Fly reported three weeks ago that the South Bay Labor Council’s generalissima, Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, seemed to be fading from the City Hall scene, while former vice mayor Cindy Chavez looked to be stepping into her shoes. This provoked an uproar from the local chattering class, who immediately attacked Fly for being off the mark. Apparently they were wrong. Ellis-Lamkins this morning announced that she is resigning from the SBLC on April 17 to lead the organization Green for All. And to everyone’s surprise (with the exception of Fly’s faithful readers), Chavez was elected by the SBLC’s executive committee to be the new executive officer, assuming the delegate body signs off on it. Chavez had disappeared from the political scene after losing to Mayor Chuck Reed in 2006. She resurfaced several months ago when she became a contractor for SBLC, while Ellis-Lamkins took off to D.C. for an allegedly temporary break in order to work for the Obama transition team on labor issues.
San Jose Inside
San Jose Inside (https://www.sanjoseinside.com)
Cindy will do an excellent job as always. Good luck Cindy, we love you!
Drama: it’s whats for dinner.
Political power, it’s like a party joint. Pass it around.
Why should people be surprised? I would have been stunned if Cindy succeeded in the private sector. Politicians and labor hacks aren’t cut out for creating jobs or starting companies. Look at Ron Gonzales. And he was Cindy’s mentor. They just know how to spend tax dollars. So Greg Howe is right that Nora really has no other options either when she leaves.
Rumor has it that Nora is headed for Sacramento to replace Joe Coto.
Maybe she’ll hire Nora when Nora is termed out.