The county’s four remaining supervisors voted Tuesday to hold a million dollar special election on June 4 to fill the seat of soon-to-be-jailbird George Shirakawa Jr. If only there was an app for that. Considering the job pays six figures, provides a CalPERS pension, comes with all kinds of perks—assuming you don’t exceed a $3,000-a-year local meal allowance with your P-Card (really?!)—and could last 12 years if all three terms are completed, there should be no shortage of entrants. Patricia Martinez-Roach wasted the least time, declaring her candidacy Tuesday on Facebook. Martinez-Roach has run for nearly every office in the Union—she actually managed to lose two elections in 2012—and she probably has about as good a chance of winning this race as Shirakawa. More likely contenders include Teresa Alvarado—a water district spokesperson and daughter of Blanca Alvarado, who preceded Shirakawa as the District 2 supe—and labor matriarch Cindy Chavez, who heads up the nonprofit Working Partnerships USA. Others who are interested in the job include Magdalena Carrasco, who beat Martinez-Roach in November for a seat on the East Side Union school board, and Tony Estremera, who works as an attorney and serves on the Water District board. (He was one of two board members who accepted a $90K pension payout behind closed doors last year.) Carrasco has an interesting choice to make, however, as she doesn’t currently live in D-2. And while Estremera could benefit from being the only man in the race, many people seem to think a woman would be better suited to join the four white guys currently on the Board. But who says there isn’t diversity already? Board chair Ken Yeager is gay, Mike Wasserman is a Republican, Dave Cortese is comatose and, last time we checked, Joe Simitian is still bald.
Culture
The Super County Supervisor Race
/ 6
The race to succeed George Shirakawa Jr as the District 2 county supervisor has officially started.
I don’t think gender should be a factor in any race. Having said that, I think we need new blood, and I think we need someone younger, who has already shown a true concern for his/her community. I would really like to see Omar Torres run for this seat. He has already proven his love, concern, and loyalty to his community, and this City.
He has done an excellent job of assisting his fellow citizens with everything from housing, to crime prevention. All you have to do is look at his service to those in need to see what a perfect candidate he would be. He would lead that district with compassion, and integrity. I really hope he runs! Go Omar!
Sounds like a great story but forget about it. I already checked his accomplishments out and there are none. However, I did find he is part of the democratic establishment hoping to ride the gravy train to a public official seat based on the good-ole-boy network. I’m going to name him Omar Palin.
As a matter of fact, he is the one I recall walking the streets with prostitues on first street isn’t he?
dem or repub,
You might want to do some deeper more accurate research. He wasn’t walking the streets with prostitutes, he was leading a group of 100 people down the street to drive both pimps and prostitutes OUT of his neighborhood.
He has helped feed and clothe hundreds of people, and assisted renters living in slums get legal assistance to get code violations corrected.
He spends most of his time serving our community, and deserves respect for his dedication and commitment to empower and improve the lives of others.
To compare Omar to Palin is like comparing Pete Constant to someone who is media/camera shy!
Okay, that was seriously funny at the end of the story. Kudos to whoever wrote it.
Thank you, Fly, for recognizing that the county’s white American peoples are very diverse. This is the first time that we can recall seeing recognition of our diversity on SJI. And the Mercury News, mired in the anti-white narrative, still sees any recognition of white American diversity as a seriously taboo subject.
Mayor Reed has proven that a Democrat can be a Republican, so being partisan doesn’t really tell us much any more. And of course with a first name like Blanca, former supervisor Blanca Alvarado may have a particular view of whiteness diversity as well.
Anyway, good on SJI for recognizing the vibrant diversity of the minority white Americans in Santa Clara County.
Tony Estremera is the same guy who just last week was waiting on an endorsement FROM SHIRAKAWA for his other political aspirations.
He’s a male version of Patricia Martinez-Roach who in her facebook candidacy announcment praised Shirakawa’s record with a pledge to continue his work.
Please scratch those two off the list or better yet every voter should highlight their names and make note not to ever vote for them for any board or office. They don’t seem to grasp the shame and corruption that Shirakawa brought to his entire tenure of public office.