Whereas San Jose councilwoman Pam Foley is all however assured one other four-year time period in workplace, town’s different incumbent, Maya Esparza, must fend off two opponents — each Vietnamese People — within the June major to maintain her seat on a council that at the moment has no Asian American elected members.
Within the District 7 race to symbolize a various array of neighborhoods south of downtown San Jose from Little Saigon to La Tropicana to Tully Santee, Esparza will face off in opposition to San Jose Hearth Captain Bien Doan and Van Le, a trustee for the East Aspect Union Excessive Faculty District. Through the first month of fundraising, Esparza raked in additional than $40,000 in exterior donations whereas Doan reported $14,650.
District 9 councilwoman Foley, who represents neighborhoods between Willow Glen and Almaden Valley resembling Cambrian Park, is operating unopposed.
Town’s three remaining odd-numbered district races don't function an incumbent since these councilmembers already served the restrict of two consecutive four-year phrases.
Esparza, 51, a former Franklin-McKinley Faculty District Board trustee who labored for the nonprofit housing group Vacation spot: Dwelling, was first elected to her seat in 2018 when she beat the district’s then-incumbent Tam Nguyen. Esparza has been endorsed by the South Bay Labor Council, Santa Clara County Democratic Social gathering and San Jose Firefighters.
Whereas on town council, Esparza has led efforts to implement new site visitors security measures in District 9, elevated the variety of Dumpster Days to curb blight and unlawful dumping and advocated for town to deal with fairness points between East and West San Jose, together with response efforts to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With one other time period in workplace, Esparza mentioned she hopes to proceed to broaden upon the achievements she’s achieved and advocate for assets and help for residents and companies in her district that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
“I've listened to the wants of my neighborhood and introduced new assets to the district,” she mentioned, “however there's much more work to proceed and that document of onerous work and dedication is one thing our neighborhood desperately wants.”
Each of Esparza’s opponents have partly determined to run for a seat on the council to offer illustration for town’s massive Asian American inhabitants. Almost 40% of San Jose residents determine as Asian but town council doesn't at the moment have any elected officers who replicate that section of the inhabitants.
“It’s remarkable in any main metropolitan metropolis to have one thing like that and I feel our metropolis ought to thrive to have equal illustration on the council,” Doan mentioned in an interview.
Doan, 57, has been with the San Jose Hearth Division for 21 years, together with the previous 11 years as a hearth captain. Doan has been endorsed by the Silicon Valley Biz PAC, in addition to San Jose councilwoman Dev Davis and former councilman Johnny Khamis — two of probably the most conservative members of the council in recent times.
If elected, Doan mentioned he desires to cut back taxes throughout the board for each residents and companies and to rent a whole bunch of extra cops and firefighters by offering them with larger salaries and higher advantages.
Doan argues that the district’s present consultant, Esparza, has failed to offer the management essential to adequately tackle the variety of unhoused residents residing on the road within the district and needs to work with the county to put get extra of them into psychological well being and drug dependancy therapy, he mentioned.
“I do know that as an elected officer of this metropolis I'll work day and evening relentlessly to make adjustments,” he mentioned. “I’ll do this by listening to the wants of all constituents, companies, neighborhood members, neighborhood teams and faculties.”
Le, 63, owns a State Farm Insurance coverage workplace in San Jose and has served as a trustee of the East Aspect Union Excessive Faculty District since 2010. She’s additionally been concerned in a number of regional and state-level organizations just like the California Faculty Board Affiliation and Vietnamese People in Northern California. In 2018, she ran in opposition to Esparza for a similar council seat however didn't garner sufficient votes to make it to the runoff.
Le immigrated to San Jose in 1975 after the autumn of Saigon in Vietnam — a background that she says has taught her “the significance of onerous work and public service.”
If elected, Le mentioned she would use her enterprise and faculty board background to search for methods to chop prices and liberate funds to bolster town’s police division and get extra unhoused residents into everlasting housing. Le additionally mentioned she desires to “maintain metropolis employees accountable” for decreasing the variety of unhoused residents on the road, in addition to maintain unhoused residents accountable for taking accessible shelter beds or everlasting housing models after they open up.
“It’s necessary to deal with the homeless with compassion but in addition accountability,” she mentioned. “We’ll help them however they've to know that they should help themselves.”
With no challenger within the metropolis’s District 9 race, Foley, 62, is ready to stay the district’s consultant by 2026.
Foley, who beforehand served as a trustee on the Faculty Board for the San José Unified Faculty District, was elected to the council in 2018. Just lately, she led the trouble to ban flavored tobacco in San Jose and has been a vocal proponent of addressing site visitors deaths throughout town, together with serving as vice-chair of town’s Zero Imaginative and prescient Process Power.
“The rationale I feel I’m operating unopposed is that I do a superb job of reaching out to my neighborhood, listening to them and responding with respect, honesty and integrity,” she mentioned. “When residents name my workplace, we have now a coverage of claiming ‘how will we get them to sure?'”
This text is a part of a sequence on the June 2022 races for San Jose’s 5 odd-numbered district seats.
To learn concerning the metropolis’s District 1 race to symbolize West San Jose, click on right here.
To study concerning the candidates vying to symbolize downtown San Jose in District 3, click on right here.
And for the District 5 race to symbolize East San Jose, click on right here.