As the days and months ticked down on his nearly 29-year-old law enforcement career, Adam Duran continued to asked himself what he could do for his community as he entered the next chapter of his life.
So, driven by his Christian faith, optimism and enduring trait of being a people person — which has carried over since he was voted “most friendly” in the 8th Grade at Ocala Middle School — the now 58-year-old Duran penned a motivational self-help book in 2022 called “Live Life on Purpose,” sharing the wisdom and habits that led him to overcome obstacles in growing up on the city’s eastside and life’s other challenges.
But with San Jose’s District 3 attempting to move past controversy, tarnished by the child molestation scandal that upended now-former Councilmember Omar Torres, public service is calling Duran again — even if politics is an entirely foreign challenge to him.
“I believe the community will never buy into the city’s vision if it doesn’t trust its elected officials,” Duran said. “I can be that bridge that brings back trust, accountability, integrity and transparency to City Hall and District 3.”
Duran is one of seven candidates qualified to appear on the April 8 special election ballot. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the two leading vote-getters will advance to a runoff election on June 24.
Joining Duran in the race are:
Gabby Chavez-Lopez, CEO and Executive Director of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley
Anthony Tordillos, engineer and San Jose Planning Commission Chair
Matthew Quevedo, deputy chief of staff to San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan
Tyrone Wade, retired family counselor and former mayoral candidate
Philip Dolan, knife sharpener salesman
Irene Smith, pro tem judge and the most recent political challenger to Torres
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At the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, where he retired as a lieutenant watch commander, Duran held a wide range of roles in his career, from seeing people at their worst and working in programs that helped them land on their feet and reintegrate into society.
That experience has anchored two pillars of his policy platform: improving public safety and taking a different approach to addressing the city’s homelessness crisis.
As he walked the streets and knocked on doors, Duran estimated that 95% of the residents he met indicated that homelessness solutions are among their top priorities. But unlike others running in the race, Duran has taken a more distinctive approach in calling for the city to rethink how it allocates its money.
While the city needs to continue adding more shelter space, Duran said it will not get a handle on the problem unless it puts more money into connecting homeless residents with services — likening the city’s approach to trimming a tree’s leaves and wondering why they grow back — and aggressively lobbies county, state and federal partners to build treatment centers.
“We’ve missed the mark in actually getting to the root of the problem, and the root, I would say, for the majority of the homeless is more of a mental health or addiction problem,” Duran said.
The long-time law enforcement officer has also emphasized his desire to see San Jose become the nation’s safest large city again, bemoaning the sight of locked cases at retailers and the staffing quandaries in the city’s public safety departments.
Despite San Jose facing a projected deficit that could reach $60 million if the city does not reallocate Measure E funds towards interim housing solutions, Duran called it unconscionable for the city to consider making any more cuts to its public safety departments that are already operating at relatively low staffing levels compared to other large cities.
When asked how he would pay those extra costs, Duran said he would like to see the city classify what “essential services” are and fully fund those before funneling money into other programs.
While he acknowledges that police recruitment has become a national challenge due to the “defund the police” narrative, Duran believes that the city needs to not only incentivize prospective candidates to join its police ranks but also find a way to better support them in their careers to ensure staffing stability because money alone cannot improve job satisfaction.
“I understand they feel somewhat demoralized or they don’t feel motivated, but we have to get to a point where they buy into the vision,” Duran said. “I think it goes deeper than just giving them a more attractive package of retirement benefits and money. I’d rather work at a job — even if it pays less — if I can support my family and feel supported and respected.”
With District 3 encompassing the city’s downtown, Duran has also focused on spurring its recovery as development has slowed and the office market continues to struggle. With the city’s financial woes expected to extend for at least two years, he said, the city needs to respond to market conditions and create more incentives like tax deferrals, low-interest loans and streamlining the permitting process even more to spur growth.
Duran may be a fish out of water in the political sphere — outside of a stint on the city of Tracy’s transportation committee — but he does not necessarily see that as a bad thing.
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Now more than ever, he believes the city needs a leader who puts people over politics to stem the distrust in government and its struggles to deliver results.
“City Hall needs to be reminded that the people are the boss,” Duran said. “My whole focus, if elected, is to be the leader that they feel they deserve.”
