Residents of San Jose's District 3 have launched a campaign to recall embattled gay City Councilmember Omar Torres — who was stripped of his committee assignments and urged by colleagues to resign when it was revealed he's under criminal investigation after he admitted in a text message to performing oral sex on a 17-year-old.
Meanwhile, Torres, 43, who has not beed arrested or charged with a crime, has asked to take a leave of absence from City Hall, citing the recommendation of a doctor.
In other news, prominent Silicon Valley LGBTQ groups are condemning stereotyping of LGBTQ people alongside sexual abuse, while not taking a specific stance on the Torres matter.
Torres represents downtown San Jose and the Qmunity District, the city's LGBTQ neighborhood. Earlier this month, the San Jose Police Department confirmed it was investigating Torres on suspicion of seeking sexually explicit pictures of a minor online. For his part, the councilmember said the allegations were "entirely false" and part of a blackmail scheme waged against him by a Chicago man he had met online.
In a Snapchat message, Torres stated "when I worked at a site at a college I sucked a student in the control room. Black 17 year old and boom. 9.5 inches at 17," according to a sworn affidavit from a San Jose police officer.
Matthew Quevedo, a straight ally who is deputy chief of staff to San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, told the Bay Area Reporter on October 28 he's heard enough. On October 25, he and other District 3 residents announced the start of a recall campaign.
"When the councilmember wasn't going to move forward with [a resignation], we decided to move forward with a recall," Quevedo said.
Mahan and Torres' colleagues on the City Council asked for his resignation October 16, as the B.A.R. reported. When he failed to do so, his colleagues stripped him of his committee assignments October 23.
He was removed from his roles with the Public Safety, Finance, and Strategy Support; Community and Economic Development; and Neighborhood Services and Education committees.
"Omar Torres is holding his seat hostage and taking away the right to representation from 100,000 residents of San Jose even after the entire council has called for his resignation," Mahan stated in a news release October 23. "While we don't have the tools we need to fully remove him from office as the community has asked us to do, we can and have stripped him from all committees, boards, and commissions. I am looking forward to the day when we have a District 3 leader who is worthy of the trust and respect of the community."
Torres was also stripped of his roles with the Arts Commission, Downtown Parking Board, Library and Education Commission, the San Jose Youth Empowerment Alliance, the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency Governing Board, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Board, the Santa Clara VTA Policy Advisory Board — Diridon Station, the Silicon Valley Regional Interoperability Project, the Team San Jose/Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Schools and City Collaborative. Fellow councilmembers replaced Torres on those bodies.
Quevedo told the B.A.R. the recall effort only needs 12% of the roughly 44,000 registered voters in the district, a number he calculates at 5,289. A committee has already started gathering signatures required for the main effort to get state approval to collect signatures.
"We don't want to be six months from now thinking, 'We should have started six months ago,'" he said.
Based on his reading of the city charter, Quevedo said if the requisite number of signatures are collected and verified, it should be two to four weeks until a date for the recall is announced. If it's successful, a vacancy is declared and the council can appoint a new member or have a special election. (The candidates to replace Torres will not run on the recall ballot.)
Last week, the council excused Torres' October 8 absence — which he claimed was due to "illness" — and that allows the member to keep his seat on the council. If Torres misses five meetings without the council's excusing his absence, his seat would become vacant.
Torres subsequently cited a doctor's recommendation to allow him "the necessary space to recover." The recommendation is he takes the next month off. The request, made October 23, has not been approved.
Quevedo said that excused absences are among "loopholes that would allow him to stay in office for some time."
The B.A.R. reached out to Torres' office for a statement October 28. A staffer who answered the phone declined to comment and referred the paper to Torres' attorney, Nelson McElmurry, who didn't return a subsequent request for comment.
LGBTQ groups condemn sex crimes, stereotyping
The Silicon Valley Pride Board of Directors, Qmunity District President Nathan Svoboda, and BAYMEC Community Foundation Executive Director Ken Yeager, the first gay man to serve on the San Jose City Council, released a joint statement October 25 stating that they don't "take a position on the specifics of the allegations," but that they condemn sex crimes in general as well as false stereotypes that LGBTQ people are more prone to commit them.
"Child sexual abuse/assault/exploitation, or any other criminal activity, has no place within or connection to the LGBTQ+ community," the statement reads. "Incidents like this, regardless of the individuals involved, fuel harmful stereotypes and misrepresentations about the LGBTQ+ community as a whole.
"We condemn all forms of abuse/assault/exploitation and any association with such actions does not reflect the values of our community," the statement continues. "Our mission remains to advocate for justice, equality, and the dignity of all people. We are committed to fighting against stereotyping narratives that target marginalized communities."
The statement refers victims of sexual abuse, assault and exploitation, and/or discrimination to groups that can help them: the National Human Trafficking Hotline for crisis support; Legal Aid Services for legal assistance; the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network for counseling and mental health support; the National Domestic Violence Hotline for immediate help; the LGBTQ Youth Space for youth support services; and the County of Santa Clara offices of behavioral health services and LGBTQ affairs.
The B.A.R. asked Silicon Valley Pride and the Qmunity District why they won't take a position on whether Torres should leave office, and if they have a position on the recall.
"Silicon Valley Pride won't comment on an ongoing/open investigation," Silicon Valley Pride CEO Nicole Altamirano stated in an email October 28. "Additionally, as a nonprofit organization, we maintain a nonpartisan stance and do not engage in, endorse, or comment on political matters, including recall elections."
Svoboda and Yeager didn't return requests for comment. The nonprofit BAYMEC foundation is separate from the Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee, the LGBTQ political action committee focused on the South Bay and Santa Cruz County.
Quevedo said he's looking forward to talking with LGBTQ groups and community organizations in District 3.
"I don't want to speak for those," he said when asked about the LGBTQ leaders' stances in their joint statement. "I want to talk to community organizations like BAYMEC — the entire committee looks forward to speaking with them and having them weigh in. We're feeling good right now with the folks who are involved."
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