Praise be to Kathleen King, who, if anything, knows how to make a story come full circle. She’s currently bundling money to unseat north county Supervisor Joe Simitian and she has no less than two open campaign committees. When we last checked in with King, CEO of the Healthier Kids Foundation, her nonprofit was standing in the front of the line with its hand out to receive surplus Measure A money from the county. It seemed like little coincidence, considering King ran the campaign to tax the county’s consumers an extra half-billion dollars over the next decade via a low turnout 2012 ballot. She had plenty of help on that campaign from Cindy Chavez, who then headed the South Bay Labor Council but months later snagged the county supervisor seat feloniously vacated by George Shirakawa Jr. Less than a year after taking office, Chavez and the county Board of Supervisors gifted King’s foundation $1.1 million over the course of two years. It smelled like a kickback then, but now it doubles as a launchpad to return King to elective office. A former Saratoga mayor, King has scrapped and clawed to remain relevant by keeping her organization—and salary—on the taxpayer dole. Her nonprofit, the Santa Clara Family Health Foundation, was forced to rebrand after its ostensible mission to provide health coverage to low-income families was rendered redundant by public insurance programs. Email records obtained by San Jose Inside through a court order in early 2013 showed King and others ignored IRS rules on nonprofits by using their resources for political purposes. The reinvented Healthier Kids Foundation has kept her in the public sphere. County insiders were caught off guard to learn King had already created her 2016 campaign committee prior to asking the county for nearly $6 million over 10 years to repurpose her organization. The biggest beneficiary of King’s campaign is bff Chavez, who would consolidate power on the board with a King victory, or at least punish occasional thorn in her side Simitian by making him spend money to defend his seat.
The Fly
Kathleen King’s Plan to Remain Politically Relevant Going Great
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Kathleen King tried to argue she deserves a public pension despite running a private nonprofit.
Good work, Fly!
I take back some of the awful things I’ve said about you.
Kathleen King is exactly the type of self-promoting insider grifter that is attracted to politics like a moth to a flame (or a dung beetle to a trud).
I’ve talked to these type of people and they spew about “how much they want to help the people, give back to the community, do good, blah, blah, blah …”
Meanwhile, they are looking right through you for the next voter that they can accost and hustle.
There is something wrong with the social wiring of these people. They were dropped on their heads as infants or something.
They have an insatiable urge to “be important” and have made getting applause lines into their life’s work. Otherwise, they don’t know anything. The more you ask them, the less interested they are in talking to you.
Unfortunately, America is overrun with people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. The more the public learns about these people, the better equipped voters are to do something about this plague of pests trying to fluff their egos and slop in the public trough.
How great it would be to watch Joe Simitian squash Kathleen King like the annoying gnat she is. How much is she paying herself at that foundation she created? Check her form 990, Josh.
Good lord, how cynical can you be? I don’t see anything wrong with trying to “stay relevant” by helping underserved families. Public office requires a certain personality type — big deal. Having interacted with both King and Chavez, I can attest that they are both dedicated to public service. It’s easy to cluck and complain when someone else is out there doing the hard work of trying to make a difference for their fellow citizens.
> Having interacted with both King and Chavez, I can attest that they are both dedicated to public service.
Well, if they like public service they could go to work for a volunteer fire department.
Oh, wait. There’s no paycheck.
I think “grifter” and “hustler” pretty much nails Kathleen King’s personality type and her agenda.
Never heard of her.
Reminds me of some other woman that used to say “We are doing it for the children” she worth half a billion now and is running for president!
Having seen Kathleen King in action on a number of occasions, I can assure you that she has only her own self-serving interests in mind for any activity. She has a LONG history of this type of BS in, both the private and public sectors (I know people that worked with her). The comments above are accurate; she is a self-promoting hustler. Avoid supporting her at all costs.
Kathleen King is a well-known local political hustler — and I do not mean this in any positive way. You can be assured that anything that she is promoting is only in her own self-interest. Read up on her background and you will find nothing but selfish interest. I would not support her even if she was the only candidate for any position. Avoid.