District 7 voters got an early look at the candidates running to represent them on the San Jose City Council at a Thursday candidate forum, the first to be held in the district this election cycle.
The four candidates facing off in the June 2 primary — incumbent Councilmember Bien Doan, City Hall staffer Hanh-Giao “HG” Nguyen, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union member Rafael Garcia and Van Le, an East Side Union High School District trustee — fielded wide-ranging questions over the course of an hour and a half at the Franklin-McKinley School District board room.
Several areas of agreement emerged as the candidates laid out their platforms. All said they would seek to improve public safety, reduce homelessness and address quality of life issues such as blight and street conditions. Rather than clashing over policy, the candidates diverged most sharply over how they view the district’s overall trajectory.
“District 7 needs a lot of help and a lot of cleanup,” Nguyen, a longtime leader in the city’s Vietnamese community who presently works in District 5 Councilmember Peter Ortiz’s office, said. “We can talk all day long, but I walk out and I still see encampments and still see blight up to my head. I still see criminals running around. I want to clean that up.”
Le, who founded the popular Children’s Moon Festival before becoming a longtime education leader, also made the case that the district needs new leadership.
“I want to serve on city council because District 7 deserves leadership that listens, delivers results and focuses on long-term solutions,” Le said. “Families face rising costs, safety concerns and too often feel unheard. I bring experience, accountability and the commitment to make every dollar count for the community.”
Le left the event early to attend a special meeting of the East Side Union High School District board.
Le and Nguyen have publicly clashed with Doan, and the pair have incorporated these longstanding feuds into their electoral cases against the incumbent.
For his part, Doan stood by his three-year track record in office, during which time he has championed causes supported by the city’s Vietnamese community and provided a reliable vote in favor of boosting public safety resources.
“The citizens see the street is cleaner. It’s tangible. You can actually see it,” Doan, who won his seat in 2022 after a 21-year career with the San Jose Fire Department, said. “District 7 has never been safer. … Our citizens actually can see the improvement in the quality of life.”
District 7 voters gathered inside the Franklin-McKinley School District board room as four candidates seeking the district’s City Council seat squared off in their first public forum. Photo courtesy of D7 Leadership Group.
Throughout the night, Garcia steered clear of any direct attack on his fellow candidates, instead framing his candidacy around his blue collar background and extensive work coaching youth sports.
“I’m running to make sure working people have a stronger voice at City Hall,” Garcia said. “My campaign is about public safety, opportunity and making sure San Jose works better for working families.”
He also said that he would place a heavy focus on supporting public events and youth activities as a means of driving civic engagement.
“I hate to see when I drive by a ballpark and there are no kids in the afternoon,” he said. “I was raised where there was not an empty spot anywhere, so I would like to bring that back to our community.”
Whoever wins the race — which will go to a November runoff if no candidate wins a clear majority in June — will represent a district that encompasses parts of central and East San Jose. That includes the Little Saigon Business District, a cultural and commercial hub for the approximately 145,000 residents of Vietnamese descent in the city. The district also has a sizable Latino voter base.
Concerns over public safety surfaced several times during the candidate forum, which was co-hosted by the South Bay chapter of the League of Women Voters and the D7 Leadership Group. Doan highlighted his efforts on council to improve recruitment and retention at the San Jose Police Department, as well as his support for the tough on crime state ballot measure Proposition 36.
“We are the safest city in America. Why? Because we work hard at it,” Doan said.
But Le argued the city needs to employ a more thoughtful approach as it seeks to shore up its chronically understaffed police force while also confronting a multiyear budget deficit.
“We don’t just need more officers,” she said. “We need smarter deployment and stronger prevention. We spend millions on overtime because we are understaffed.”
The event’s moderator, League of Women Voters member Gloria Chun Hoo, also asked candidates for their stances on several specific policy questions related to public safety and homelessness.
The candidates generally voiced support for the city’s automated license plate reader program, arguing its public safety benefits outweigh the privacy concerns raised by many residents.
Three of the candidates — Le, Doan and Garcia — signaled support for Mayor Matt Mahan’s recent proposal to generate revenue by requiring people living in city-backed homeless shelters to pay fees of up to 30% of their income. Only Nguyen voiced clear opposition.
Views were more mixed when the candidates were asked whether they support Mahan’s decision to divert a greater share of funds from Measure E, a 2020 voter approved source of funding for housing support, away from permanent affordable housing toward temporary shelters. The issue became a flashpoint during last year’s budget negotiations, when the mayor led a successful push to reallocate $39 million toward shelter expansion.
The candidates spoke about the need to provide both forms of housing support, while Nguyen again voiced the most forceful opposition to Mahan’s policy.
“When I voted for Measure E, I voted for affordable housing for working families,” she said. “For some reason, it’s been used for homeless people, and because of that, I think we didn’t take care of the root of the problem.”
At another point, Le called for greater accountability in the city’s spending on homelessness programs.
“What are we getting for it?” she said. “Temporary solutions are not a strategy. We need a path to permanent housing. We should prioritize family, seniors and those most vulnerable first.”
Contact Keith Menconi at [email protected] or @KeithMenconi on X.