Recall campaign against embattled San Jose councilmember Omar Torres launched
Residents in San Jose's 3rd District are banding together to launch a recall campaign against embattled Councilmember Omar Torres as he is being investigated for alleged sexual misconduct.
Torres has missed multiple council meetings since he was detained and questioned by police about text messages that describe sexually fantasizing about a minor.
"This is not okay, the behavior is not okay," said Melissa Reyes, who is among concerned District 3 residents and business owners.
Reyes was once a supporter of Torres, but now she was one of the first people to sign a notice of intent to recall him.
"When everything came out and I had time to digest it, it made my stomach turn," said Reyes.
The police investigation began when Torres reported that he was a victim of extortion, but authorities then turned their focus to him when they discovered sexually explicit text messages he allegedly sent referencing minors.
Torres posted a statement on his social media accounts saying: "Let me be absolutely clear— these accusations are entirely false."
His attorney says the messages were "outrageous fantasy and role play".
Earlier this week, the City Council unanimously voted to strip Torres of his official appointments.
Sean O'Dell, who lives in Torres' district, was disappointed to hear about the allegations.
"Accusations like that are serious, it's important that they're investigated thoroughly, but just hearing that it's disgusting," said O'Dell. "It makes me uncomfortable."
Torres hasn't attended a City Council meeting in weeks and has asked for a 30-day medical leave of absence.
Councilmembers have declined to consider that request at their next meeting.
"Decisions are being made at City Hall all while our neighborhoods have no voice." said Matthew Quevedo, a District 3 resident and an organizer of the recall effort.
Quevedo also the Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor Matt Mahan but took Friday off to focus on the recall.
He said the City Council can't remove Torres, so the community needs to step in and recall him if he doesn't step down.
"It was the voters who put him in office. It will be the voters who remove him from office," said Quevedo.
Under the current charter, the city has limited options for removing Torres. The criteria includes insanity, a recall, missing five consecutive meetings, or felony conviction.
Councilmember Bien Doan from District 7 said he's looking into ways to update the City Charter to create a mandatory administrative leave policy if a councilmember faces a felony criminal investigation.
"We will pursue as many avenues as we can," said Doan. "We will make sure that even after this that we will change policies."
The recall group needs 250 signatures from District 3 voters to serve Torres the notice of intent to begin the recall process.
After that, the recall will need 12% of registered voters from the district, which is about 5,300 people, to sign on to get the recall on the ballot.
Reyes said she's confident he'll be removed from office one way or another.
"If he doesn't want to resign then we'll do a recall and we'll get those 5,000. It's not a problem to get the 5,000 signatures," said Reyes. "We're going to move forward."
Organizers believe they can get all the signatures by early December, then they hope to have a recall election in early 2025.
CBS Bay Area reached out to Torres's office for comment, they referred us to his attorney and have not heard back as of Friday afternoon.