{"id":480436,"date":"2026-09-30T12:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T12:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/480436\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T12:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T12:24:08","slug":"election-san-jose-city-council-candidates-plans-for-housing-affordability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/480436\/","title":{"rendered":"Election: San Jose City Council candidates plans’ for housing affordability"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deep into the late hours of a San Jose City Council meeting on Aug. 18, city leaders faced a full house of passionate residents divided over an issue that has polarized communities across the state: housing density<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The council will consider updates to its long-term land-use plans late next year, and winners of three key district races in November will play a pivotal role in deciding how far San Jose will go to meet its target of making space for 62,000 new homes in hopes of bringing down costs in one of the nation\u2019s least affordable cities.<\/p>\n

The contentious August meeting reflected a long-running debate over how local government should manage housing development. On one side were neighbors in fierce opposition to proposals that could quadruple allowable housing density, arguing that the changes would erode their quality of life and neighborhood character. On the other were housing advocates who urged officials to do everything in their power to build homes they say are desperately needed.<\/p>\n

Voters in District 9, in San Jose\u2019s southwest, will choose a representative for the council\u2019s only open<\/a> seat as Vice Mayor Pam Foley finishes her final term. The race features former police officer and family therapist Genny Altwer against public works employee Gordon Chester, two first-time candidates who emerged from the primary.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile on the East Side, District 7 incumbent Bien Doan<\/a>, a retired firefighter, and District 5 incumbent Peter Ortiz<\/a>, a former Mt. Pleasant Elementary and Santa Clara County Board of Education trustee, defend their seats. Doan faces East Side Union High School District trustee Van Le, while Ortiz takes on Nora Campos, a former councilmember and state assemblymember.<\/p>\n

Councilmembers in San Jose \u2014 including the mayor \u2014 are elected to two four-year terms, serve full-time, and are equipped with full-time staff.<\/p>\n

Garrick Percival, professor of political science at San Jose State University, said the housing issue is one of the most complex challenges councilmembers will face in the coming term.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you build more housing and at the same time protect the cultural and aesthetic elements that people who own housing want to protect?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

While all six candidates support concentrating new housing development along transit corridors, commercial centers, or areas with infrastructure to support more homes, they differ on what kinds of housing should go where and the methods to get there\u00a0 \u2013 though Doan remained the only contender explicit in his opposition to upzoning single-family neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

Doan, one of three councilmembers who opposed quadrupling single-family density during the August meeting, said he supports \u201cthoughtful increases in density,\u201d but that it should be decided on a case-by-case basis. His opponent, Le, urged the city to weigh local infrastructure and parking when considering higher density.<\/p>\n

Ortiz believes housing growth should be paired with strong renter and small business protections. Campos, who previously represented District 5 from 2001 to 2010, suggested focusing on \u201cinfill\u201d opportunities \u2013 building on vacant or underutilized lots within established neighborhoods \u2013 to add townhomes and detached homes with minimal traffic impact in lower-density areas.<\/p>\n

Chester views mixed-use neighborhood zoning as a path to support multigenerational living, advocating for mid-rise, wood-frame developments near neighborhood schools. He directly links housing growth to reversing declining student enrollment, which has squeezed district budgets and forced school closures.<\/p>\n

Altwer said focusing density near transit corridors and urban villages ensures \u201cyoung families can afford to call San Jose home\u201d while protecting existing neighborhood character.<\/p>\n

Alongside debates over neighborhood density, candidates are also wrestling with how to finance new affordable housing developments as traditional public subsidies grow more scarce.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the City Council voted to test new funding models for mixed-income developments, shifting away from a sole reliance on 100% affordable housing. City officials have argued that without financial incentives, zoning changes alone won\u2019t get housing built.<\/a><\/p>\n

All six candidates agree mixed-income development is a critical tool to expand housing supply across income levels, though candidates like Ortiz and Chester cautioned that new funding models must not abandon fully-affordable housing for the city\u2019s lowest-income residents.<\/p>\n

Last year, Doan and Ortiz, along with Councilmember Pamela Campos, voted against a plan spearheaded by Mayor Matt Mahan to reprioritize Measure E<\/a> \u2013 the city\u2019s local transfer tax levied on high-value property sales. Although the reallocation was approved, shifting nearly $40 million originally designated for permanent affordable housing to construct temporary shelters instead, Ortiz maintained that long-term affordable housing funds must be protected.<\/p>\n

While voting to support the mixed-income funding ordinance, Ortiz rejected the framing of funding housing as an \u201ceither-or\u201d choice \u2013 arguing that funding for the lowest income residents should not be neglected.<\/p>\n

His opponent Campos supports partnering with the state to subsidize land acquisition and public infrastructure costs.<\/p>\n

While Le supports mixed-income development, she maintained that funding for 100% affordable projects should still be pursued.<\/p>\n

Doan argued that beyond financing, San Jose should lower the cost of building by clearing administrative obstacles so the private market can build, rejecting continuous taxpayer subsidies for increasingly expensive developments.<\/p>\n

Chester noted that market-rate development and affordability should work together, while Altwer argued that excessive city fees and planning delays function as \u201ctaxes on new housing\u201d that discourage builders and inflate costs.<\/p>\n

In San Jose, the housing debate is no longer about whether to build, but where, how much, and what kind is necessary in order to bring down costs. Whoever voters elect to the council will play a pivotal role in reshaping the city\u2019s neighborhoods and dictating affordability for years to come.<\/p>\n

But to win those seats, Percival noted, candidates must take their vision directly to constituents.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t win a race just sending off flyers in the mail or running online ads,\u201d Percival said. \u201cYou have to get out there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deep into the late hours of a San Jose City Council meeting on Aug. 18, city leaders faced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1400,380,184,387,7,8,409,383,204,1011,1336,181,23,100,13,388,88,5500,26916,90,89,198,200],"class_list":["post-480436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-2026-elections","tag-affordable-housing","tag-bay-area","tag-business","tag-california","tag-california-news","tag-city-politics","tag-economy","tag-election","tag-housing","tag-housing-crisis","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-real-estate","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-city-council","tag-san-jose-elections","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-south-bay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480436","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=480436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}