Quevedo says

When Matthew Quevedo went with his 8-year-old son in the city center of San Jose, he held to think about a question that his child asked when it came across a homeless resident who fought with visible psychological health problems.

“Papa, why don't we help this man?” His concerned son asked.

The 36 -year -old quededo had a front seat for many of the most urgent problems of the residents as deputy chief of staff for public relations for Mayor Matt Mahan. In a political role in the city council, however, he is of the opinion that he can play a greater role in the fight against the forward of effective solutions on the bureaucratic roadblocks, which have sometimes hindered progress.

“I know that it is not just my son, in the topics we are confronted with, also my son, but it is the children and many families in all of San Jose who ask themselves how these problems do not solve us,” said Quevedo. “I know that we move the needle and go forward with good solutions when it comes to preliminary housings, safe sleep and safe parking spaces. My campaign is to ensure that as a member of the council we build a coalition with neighbors, the business world, the city council and the mayor and do so faster. “

Quevedo is one of seven candidates who replace special elections on April 8 to replace the city council council of Urbenadevolumen, Omar Torres, whose child abuse scandal prompted his fall from the public office.

To be in the race to him are:

• Tyrone Wade, retired family consultant and former mayor candidate
• Philip Dolan, Messer Spitzer Seller
• Irene Smith, pro -tem judge and the youngest political challenger for Torres
• The retired law enforcement officer Adam Duran
• Anthony Tordillos, engineer at Google and chairman of the city planning commission
• Gabby Chavez-Lopez, Managing Director of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley

Before he developed a call as a community organizer and neighborhood, Quevedo's interest in local politics came up with growing up and spending time in the seven trees and Vista Park districts, which gave him a significant difference in the way they were waiting for first-hand.

But his love for San Jose has always run deep. The lifelong resident is a Pioneer high school and a graduate of San Jose State. He has been with his wife now for 18 years after having met Oakridge Mall with the theaters.

While they lived in several places in the city-a single in an apartment with five people and an apartment with two bedrooms with eight people at different intersections, said Quevedo, he always knew that he wanted to stay and fight for San Jose.

These experiences that live in districts and the only candidate who worked in the town hall made him confident that he is the best person who drives the change that the residents want to see.

“Whether in the business districts or in our neighborhoods, I have experienced them first -hand, and I think that it helps me to understand more than anything else to understand the problems we are confronted with,” said Quevedo. “The additional support I have is the knowledge of work from the town hall to enable these changes in many ways where we move the needle. I think this is an additional strength that enables me to better understand the different options, how we can solve homelessness, rebuild our police department, ensure that we support our small companies and build up the housing that we need. “

Quevedo has centered his political platform on these topics in what he calls the “cornerstone of common sense”.

With the fight against homelessness on the priorities of many residents, Queitedo has geared to Mahan's vision -including greater flexibility to use measures for preliminary housing solutions -to tackle the crisis in front of the city. And while affordable apartments have their place in the large program, he said that the status quo, which lasts several years, does not serve anyone in this critical moment.

“We have to work with the Council to move faster in these solutions, and I think we can no longer accept political excuses why something can happen or not,” said Queitedo. “What we often see is the division of the council in the type of solutions that we want to move, but frankly is the simple truth that we have to build safe and decent protection quickly enough to bring and request that everyone come inside. That shouldn't be a debate. “

In addition to the construction of the city's protection system, quededo believes that the city has to expand its housing stock, especially for families of the working class. He said San Jose can do this by slowing down bureaucracy, developing projects, developing guidelines that can accelerate production, including north, or the use of tools such as improved infrastructure lines that use newly generated basic taxes for infrastructure to advance the development.

Quevedo's vision also includes 10,000 new houses in the city center, which are already more transformed by a pure business area into a real mixed environmental environment that is documented by a lively art and entertainment scene.

He would also like to be built with larger partnerships with San Jose State, which contributed to the fact that the city center ends near the campus.

“We have to bring everything,” said Quevedo. “I think something that brings an entertainment quarter brings this living space and these jobs to the center in which people can enjoy after a long day or on weekends. We are going in this direction and I think we have a great chance if the Super Bowl comes across the board with the World Cup and the NCAA championships next year to secure the type of investment that we should concentrate on. “

Quevedo's relationship with Mahan also examined whether he is simply a stamp for the mayor's agenda. But he dismissed this idea and pointed out several questions that you have not agreed, including the controversial digital billboard proposal, which the city council has just said goodbye.