San Jose City Council appoints interim District 3 council member after Torres arrest
SAN JOSE, Calif. - The San Jose City Council has appointed Carl Eugene Salas as interim council member for District 3, filling the seat left vacant after former councilmember Omar Torres resigned after being arrested for alleged child sexual abuse last year.
After months of vetting applicants to fill the open seat, the city council on Tuesday listened to the final four applicants make their case for the District 3 seat.
Robert Staedler and Danielle Christian were eliminated from the process, which left Jahmal Williams and Salas as the sole contenders. Salas was selected in a 6 to 4 decision, and was sworn into the position on Tuesday night.
"I expect to be able to listen and talk and really communicate as we’re answering those phone calls and answering those emails, so that we really
can respond and have the feeling that we’re responsive, so we can bring it up to council and get something done," Salas said.
Salas, who founded an engineering firm and has lived and served the San Jose community for decades, stood alongside San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan after the meeting.
"District 3 residents need to know that they can trust their representation at city hall," Mahan said. "I know Carl’s committed to rebuilding that trust."
Salas will fill the seat until April, and he will not be on the ballot for the special election.
"I’m so excited at the end of my professional career to really try to add some value, especially at this tough time here at the city when you have a
$60 million deficit," Salas said. "We have the greatest people in the world."
There are seven other candidates running for the permanent District 3 seat, and there could be a run-off election in June.
The backstory:
Torres, the former District 3 council member, was arrested last November and faces three counts of sodomy and oral copulation of a child stemming from alleged crimes that took place more than 25 years ago.
Investigators said the crimes started in 1990 when the unidentified victim was four and Torres was nine, and continued until the victim was 13 and Torres was 18.
Torres, who was serving his first term on the council, penned a letter to the full city council and his constituents just before his arrest resigning as the District 3 representative.