San Jose council members Omar Torres and Peter Ortiz are reportedly facing accusations of racism from opposing groups, causing them to seek stronger free speech protections for elected officials. The local groups include the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, Premier Recycling, and Opportunity Now, a conservative blog. The criticism emerged over comments made by the councilmembers regarding housing policy and unions.
Torres and Ortiz claim that the pushback from these groups has racist undertones, as it seeks to paint them as bullies or inciters of violence instead of merely expressing disagreement over policy. As a result, they are introducing a resolution this week to strengthen free speech protections for elected officials so they can speak out on behalf of disenfranchised communities, as per Ortiz's Twitter post.
Despite recent politically motivated and racialized attacks, I remain committed to standing for working families, renters, and communities of color. Councilmember Torres and I will submit legislation to strengthen freedom of speech protections to represent our communities. pic.twitter.com/DJuzK6TybN
— Peter Ortiz (@PeterOrtizD5) July 25, 2023
Amid these accusations, Neil Collins, CEO of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, insists that the letter sent by his organization was not meant to be racist or silence Ortiz, but rather highlight the unintended consequences of his statements, as reported by San Jose Spotlight. On the other hand, Premier Recycling Company and Christopher Escher, co-founder of Opportunity Now, declined to comment.
Ortiz views the criticism as political, saying, "This is a common tactic with a long history of being weaponized to discredit the progressive movements of people of color." He and Torres received support from multiple organizations, including the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP, the Asian Law Alliance, La Raza Roundtable de California, and Teamsters Local 853, as stated in the San Jose Spotlight report.
The proposed resolution will be made public by the end of this week, aiming to codify protections that allow councilmembers to freely speak their minds without fear of retaliation. Torres and Ortiz remain steadfast in their stance that they will not be bullied into silence.
