Editorial: It’s not too late. Let voters pick SJ councilmembers

When it comes to filling the two vacancies on the San Jose City Council, it’s never too late to do the right thing.

Councilmembers should switch gears Tuesday and call special elections to fill the District 8 and 10 seats that were left vacant after the November elections. They should abandon their plans to appoint replacements. Let the people living in the districts decide. It’s the democratic way.

A new poll shows that San Jose residents want the council to do just that. The Public Policy Poll of 500 residents citywide reveals 86% favor a special election to fill the two seats.

Instead, the council is moving forward with the plan adopted in December by the outgoing council to appoint the District 8 and District 10 councilmembers for the next two years. Councilmembers will pick representatives for two districts where they don’t even live rather than letting the residents there choose. It enables a labor-leaning council majority to impose its will on two districts that are more politically moderate.

The two seats were left vacant because of the election of District 10 Councilmember Matt Mahan to be the city’s new mayor and District 8 Councilmember Sylvia Arenas to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.

District 8 covers East San Jose and the Evergreen area and District 10 encompasses the Almaden Valley and Blossom Hill communities. They are two of the city’s most politically moderate districts. Both supported Mahan over his labor-backed opponent, Cindy Chavez, in the Nov. 8 election. But labor is keen to have two of its representatives fill the seats, solidifying control of the council.

Last Tuesday, as the council moved forward with its undemocratic appointment process, it named 11 finalists for the two seats. The five finalists in District 8 are Patricia Andrade, Salvador Alvarez, Sukhdev Bainiwal, Domingo Candelas and Tam Truong. In District 10, the finalists are Ron Del Pozzo, Arjun Batra, George Casey, Wendi Mahaney-Gurahoo, Dennis Hawkins and J. David Heindel.

Bainiwal and Truong’s background and experience in the community make them the strongest candidates in District 8. Heindel is chair of the District 10 leadership coalition, making him the standout candidate for that district. Andrade in District 8 and Mahaney-Gurahoo in District 10 both have strong ties to labor. But, again, this is a decision the voters should be making, not the council.

The last five times San Jose has had a council vacancy, dating back to 1995, voters picked the replacement. Councilmembers favoring appointing representatives argue that an election would cost the city as much as $11 million. But that represents a tiny fraction of the city’s $6 billion budget. It’s a small price to pay for advancing democracy.

The council should vote Tuesday for a special election to fill the District 8 and 10 seats. The selections should be made by voters of those districts, not councilmembers with ulterior political agendas.