{"id":302974,"date":"2026-05-06T19:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T19:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/302974\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T19:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T19:10:08","slug":"five-candidates-vie-for-sole-open-san-jose-city-council-seat-the-mercury-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/302974\/","title":{"rendered":"Five candidates vie for sole open San Jose City Council seat \u2013 The Mercury News"},"content":{"rendered":"

As San Jose grapples with a $50 million deficit<\/a>, public safety concerns and homelessness<\/a> in one of the country\u2019s most unaffordable cities, five candidates are competing to represent District 9 in the southwest corner of the city as Vice Mayor Pam Foley steps down from the City Council due to term limits.<\/p>\n

Voters in the largely suburban area of over 100,000 residents will choose from a field of first-time local contenders with diverse backgrounds in the only open City Council contest. They include Scott Hughes, Foley\u2019s chief of staff; Genny Altwer, a former police officer and licensed family therapist; Gordon Chester, a longtime public works staffer; Mike Hennessy, a civic organizer and entrepreneur; and Rick Ator, a tech professional.<\/p>\n

If no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote on June 2, the top two will advance to a runoff in the November general election.<\/p>\n

In San Jose\u2019s other districts, incumbents are either seeking reelection against challengers or running unopposed.<\/p>\n

In District 7, Bien Doan is running for reelection against three challengers, while incumbent District 5 Councilmember Peter Ortiz, representing East San Jose, defends his seat against three others. Rosemary Kamei of District 1 and Anthony Tordillos, who represents downtown in District 3, are unopposed.<\/p>\n

With its tree-lined streets and single-family neighborhoods, District 9 encompasses areas such as Cambrian Park, Hillsdale, Kirk Park, and parts of Willow Glen.<\/p>\n

Hughes, 59, a resident of the Branham-Kirk neighborhood who has received Foley\u2019s endorsement, noted she was able to \u201cmove City Hall closer to District 9, making it more responsive, more accountable, and more accessible to District 9 residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur office consistently receives more communication from our residents than most other districts. We responded quickly and have been accountable to our residents,\u201d Hughes said, noting the office\u2019s use of digital platforms to keep the community informed during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

If elected, he said he will provide continuity and institutional knowledge, touting his experience on the staff of former District 9 Councilmember Don Rocha prior to Foley, who has been on the council since 2019.<\/p>\n

On homelessness, Hughes said close coordination with Santa Clara County, which oversees public health, is key.<\/p>\n

San Jose has had long-running clashes with Santa Clara County<\/a> over the city\u2019s push for encampment sweeps and citations, while the county has focused on permanent housing<\/a> and voluntary care. Despite disagreements, the two governments struck a deal late last year<\/a> to integrate their homelessness response plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to be able to strengthen our relationships with the county and make sure that we\u2019re able to get them involved and collaborate with them,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n

Hughes has also been endorsed by the Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee and the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific American Democratic Club.<\/p>\n

Altwer, 45 \u2014 a former officer who worked as a sexual assault investigator and hostage negotiator, and is now a licensed family therapist \u2014 said she intends to leverage her experience to confront public safety challenges, accelerate housing production and solve the city\u2019s homelessness crisis.<\/p>\n

Altwer says most housing development should be centered in downtown<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe consensus is building downtown where there is transit, where people can access transportation, where they can have access to jobs, and it kind of helps build out and activate our downtown as well,\u201d she said. In the district, she said housing can be placed on property currently occupied by outdoor strip malls, such as Cambrian Plaza.<\/p>\n

Altwer said the long-term solution to getting people off the streets for good is building affordable housing, paired with emergency shelter and accountability for those who refuse it.<\/p>\n

Altwer, who has raised the most funds so far at over $70,000, is endorsed by the San Jose Police Officers Association, Planned Parenthood and the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors.<\/p>\n

Chester, 39, is an 11-year employee of City Hall, and previously served in the building department before transitioning to public works.<\/p>\n

Chester said building affordable housing would address a citywide decline in student enrollment, a trend that has already led to five schools being scheduled for closure throughout San Jose later this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat way, we have families that can live closer to our schools,\u201d Chester said. \u201cWe can then increase our enrollment, thereby increasing the average daily attendance which is how our schools are funded.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is in support of mid-rise wood frame housing to build new units at lower costs in the district at faster rates.<\/p>\n

While building new housing in single-family neighborhoods often gets pushback throughout the state, Chester said more families are open to it now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are more open now to seeing more homes being built in their neighborhoods,\u201d Chester said. More housing, he said, gives people something \u201cmore organic to meet neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is backed by the San Jose Firefighters Local 230, the South Bay Labor Council, Councilmember Peter Ortiz and Assemblymember Alex Lee.<\/p>\n

Hennessy, 71, is a 26-year resident of the Cambrian area who runs an auto shop and works as a civic organizer and television host. He said he intends to use his 40 years of experience as a business owner to address issues such as homelessness, public safety and the rising cost of living.<\/p>\n

Addressing the long-running conflict\u00a0between pro-business and pro-labor interests in shaping council policies, Hennessy emphasizes that his experience managing a \u201cunion shop\u201d would help bridge the gap between these factions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a way to sit these people down,\u201d Hennessy said. \u201cWe sat down and hammered out a deal. We negotiated it \u2014 we made it work.\u201d<\/p>\n

His major endorsements include State Sen. Dave Cortese, Cal Fire and the Santa Clara & San Benito Counties Building-Construction Trades union.<\/p>\n

Tech professional Ator, 47, has raised the least amount of money, mostly self-funding the campaign aside from small donations. But he said that was by design, vowing not to take money from \u201cspecial interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a local race. The amount of money that\u2019s been raised is ridiculous for a local race. It isn\u2019t the presidency,\u201d said Ator, a 16-year resident in the South San Jose neighborhood of Valley View Reed. Despite the lack of funds and big-name endorsements, Ator said he hopes his background in technology and grassroots campaigning could match more traditionally well-resourced campaigns.<\/p>\n

Ator said his priorities include ensuring police and fire departments remain fully funded and advocating for residents to have a greater voice in neighborhood developments.<\/p>\n

While he supports higher density, Ator opposes\u00a0high-rise buildings. He wants the construction of accessory dwelling units, or \u201cgranny flats,\u201d to be more efficient for homeowners, provided that parking concerns are addressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI support housing growth but we have to build infrastructure to support it,\u201d Ator said. \u201cWe have to make sure that we\u2019re not building in a way that is disturbing existing residents.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As San Jose grapples with a $50 million deficit, public safety concerns and homelessness in one of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[127869,127876,127868,127882,127871,127872,127878,106986,127873,127880,127879,127874,88,102889,5500,90,127883,89,127875,127884,127870,127881,127877],"class_list":["post-302974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-2026-san-jose-election","tag-cambrian-park-housing","tag-district-9-race","tag-first-time-council-candidates","tag-genny-altwer","tag-gordon-chester","tag-homelessness-solutions-san-jose","tag-june-2-primary","tag-mike-hennessy","tag-pam-foley-successor","tag-public-safety-san-jose","tag-rick-ator","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-budget-deficit","tag-san-jose-city-council","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-housing-targets","tag-san-jose-news","tag-san-jose-school-closures","tag-santa-clara-county-local-elections","tag-scott-hughes","tag-south-san-jose-politics","tag-willow-glen-election"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}