While parts of our nation engage in voter suppression, the city of Santa Clara continues to provide new ways to increase voter participation and provide citizens with tools to evaluate candidates.

The real secret to securing political power is, and always will be, voter turnout. Democrats win when there is heavy turnout, and Republicans win with lower turnout. It is just a fact. But what if voting wasn’t just a right for American citizens, but rather a requirement?

Silicon Valley was once the female capital of the world for political power, but times have changed. In order to make progress, we need to not only elect more women leaders but also change the culture in which they are forced to compete.

Hillary Clinton’s recent appearance in Silicon Valley highlighted the culture divide in today’s world. Clinton, as much as Barack Obama did in 2008, represents a culture change for our nation and the globe.

The current conundrum at City Hall has been exacerbated by the inability of personalities to work together on Measure B and pension reform. Mayor Sam Liccardo and his opponents should try to find at least one issue on which they agree.

The anger expressed by San Jose Inside commenters regarding payouts to former city executives is representative of the public at large. A substantial segment of the population doesn’t believe taxpayer money is being used effectively; excessive payouts simply reinforce that idea.

For years political mail and TV commercials have made up the bulk of campaign spending. But it’s clear that the same tired tactics are not working.

Little known Glendale, Arizona, played host to Super Bowl XLIX, reaping economic benefits anywhere between $50 million and $600 million. Next year, Santa Clara stands to gain that windfall. Are we ready?

A recent San Jose Inside story uncovered the hubris exhibited at the top levels of our city’s government. The piece shatters the mythology that “professional” governance is somehow better than elected leadership. But salacious details aside, the fact remains that San Jose will remain a second-class city until we adopt a strong-mayor form of government.

Without question Matthews is a brilliant choice to be an interim councilmember. She is smart, experienced and understands San Jose. Adding to her credentials, she has previously served as the District 4 council member.

People opposed to incoming Mayor-elect Sam Liccardo are also concerned with an interim appointment to the District 4 council seat, fearing it will give the mayor a governing majority. The truth is Liccardo already has a majority.

San Jose’s City Council decided that District 4 residents will have a special election to fill the seat of Kansen Chu, who is moving on to the State Assembly. They could have simply appointed someone—a far better and less expensive option.

San Jose's new mayor faces huge challenges. The most striking problem is not simply putting more cops on the street, though it is an important goal. The real work will be bringing a divided city together.

Stupid local laws and the rise of unfettered independent expenditure committees are making a mockery of the election process. Candidates are no longer in control of their own messages and in many local races they are not relevant to the debate.

The city of Santa Clara’s success is largely due to its political leadership. Elected leaders in Cupertino, on the other hand, have been an embarrassment, and none of those incumbents should be allowed to return to office.

Videotape evidence appears to show Chris Stampolis, a Santa Clara County Unified School District board member, forming his hand in the shape of the gun and aiming it at a school principal.