The City Council today formally approved the dates for both appointing and electing a replacement for the disgraced former first-term council member, Omar Torres.

Tristan Arfi, a convicted sex offender, is the chief operating officer and manager of the boxing gym “YBX Fitness” in San Jose. Arfi is accused of committing multiple felony sex crimes against two customers and a gym employee.

The City Council had the option of appointing a replacement for Omar Torres to serve out his full term until the 2026 elections, or to appoint an interim replacement in District 3 pending outcome of a special election in April for the remainder of the term.

The California Secretary of State reports that more than 1.5 million of the 2024 Election Day no-shows were in California.

In Gilroy, first-term Mayor Marie Blankley fell farther behind Greg Bozzo Wednesday as ballot-counting headed to the final days.

Liccardo's campaign said the Democratic House leadership on Nov. 6 called to invite him to fly to Washington D.C., to meet with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Police Chief Paul Joseph said the arrest of Omar Torres on Election Day came just one day after a man told police that when he was a child, he had been sexually assaulted by Torres for several years. Torres sent a letter of resignation from the City Council just before his arrest.

Torres was arrested for lewd acts with a child and is being held without bail tonight. It remained unclear this evening whether the arrest Tuesday afternoon was based on new revelations of sexual misconduct or on Torres' sexually explicit emails and videos revealed in an Oct. 1 police affidavit.

The county Registrar of Voters office reported 419,345 mail ballots counted as of Nov. 3

The more than 1 million registered voters in Santa Clara County are voting by mail at the pace of about 20,000 per day. The 26 voting centers open this weekend for in-person voting, with 13 days until the polls close.

Torres’ council chair was again conspicuously empty, and he continues to be a no-show at various boards and committees.

Joseph has served as acting chief of police since former Chief Anthony Mata’s retirement on March 31.

The mayor said that for the past two weeks, Torres has not shown up to any council meetings, community meetings or committees to which he has been assigned.

The split vote Wednesday evening came hours after a Superior Court judge turned down a request from Dewan’s lawyers for an order blocking a board vote.

The pleas from business groups are based on revelations in an Oct. 1 police affidavit of sexually explicit comments by Councilmember Omar Torres about young boys.

The restrictions on political ads around Election Day are being reinstated out of concern for political misinformation, heightened by the use of AI.