District 5 San Jose candidates speak on progressive priorities

Candidates in the District 5 San Jose City Council race laid out ambitious campaign policy platforms centered on reining in the city’s affordability crisis, as they took part in a Wednesday election forum.

Over the course of an hour-long online event hosted by the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits and SV@Home Action Fund, the four candidates discussed how they intend to achieve a range of progressive priorities, such as increasing the production of affordable housing, providing residents with affordable child care and strengthening support for San Jose’s immigrant community.

There was little policy daylight between the three candidates in attendance: incumbent Councilmember Peter Ortiz, longtime South Bay politician Nora Campos and broadcast journalist Vy Dang. All embraced policy positions in line with San Jose’s labor-friendly political bloc, which presently hold a minority on the city’s 11-seat council.

The race’s other declared candidate, local education leader Karen Martinez, did not attend.

But the event did provide plenty of insight into how the candidates are positioning themselves in the election with less than two months left before the June 2 primary.

For Ortiz, the event offered an opportunity to hammer home his campaign’s message that over his three years in office, he has already pushed the city to take significant strides to advance a number of initiatives favored by D5 voters.

“I’ve been a champion for working people, for housing and for our youth,” he said. “And I’m not here talking about what I could do. I’m working on these issues and delivering results every day.”

In contrast, Campos, who held the District 5 seat for two terms before she went on to serve in the state Assembly in 2011, continued to hammer at Ortiz’s record, making the case he has presided over a longstanding decline in living standards in East San Jose.

“When I left City Hall, we were at a place where our district was thriving. People felt safe,” she said. “I’m concerned — everyone else should be concerned, because what I’m hearing on the doors is people are afraid to walk out their door or go to their parks, and they don’t feel safe.”

As for Dang, she argued her experience as a local journalist — including her tenure as a news anchor for a local Vietnamese-language media network — has given her special insight into the challenges facing working families.

“I hear your fear. I hear your hope. I hear your struggles,” she said. “And I hear about the high cost of living and how hard it is to survive.”

District 5, centered around the Alum Rock neighborhood, is among the city’s most diverse with an electorate made up of roughly 40% Latino voters and 38% Asian voters. The city’s vibrant East Side neighborhoods have a history of producing influential civic leaders and beloved local businesses, but they have also suffered from decades of underinvestment and racial disparity.

All three candidates expressed firm support for affordable housing, including the reallocation of Measure E funds. During last year’s budget cycle, Mayor Matt Mahan led a push to divert most of the voter-approved transfer tax fund away from affordable housing and toward the city’s shelter programs, amid an effort to rapidly expand the number of temporary beds available for homeless people.

Campos highlighted her own track record on affordable housing, while suggesting she could leverage her experience in Sacramento to help advance more below-market-rate housing developments along the district’s transit corridors.

“(Affordable housing) has been an area that I’ve worked on my whole life,” she said. “When I was first on the city council, I had the opportunity to build 3,000 affordable homes.”

Ortiz noted that over his tenure, he has opposed Mahan’s Measure E reallocation, secured millions of dollars to prevent tenant displacement and established a tenant preference policy intended to ensure affordable housing projects benefit the residents who already live nearby.

“Ultimately, we must build more housing at every level of affordability, especially these permanent, affordable homes,” he said.

The candidates’ platforms also converged on a number of other key policy questions: They all made comments suggesting they oppose the city’s policy of arresting homeless people who repeatedly reject offers of shelter. Meanwhile, they also expressed support for increased investments in legal protections of immigrants and renters at risk of eviction.

With the city facing a projected $56 million deficit, the candidates were also asked to explain how they plan to carry out their agenda while balancing a shrinking budget.

All three agreed: The city will need to find ways to boost efficiency.

“We must also look to reduce waste, cut excessive consultants and eliminate duplicate programs before cutting services that people depend on,” Dang said.

Contact Keith Menconi at [email protected] or @KeithMenconi on X.