Candidates for the District 3 seat of the San José City Council are continuing to have events throughout the district in hopes of steering voters in their direction.
On Saturday, both Matthew Quevedo and Gabby Chavez-Lopez held community canvassing events. Quevedo hosted his at Backesto Park while Chavez-Lopez hosted her “Women’s Walk with Gabby” at Raymond Bernal Jr. Memorial Park.
Saturday Feb. 22
Quevedo returned to his weekly campaign spot at Backesto Park urging members of the district to go out knocking on doors to support his run for District 3 of San José City Council.
“I want to work to end street homelessness; I want to ensure we’re rebuilding our police department, end plight throughout downtown (and) build up our economic base,” Quevedo said.
Quevedo also wants to hire more police officers and equip the police department with better technology, according to the safety page of his campaign website.
Following the “Women’s Walk with Gabby” event on Saturday where she and her supporters knocked on doors and canvassed for her campaign. Chavez-Lopez participated in the District 3 forum that occurred Monday held at the Wesley United Methodist Fellowship Hall in San José’s Japantown.
Monday Feb. 24
Compared to the previous district forum which happened on Feb. 12, Monday night had a full panel with all seven of the candidates participating and addressing the issues that the residents of District 3 felt needed attention.
When the topic of houselessness arose during the forum, candidate Tyrone Wade, former marriage and family crisis counselor, proposed his idea for increased housing sustainability and public safety.
“I have a plan and a way to solve the homelessness issue (and) it isn’t building small homes and throwing people in there,” Wade said. “We need Wraparound services (and) we need to provide people healthcare, education and training; these are things that will help them get on the path to sustainability.”
Wraparound is a strengths-based planning program that engages with children and families as a means to help them live in a stable environment, according to a webpage from the California Department of Social Services.
“These are things that I will look at as a counselor, and this is the way that we would solve the homeless plight,” Wade said.
Plans made by the program are personalized for each family based on the culture and preferences of the family and children, according to the same source.
Former Sheriff Lieutenant Adam Duran had a different approach as a response to the homelessness crisis in San José.
“Putting a house over someone does not solve the problem,” Duran said. “I believe we need to lobby city, county, state and federal government to open up more mental health facilities and also drug rehab centers to help those struggling with addiction.”
About one-third of unhoused people have issues with alcohol and/or drugs while two-thirds of them have lifelong histories of drug or alcohol usage, according to a webpage from the American Addiction Centers.
During the forum, Duran also brought up an incident that occurred on Saturday while he was out doing campaign work that played some role in his conclusion, regarding the lack of mental health facilities.
“I, personally, while canvassing on Saturday was assaulted by a mentally ill person,” Duran said. “She swung at me (so) I moved (and) she hit my arm along with my paperwork and (I) was actually sore for about a day.”
In data collected by Rebecca Barry, a postdoctoral researcher, 67% of unhoused individuals suffer from some sort of mental illness, according to an April 17, 2024 article from U.S. News & World Report.
Regarding the public safety aspect of the city, Quevedo addressed his support for Proposition 36.
Proposition 36, which was passed in 2024, allows felony charges for certain thefts if the perpetrator has two prior convictions of the same crime, according to a webpage from the California General Election Voter Guide.
“That (Proposition 36) is something that is going to get us back on the road to accountability, ensuring (that) people who commit crimes are held accountable,” Quevedo said.
Phil Dolan, a knife sharpener salesman also running for District 3, gave a different take regarding the issue with people perpetrating public safety.
“People need to start being held accountable; they need to start going to jail,” Dolan said. “If you’re a grown man by yourself, you need to get off the drugs (and) you need to get a job; we can’t just keep talking about this.”
Chavez-Lopez expressed her agreement with increasing access to mental health services but also brought up the fact that the money to fund these services has to come from somewhere.
The city of San Jose is facing a $60 million deficit, though this figure is smaller than other major Bay Area cities, according to a Feb. 12 article from KQED.
“It’s a huge issue and there are needs that are needed in terms of mental health support services (and) drug support service,” Chavez-Lopez said. “We need to look at not only the micro of who is the one deploying these services but also look at the bigger macro picture of how are we going to finance these plans and how are we going to align as different agencies to be able to have a shared goal.”
This Saturday Quevedo is scheduled to host a “Saturday Walk” at Backesto Park at 10:30 a.m., according to a post on his campaign Instagram page.
