ENDORSEMENT
San Jose City Council District 5
Magdalena Carrasco
District 5 voters have a chance to restore balance to the San Jose City Council by electing Magdalena Carrasco, a talented and articulate neighborhood activist who began a grassroots campaign and now enjoys a wide base of support.
She has stressed issues that are intended to revitalize businesses and neighborhoods on the East Side—which has been deeply impacted by the recession and budget cuts.
She promises to fight to bring her district its fair share of city revenue, and to pursue other funding sources, including grants. With a background in social work for both the county and the non-profit sector, she has skills suited for both.
More important than those qualifications, more important than her keen intelligence and her lifetime’s knowledge of her community, Carrasco brings a refreshing level of integrity to her campaign.
Unfortunately, this race has been one of the dirtiest San Jose has ever seen. Carrasco has been the victim of a series of attack-mailers, some illegal and others paid for by the South Bay Labor Council (SBLC), which backs her opponent, Xavier Campos.
The anti-Carrasco campaign was notable for its bald-faced dishonesty. She was accused of being a Communist. She was accused of fronting a Los Angeles cabal spearheading a takeover of the East Side. Mostly, this born-and-bred San Jose woman, a graduate of Independence High School who says she “had all of the big family experiences” at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, was accused of being an outsider.
Campos, whose sister Nora has represented the district for nine years, has turned a blind eye to the attacks—much as he overlooked (or so he says) the ripoff of employees’ pension funds at the Mexican American Community Services Agency, where he served as Chief Operations Officer.
Over the next four years, the East Side and all of San Jose will continue to face difficult challenges. We believe Xavier Campos can be counted on to do the bidding of his political allies at SBLC, rather than act independently on behalf of his constituents or the city in general.
Magdalena Carrasco deserves a chance to bring new political energy to the East Side, which will benefit by being liberated from insider politics.
A first—I agree with a Metro election pick.
Xavier Campos would have been a better candidate for the city council of Bell, but it’s too late now.
Magdalena Carrasco may be a “fresh face”, but her knowledge of many city issues is paper thin.
From what I understand, this candidate quit her job, THEN bought two properties, and then declared bankruptcy 18 months later. What a model of fiscal restraint. Metro, looks like you backed a winner.
And THEN she stole money from the teachers’ pension fund and THEN took illegal contributions from the card clubs.
Whoops, wrong District 5 candidate.
Uh-oh… Campo-Smear incoming! Desperate times call for desperate measures.
This race is not the dirtiest around, but it is pretty bad. The sad and sick ethics of power blocks that believe they are serving the public with their pursuit of political power (backing annointed candidates and doing everything legal or otherwise to suppress opponents) reveals a lot about the character of the individuals and organizations.
If stiffling dissent, hate mongering among ethnic communities (so and so is a commie lover flier to Vietnamese American households) and using back room slander, threats and bullying tactics are how these folks operate in the pursuit of power, how can one expect them to behave when “in power”?
What’s that phrase – caveat empor or something which means buyer beware.
On the one hand, maybe its not fair to judge a candidate by their so-called friends (as independent campaign expenditures are supposedly just that, ads run outside the control of a candidates campaign). But let’s be honest and real for a moment -despite all the lip service about honesty and sunshine the real world works with lots of slick manipulators shuttling between offices with bundled checks, soft words about understandings, and coordinated efforts that yield results more often than not.
If I was wagering, I’d say this race is a toss-up or narrowly favored by the perceived incumbent (that guy who amazingly has the right last name.)
I personally dislike dynastic politics and local trends show that even established franchises like “Alvarado” don’t work as well as some would wish. Regardless of the merits of the individuals, this has really turned into a power block battle with implications beyond the district.
Magdalena Carrasco, Wow….a real fiscal fresh face—check this website out: http://www.questions4carrasco.com
Metro, you should have done some homework before this endorsement.
Carrasco may have made some mistakes in her personal finances she will be an earnest beginner to city finances.
Xavier Campos on the other hand is a proven fraud and failure. His tenure as Chief Operations Officer at MACSA shows him with direct oversight responsibility for the charter high schools during the time that the THEFT & EMBEZZLEMENT of nearly $500,000 from the teacher’s pension funds took place. He fails to explain it or account for it. When it was coming to light (public light that is, because he had been spearheading the efforts to sell off MACSA assets to cover that “loss”) he hightailed it out of MACSA right before the scandal breaks and right as he’s announcing his candidacy. Oh the audacity!
I guess the labor unions forgive him this slight and give him their endorsement because the union teacher’s at MACSA don’t really matter do they? Carrasco screwed up her own finances, Campos cheated hard working teachers out of their pensions and screwed up their retirement.
It may be a vote for a lesser of two evils but Carrasco is the only choice that makes sense for district 5.