By Cory Wolbach
For housers, for those of us invested in seeing San Jose commit and deliver on housing production, preservation, and renter protection/empowerment, for those interested in seeing the city address homelessness effectively and humanely, the runoff in the San Jose City Council District 3 special election is a best-case-scenario. Combined, the two candidates received over 50% of the vote, which we see as a big win for a holistic and humane approach to housing. What’s more, the two remaining candidates are both SV@Home alumni!
Gabby Chavez Lopez is a former member of the SV@Home team, having served as our Director of Communications & Membership. Anthony Tordillos is an alumni of the SV@Home Action Fund’s Civic Leadership Program (2023 cohort). Gabby runs the Latina Coalition of Silicon. Anthony chairs the San Jose Planning Commission. Gabby is a former member of the Santa Clara County Planning Commission. As San Jose continues to struggle with difficult housing policy debates, having a D3 councilmember who understands and cares about housing justice will make a difference.
Either option before the voters of District 3 in the June 24 runoff will be a voice for housing. In the future, that’s exactly what we want to see everywhere. When all the candidates agree on the goals of housing production, affordable housing preservation, renter empowerment, and humane and effective homelessness prevention and response — we all win.
Within the SV@Home team, some of us prefer Gabby, some prefer Anthony, some (myself included) can’t pick between them.
While the SV@Home Action Fund, as a 501c4, is able to make endorsements, we have not done so and will not in this race.
Full disclosure, I endorsed both Anthony and Gabby in my personal capacity before the campaign really took off, and I haven’t changed my position. I worked directly with Gabby, who was on our team when I joined in 2021; she was a joy to work with, and I have been impressed by her work with the Latina Coalition since. I mentored Anthony in the Civic Leadership Program, and his work as a Planning Commissioner — including around the San Jose Housing Element — has also been impressive. To be fair, this runoff also makes me feel a little uncomfortable: 2 people I like and admire are running against each other. Luckily for me, I don’t live in the district, so I won’t have to decide between them on election day. I encourage voters in District 3 to pay close attention to both candidates, and to ask from them the best. In office, we should hold whomever wins accountable.
I hope they and their mutual supporters each run a cordial and clean race over the next month. I also hope they are prepared to collaborate after the election, because they each bring strengths, insights, and networks which will help the other. It will be up to them to choose to focus on the positives they each can bring to the district, the city, and the region if elected.