Race to fill District 3 seat continues
By Israel Archie SENIOR STAFF WRITER
As the special election for San José’s District 3 city council seat soon approaches, candidates are reaching out to as many voters as they can, hoping to be the next representative of the district.
The seat is open because former council member Omar Torres was arrested for child sex abuse, according to a Nov. 19, 2024 article from the Spartan Daily.
On Friday, Gabby Chavez-Lopez, special election candidate and executive director of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley, came out to the grand opening of the new restaurant El Apartamento at San José’s Downtown Food Hall.
“I think anytime that we see new businesses
opening downtown is a good sign and we like to see that activity,” ChavezLopez said. “It’s really exciting to be able to see an entrepreneur’s dream come true.”
As a District 3 resident, Chavez-Lopez said the top priority that she wishes to address is houselessness.
She has lived in the district for 22 years and in that time she has helped secure funding for affordable housing, according to her campaign website.
“I worked in housing advocacy and policy fighting to make sure that we keep people housed in the first place,” she said. “That we’re working on prevention, looking at it through a lens of how do we prevent people from entering into homelessness (houselessness), and how do we move them through different options of where
they can live.”
Chavez-Lopez urges constituents to speak out and connect with local government leaders and officials to ensure their voices are heard. She has hosted meet and greets with constituents in different parts of the district which can be seen on her campaign page on Instagram.
“If we don’t continue to uplift those challenges there’s no way that we can get our elected officials to come up with solutions,” Chavez-Lopez said. “We all have to continue to keep our communication channels open and understand that you have a lot of power and you should make sure that people (who) are making decisions about your everyday life know what you’re experiencing.”
In this race, ChavezLopez has a team of
people working on her campaign who hope to see her become the next city council member in District 3.
One of these members includes Chima Nwokolo, San José State University’s Associated Students (A.S.) vice president, serving as the community engagement lead.
“I chose to work with (Chavez-Lopez) because she is the most qualified person to be the city councilperson for District 3,” Nwokolo said. “She’s the one who has the most energy and is taking the time to go around downtown and talk to small business owners, community organizers and students and connect and empathize with them about their issues.”
Chavez-Lopez is endorsed by the International Federation of Professional and
Technical Engineers Local 21, a democratic union that helps public sector workers raise wages and benefits, according to her campaign page.
Like Chavez-Lopez, Nwokolo urges students to get involved in local politics and give themselves a voice in this special election.
“Politics, in general, is in your life, but local politics (is) even more so because it has a direct impact on you, your friends, your family and the community,” Nwokolo said.
The following day, candidate Matthew Quevedo, Mayor Matt Mahan’s deputy chief of staff, hosted an event at Backesto Park where endorser and trustee of San José Evergreen Community College District, Clayton Hale, talked to canvassing volunteers and community
residents about supporting Quevedo.
Quevedo also visited Japantown San José to talk to constituents about his priorities for the community, his special election campaign and to engage in Lunar New Year celebrations.
“I was glad to see the well-roundedness of the campaign where you can do that direct outreach and then connect with folks at a more celebratory type of event and build relationships that way,” Quevedo said.
The San José State alumnus’s main priority to address is also houselessness. More than 6,250 people were unhoused in the city on any given day and nearly 4,500 lived outdoors in 2023, according to a San José government website.
“On our streets on any given night, we have 5,000 unhoused individuals who have nowhere to go,” he said. “They don’t have shelter (and are) left to their own devices (and) as a city government, we have to do more to address that.”
As deputy chief of staff, Quevedo said he plans to work with Mayor Mahan to try to alleviate the issues in the city.
“I will be focused on the essentials that people want to see solved,” Quevedo said. “It’s ending street homelessness (houselessness), rebuilding our police department, supporting small businesses and building the housing we want to see.”
PHOTOS BY ISRAEL ARCHIE | SPARTAN DAILY
Gabby Chavez-Lopez, special election District 3 candidate, participates in ribbon
Apartamento on Friday.
Matthew Quevedo, a special election District 3 candidate, canvasses alongside Evergreen Community College district trustee Clayton Hale and supporters.
San José community protests ICE
#1: Patricia Polomares-Mason, a sahumadora (or firewoman), holds a ceremonial medicine fire while walking in front of the protesters, spreading the smoke back and forth across South King Road. “The medicine is our prayers to all our people,” she said. “We are cultura and our ancestors are with us.”
#2: Emmanuel Manzo, a ninth grade student from ACE Charter High School, rides his bike alongside two trucks to help clear the road for protesters marching behind him toward Story Road, by the same shopping plaza where a female Colombian national was taken away by ICE on Jan. 26, according to a Jan. 28 article by the Spartan Daily.
#3: Gregorio Nunez and his daughter, Avani Nunez, who attends Dulces Family Daycare in San José, ride a black horse in front of the protesters down South King Road and toward Story Road.
#4: Protesters circle Israel Malinalcoatl Zabala, a dancer from one of the number of Calpullis (or dance groups), raises a conch shell and a rattle (or “Sonaja”) to the sky right before the crowds turn to South King Road to start the march.
#5: Nico Rios, a ceremonial drummer, drums as he sits in the back of a black truck clearing the way for the crowd to pass through South King Road.
#6 Ari Zandate, sits in a gray truck with the national flag of Mexico flying out the window as she slowly drives in front of the protesters to help clear the road for them to walk along South King Road. 4 3 5 1 2
On Thursday, Jan. 30 the Spartan Daily published a story titled, “SJ immigrant youth grapple with ICE,” the following quote was misattributed “For students, I would hope that (interactions between students and ICE) wouldn’t turn rambunctious.” Rafael Alvarez, the commander of San José State University’s University Police Department operations bureau, should have been attributed. The Spartan Daily regrets this error. 6
PHOTOS BY ALINA TA | SPARTAN DAILY
#1: A 1964 Chevrolet Impala leaves the Cafe con Lowriders car meets on Sunday, slowly driving down the line of cars and showing off its hydraulics for people to watch and elicit reactions.
#2: A 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa sits in the parking lot as spectators peruse the gallery of automobiles behind it at an Alfa Romeo USA dealership in San José for the car meet-up, Alfas & Espresso.
#3: The interior console and driver’s side of a 1970s Pontiac Grand Prix lowrider kept in beautiful condition by its driver, is displayed at the Cafe con Lowriders car meet in San José.
#4: A 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air sits at the front of the line of the Cafe con Lowriders car meet in San José, its golden details and vibrant red makes it stand out, giving people a good first impression of the lineup for their lowrider meet-up.
#5: A classic 1967 Alfa Romeo Duetto is displayed in the Alfa Romeo dealership lot in San José for the Alfas & Espresso car meet-up. This is among the few classic cars while the rest of the dealership shows off more modern and exotic cars.
#6: A lineup of various lowriders is on display at the Cafe con Lowriders car meets for locals to browse and enjoy, including another Chevrolet Bel Air and Chevrolet Impala.
PHOTOS BY DONOVAN NOCHE | SPARTAN DAILY
Spartans block Falcons at home
By Anfisa Pitchkhadze ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
San José State men’s basketball moved the ball successfully offensively and defensively during their matchup against Air Force.
SJSU (11-12, 4-7 MW) defeated Air Force (3-19, 0-11 MW) in a 75-64 win on Saturday afternoon at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
The Falcons kept pace with the Spartans through the majority of the first half, San José led 37-29 before halftime.
Senior guard Josh Uduje led the Spartans with 24 points, shooting 9 for 16 from field goal range and went 3 for 6 from 3-point range, according to a SJSU Athletics page.
Uduje shot efficiently from the floor to help propel the Spartans offense.
“Air Force has a really good offense, they run a Princeton offense,” he said. “So they move with a lot of back cuts.”
The Spartans had their best scoring run with 14:59 left in the first half.
SJSU eventually pulled away during the second half as their biggest lead was 16 points with 2:33 left.
“It always takes a bit of time to adjust to their actions,” Uduje said. “So once we locked in on that defensively we took care of business.”
The Spartans were able to contain the Falcons offense and held a double-
digit lead throughout the second period.
SJSU head coach Tim Miles credits the defense as a key factor for the team's win.
“I think we got our most engaged guys defensively and our quickest guys defensively,” Miles said. “And once we got our most engaged physical guys out there, I thought it was good for us.”
Junior center Robert Vaihola recorded seven of the Spartans 10 blocks in the game which set the most recorded blocks by a Mountain West player this season, according to the SJSU Athletics page. Miles praised Vaihola’s
basketball IQ with his season and career-high in blocks.
“He’s not an above the rim rebounding guy but he understands angles, he reads the ball and then on offense we run a lot of things through him,” Miles said.
The offense and defensive sides clicked for the Spartans as the team racked a season high in blocks while going 26 for 52 from the field and shooting 50% from beyond the arc, according to an ESPN stats page.
However, Miles said the team could have done a better job protecting the paint.
“I thought Air Force was quick to the ball, hustling, sending multiple guys in on the offensive glass and we didn’t handle that very well,” Miles said. “If you want to beat Air Force, you have to win the paint points and you can’t lose the pain points.”
SJSU tied the paint battle 26-26, but Miles believes that it would have been a different ball game at halftime with better defense.
“You’ve got to be able to punish them inside right in the paint and the way they cut and the way they play, if they get you inside on second shots and cuts, you're dead,” Miles said.
game, so it’s not a shot that I haven’t taken before just in a lot of games, so that's really what’s going for me.” Miles praised Davis’ performances and said confidence has been a factor.
“As you play well and you start to do it against multiple opponents over and over and over, and then you start to gain confidence,” Miles said.
“He’s always been a great guy in transition.”
The Spartans received vital scoring contributions from Uduje and Davis to secure the win.
Uduje also believes the team can improve and has the potential to go far as a team.
Sophomore guard
Latrell Davis had 18 points off the bench while shooting 7 for 8 from the field and went 3 for 3 on 3-pointers, according to the same SJSU Athletics page.
Davis has been a vital sixth man for SJSU off the bench as he went 22-30 on shooting on field goals and 11 for 14 from three in his last three games, according to the same SJSU Athletics page.
“I’m just working with the coaches, working with the managers, just getting shots up before after practice, just being consistent,” Davis said. “So it translates into the
“We’ve had a slow start to the season, we had a slow start to conference, and we figured out a way to get out of that hole both times,” he said. “We’re still within that hole, but we’re trying to get out.”
Uduje credits the challenges the team went through to get to where they are at now during the season.
“Strong relationships are built through adversity, and I think for the most part, our team has been through quite a bit of adversity,” Uduje said.
SJSU will next head on the road to face Fresno State (5-17, 1-10 MW) on Feb. 4 at 7:00 p.m. at Save Mart Center.
DANIEL POTTER | SPARTAN DAILY
Graduate guard Donavan Yap (left) dribbles past defense with help from teammate Robert Vaihola (right).