Leslie Reynolds, a San Jose Unified school board member, was a frontrunner early in the primary for San Jose District’s 10 City Council seat. Her deep roots in the community and conservative stances were considered a solid fit for Almaden. But after losing ground quickly, as well as having fellow Republican in the race, Johnny Khamis, question her ethical standards, it seems she hasn’t forgotten or forgiven. Reynolds, who came in just 308 votes short of making the November runoff, surprised observers this week by endorsing Democrat Robert Braunstein over Khamis, a financial adviser who shares a party affiliation and zip code with Reynolds and nearly nothing else. Khamis’ campaign brushed off her endorsement as the choice of a “bitter” loser, and added that there might have been a backroom deal giving Reynolds and D-10 third-place finisher, Edesa Bitbadal, staff positions in exchange for their endorsements. But Braunstein’s campaign manager, Peter Allen, said there is “absolutely no quid-pro-quos” for endorsements. It seems Reynold’s pledge of allegiance is just another hit to Khamis’ campaign, which has been in a bit of a Romney-esque tailspin. Not too long ago Fly found a questionnaire that showed Khamis leaned closer to the Tea Party than previously thought. Then there was word that he has been obsessively describing Metro as a “so-called newspaper” in endorsement interviews, to the point that he lost focus at times. And now there are whispers that the professional know-how of the “so-called candidate” is questionable. In recent weeks, Braunstein’s campaign floated documents showing a foreclosure Khamis went through in the 90s. Khamis’ campaign called it a smear tactic and insisted that Khamis, who has made his financial expertise a focal point of the race, was going through a divorce at the time, and as part of the separation, his ex-wife got the house and money to make payments—she just failed to make the payments.
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Chamber? Labor? Do we people have to choose from among these 2 options? Is that all that’s left to us San Joseans in this charade of a system that we still insist on referring to as ‘democracy’? Go ahead. Keep on deluding yourself that as a citizen of San Jose your interests are somehow being represented when you reflexively cast your vote for the guy with the (D) after his name. San Jose voters have been doing exactly that for the last couple of decades and look where it’s gotten us. Maybe you love SJ just like it is. I think we could have done a lot better.
I don’t KNOW how effective Johnny Khamis would be- there’s a bit of an x-factor there. But I’m pretty sure what to expect from Braunstein because I’ve been watching it for years- a ‘progressive’ politician who is careless about spending other peoples’ money, digs the City into a financial hole, then insists that we need more tax revenue so approves more shopping centers (for the retail sales tax) and more high density housing (to supply the shoppers). Sacrificing the quality of life of his ‘constituents’ and all justified under the ‘progressive’ pretense of ‘social responsibility’.
These characters haven’t been representing you or me. They’ve been tools of unions, businesses, developers, and various ethnic groups.
Wake up! A real sheep can never figure out that it’s a sheep. But you can!
By the way, thanks for quoting my words!
Nicely said.
“Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it”- George Santayana (really smart guy).
You want San Jose to be struggling with budget and pension issues 10 years from now? No money for libraries. No money for parks. Every square inch packed with ‘affordable’ housing? Then go ahead and keep electing Democrats like Braunstein.
Who is John Galt?
No really … who honestly thinks that what he said is the least bit based in any sort of reality. Amazing how he somehow links Braunstein with being ineffective simply because he happens to be a Democrat?
Go ahead and vote for Johnny, I’m sure the council can use another inarticulate voice to struggle through all that fiscal responsibility … it’s ignorant sheep like you, who think that Republicans alone will save the day, that have created 1/2 the problems in this country.
Guess what, it takes compromise on both sides to accomplish anything. And I hate to break it to you, but at the local level, it hardly matters whether the candidate is a Democrat or a Republican. The Chamber vs. Labor is the battle going on here … but you already knew that.
Oh … and guess what, both candidates have an open endorsement from the Chamber … so what now?
“Man cannot survive except by gaining knowledge, and reason is his only means to gain it. Reason is the faculty that perceives, identifies and integrates the material provided by his senses. The task of his senses is to give him the evidence of existence, but the task of identifying it belongs to his reason, his senses tell him only that something is, but what it is must be learned by his mind.”
> Amazing how he somehow links Braunstein with being ineffective simply because he happens to be a Democrat?
Braunstein linked himself to being a Democrat. He boasted about it in candidate forums.
Obama, twenty percent permanent underemployment, six trillion dollars in deficit spending, two lost wars, murdered ambassadors, declining middle class incomes, and the freak show that was the Democratic Convention, have ALL linked Democrats to “ineffectiveness” (and that’s being kind).
I have challenged Braunstein to explain what it means to him to be a “Democrat”, and why voters in San Jose should think that being a “Democrat” is such a wonderful thing.
The MAJORITY of District 10 voters are NOT “Democrats”. If Robert Braunstein’s value proposition for District 10 voters is that HE is a proud Democrat, and happy to associate himself with Jerry Brown, Barbara Boxer, gender divisiveness, class warfare, crappy schools, ridiculous “Bullet Trains”, never-ending, unsustainable deficits, and TAX TAX TAX, then being a “Democrat” is not enough to justify the trust and confidence and votes of District 10 residents.