After hours of interviews and deliberation, San Jose city officials selected engineer and businessman Carl Salas to temporarily represent District 3, filling the months-long void since a child molestation scandal prompted disgraced Councilmember Omar Torres’ resignation.
Salas defeated San Jose State Director of DEI Partnerships Jahmal Williams in the final round of voting by a simple majority after both advanced over land-use consultant Bob Staedler and Danielle Christian, a longtime Santa Clara County employee, at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, where all of the candidates participated in public interviews.
“I’m so excited to have an opportunity at the end of my professional career to really try to add some value, especially at this tough time here in the city, when we have a $60 million deficit,” Salas said. “We have the greatest people in the world, the greatest weather in the world, and I know I live the greatest opportunity in the world, right here in San Jose. I’m so excited to be a part of this.”
With District 3, which encompasses the area around downtown, already facing a prolonged lack of leadership and representation due to Torres’ absence and ouster, the City Council opted to fill the seat through a temporary appointment and special election.
Seven candidates will appear on the April 8 special election ballot. If none of the candidates receive a majority of the votes, a runoff election between the two highest vote-getters will occur on June 24.
But with the prospect of the seat sitting vacant for several months without an elected leader, city officials sought a caretaker for District 3 that could hit the ground running and manage the upcoming budget process, which will face tradeoffs due to a ballooning deficit.
Eleven candidates initially applied for the interim position before the City Council whittled down the list to five.
Caltrain government affairs officer Baltazar Lopez initially was set to be part of the interview proceedings but notified the city that he needed to bow out of the process on Monday.
Salas and Williams emerged as the frontrunners, earning all but one of the votes from city councilmembers in the first round of voting. Along with a large contingent of the community championing his character, Williams wowed some members of the City Council with his ability to collaborate and engage with various groups, a key trait given the level of diversity in the district.
Meanwhile, Salas stood out to the City Council and some members of the community for his business acumen, spirit of generosity and volunteerism.
“A lot of my role models in the city have business interests and community interests but also are known to bend over and pick up a piece of gum or litter from the road and that’s Carl Salas,” Boys and Girls Club of Silicon Valley CEO Steve Wymer said. “He’s such a role model to me and others and I admire him a lot for his many years of service .”
The council, however, failed to reach a super majority, with Salas holding a 6-4 voting edge following the second round. The City Council initially voted against lowering the threshold to a simple majority to make the appointment and instead initiated another round of questioning to see if any councilmembers could be swayed to change their votes.
When the council again failed to change their votes, Mayor Matt Mahan warned that coming away without selecting a representative would be a blow to District 3 residents and asked the council to reconsider lowering the threshold.
“I think the alternative would be to say that we’re not going to meet that threshold and walk away and continue with District 3 residents in limbo, which is probably the worst outcome I can imagine,” Mahan said.
Salas, whose engineering firm has grown to employ thousands of employees in dozens of cities across the U.S. and Canada, said he would be able to rally residents from his decades of living and volunteering in the community as well as handle the budget challenges.
“I’ve never had too much money,” he said. “I’ve often had too little money, so I think I’m good at that.”
Although he will only be in the seat for three to six months, Salas said his priorities center around making the city “safe, clean and efficient.”
Despite the challenges ahead, Mahan touted Salas’ experience and expressed confidence in his ability to serve District 3 residents ably.
“I know Carl’s committed to rebuilding that trust,” Mahan said. “They need to know that we have experienced thoughtful people making tough budget trade-offs as we seek to close what is approximately a $60 million budget deficit and need to know that we are working hard every day to make our city as safe and clean and affordable as it can be, and that we’re positioned to take advantage of the unparalleled opportunity we have next year in 2026 to host the Super Bowl, three March Madness games and six World Cup games here over the course of less than nine months, right here in the San Jose metro area.”