San Jose, California. – Enough is enough: that is the message from community leaders San Jose.

“It’s kind of a community SOS for District 3,” says Dee Barrigan, who lives in the district.

Residents and business owners say Omar Torres, city councilor in difficulty is no longer fit to serve, and they are launching an effort to recall him.

“It’s the voters who elected him. It will be the voters who removed him from office,” said Matthieu Quevedo, one of the organizers of the recall. Quevedo, works for the mayor Matt Mahanbut says he is only speaking in his capacity as a longtime District 3 resident.

Torres is currently under police investigation after sending a series of sexually explicit messages about children. His lawyer called them “fantasy and role play.” Community leaders call them a disgrace.

“What was said is largely inappropriate. The council member has lost trust in the community. People are looking for representation. We don’t have anyone on council representing us,” Quevedo said.

For three weeks, Torres has been absent from the council. He was removed from all his committee positions. And he requested a 30-day mental health medical leave, which was not approved.

“He’s been absolutely silent. He hasn’t attended any public meetings or any city council meetings. So he’s basically abandoning his position and his responsibilities,” said downtown resident Jeff Levine.

Residents say they need to act since the city council has no mechanism to eliminate it. Councilor Bien Doan wants to change that.

“Even after that, we’re making sure we change the policies, change the charter so that if this ever happens again, we have the ability to remove a board member,” Doan said.

Recall is a slow process. Residents are circulating a petition and are expected to collect more than 5,000 signatures. It could take months. They really hope Torres resigns in his place.

“I hope that over the next few weeks, and with the pressure of a recall, he will do the right thing for the city and for his constituents,” said resident Steve Cohen.

We contacted Torres but have not heard back. Organizers of the recall effort expect to file a notice of intent in a week or two, which requires an initial batch of 250 signatures. By the end of the year, they hope to get the 5,000 signatures they will need to bring the recall measure to a vote.