Joseph Geha [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.
Omar Torres [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.
Alan Montecillo [00:03:17] Tell me a little more about the district. District 3, we’re talking downtown San Jose.
Joseph Geha [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.
Alan Montecillo [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?
Joseph Geha [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.
Alan Montecillo [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.
Joseph Geha [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.
Elizabeth Chien-Hale [00:08:04] Downtown in particular, I think needs constant representation because we just have so many problems, so many issues.
Joseph Geha [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.
Elizabeth Chien-Hale [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.
Joseph Geha [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.
Alan Montecillo [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?
Joseph Geha [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.
Alan Montecillo [00:10:45] What changed then, if at the time Omar Torres says, I’m not resigning? What ultimately led to his resignation?
Joseph Geha [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.
Alan Montecillo [00:11:59] Yeah.
Joseph Geha [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.
Alan Montecillo [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?
Joseph Geha [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.
Alan Montecillo [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.
Joseph Geha [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.
Alan Montecillo [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.
Joseph Geha [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.
Bien Doan [00:14:58] When you have a representative with these heinous allegations, it destroys the trust and integrity of our community.
Joseph Geha [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.
Bien Doan [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.
Matt Mahan [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.
Joseph Geha [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.
Matt Mahan [00:16:12] As I think you all know, the charter provides two options which can be combined.
Joseph Geha [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.
Matt Mahan [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.
Joseph Geha [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.
Alan Montecillo [00:17:08] Has anyone put their name forward as a potential council member, whether they get appointed or run for the seat?
Joseph Geha [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.
Alan Montecillo [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?
