San Jose residents start campaign to recall Councilman Omar Torres
District 3 resident Matthew Quevedo is leading an effort to recall embattled Councilmember Omar Torres. Photo by Annalise Freimarck.

Downtown San Jose residents are launching a recall campaign against Councilmember Omar Torres, claiming they no longer feel represented by him as he continues to evade the public eye.

Torres, who represents the downtown neighborhoods of District 3, has maintained his innocence despite dodging his council responsibilities and missing multiple meetings after police filings showed he exchanged lewd text messages that fantasized about minors. Now, residents want him out and are taking action through a recall campaign since he hasn’t stepped down himself.

Downtown residents such as Steve Cohen (in plaid holding the ‘Resign Now!’ sign) said Councilmember Omar Torres has lost the trust of his constituents. Photo by Annalise Freimarck.

The recall was announced this morning at a news conference outside City Hall, held by downtown business owners, residents and Mayor Matt Mahan’s Deputy Chief of Staff Matthew Quevedo — who took a day off to launch the campaign. Residents intend to gather the 250 signatures from District 3 voters needed to serve Torres a notice of intent to officially begin the recall, which Quevedo said could happen today with signatures already being collected. After that, the recall campaign needs 12% of registered voters’ signatures in District 3 — 5,289 signatures — to get the recall on the ballot.

Quevedo said he expects to gather those signatures by December, aiming to get a recall on the ballot early next year. He said it’s too early to know how much the campaign will cost, but added it will be a grassroots effort through things such as door knocking.

“We are doing this because enough is enough,” Quevedo said at the Friday news conference.

He said the decision to start a recall came after the mayor’s office spoke with District 3 residents over the last few weeks and heard repeated frustrations of having no representation at San Jose City Council meetings.

“I’ve heard concerns of neighbors attending meetings with the councilmember whose attorney tried to waive off inappropriate conversations about an 11-year-old child as simply role-play and fantasy,” Quevedo told San José Spotlight. “This is simply unacceptable. Decisions are being made at City Hall all while our neighborhoods have no voice.”

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Downtown San Jose residents are launching a recall campaign against Councilmember Omar Torres, claiming they no longer feel represented by him as he continues to evade the public eye amid a police probe into alleged child sex abuse. The recall was announced this morning at a news conference outside City Hall, held by downtown business owners and Mayor Matt Mahan’s Deputy Chief of Staff Matthew Quevedo. Learn more at SanJoseSpotlight.com

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Torres’ attorney, Nelson McElmurry, said residents have a right to exercise their recall ability, but urged people to reserve judgment until the outcome of the ongoing criminal investigation.

“I wish everyone — the public included — would show a little more patience as it’s still relatively early in the investigation. He’s maintained his innocence,” McElmurry told San José Spotlight.

McElmurry said he hadn’t yet spoken with Torres amid the residents’ news conference, but that a statement could be forthcoming.

Steve Cohen, a downtown resident of 35 years, said Torres has “condemned himself without being charged and without being tried.”

“He ran on being dedicated to District 3,” Cohen told San José Spotlight. “He’s lost the trust of the people in District 3 and on the council.”

It comes as Torres requested council approval for a 30-day leave of absence that would allow him to keep skipping meetings without being removed from his seat under the charter. Councilmembers have declined to consider Torres’ request at their next Oct. 29 meeting.

He’s already missed two council meetings since the scandal first went public earlier this month, drawing criticism from Mayor Mahan who accused Torres of holding his council seat “hostage.” Yet Mahan and a majority of the council agreed to excuse Torres’ absence from one of those meetings — enraging members of the public and even some City Hall workers.

San Jose Councilmember Bien Doan on Thursday said he intends to begin proceedings to remove Torres under the city charter.

Doan said the Torres scandal is shedding light on needed changes to the city charter — including the creation of a mandatory administrative leave policy if a councilmember faces a felony criminal investigation. He said he believes the recall effort is the right thing to do.

“I am researching every avenue possible to begin proceedings to remove Councilmember Torres from office as I am empowered to do under our city charter,” Doan previously told San José Spotlight.
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On Wednesday, one of the Bay Area’s largest LGBTQ+ political groups broke its silence on the Torres scandal by calling on him to resign.

“In the words San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres admits are his own, he has clearly violated the high standards required of an elected official and must resign,” wrote the Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “Torres is entitled to the presumption of innocence regarding any alleged criminal conduct, but he must be accountable now for the abhorrent descriptions of acts with minors in his messages.”

Story updated Oct. 25 at 11:43 a.m. Original story published Oct. 25 at 9:23 a.m.

Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X, formerly known as Twitter. Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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