An unusual scene unfolded in the San Jose City Council chamber on Tuesday as a man approached the dais and served District 5 Councilmember Peter Ortiz with legal documents. The incident, which has raised eyebrows online and in City Hall, is part of the fallout from an anti-harassment suit that Ortiz lost earlier this year.
Ortiz filed the civil suit in December 2023, seeking a restraining order against Robert Saenz, the owner of popular social media accounts posting about San Jose, after he made a series of derogatory posts targeting the then first-year councilmember. Ortiz lost the case on appeal in January after judges ruled the speech fell under constitutional First Amendment protections. He has been ordered to pay Saenz $54,000 in attorney fees, according to a representative who said Ortiz has still not paid.
“He never responded,” Patrick Evans, Saenz’s attorney, told San José Spotlight.
The documents served Tuesday to Ortiz, who is running for a second term representing East San Jose, included one ordering him to appear at an Oct. 5 hearing and a subpoena for his personal finance records. Such court proceedings are intended to bring to light a debtor’s assets…