Lofgren: Sylvia Arenas is a clear choice for San Jose City Council

I hope Evergreen voters will re-elect Sylvia Arenas. I’ve found that District 8 residents and families can count on her at City Hall. Your choice will help shape the direction of our city. She is focused on the needs of families and neighborhoods.

I’ve been impressed by Sylvia. She provides a strongly needed moral voice on the San Jose City Council, pushing for common sense solutions that put families first. She helped launch San Jose’s Family Friendly City Initiative which directs city departments to have the needs of families in mind when they make decisions.

Sylvia is leading San Jose’s efforts to improve public safety for women and children. She brought together a coalition to improve the way sexual assaults are investigated in San Jose – bringing focus to a crisis too long overlooked.

She’s a leader. From her focus on family homelessness, to her advocacy for neighborhoods, to her role in defeating a recent ballot measure that would have harmed Evergreen, Sylvia provides families the strong voice that they need at City Hall.

Sylvia is a Democrat running against a Republican who has now lost multiple endorsements because of his abusive treatment of his ex-wife. This behavior is not in-line with our San Jose values. While City Council races are non-partisan, it seems to me that right now all of us, even Republican voters, should vote to reject the values of Donald Trump at every level of government. Like me when I ran for local office, Sylvia wasn’t selected by City Hall insiders. Instead, she is backed by neighbors and the grassroots leaders.

You have a very clear choice in this election. I hope District 8 voters will re-elect Sylvia Arenas to represent them on the City Council.

Zoe Lofgren is the congressmember representing California’s 19th district, first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994.