposing bond measures that would fund teacher housing. However, developing housing is tough work, especially for schools that are fighting for funding.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/03/24/470710747/more-teachers-cant-afford-to-live-where-they-teach\">years\u003c/a>, Bay Area teachers have said one of their biggest concerns is finding affordable housing close to where they work. For some teachers, the fact that their salaries \u003ca href=\"https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/better-pay-would-keep-teachers-from-quitting-but-theres-more-to-it/2022/07\">can’t keep up with the increased cost of living\u003c/a> has some considering leaving the profession altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, more school districts across California are taking matters into their own hands by getting into the business of building housing for their teachers and staff on empty parking lots, unused office buildings and other excess land. And, in the Bay Area, two districts are turning to bond measures to help pay for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those two bonds — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/santaclara/measures#measure-r\">Measure R in Santa Clara County\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/sanmateo/measures#measure-k\">Measure K in San Mateo County\u003c/a> — would raise $1.15 billion and $153 million, respectively, to pay for upgrades to school district facilities. Both measures include building affordable housing for teachers and staff in their descriptions for what the bond could fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measures come as state leaders ask voters to consider a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/proposition-2\">$10 billion bond measure\u003c/a> to upgrade school facilities across California. And, as state leaders are faced with a lofty goal to plan for 2.5 million new homes statewide by 2030, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11997949/california-schools-keep-losing-teachers-the-state-wants-to-help-build-homes-for-them\">they are encouraging school districts to be more proactive\u003c/a> about building housing for their staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Mateo County, a group of parents and teachers at the Cabrillo Unified School District saw other school districts develop housing for their employees and were inspired to campaign to get Measure K on the ballot. If approved by voters, most of the $153 million will be used to fix classrooms, according to members of the board. Some of the money can also be used to construct educator housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José Unified School District’s Measure R anticipates dedicating approximately $283 million of the total $1.15 billion bond to build housing for staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12010731\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12010731\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-12-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-12-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-12-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-12-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-12-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A brochure supporting Measure R In San José. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Renata Sanchez, president of the San José Teachers Union, said the district has seen employee vacancy rates rise, especially among instructional associates, the staff who support special education teachers, and who are often paid less than teachers. She said the bond could help keep those associates from leaving the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody here wants to be in the business of developing land for housing,” Sanchez said. “We just feel that we’re cornered into it. We have to do something because nobody else is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, opponents of local bond measures say school districts should focus on educating their students, and that bond measures are often proposed too lightly, without thought to how they will impact future residents who have to pay back the debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anybody who owns a home is going to pay more for that home every year,” said Mark Hinkle, president of the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association, which is opposed to both measures R and K. “And even if you’re a renter, guess where the landlord gets the money to pay these taxes?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, only a handful of school districts across the state have successfully completed construction on new workforce housing. Santa Clara Unified School District was the first district to build housing for its staff, according to the California School Board Association. The apartment complex, \u003ca href=\"https://www.santaclarausd.org/about-us/departments/facility-development-and-planning/teacher-housing-foundation\">named Casa Del Maestro\u003c/a>, opened in 2002 and has 70 one- and two-bedroom apartments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This summer, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11997949/california-schools-keep-losing-teachers-the-state-wants-to-help-build-homes-for-them\">Department of Education announced an initiative\u003c/a> to help schools navigate the muddy waters of housing development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August, the California School Board Association hosted a summit with school district staff, affordable housing advocates and researchers to look into how schools can more effectively build housing. According to Scott Roark, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, more than 150 districts across the state are now in “some stage of developing housing on district property.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Troy Flint, a spokesperson for the California School Board Association, said districts are well-positioned to develop housing because they already own the land. And he argued such projects tend to have a shorter timeline than traditional affordable housing projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The land or the buildings that the school districts own — that is under their control, and they have a lot of autonomy,” he said. “You can get from concept to people moving into housing in as little as five years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez and others in the San José Unified School District have concrete plans for where they would build the new housing if their bond passes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One project would turn an empty parking lot into 75 studio and one-bedroom apartments with parking underground. Another would move a magnet school to a larger campus and use the existing land to build approximately 120 apartments and townhomes. Their third site would build educator housing on what is currently a special education school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12010729\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12010729\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-4-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-4-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-4-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-4-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-4-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-4-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/20241022_SCHOOLDISTRICTHOUSING_GC-4-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The proposed site for educator housing on Lenzen Avenue, currently used as an employee parking lot for the San José Unified School District in San José. If approved, the project would create 75 studio and one-bedroom units. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The biggest project would transform an open field on a technical education campus into an estimated 300 two-bedroom apartments and townhomes. Sanchez said funds from Measure R could fund two of the smaller projects or the one with 300 units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even if the bond measures are approved, the projects will have to go through each city’s complicated and often costly permitting process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, in Half Moon Bay, the proposed housing has already caused consternation amongst neighbors who worry the new development could be “out of character” with the existing homes. Mike Alifano, a Half Moon Bay resident and member of previous school bond oversight committees, said this is the district’s first bond measure to mention teacher housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re a community that doesn’t like a lot of change, and it’s because we want to keep this look and feel of the way things are right now,” he said. “There were other areas [the district] was looking at in different communities, and we had a bit of pushback in those communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez said there have been plans to develop teacher housing in San José since 2020, but once the pandemic hit, the district had to put the projects on hold. But she said she didn’t want to wait any longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are losing teachers across the state, but in this area, at an alarming rate,” she said. “Our kids will suffer if we don’t do something soon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>What housing questions do you have for KQED? \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true\">Let us know\u003c/a>:\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe\n src='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true?embedded=true'\n title='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true'\n width='760' height='500'\n frameborder='0'\n marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "At a San José School, a Cosmic Visit From Astronaut José Hernández",
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"headTitle": "At a San José School, a Cosmic Visit From Astronaut José Hernández | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>On a sunny Friday morning in San José, students and teachers at Alpha: José Hernández School stream into their cafeteria. With smiles everywhere, the excitement is palpable: Students are about to meet the person that their school — a TK–8 public charter school in the city’s Eastside — is named for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few minutes later, wearing his blue NASA uniform, astronaut and engineer José Hernández walks in — immediately greeted by cheers. He walks over to a lunch table with students from all different grades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What grade are you guys in?” he asks. “Third!” “First!” “Fourth!” students shout back all at once.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Who’s in fifth?” Hernández asks, and several hands shoot up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ah, you know that’s when I decided to be an astronaut,” he replies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011247\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12011247\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-37-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-37-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-37-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-37-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-37-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-37-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-37-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former NASA astronaut José Hernández poses for a portrait at Alpha: José Hernández School in San José on Oct. 25, 2024, during a backpack and book giveaway event. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Yo pienso que lo puedes lograr’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2009, Hernández was a crew member on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nasa.gov/mission/sts-128/\">STS-128 space shuttle Discovery mission\u003c/a>, which traveled to the International Space Station (ISS.) The mission, which lasted almost two weeks and covered a total of 5.7 million miles, brought crucial maintenance supplies and scientific equipment to the ISS.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hernández’s journey to becoming an astronaut was not easy. He was born in the small agricultural community of French Camp in San Joaquin County to a family of Mexican migrant farmworkers — and during his childhood, his family traveled back and forth between California and Michoacan, Mexico, to follow the different growing seasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the school year, Hernández worked in the fields alongside his parents, picking produce on the weekends and seven days a week during the summer. But his parents always emphasized the importance of education to better oneself, he told the students assembled \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/jose-hernandez-migrant-astronaut-alpha-middle-school-reach-stars/70966/\">at the school named after him\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011245\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12011245\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-17-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-17-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-17-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-17-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-17-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-17-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-17-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students listen to former NASA astronaut José Hernández speaks at Alpha: José Hernández School in San José on Oct. 25, 2024, during a backpack and book giveaway event. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When I told [my father] that I wanted to be an astronaut, he did two things,” Hernández said. “The first thing he did was empower my dream. He said to me, ‘Yo pienso que lo puedes lograr’ — ‘I know you can do it.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second thing Hernández’s father did, he said, was to give him tangible advice on how to achieve that dream. “He told me, ‘You know that effort you put out picking fruits and vegetables Saturdays and Sundays, seven days during the summer?’ … and he pointed to my books on the kitchen table, and he said, ‘You put that effort there.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘It’s actually a gift’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Books — and his love of reading — accompanied Hernández as he moved first through college and then the complex process of applying and training to be an astronaut. And his visit on Friday to the school that bears his name also came with good news: Gordon Philanthropies, a nonprofit organization that works to provide free books to schools in underserved communities, is donating 6,700 books to the school, alongside Hernández’s own Reaching for the Stars Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011246\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12011246\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-29-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-29-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-29-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-29-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-29-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-29-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-29-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former NASA astronaut José Hernández hands out backpacks to students at Alpha: José Hernández School in San José on Oct. 25, 2024, during a book giveaway event. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many of the donated books are completely bilingual in English and Spanish so that students can take them home and read them together with their families. “En la casa hablábamos puro español — at home, we only spoke Spanish — and what helped me learn English era leer libros — reading books is what helped me learn English,” Hernández said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of students at the school come from Spanish-speaking families and are learning English as a second language, said Alpha: José Hernández School principal Julianna Parra. “We let students take books from our school … not all of our families live near a library, so that opportunity has been really important for our students,” she explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really want to make sure that our students and our families know that having a different primary language is not a bad thing. It’s actually a gift — a skill they can leverage,” Parra said. “Being able to provide books that come in both languages allows for our families to see that in action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011248\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12011248\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-40-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-40-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-40-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-40-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-40-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-40-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-40-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former NASA astronaut José Hernández poses for photos with students at Alpha: José Hernández School in San José on Oct. 25, 2024, during a backpack and book giveaway event. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Reading in both English and the language spoken at home has been found \u003ca href=\"https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/ae_fall2015goldenberg_wagner.pdf\">to help bilingual students retain and improve their home language\u003c/a> as they mature. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.scopus.com/results/citedbyresults.uri?sort=plf-f&cite=2-s2.0-0001674036&src=s&imp=t&sid=e708f65c0daed7fa25e58b397450427c&sot=cite&sdt=a&sl=0&origin=inward&editSaveSearch=&txGid=f03603ba7f558fd52def372d5c6605bd\">decades of research within education\u003c/a>, students from homes where the primary language is not English tend to lose their fluency in that language over time if only English is prioritized at school, something known as “language attrition.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while not all students at Alpha: José Hernández School may not have the desire to follow in Hernández’s exact footsteps to become an astronaut, many of them still share his love of reading. After hearing Hernández speak, seventh grader Vernon Paul Pineda said that he especially loves reading true crime and thrillers — and when he grows up, he wants to become a photographer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I get really interested in what the book is talking about,” he said. “You just keep reading, and the book gets more interesting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "At a San José School, a Cosmic Visit From Astronaut José Hernández | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On a sunny Friday morning in San José, students and teachers at Alpha: José Hernández School stream into their cafeteria. With smiles everywhere, the excitement is palpable: Students are about to meet the person that their school — a TK–8 public charter school in the city’s Eastside — is named for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few minutes later, wearing his blue NASA uniform, astronaut and engineer José Hernández walks in — immediately greeted by cheers. He walks over to a lunch table with students from all different grades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What grade are you guys in?” he asks. “Third!” “First!” “Fourth!” students shout back all at once.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Who’s in fifth?” Hernández asks, and several hands shoot up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ah, you know that’s when I decided to be an astronaut,” he replies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011247\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12011247\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-37-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-37-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-37-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-37-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-37-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-37-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-37-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former NASA astronaut José Hernández poses for a portrait at Alpha: José Hernández School in San José on Oct. 25, 2024, during a backpack and book giveaway event. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Yo pienso que lo puedes lograr’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2009, Hernández was a crew member on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nasa.gov/mission/sts-128/\">STS-128 space shuttle Discovery mission\u003c/a>, which traveled to the International Space Station (ISS.) The mission, which lasted almost two weeks and covered a total of 5.7 million miles, brought crucial maintenance supplies and scientific equipment to the ISS.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hernández’s journey to becoming an astronaut was not easy. He was born in the small agricultural community of French Camp in San Joaquin County to a family of Mexican migrant farmworkers — and during his childhood, his family traveled back and forth between California and Michoacan, Mexico, to follow the different growing seasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the school year, Hernández worked in the fields alongside his parents, picking produce on the weekends and seven days a week during the summer. But his parents always emphasized the importance of education to better oneself, he told the students assembled \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/jose-hernandez-migrant-astronaut-alpha-middle-school-reach-stars/70966/\">at the school named after him\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011245\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12011245\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-17-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-17-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-17-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-17-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-17-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-17-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-17-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students listen to former NASA astronaut José Hernández speaks at Alpha: José Hernández School in San José on Oct. 25, 2024, during a backpack and book giveaway event. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When I told [my father] that I wanted to be an astronaut, he did two things,” Hernández said. “The first thing he did was empower my dream. He said to me, ‘Yo pienso que lo puedes lograr’ — ‘I know you can do it.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second thing Hernández’s father did, he said, was to give him tangible advice on how to achieve that dream. “He told me, ‘You know that effort you put out picking fruits and vegetables Saturdays and Sundays, seven days during the summer?’ … and he pointed to my books on the kitchen table, and he said, ‘You put that effort there.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘It’s actually a gift’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Books — and his love of reading — accompanied Hernández as he moved first through college and then the complex process of applying and training to be an astronaut. And his visit on Friday to the school that bears his name also came with good news: Gordon Philanthropies, a nonprofit organization that works to provide free books to schools in underserved communities, is donating 6,700 books to the school, alongside Hernández’s own Reaching for the Stars Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011246\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12011246\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-29-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-29-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-29-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-29-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-29-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-29-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-29-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former NASA astronaut José Hernández hands out backpacks to students at Alpha: José Hernández School in San José on Oct. 25, 2024, during a book giveaway event. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many of the donated books are completely bilingual in English and Spanish so that students can take them home and read them together with their families. “En la casa hablábamos puro español — at home, we only spoke Spanish — and what helped me learn English era leer libros — reading books is what helped me learn English,” Hernández said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of students at the school come from Spanish-speaking families and are learning English as a second language, said Alpha: José Hernández School principal Julianna Parra. “We let students take books from our school … not all of our families live near a library, so that opportunity has been really important for our students,” she explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really want to make sure that our students and our families know that having a different primary language is not a bad thing. It’s actually a gift — a skill they can leverage,” Parra said. “Being able to provide books that come in both languages allows for our families to see that in action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011248\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12011248\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-40-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-40-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-40-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-40-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-40-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-40-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241025-ASTRONAUTJOSEHERNANDEZ-40-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former NASA astronaut José Hernández poses for photos with students at Alpha: José Hernández School in San José on Oct. 25, 2024, during a backpack and book giveaway event. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Reading in both English and the language spoken at home has been found \u003ca href=\"https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/ae_fall2015goldenberg_wagner.pdf\">to help bilingual students retain and improve their home language\u003c/a> as they mature. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.scopus.com/results/citedbyresults.uri?sort=plf-f&cite=2-s2.0-0001674036&src=s&imp=t&sid=e708f65c0daed7fa25e58b397450427c&sot=cite&sdt=a&sl=0&origin=inward&editSaveSearch=&txGid=f03603ba7f558fd52def372d5c6605bd\">decades of research within education\u003c/a>, students from homes where the primary language is not English tend to lose their fluency in that language over time if only English is prioritized at school, something known as “language attrition.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while not all students at Alpha: José Hernández School may not have the desire to follow in Hernández’s exact footsteps to become an astronaut, many of them still share his love of reading. After hearing Hernández speak, seventh grader Vernon Paul Pineda said that he especially loves reading true crime and thrillers — and when he grows up, he wants to become a photographer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I get really interested in what the book is talking about,” he said. “You just keep reading, and the book gets more interesting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A group of downtown \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> residents, including a top city staffer, are beginning a campaign to recall Councilmember Omar Torres, who is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010529/san-jose-council-could-limit-omar-torres-power-amid-sexual-misconduct-investigation\">subject of a police investigation\u003c/a> into alleged sexual misconduct involving a minor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The residents in Torres’ District 3 said Friday that they are willing to see through a potentially months-long effort to recall him from office but hope the added pressure will force him to resign immediately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are doing this because enough is enough,” Matthew Quevedo, a resident and Mayor Matt Mahan’s deputy chief of staff, said at a news conference in front of City Hall. “We are building a coalition of neighbors, parents and small-business owners to begin this recall process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres, who has not been formally charged with a crime and denied any wrongdoing, has faced a backlash and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009671/san-jose-mayor-and-council-call-on-councilmember-omar-torres-to-resign-amid-sexual-misconduct-allegations\">calls for his resignation\u003c/a> from all of his council colleagues since details of the police investigation emerged this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an affidavit supporting a search warrant and GPS tracking on Torres’ car, police said they are investigating Torres on suspicion of oral copulation of a minor and abnormal interest in children, a felony and a misdemeanor, respectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police first started looking into claims from Torres that he was being extorted by a 21-year-old man from Chicago, Terry Beeks, with whom Torres had an online sexual relationship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the investigation seemed to turn to focus on Torres after police found texts from Torres to Beeks in 2022 describing the genitalia of an 11-year-old boy and writing that he had performed oral sex on a 17-year-old boy while working at a college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12009735\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12009735\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First-term San José Councilmember Omar Torres is facing increasing pressure to resign following a police investigation into text messages he sent referencing sexually explicit acts with a minor. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In another text exchange with Beeks about having a sexual encounter, according to the affidavit, Torres asked, “U got any homies under 18.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres’ attorney, Nelson McElmurry, did not deny the authenticity of the texts but previously characterized the conversations as “outrageous fantasy and role play.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres has been largely absent from public view since the investigation into him was first revealed. He has missed City Council meetings, committee meetings, and meetings of other regional boards and commissions he serves on, leading the council to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010529/san-jose-council-could-limit-omar-torres-power-amid-sexual-misconduct-investigation\">strip him of his assignments\u003c/a> this week and reassign those duties to other members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was present at the last City Council meeting because I wanted to ask Omar in person for his resignation. But he was not there,” Melissa Reyes, who owns downtown’s Mesquite & Oak restaurant, said at Friday’s press conference. “We need the representation. And he was nowhere to be found.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Morris, co-owner of Spicy Roy’s Caribbean Grill downtown, said the criminal investigation has stopped Torres from participating in neighborhood or business association meetings, frustrating people looking to make progress on issues such as homelessness, public safety and parking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11983130\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11983130\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/20230801-SJCityHall-27-JY_qut-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/20230801-SJCityHall-27-JY_qut-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/20230801-SJCityHall-27-JY_qut-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/20230801-SJCityHall-27-JY_qut-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/20230801-SJCityHall-27-JY_qut-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/20230801-SJCityHall-27-JY_qut-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">City Hall in San José, California, on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’ve heard repeatedly the frustrations of no representation at council,” said Quevedo, the mayor’s deputy chief of staff. “I’ve heard the concerns of neighbors attending meetings with a council member whose attorney tried to wave off inappropriate conversations about an 11-year-old child as simply role play and fantasy. This is simply unacceptable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The City Council also voted this week to approve an excused absence for Torres from its Oct. 8 meeting for illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McElmurry has said previously that the council member does not intend to resign, but in a late addition to the council’s rules committee meeting on Wednesday, Torres submitted a memo requesting approval to be excused from the Oct. 22, 29, and Nov. 5 meetings for a 30-day leave of absence, citing the need to protect his health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I will be taking a temporary leave of absence from the San José City Council, following my doctor’s recommendation … to focus on my mental health,” Torres wrote. “The allegations made against me have significantly impacted my emotional and mental well-being.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12011106 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/04/RS48718_037_Alameda_MarioGonzalezVigil_04212021-qut-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said his office would remain “fully operational” as his staff continues to serve residents, adding that he is “committed to returning to my duties.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rules committee, however, did not take action on the memo, meaning it will not appear on Tuesday’s agenda to be considered by the full council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres, a first-term council member, is not up for reelection next month, and his current term is set to end in December 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quevedo, the mayor’s deputy chief of staff, acknowledged that it could take until early 2025 to get a special recall election in place for District 3 residents, but he said he’d rather start this effort now in light of Torres’ declination to resign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quevedo also dismissed the idea that his connection to Mahan could color this effort as a political play. He said he took a vacation day from his work in Mahan’s office to help organize Friday’s press conference and was working on the recall effort separately from his work duties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a San Joséan first and foremost, I’m a father. I’m a husband. I’m a resident here in the neighborhood. I’ve been doing community advocacy work for the past 15 years,” Quevedo said. “And so this is my civic duty to get involved in this today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group said Friday that they plan to deliver Torres a notice of intent to recall him soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some at the press conference said the criminal investigation just offers another reason to oust a council member they weren’t fond of already.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steve Cohen, a real estate investor in downtown San José and a resident, said he wasn’t happy with Torres’ work before the investigation was revealed, alleging he didn’t do enough to care for the whole district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We haven’t had good representation for 10 years,” Cohen said, calling the investigation into Torres “one more nail in the coffin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A group of downtown \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> residents, including a top city staffer, are beginning a campaign to recall Councilmember Omar Torres, who is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010529/san-jose-council-could-limit-omar-torres-power-amid-sexual-misconduct-investigation\">subject of a police investigation\u003c/a> into alleged sexual misconduct involving a minor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The residents in Torres’ District 3 said Friday that they are willing to see through a potentially months-long effort to recall him from office but hope the added pressure will force him to resign immediately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are doing this because enough is enough,” Matthew Quevedo, a resident and Mayor Matt Mahan’s deputy chief of staff, said at a news conference in front of City Hall. “We are building a coalition of neighbors, parents and small-business owners to begin this recall process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres, who has not been formally charged with a crime and denied any wrongdoing, has faced a backlash and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009671/san-jose-mayor-and-council-call-on-councilmember-omar-torres-to-resign-amid-sexual-misconduct-allegations\">calls for his resignation\u003c/a> from all of his council colleagues since details of the police investigation emerged this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an affidavit supporting a search warrant and GPS tracking on Torres’ car, police said they are investigating Torres on suspicion of oral copulation of a minor and abnormal interest in children, a felony and a misdemeanor, respectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police first started looking into claims from Torres that he was being extorted by a 21-year-old man from Chicago, Terry Beeks, with whom Torres had an online sexual relationship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the investigation seemed to turn to focus on Torres after police found texts from Torres to Beeks in 2022 describing the genitalia of an 11-year-old boy and writing that he had performed oral sex on a 17-year-old boy while working at a college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12009735\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12009735\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First-term San José Councilmember Omar Torres is facing increasing pressure to resign following a police investigation into text messages he sent referencing sexually explicit acts with a minor. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In another text exchange with Beeks about having a sexual encounter, according to the affidavit, Torres asked, “U got any homies under 18.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres’ attorney, Nelson McElmurry, did not deny the authenticity of the texts but previously characterized the conversations as “outrageous fantasy and role play.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres has been largely absent from public view since the investigation into him was first revealed. He has missed City Council meetings, committee meetings, and meetings of other regional boards and commissions he serves on, leading the council to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010529/san-jose-council-could-limit-omar-torres-power-amid-sexual-misconduct-investigation\">strip him of his assignments\u003c/a> this week and reassign those duties to other members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was present at the last City Council meeting because I wanted to ask Omar in person for his resignation. But he was not there,” Melissa Reyes, who owns downtown’s Mesquite & Oak restaurant, said at Friday’s press conference. “We need the representation. And he was nowhere to be found.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Morris, co-owner of Spicy Roy’s Caribbean Grill downtown, said the criminal investigation has stopped Torres from participating in neighborhood or business association meetings, frustrating people looking to make progress on issues such as homelessness, public safety and parking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11983130\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11983130\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/20230801-SJCityHall-27-JY_qut-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/20230801-SJCityHall-27-JY_qut-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/20230801-SJCityHall-27-JY_qut-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/20230801-SJCityHall-27-JY_qut-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/20230801-SJCityHall-27-JY_qut-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/20230801-SJCityHall-27-JY_qut-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">City Hall in San José, California, on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’ve heard repeatedly the frustrations of no representation at council,” said Quevedo, the mayor’s deputy chief of staff. “I’ve heard the concerns of neighbors attending meetings with a council member whose attorney tried to wave off inappropriate conversations about an 11-year-old child as simply role play and fantasy. This is simply unacceptable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The City Council also voted this week to approve an excused absence for Torres from its Oct. 8 meeting for illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McElmurry has said previously that the council member does not intend to resign, but in a late addition to the council’s rules committee meeting on Wednesday, Torres submitted a memo requesting approval to be excused from the Oct. 22, 29, and Nov. 5 meetings for a 30-day leave of absence, citing the need to protect his health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I will be taking a temporary leave of absence from the San José City Council, following my doctor’s recommendation … to focus on my mental health,” Torres wrote. “The allegations made against me have significantly impacted my emotional and mental well-being.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said his office would remain “fully operational” as his staff continues to serve residents, adding that he is “committed to returning to my duties.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rules committee, however, did not take action on the memo, meaning it will not appear on Tuesday’s agenda to be considered by the full council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres, a first-term council member, is not up for reelection next month, and his current term is set to end in December 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quevedo, the mayor’s deputy chief of staff, acknowledged that it could take until early 2025 to get a special recall election in place for District 3 residents, but he said he’d rather start this effort now in light of Torres’ declination to resign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quevedo also dismissed the idea that his connection to Mahan could color this effort as a political play. He said he took a vacation day from his work in Mahan’s office to help organize Friday’s press conference and was working on the recall effort separately from his work duties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a San Joséan first and foremost, I’m a father. I’m a husband. I’m a resident here in the neighborhood. I’ve been doing community advocacy work for the past 15 years,” Quevedo said. “And so this is my civic duty to get involved in this today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group said Friday that they plan to deliver Torres a notice of intent to recall him soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some at the press conference said the criminal investigation just offers another reason to oust a council member they weren’t fond of already.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steve Cohen, a real estate investor in downtown San José and a resident, said he wasn’t happy with Torres’ work before the investigation was revealed, alleging he didn’t do enough to care for the whole district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We haven’t had good representation for 10 years,” Cohen said, calling the investigation into Torres “one more nail in the coffin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "San José Council Limits Omar Torres’ Power Amid Sexual Misconduct Investigation",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 4:15 p.m. Tuesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José’s City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to remove Councilmember Omar Torres from all of his committee assignments amid a police investigation into \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009671/san-jose-mayor-and-council-call-on-councilmember-omar-torres-to-resign-amid-sexual-misconduct-allegations\">allegations of sexual misconduct\u003c/a> involving a minor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Councilmember Torres has recently been absent from all committee, commission and board meetings that I am aware of over the last two weeks,” said Mayor Matt Mahan, who recommended the move. “I think that the public deserves to have other council colleagues fill in in those roles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those positions — three committee assignments and nearly a dozen positions on other boards or commissions, including the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Board and the San José Youth Empowerment Alliance — \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=13387333&GUID=3A6EC2BC-7F0F-4D70-AE6D-1D37A618AE7C\">will now be distributed\u003c/a> among most of the remaining council members and will remain in effect until early next year, when the mayor makes his annual recommendations for committee assignments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan and the rest of the council are also calling for Torres’ resignation after a recently publicized police affidavit revealed Torres is being investigated on suspicion of “oral copulation of a minor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres began retreating from public view after police \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007943/san-jose-councilmember-is-reportedly-target-of-child-sexual-misconduct-investigation\">served him with a search warrant\u003c/a> earlier this month. Details of the criminal investigation into him and his reported sexual interest in minors quickly followed. No criminal charges have been filed, and Torres has denied any wrongdoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres has missed several public meetings in recent weeks, including a City Council meeting on Oct. 8, which he said was due to illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council on Tuesday approved Torres’ request to be excused for that absence, though nobody seemed eager to be the one to initiate that action. After a prolonged moment of silence, Mahan eventually spoke up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11984099\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11984099\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08.jpg\" alt=\"A white middle aged man speaks into microphones wearing a blue suit and a white collared shirt with no tie.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan at the press conference on April 25, 2024. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I believe Councilmember Torres is holding his seat hostage and denying representation to the 100,000 residents of District 3. We’ve all called on him to resign. He should resign,” Mahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the same time, after getting some insight from the city attorney, I personally am not interested in litigating whether or not he was sick two weeks ago. So, I will be supporting the motion. And moving forward, should he continue to request excused absences, I personally will want to hear a better explanation for what the illness is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan voted against excusing the absence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12009590 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SchoolLockers-1020x638.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José’s city charter states that a council member can be removed after five consecutive unexcused absences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres was not present for Tuesday’s meeting. His attorney, Nelson McElmurry, said in a text to KQED that Torres would not comment publicly until the investigation into him is complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The investigation began when Torres reported to police that he was being blackmailed by a Chicago man with whom he’d had a sexual relationship and shared illicit pictures. Torres reportedly told police that he had already sent the man $22,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The recently released affidavit included texts from 2022 between Torres and the man in which Torres sent a picture of a boy he identified as his autistic 11-year-old son and shared inappropriate details about the boy’s genitalia, though the council member is not known to have any children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the texts, Torres also reportedly talked about having oral sex with a 17-year-old while working at a college and, while talking about a future sexual encounter, asked if the man had “any homies under 18.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In previous statements to the media, McElmurry has called the text messages “outrageous fantasy and roleplay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 4:15 p.m. Tuesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José’s City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to remove Councilmember Omar Torres from all of his committee assignments amid a police investigation into \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009671/san-jose-mayor-and-council-call-on-councilmember-omar-torres-to-resign-amid-sexual-misconduct-allegations\">allegations of sexual misconduct\u003c/a> involving a minor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Councilmember Torres has recently been absent from all committee, commission and board meetings that I am aware of over the last two weeks,” said Mayor Matt Mahan, who recommended the move. “I think that the public deserves to have other council colleagues fill in in those roles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those positions — three committee assignments and nearly a dozen positions on other boards or commissions, including the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Board and the San José Youth Empowerment Alliance — \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=13387333&GUID=3A6EC2BC-7F0F-4D70-AE6D-1D37A618AE7C\">will now be distributed\u003c/a> among most of the remaining council members and will remain in effect until early next year, when the mayor makes his annual recommendations for committee assignments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan and the rest of the council are also calling for Torres’ resignation after a recently publicized police affidavit revealed Torres is being investigated on suspicion of “oral copulation of a minor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres began retreating from public view after police \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007943/san-jose-councilmember-is-reportedly-target-of-child-sexual-misconduct-investigation\">served him with a search warrant\u003c/a> earlier this month. Details of the criminal investigation into him and his reported sexual interest in minors quickly followed. No criminal charges have been filed, and Torres has denied any wrongdoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres has missed several public meetings in recent weeks, including a City Council meeting on Oct. 8, which he said was due to illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council on Tuesday approved Torres’ request to be excused for that absence, though nobody seemed eager to be the one to initiate that action. After a prolonged moment of silence, Mahan eventually spoke up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11984099\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11984099\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08.jpg\" alt=\"A white middle aged man speaks into microphones wearing a blue suit and a white collared shirt with no tie.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan at the press conference on April 25, 2024. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I believe Councilmember Torres is holding his seat hostage and denying representation to the 100,000 residents of District 3. We’ve all called on him to resign. He should resign,” Mahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the same time, after getting some insight from the city attorney, I personally am not interested in litigating whether or not he was sick two weeks ago. So, I will be supporting the motion. And moving forward, should he continue to request excused absences, I personally will want to hear a better explanation for what the illness is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan voted against excusing the absence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José’s city charter states that a council member can be removed after five consecutive unexcused absences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres was not present for Tuesday’s meeting. His attorney, Nelson McElmurry, said in a text to KQED that Torres would not comment publicly until the investigation into him is complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The investigation began when Torres reported to police that he was being blackmailed by a Chicago man with whom he’d had a sexual relationship and shared illicit pictures. Torres reportedly told police that he had already sent the man $22,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The recently released affidavit included texts from 2022 between Torres and the man in which Torres sent a picture of a boy he identified as his autistic 11-year-old son and shared inappropriate details about the boy’s genitalia, though the council member is not known to have any children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the texts, Torres also reportedly talked about having oral sex with a 17-year-old while working at a college and, while talking about a future sexual encounter, asked if the man had “any homies under 18.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In previous statements to the media, McElmurry has called the text messages “outrageous fantasy and roleplay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "San José Leaders Select Acting Police Chief for Permanent Role, Touting His Experience",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 1:55 p.m. Tuesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Joseph, a 30-year veteran of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose-police\">San José Police Department\u003c/a> and its current acting chief, will become the city’s permanent police chief beginning Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City officials announced the selection of Joseph on Tuesday after a vote by the City Council in closed session. Joseph has served as the acting chief since March 31, following the retirement of former Chief Anthony Mata from the position.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mata went on to take over the investigations bureau at the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am excited to take this next step in my career. It is an honor and a privilege to lead the amazing men and women of the San José Police Department,” Joseph said in a statement released by the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City Manager Jennifer Maguire said Joseph is an experienced law enforcement professional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A courageous and collaborative leader who is unafraid to try new policing techniques, engage in dialogue with our community and build deep and lasting relationships. He is transparent, direct and candid,” Maguire said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Paul also has the leadership and experience to do this job on day one. He knows and loves serving this city and our community and will continue to build strong relations with San José’s diverse community while providing quality public safety services,” Maguire said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The appointment of Joseph comes after a competitive recruitment and selection process that started in January after Mata announced his intention to retire, city officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12010529 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241016-OMAR-TORRES-GH-1-KQED-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joseph, who grew up in Los Angeles, started as an officer at SJPD in 1994 after two years as an officer in San Mateo and has served in a variety of leadership roles, according to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have seen Paul Joseph stand by injured officers during their worst moments, stand firm when our community is threatened and stand up to take responsibility for our department — in good times and bad,” San José Mayor Matt Mahan said. “He is exactly the person we need to help rebuild our ranks, test innovative new approaches and ensure the people of San José are safe and protected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union representing San José police officers praised Joseph’s appointment as a “wise decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chief Joseph brings a wealth of experience, innovative ideas, and a collaborative nature to a department he knows inside and out,” the San José Police Officers’ Association said in a statement. “Chief Joseph will need all of those traits as we get to work keeping the residents of San Jose safe by increasing staffing, improving morale, and strengthening community policing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San José, Joseph served as an officer on patrol, a detective in the robbery unit, as well as on the narcotics enforcement team and the mobile emergency response group and equipment, known as the MERGE Unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was promoted to sergeant in August 2006, where he worked in patrol and the field training program. He was promoted to lieutenant in January 2016, first in patrol and then later serving as the commander of the robbery unit and homicide unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He served as a captain over the western division beginning in February 2020 and was elevated to assistant chief by Mata in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joseph holds a law degree from UC Hastings College of Law and a bachelor’s degree in political science from California State University Northridge, according to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The recruitment and selection process included a $59,000 contract with Public Sector Search & Consulting Inc. to help the city advertise the position and find candidates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sixteen candidates applied for the job, including four finalists who were interviewed by panels made up of city officials, government agency partners and community leaders, city spokesperson Carolina Camarena said in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To help inform which candidates advanced, the administration conducted outreach through a citywide online anonymous survey, six community meetings, key stakeholder focus groups and one-on-one sessions and an anonymous online survey of police department employees. It also met with Mahan and council members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Partnership with the community is the most essential element to policing,” Joseph said. “I look forward to collaborating with our diverse community to create safer neighborhoods for everyone in San José.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "San José’s acting Chief of Police, Paul Joseph, has been appointed the city’s permanent chief by the City Council following a six-month search for candidates.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 1:55 p.m. Tuesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Joseph, a 30-year veteran of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose-police\">San José Police Department\u003c/a> and its current acting chief, will become the city’s permanent police chief beginning Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City officials announced the selection of Joseph on Tuesday after a vote by the City Council in closed session. Joseph has served as the acting chief since March 31, following the retirement of former Chief Anthony Mata from the position.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mata went on to take over the investigations bureau at the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am excited to take this next step in my career. It is an honor and a privilege to lead the amazing men and women of the San José Police Department,” Joseph said in a statement released by the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City Manager Jennifer Maguire said Joseph is an experienced law enforcement professional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A courageous and collaborative leader who is unafraid to try new policing techniques, engage in dialogue with our community and build deep and lasting relationships. He is transparent, direct and candid,” Maguire said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Paul also has the leadership and experience to do this job on day one. He knows and loves serving this city and our community and will continue to build strong relations with San José’s diverse community while providing quality public safety services,” Maguire said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The appointment of Joseph comes after a competitive recruitment and selection process that started in January after Mata announced his intention to retire, city officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joseph, who grew up in Los Angeles, started as an officer at SJPD in 1994 after two years as an officer in San Mateo and has served in a variety of leadership roles, according to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have seen Paul Joseph stand by injured officers during their worst moments, stand firm when our community is threatened and stand up to take responsibility for our department — in good times and bad,” San José Mayor Matt Mahan said. “He is exactly the person we need to help rebuild our ranks, test innovative new approaches and ensure the people of San José are safe and protected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union representing San José police officers praised Joseph’s appointment as a “wise decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chief Joseph brings a wealth of experience, innovative ideas, and a collaborative nature to a department he knows inside and out,” the San José Police Officers’ Association said in a statement. “Chief Joseph will need all of those traits as we get to work keeping the residents of San Jose safe by increasing staffing, improving morale, and strengthening community policing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San José, Joseph served as an officer on patrol, a detective in the robbery unit, as well as on the narcotics enforcement team and the mobile emergency response group and equipment, known as the MERGE Unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was promoted to sergeant in August 2006, where he worked in patrol and the field training program. He was promoted to lieutenant in January 2016, first in patrol and then later serving as the commander of the robbery unit and homicide unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He served as a captain over the western division beginning in February 2020 and was elevated to assistant chief by Mata in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joseph holds a law degree from UC Hastings College of Law and a bachelor’s degree in political science from California State University Northridge, according to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The recruitment and selection process included a $59,000 contract with Public Sector Search & Consulting Inc. to help the city advertise the position and find candidates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sixteen candidates applied for the job, including four finalists who were interviewed by panels made up of city officials, government agency partners and community leaders, city spokesperson Carolina Camarena said in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To help inform which candidates advanced, the administration conducted outreach through a citywide online anonymous survey, six community meetings, key stakeholder focus groups and one-on-one sessions and an anonymous online survey of police department employees. It also met with Mahan and council members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Partnership with the community is the most essential element to policing,” Joseph said. “I look forward to collaborating with our diverse community to create safer neighborhoods for everyone in San José.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Night markets have exploded in popularity over the past few years in the Bay Area. Many local downtowns and shopping districts have invested in night markets as a way to regain the foot traffic of the pre-pandemic years. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this episode, we go to the Story Road Night Market in San Jose’s Little Saigon neighborhood to eat some delicious food and talk about whether night markets are here to stay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC6287890509&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a transcript of the episode.\u003c/em>\u003cb>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra and welcome to The Bay. Local news to keep you rooted. And today, we’re going to the night market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham:\u003c/strong> To me it seems like a farmer’s market almost, but at night. Right? And I guess really what a night market is, is a farmer’s market at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra :\u003c/strong> Night markets have popped up all around the Bay Area in the last two years. And organizers and local officials are hoping that they can bring more life into some of the neighborhoods hit hardest by the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong> Especially in the Bay Area, and especially when you’re talking about some of the Asian American communities. Nothing is going to bring people out like the promise of delicious free food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>So today we’re taking you to the Story Road Night Market, right in the heart of San Jose’s Little Saigon neighborhood, to see what these night markets are all about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sponsor Message\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>And we are here in San Jose on Story Road. And I’m here with..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>Luke Tsai food editor for KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>And Thien Pham, a graphic novelist and an educator based in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>And we are here at this Story Road Night Market, which is a mostly Vietnamese night market at this strip mall. Thien, can you tell us a little bit more about where we are right now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>Yeah. So this strip of San Jose has always been kind of like Little Saigon. But they opened this big place called the Grand Century. And it was supposed to be like \u003cem>the\u003c/em> Vietnamese mall, you know, like it had all the Vietnamese food, all the restaurants were here. And then, like a couple of years later, this giant lot next to Grand Century opened up. It was called Vietnam Town, the hub of like, Vietnamese culture in San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>We’re kind of here to explore, Luke as you wrote about, a growing sort of night market scene in the Bay Area, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai : \u003c/strong>Yeah, totally, I think. You know, I grew up going to night markets when I would travel to Taiwan with my family. You know, as a kid eating stinky tofu, eating like giant chicken cutlets the size of my head. And so that was something I grew up with and something that after I moved to the Bay Area, I never really found. But just in the past few years and really like in the past year or two, we’ve seen this kind of explosion in night markets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the pandemic, there were so many neighborhoods that just sort of shut down. A lot of these areas were struggling. And so what a lot of sort of community organizers, community groups, local governments, kind of when they put their heads together, a lot of them looked to the night market as kind of a potentially successful model. And I think especially in the Bay Area and especially when you’re talking about some of the Asian-American communities, nothing is going to bring people out like the promise of delicious street food. And I think that’s that’s mostly why we’re here tonight to check that out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Yeah. And people are out. People are out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>We’re going to get, we’re going to try the chicken hand pie and the charcoal grilled ribs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra:\u003c/strong> Can I get the steamed tofu?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ryan Sebastian: \u003c/strong>Speaking as someone who was born and raised in East San Jose. Like, there is always a feeling that when I would travel to other places and I would say, “Why can’t we have that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My name is Ryan Sebastian and I run Moveable Feast. We started doing food truck events here based out of San Jose. Our whole goal for the whole summer was, or the whole series, was to get 20,000 people. And we saw by backed by cell phone data that the first weekend we had 22,000 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You know, Story Road for many reasons, particularly in the Vietnamese community and the like Mexican-American community is so, so key. To have this in San Jose, to have it in a place that maybe isn’t always like shown in the most positive light, is incredibly important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>Family style. We’re family style.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Okay. And what do we got here, Thien?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>We got some lobster like fried in a rice coating. Green rice, which is like a gelatinous rice. And then we have here, ee have a hand pie that has a chicken curry in it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>These are the pork ribs that have some sort of, like, herb fish sauce, calamansi, sort of a little dressing, kind of garnish on top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>All right. Let’s go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>These ribs are so good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>So it’s got that little bit of tanginess on top, but the ribs are super, super tender and juicy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>Oh my god. So good. In my phone, I just have so much of just Luke, like, eating. He’s such a, like, profane eater. It’s, like, disgusting to watch him eat. But I’m also, like, I really also love it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>So what’s, what’s what’s this? This is like a tofu sandwich.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Yeah, it’s like a tofu sandwiches with some pork inside. And then it looks like…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>Is that like pork floss?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Yeah. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>Vietnamese people eat pork floss?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>That’s our thing! We came up with pork floss, bro!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>Come on! I’m always like, this is a Chinese thing, and Thien is always like, “No, the Vietnamese invented that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>The Vietnamese invented that for sure! Chinese took that from us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mori Nguyen: \u003c/strong>My name is Mori. Last name is Nguyen. I feel like there’s a healthy amount of vendors, so and a lot of like, I don’t know what they’re called but like cool little shops that people have or like small businesses. So I like it so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I ordered grilled squid satay. It’s really good. It’s a little on the saltier side, but I like it because I think it’s, I want to say it’s a Vietnamese style, and I really like Vietnamese style squid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>And I mean, I think the other thing I really like when you walk past is you have all these sort of like retail vendors that are mixed in also. And I think there are other markets that have that component or like, you know, one day festivals where it’ll be like, okay, we’re going to have food, but we’re also going to have people selling like crafts, or we’re also going to have people selling like clothing or jewelry. You know, where it doesn’t feel like it’s some like, fancy artisan who has like parachuted in from outside of the community to, like, promote their art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You know, it feels more like, these are just like people from the community. Maybe they have a shop in this mall, selling like jewelry or selling like little trinkets or gifts. And so they set up a stall outside. And so it just has that very– it just feels very natural, feels very good just to walk around and see everybody checking out all the little stalls while they’re eating their their food. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Shanaya: \u003c/strong>I’m Shanaya. I’m the creator of Naya’s Desk. So I sell original art through stickers. And I also hand make all of these at home, sticker sheets. I’ve been a San Jose native all my life, so this is my second time here at the Story Road Night Market. This one is really great because I love the Asian diversity here, and the community here is really good. Really good food and a lot of other cool artists here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>Snails! I found the snails! Should I go get it? Or do you guys want to come?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>The sea snails, the grilled sea snails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Oh! That’s what you wanted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>That’s what we wanted. Yeah. Should we go get the snails?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>You want to go try? Yeah. Yeah. It’s amazing. So right now, we’re going across the parking lot to the next mall, which is called Vietnam Town. There’s only one stall, but they got a lot of attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>This is actually insane. Okay. So there is literally a deejay spinning EDM in the background. And in the forefront, with this, just like, YouTube lighting, are these Vietnamese aunties pouring sugarcane juice, selling snails. An uncle is grilling. I am, I’m stunned. I think it’s the lights. It’s the lights and the music, for sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Okay, so Thien just ordered. He has a snail in his hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong> And then you grab it with a toothpick. Because the snail has, like, a you know, like the shell is, like, circular. So you got to, like, kind of spin it while you open it, and you grab it. And you’ve got to dip it in this sauce. The sauce is it. And then, oh my God, they have this thing called rau răm, which I think the English title is Vietnamese Coriander.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oh my god. It’s so good you guys. Oh my god. So this really brings me home to my mom because, you know, we didn’t have a lot of money when we came to America. So my mom would go to the market. My mom would just have this huge pot of it and me and my mom would just sit there and just do this and eat there. And it would just be like our bonding. We never really talked, you know, it’s one of those things that is just like, oh man, this is like, my mom, you know, this is like, like my mom. Yeah. Oh my god.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I’m curious what you all, just your impressions of the night market so far, especially Luke, compared to some of the other ones that you’ve been to around the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>I mean, one of the things I really appreciate about here is just when you’re walking through and you smell the smell of that charcoal, right? And you just know it’s going to be good. And I was reading, I think Soleil Ho for The Chronicle wrote this opinion piece basically saying how it was really awesome that San Francisco has a whole bunch of night markets now, but that at a lot of them the food they said was like kind of mid. And it wasn’t because the food vendors aren’t good, but because the regulations and the fees are such that most vendors can’t afford to pay all the fees to be able to, like grill on the street to actually cook hot food. I mean, that’s one of the hallmarks of a night market is like you have, you have the fire going, you smell that charcoal. So I really appreciate that about here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Like we’re literally standing–\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>Watching them make it. They’ve got like a little bamboo fan that they’re like fanning it every so often. Like, that’s like old school cooking, right? Old school street food cooking. And I do think, like, with anything else, that it requires some like know how. You know, and it requires some, like, actual outreach and connection to the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I am curious for both of you and I guess starting with you first, Luke, is this the kind of thing you both would want to see more of?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai:\u003c/strong> Yeah, totally. Yeah. I think it just feels so comfortable just strolling through here. The smells, the sights. It’s such a warm kind of community feeling for for folks in San Jose. If you had this every week, you know, or at least you had it like once or twice a month, I feel like people would come out, you know, especially especially in San Jose and a lot of other neighborhoods, too. I think people would come out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>You seem very at home here, Thien.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>I love it. This type of thing we didn’t have when we were growing up. And so now when I walk around and sometimes when I speak about it, it’s like really moving to me. Because it’s like so many years of growing up and just kind of like hiding your culture or just like experiencing it with your family. And for me, I can go to my American friends or my friends of all cultures, “Hey, let’s go to this this Vietnamese street fair.” And they will be fine with it. And every single one of this food here can be enjoyed by everybody. Like every time me and Luke go anywhere, like in the Bay Area nowadays and we see this huge, diverse crowd, we’re like always moved by it. It’s always so, feels so nice. It feels so nice to like to like have this, you know, like, and I think that’s part of the reason why we live here. Why we pay the prices that we pay to live here, you know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai:\u003c/strong>100%. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Okay. So I don’t know about you all, but I’m full. I’m very full.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>We have, you can’t see, but we have like two giant bags of leftovers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>Ericka’s just holding the nước mía. I hope, I hope someone at home likes sugar cane juice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Just double fisting this sugar cane juice. This was so much fun, you guys. Thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>Thanks so much for having us here. Cheers!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Special thanks to KQED food editor Luke Tsai and Thien Pham for being our guides of the Story Road Night Market. The Story Road Night Market is done for the year, but there are still a handful of night markets to still check out around the Bay Area. We’re going to leave you a link to Luke’s list of Bay Area night markets in our show notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This episode was cut down and edited by me and senior editor Alan Montecillo. It was produced by Jessica Kariisa. We get extra support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad and Holly Kernan. Music Courtesy of Audio Network. The Bay is a production of KQED in San Francisco, I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra, thanks for listening.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham:\u003c/strong> To me it seems like a farmer’s market almost, but at night. Right? And I guess really what a night market is, is a farmer’s market at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra :\u003c/strong> Night markets have popped up all around the Bay Area in the last two years. And organizers and local officials are hoping that they can bring more life into some of the neighborhoods hit hardest by the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong> Especially in the Bay Area, and especially when you’re talking about some of the Asian American communities. Nothing is going to bring people out like the promise of delicious free food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>So today we’re taking you to the Story Road Night Market, right in the heart of San Jose’s Little Saigon neighborhood, to see what these night markets are all about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sponsor Message\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>And we are here in San Jose on Story Road. And I’m here with..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>Luke Tsai food editor for KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>And Thien Pham, a graphic novelist and an educator based in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>And we are here at this Story Road Night Market, which is a mostly Vietnamese night market at this strip mall. Thien, can you tell us a little bit more about where we are right now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>Yeah. So this strip of San Jose has always been kind of like Little Saigon. But they opened this big place called the Grand Century. And it was supposed to be like \u003cem>the\u003c/em> Vietnamese mall, you know, like it had all the Vietnamese food, all the restaurants were here. And then, like a couple of years later, this giant lot next to Grand Century opened up. It was called Vietnam Town, the hub of like, Vietnamese culture in San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>We’re kind of here to explore, Luke as you wrote about, a growing sort of night market scene in the Bay Area, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai : \u003c/strong>Yeah, totally, I think. You know, I grew up going to night markets when I would travel to Taiwan with my family. You know, as a kid eating stinky tofu, eating like giant chicken cutlets the size of my head. And so that was something I grew up with and something that after I moved to the Bay Area, I never really found. But just in the past few years and really like in the past year or two, we’ve seen this kind of explosion in night markets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the pandemic, there were so many neighborhoods that just sort of shut down. A lot of these areas were struggling. And so what a lot of sort of community organizers, community groups, local governments, kind of when they put their heads together, a lot of them looked to the night market as kind of a potentially successful model. And I think especially in the Bay Area and especially when you’re talking about some of the Asian-American communities, nothing is going to bring people out like the promise of delicious street food. And I think that’s that’s mostly why we’re here tonight to check that out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Yeah. And people are out. People are out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>We’re going to get, we’re going to try the chicken hand pie and the charcoal grilled ribs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra:\u003c/strong> Can I get the steamed tofu?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ryan Sebastian: \u003c/strong>Speaking as someone who was born and raised in East San Jose. Like, there is always a feeling that when I would travel to other places and I would say, “Why can’t we have that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My name is Ryan Sebastian and I run Moveable Feast. We started doing food truck events here based out of San Jose. Our whole goal for the whole summer was, or the whole series, was to get 20,000 people. And we saw by backed by cell phone data that the first weekend we had 22,000 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You know, Story Road for many reasons, particularly in the Vietnamese community and the like Mexican-American community is so, so key. To have this in San Jose, to have it in a place that maybe isn’t always like shown in the most positive light, is incredibly important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>Family style. We’re family style.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Okay. And what do we got here, Thien?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>We got some lobster like fried in a rice coating. Green rice, which is like a gelatinous rice. And then we have here, ee have a hand pie that has a chicken curry in it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>These are the pork ribs that have some sort of, like, herb fish sauce, calamansi, sort of a little dressing, kind of garnish on top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>All right. Let’s go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>These ribs are so good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>So it’s got that little bit of tanginess on top, but the ribs are super, super tender and juicy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>Oh my god. So good. In my phone, I just have so much of just Luke, like, eating. He’s such a, like, profane eater. It’s, like, disgusting to watch him eat. But I’m also, like, I really also love it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>So what’s, what’s what’s this? This is like a tofu sandwich.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Yeah, it’s like a tofu sandwiches with some pork inside. And then it looks like…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>Is that like pork floss?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Yeah. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>Vietnamese people eat pork floss?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>That’s our thing! We came up with pork floss, bro!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>Come on! I’m always like, this is a Chinese thing, and Thien is always like, “No, the Vietnamese invented that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>The Vietnamese invented that for sure! Chinese took that from us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mori Nguyen: \u003c/strong>My name is Mori. Last name is Nguyen. I feel like there’s a healthy amount of vendors, so and a lot of like, I don’t know what they’re called but like cool little shops that people have or like small businesses. So I like it so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I ordered grilled squid satay. It’s really good. It’s a little on the saltier side, but I like it because I think it’s, I want to say it’s a Vietnamese style, and I really like Vietnamese style squid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>And I mean, I think the other thing I really like when you walk past is you have all these sort of like retail vendors that are mixed in also. And I think there are other markets that have that component or like, you know, one day festivals where it’ll be like, okay, we’re going to have food, but we’re also going to have people selling like crafts, or we’re also going to have people selling like clothing or jewelry. You know, where it doesn’t feel like it’s some like, fancy artisan who has like parachuted in from outside of the community to, like, promote their art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You know, it feels more like, these are just like people from the community. Maybe they have a shop in this mall, selling like jewelry or selling like little trinkets or gifts. And so they set up a stall outside. And so it just has that very– it just feels very natural, feels very good just to walk around and see everybody checking out all the little stalls while they’re eating their their food. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Shanaya: \u003c/strong>I’m Shanaya. I’m the creator of Naya’s Desk. So I sell original art through stickers. And I also hand make all of these at home, sticker sheets. I’ve been a San Jose native all my life, so this is my second time here at the Story Road Night Market. This one is really great because I love the Asian diversity here, and the community here is really good. Really good food and a lot of other cool artists here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>Snails! I found the snails! Should I go get it? Or do you guys want to come?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>The sea snails, the grilled sea snails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Oh! That’s what you wanted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>That’s what we wanted. Yeah. Should we go get the snails?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>You want to go try? Yeah. Yeah. It’s amazing. So right now, we’re going across the parking lot to the next mall, which is called Vietnam Town. There’s only one stall, but they got a lot of attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>This is actually insane. Okay. So there is literally a deejay spinning EDM in the background. And in the forefront, with this, just like, YouTube lighting, are these Vietnamese aunties pouring sugarcane juice, selling snails. An uncle is grilling. I am, I’m stunned. I think it’s the lights. It’s the lights and the music, for sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Okay, so Thien just ordered. He has a snail in his hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong> And then you grab it with a toothpick. Because the snail has, like, a you know, like the shell is, like, circular. So you got to, like, kind of spin it while you open it, and you grab it. And you’ve got to dip it in this sauce. The sauce is it. And then, oh my God, they have this thing called rau răm, which I think the English title is Vietnamese Coriander.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oh my god. It’s so good you guys. Oh my god. So this really brings me home to my mom because, you know, we didn’t have a lot of money when we came to America. So my mom would go to the market. My mom would just have this huge pot of it and me and my mom would just sit there and just do this and eat there. And it would just be like our bonding. We never really talked, you know, it’s one of those things that is just like, oh man, this is like, my mom, you know, this is like, like my mom. Yeah. Oh my god.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I’m curious what you all, just your impressions of the night market so far, especially Luke, compared to some of the other ones that you’ve been to around the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>I mean, one of the things I really appreciate about here is just when you’re walking through and you smell the smell of that charcoal, right? And you just know it’s going to be good. And I was reading, I think Soleil Ho for The Chronicle wrote this opinion piece basically saying how it was really awesome that San Francisco has a whole bunch of night markets now, but that at a lot of them the food they said was like kind of mid. And it wasn’t because the food vendors aren’t good, but because the regulations and the fees are such that most vendors can’t afford to pay all the fees to be able to, like grill on the street to actually cook hot food. I mean, that’s one of the hallmarks of a night market is like you have, you have the fire going, you smell that charcoal. So I really appreciate that about here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Like we’re literally standing–\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>Watching them make it. They’ve got like a little bamboo fan that they’re like fanning it every so often. Like, that’s like old school cooking, right? Old school street food cooking. And I do think, like, with anything else, that it requires some like know how. You know, and it requires some, like, actual outreach and connection to the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I am curious for both of you and I guess starting with you first, Luke, is this the kind of thing you both would want to see more of?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai:\u003c/strong> Yeah, totally. Yeah. I think it just feels so comfortable just strolling through here. The smells, the sights. It’s such a warm kind of community feeling for for folks in San Jose. If you had this every week, you know, or at least you had it like once or twice a month, I feel like people would come out, you know, especially especially in San Jose and a lot of other neighborhoods, too. I think people would come out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>You seem very at home here, Thien.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>I love it. This type of thing we didn’t have when we were growing up. And so now when I walk around and sometimes when I speak about it, it’s like really moving to me. Because it’s like so many years of growing up and just kind of like hiding your culture or just like experiencing it with your family. And for me, I can go to my American friends or my friends of all cultures, “Hey, let’s go to this this Vietnamese street fair.” And they will be fine with it. And every single one of this food here can be enjoyed by everybody. Like every time me and Luke go anywhere, like in the Bay Area nowadays and we see this huge, diverse crowd, we’re like always moved by it. It’s always so, feels so nice. It feels so nice to like to like have this, you know, like, and I think that’s part of the reason why we live here. Why we pay the prices that we pay to live here, you know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai:\u003c/strong>100%. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Okay. So I don’t know about you all, but I’m full. I’m very full.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>We have, you can’t see, but we have like two giant bags of leftovers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thien Pham: \u003c/strong>Ericka’s just holding the nước mía. I hope, I hope someone at home likes sugar cane juice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Just double fisting this sugar cane juice. This was so much fun, you guys. Thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Luke Tsai: \u003c/strong>Thanks so much for having us here. Cheers!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Special thanks to KQED food editor Luke Tsai and Thien Pham for being our guides of the Story Road Night Market. The Story Road Night Market is done for the year, but there are still a handful of night markets to still check out around the Bay Area. We’re going to leave you a link to Luke’s list of Bay Area night markets in our show notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This episode was cut down and edited by me and senior editor Alan Montecillo. It was produced by Jessica Kariisa. We get extra support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad and Holly Kernan. Music Courtesy of Audio Network. The Bay is a production of KQED in San Francisco, I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra, thanks for listening.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"hyphenacion": {
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"jerrybrown": {
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"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
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},
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"title": "Latino USA",
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"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
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},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
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"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
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},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
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"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
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},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
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"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
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},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
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"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
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"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
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"meta": {
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},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
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},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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