Well, here we go—the race for mayor is on. With the addition of David Pandori, the field is now at six. Or is it?
There are five entrants who have the ability to run on their record, for better or worse. And then there is Michael Mulcahy, the one candidate who must craft a record of some sort. He is a fine person from a family distinguished for their business acumen and philanthropy. His uncle, Phil DiNapoli, is a particularly impressive and generous man. Mulcahy will have to fashion a public persona and set of positions from his co-chairmanship of Ron Gonzales’s downtown committee, a prelude to the failed, sorry Susan Schick era of downtown mistakes, miscues, and arrogance. It won’t be easy. Mulcahy disappointed many small business people downtown when he refused the pleas of many to help fight the county concert hall. That was a disturbing and inexplicable case of being AWOL on a critical issue. He is, and remains, an enigma to many, except a small group of San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce members who have pushed his candidacy. Maybe they know something.
The real wildcard in the race is Pandori, whose positions and ethics are well known, deeply held and laudable. He has earned a reputation in the law enforcement community as a crusading DA who has prosecuted many gang members and knows the dangers that many neighborhoods in San Jose face. He has garnered hundreds of volunteers in preliminary meetings.
Yet, most of the experts still think that Cindy Chavez is the one to beat. She has labor, the Coyote Valley crowd and most professional Democrats behind her, and she possesses a winning personality. Cortese and Reed have certainly been right on many issues, including opposing the absurd prospect of a “bonus” for the ex-city manager pushed by Ron Gonzales. (With such ideas from City Hall, is it any wonder that so many think that they can do better than the current occupant?) Cortese is an experienced and likable politician from a family with impeccable credentials. Reed is a bit more cerebral but a formidable presence. Another entrant in the race is school board member Manny Herrera, who could raise some interesting issues as the race progresses.
Start your engines—the subsidy for these six will certainly eclipse the one for the San Jose Grand Prix.
Tom:
What is your preoccupation with “family” status. We should be looking at the candidate separate and apart from their families.
And, you sound like a shrill for Pandori “deeply held and laudable . . . reputation in the law enforcement community as a crusading DA”. I work in law enforcement, and your characterization of David sounds much more like a Pandori sound-bite than what is often heard on the streets, namely David cherry-picks cases that any first year attorney could win to bolster his miguided run for mayor.
Tom, thanks for trying to get things moving with the campaign for mayor.
We want to hear from the candidates about the various issues facing this town. So far, this seems to be shaping up as the most boring, substance-lacking race for mayor anywhere.
Right now I’m inclined to vote for an outsider like Michael. I can’t stomach Chuck Reed representing this town to the rest of the country and the world. David Pandori may have some good ideas and experience, but his charisma level is probably even lower than Chuck’s. Dave Cortese seems like a solid guy with good intentions but he’s part of the sitting council, which is a big strike against him. Anyone thinking of voting for Cindy, aka Gonzo II, must be looking for a candidate that embraces the Dick Cheney approach to politics and the media, and those people seriously need to have their heads examined. I don’t know enough about Mr. Herrera to comment, but if he’s had any association whatsoever with the perpetually dysfunctional Alum Rock school district, he’s unfit to run for office, period.
Greg
You have your geography a bit mixed up. The billions that have been made in San Jose were not in the downtown, but in the sprawl areas of our city, where many city councils sold out the will of the people – who believed in downtown as the center of history, culture, and commerce – for campaign bucks and a free lunch. Please list the people you think have done so well. There will be 5 that have done better by flaunting good planning and encouraging sprawl. That is the fact; your opinion is pure fiction and the repeated lies of those who want our city to expand to Gilroy. Oh, and Chuck Reed is a very good man, so you’re not far off there. TMcE
There are many good candidates, but my vote will go to someone not involved in Ronny G’s administration. David Pandori is looking like a good choice because he is tough and I think the fact that he stepped out of politics will help him see things more clearly as far as what needs to be done…
Given that transparency, Brown act, backroom deals etc will be a major theme of the upcoming campaign – is there a link where we can follow the campaign contribution money?
If this isn’t available on the web, shouldn’t it be incumbent upon the candidates to voluntarily provide this info?
Mark T. – J. Manuel Herrera has been on the East Side Union High School Board for over 15 years. His brother, Esau Herrera was on Alum Rock School District Board but is no longer. That association may be enough for you.
Tom – Not sure if J. Manuel would take to kindly to being called “Manny”.
Too bad some folks still use charisma as a key factor in deciding whom to vote for. This race is too important to be colored by charisma, who did or didn’t wear the silly hats, etc. It MUST be about issues and we must hear what each candidate thinks about the critical issues facing us.
David brings much to the table and is the only one talking about the bad planning for N. SJ and Coyote Valley.
Chuck and Dave certainly have made some efforts to change the slimy, backroom methods that Gonzo and crew have used for the past 7 years. They need to do more though. Whatever happened to the apology from Joe Guerra and the discipline he was supposed to receive? Letting these things slide allows business as usual to continue.
Little can be expected from Cindy to change the current culture of corruption. How could she actually propose an increase for the previous City Manager who chose to quit rather than apologize?
Manuel has to show he has what it takes.
Michael should set his sights somewhere else. You can’t start by being mayor. You have to establish yourself as understanding government, planning, etc.
Whomever you support, demand that they speak to the issues!
The fairgrounds is only a couple of miles from the front door of the Fairmont Hotel, although it has been portrayed by the “downtown” contingent as lying somewhere just south of nowhere. It isn’t civic pride or some form of gifted insight that drives the arguments of the “downtowners.” Follow the money, folks. Check out where the “downtown” moguls own commercial property. These are the same “visionaries” who’ve dominated decisions on where San Jose should spend its record-setting $1 billion on “redevelopment projects.” Does anyone seriously buy the argument that this bundle was spent to help small businesses?
As for the mayor’s race. . . well, may God help the good citizens of San Jose. My money’s going toward Mulcahy. At least he had the good sense to know that building a concert hall a mere three miles from the front door of the Fairmont wouldn’t do a damn thing to hurt the “downtown.” It might even do something to help refurbish the Monterey corridor, which is dominated by the kind of blighted properties redevelopment was truly intended to help.
Garson:
The “preoccupation” with family is very simple:
THE FRUIT NEVER FALLS FAR FROM THE TREE!
Without knowing the family, how do we know the child?
Jerry
Garson,
Mulcahy’s uncle, Phil DiNapoli, is a particularly impressive ‘Bellarmine Alum’…just like Tom… Impressive families sticking together, future deals and money to be made. Check it (you may need to cut and paste) http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/04.22.99/cover/bellarmine1-9916.html
Tom,
Actually I said “millions,” not “billions.” You and I both know the list of shakers and movers who have made dough on Downtown development.
I don’t, however, disagree with you on the point that developers have become rich because of urban sprawl and bad planning.
As for the “will of the people,” I make this challenge: put an advisory measure on the next ballot, asking the voters if they think Downtown is all that important and worth subsidizing at every turn. I dare say that, when the votes are tallied, you’d get a resounding “NO!”
I do think San Jose has had a solid history of generally good governance and management. That has erroded over the past several years to one that smells a bit, no major scandals, but still an uncomfortable feeling that we don’t select the best to govern us and they don’t select the best to manage. I don’t see this as a revolution, but I do thin a wise city populace can redirect the leadership now and avoid San Diego-level fiascos.
My concern about the candidates being touted here is that the best ones have little experience building council consensus. The one who has managed the council work well is a little too close to the existing regime. That leaves me feeling that Michael Mulcahey stands the best chance of coming in fresh and reframing the institutional culture. I agree the experience level is limited, nbut the passion seems there and I remember a fine mayor who stepped into a leadership role with only a modicum of added expereince, the author of the lead to this listing.
I do think San Jose has had a solid history of generally good governance and management. That has eroded over the past several years to one that smells a bit, no life-threatening scandals, but still an uncomfortable feeling that we don’t select the best to govern us and they don’t select the best to manage.
The emergence of the mini-mayor culture speaks to a council that doesn’t see the entire city as their responsibility. They don’t see collaboration as an asset. The Brown Act is constantly manipulated to a “just-in –time” sensibility rather than “doing the publics business in public.” I don’t see a need for a revolution, but I do think a wise city populace can redirect the leadership now and avoid San Diego-level fiascos.
My concern about the candidates being touted here is that the best ones have little experience building council consensus. The one who has managed the council work well is a little too close to the existing regime. That leaves me feeling that Michael Mulcahy stands the best chance of coming in fresh and reframing the institutional culture. I agree the experience level is limited, but the passion seems there. I remember a fine mayor who stepped into a leadership role with only a modicum of added experience, the author of the lead to this listing.
I think several other candidates are good committed civic patriots, people whose work and ethics I support, but that doesn’t make them leaders. That doesn’t make them capable of bringing the council along with them.
We to press the reset button. Who best to do it will emerge during the campaign? Everyone will find reasons to vote one way of the other. I look forward to the process assured that on one point most of us feel our ship is adrift and something concrete must be done by whoever wins the race. As Tom said at the outset, let the race begin.
Jerry,
Your proverb is nothing but a pipe dream…apples fall far from trees and roll down hills every day.
I think the point is more help your buddies the rich and their relatives, get richer….
“When former Mayor and Bellarmine graduate Tom McEnery first ran for mayor in 1982, Bellarmine pals Phil DiNapoli, Rich Cristina, Peter Carter, Don Imwalle, Ted Biagini, Tim Nobriga and Pat O’Brien were happy to step up to the plate. O’Brien served as campaign treasurer; Nobriga fundraised. The others gave contributions, advice and time and ultimately formed an undefeatable team that ushered McEnery into office.
To implement a revitalization plan for downtown San Jose and put its newly acquired and ample tax-increment financing to work, McEnery returned the favors to his old pals, investors and developer friends. Phil DiNapoli, for example, received a $13.6 million subsidy from the city to build the San Jose Hilton hotel with developer Lew Wolff.
DiNapoli surfaced again in 1986, this time shelling out money to pass Measure J, which gave Mayor McEnery new power over the budget, city manager and other aspects of the job.”
from the previously mentioned Metro Article.
#8, thanks for clarifying. I’ll have to mull that situation over or watch for a smear job in the Merc given Manny’s relationship to Esau.
#9, I disagree. Charisma is a necessary ingredient if any leader wants to get the people involved and behind his intiatives. I won’t argue with you on the issue of charisma sometimes putting the wrong person into office because that has happened enough for all of us here to know better than to use that one quality as the determining factor when we cast our vote. But if you want to get support for what you’re trying to do, you better have a presence that makes people take notice. So far I don’t see that in any of the candidates, so expect the usual SJ voter apathy this year unless somebody jumps in to spice things up and make it interesting to more than just the SJI blogging community.
This “town” has nearly 1,000,000 people living in it. We need somebody with fresh ideas who is going to grab it by the cajones and whip it into shape, inside City Hall and out, not some soft spoken wet noodle who can’t even attract or hold peoples’ attention.
This “town” has a serious image problem. Electing a mayor who expands that instead of overcoming it isn’t something I can get behind.
If the fruit does not fall far the tree what happened to Mayor Ron. Robert Gonzales Sr. was an upstanding, outstanding proud man. He fought for the rights of farmworkers, equal opportunity, open government. His mother Dolores proudly joined her husband and family in the fight for civil rights. So for this family the apple must have knocked out part of his “integrity gene” as His parents stood for so much more than Ron ever has.
#17: sad but true. Bob was an exceptional person who was admired by many people at all levels. His son forgot his upbringing and expected that people would respond through coercion and unethical behavior, rather than honesty and moral courage.
For those bored enough to have watched Channel 26 the evening of December 13, 2005 (CC item 6.2), they could of seen our new so-called reform candidate speak against the Spartan Keyes neighborhood’s initiative to restrict trucks over 5 tons taking short-cuts to Hwy 280 through their small residential streets. Apparently those short cuts are necessary to insure the large property owners to the south can keep their industrial buildings fully leased.
Many good comments today
San Jose’s very diverse residents and voters most chose to come here from all over the US and the world are some of the brightest and best educated ( both school and street smarts ), knowledgeable, articulate, capable, hard working people who can work very well together to solve complex business problems.
Why in local politics, government decision making and political campaigns we are treated as if we don’t care, can’t understand or are not worthy of participating in local government decision making?
California Constitution gives us rights to obtain most public documents, participate in developing public policy and tax spending proposals prior to making public government decisions.
Would you buy any very large purchase with your own money without thoroughly researching and comparing the specifics and all possible alternatives?
No, Well you are. – Ask each Mayor, District Attorney and other candidates:
1) What are our important public challenges and issues?
2) What are their specific detailed proposed solutions? If they have few or none – seriously question what they are hiding and assume the worst since in San Jose politics that is most often the reality, for candidates who do not clearly disclose their public priorities and most proposed solutions
3) Apply “ common sense “ test to their important public challenges and issues list, their proposed solutions and the exact process they will use to actually involve the public in the public participation decision process
4) Do not accept politically vague “ trust me “ answers or “ If you elect me, I will develop solutions “ – ( a ) solutions developed after elections many times are mostly campaign supporter and senior political staff “ deal is done “ proposals with no real public participation until it is presented for the legally required “ 2 minute “ public participation ( b ) candidates have only limited understanding of important issues and are bluffing the voters ( c ) have different priorities that they are unwilling to disclose and once elected will propose campaign supporters public policy or tax spending proposals that many voters will not agree but it is too late and you will no say or influence in the proposed public decisions
5)There are a few but NOT most complex challenges and issues that actually require detailed research, analysis and wide community participation to develop solutions. So have candidates clearly define ( a ) Who exactly will be involved in public policy and tax spending priorities proposal development ( b ) How specifically will public participation work and “ I will involve the community “ is an unacceptable answer without specific details ( c ) When exactly will we have public information and be able to offer suggestions or alternatives in the public policy proposals and tax spending priorities.
It is YOUR tax money they spend and public policy decisions affect your family, neighborhood and your community’s character, quality of life and local government ethical behavior, public participation, public information access and open meetings where decisions are made.
So ask yourself – Are you willing to elect a Mayor, District Attorney or any candidates who gives vague answers so after the election they will show us their true positions, political advisors, senior political appointees and insiders and their actual public policy and tax spending priorities that you may not agree with ?
A common definition of insanity especially political insanity is “ doing the same thing, the same way and expecting a different result “
Are you unhappy with our city government, who really participates and how the process of developing proposals about our public policies and tax spending decisions ?
If so question who and why many of these decisions are made then insist on changing the process and the political campaign process to as close as possible full political candidate disclosure.
San Jose’s history as a farming and ranching community provides a common sense motto “ You can put all the lipstick you want on a pig, but at the end of the day, it’s still just a pig .”
Many political candidates are like pigs – something you would not buy, if you saw the facts since their vague position statements that can later be interpreted many different ways.
A good rule for San Jose political campaigns is too assume the worst and not “ trust me “ since in politics what is not clearly disclosed or detailed committed to prior to elections is many times unacceptable to voters or the candidate clearly do not understand public challenges and issues.
We need ” full disclosure political campaigns “ if we are going to have “ no surprises “ San Jose city government
SEE My Comment # 11 for 5 very important but not well known San Jose challenges
http://sanjoseinside.com/sji/blog/entries/single_gal_and_late_night_clubbing/
Ed,
Good comments but I cannot get past how residents of San Jose are going to ask such questions. The Merc certainly doesn’t (just look at their recent coverage of the district 7 election). The candidates’ web sites have very little information (including their schedule of campaign events). Most neighborhoods do not have a neighborhood group that sponsors candidate forums. The end result is most San Jose residents know very little about the candidates they are voting for other than the glossy mailers they received before the election.
Thanks for putting the race in better perspective for me Tom. I still tend to favor someone outside the box. Someone who can bring a fresh approach to city government. Presently I’m tending towards Michael Mulcahy or Manny Herrera. The DiNapolis go way back in San Jose history.
I have my own ideas about a concert venue for this area. I probably will be viewed as a heretic but…the people of San Jose and all the other communities of the country own a huge piece of property called the fairgrounds and except for a few shows and exhibitions, it ain’t being used. Just think, space for parking, all sports, concerts, shows and all within the City of San Jose. San Jose would certainly benefit. I’ve been “downtown” a lot recently and I couldn’t imagine a big sports arena on Montgomery or another concert stage somewhere. All this is probably against what you big downtown property owners want to hear but I think my idea smacks of reality.
Oh my gosh, the prospect of Cindy as our next mayor is terrifying… a Gonzo clone in many respects. We’‘ll be facing the “you can’t build a lemonade stand unless it’s Downtown” mentality. I really tire of the parochial view that nothing of consequence should exist unless it’s Downtown.
As for Mulcahy, he may have disappointed many of the small business people Downtown but I suspect it was more that he snubbed that cadre of exclusive developers who have made millions on building in the Downtown area.
In any event, my vote will go to Chuck Reed. Chuck has what it takes to be an outstanding mayor.
I was represented by David Pandori in District 3 for eight years and he has earned my vote for mayor. He was always available and always fearless in taking on special interests.
He listened to the neighbors and showed up whenever requested. His staff (Margaret and Kelly) were always available and helpful. All of us who were represented by David were spoiled by the level of service we received.
I am not a regular contributer to political campaigns but my wife and I will be thrilled to make a contribution to David’s campaign.
GM – Nice comments – I will look closely at Mr. Flores – he seems to be in the race for the right reasons. Thanks! TMcE
To #14 Andrew & #20 Ed
For God’s sake men, let’s shorten your comments to maybe half of War and Peace. You may have brought up good ideas, but I certainly wasn’t going to take the time to read them. They were longer than the original posts!
Constituent service is very important as #29 indicates. Most of the councilmembers could learn much from David about how to deal with constituents. For most council offices today, serving their constituents is a lost art. And forget about the current mayor’s office completely. The arrogance flows down from the top and most of the staff ably mimic their “leader.” His office does not respond to meeting requests in a timely manner (unless of course there is money involved), correspondence is not answered, invitations are ignored. Quite a way to run an office.
I’m counting the days until he is gone and a day begins in the mayor’s office. Certainly David would be a welcome change to the current GonzoChavez regime. (My experience with Cindy’s office has been very similar to the way the Mayor’s office operates.)
The analysis is correct, 5 guys vying to take on Cindy in the General.
David is smart and expereinced. Some people I’ve talked with (insiders), don’t give him much of a chance because they don’t believe he can raise the money.
I disagree. In this race, a person may only need 27-34% of the vote to make a runoff—maybe even less. It doesn’t take much money, just spending it right. Richie Ross doesn’t help him in this regard, though.
David has the benefit of being an outsider who has been on the inside. Mahoney is an outsider looking in (may look attractive at first glance, but without any government experience it’s tough—ask Arnold).
Reed and Cortese both suffer the same problem, if you are such a good leader, why haven’t you made the changes necessary.
If you can’t carry six votes now, how do you do it once you are elected?
Pandori is well-positioned for this race—personally—I think it will come down to him or Mahoney v Chavez in the general.
And Pandori would be more difficult to beat for a number of different reasons, which I care not to share at this time—as I am committed to another.
But those who try to dismiss Pandori, do so at their own peril.
Re #31: Mahoney? I think you mean “Mulcahy.”
Mulcahy not Mahoney—think he has a name ID problem?
I haven’t seen any M*A*S*H reruns lately—was his father a television priest?j
Rich
P.S. Speaking of parentage, does it really matter? It does if your name is Bush, how else could an illiterate moron ever get an MBA from Harvard and become President of the United States. And our own DA wasn’t hurt by his name being Kennedy—even if he isn’t a real one.
Rich is right. I don’t understand how W as far as he has. I thought I was supposed to be the smart one.
Q. “…how else could an illiterate moron ever get an MBA from Harvard and become President of the United States?”
A. By running against 2 of the creepiest candidates ever to come down the democratic pike.
Ooh, good one Novice, “2 of the creepiest candidates…” It’s great to put people into such definitive categories. If only you could have published your in-depth analysis of the candidates’ prior to the election. Thanks for the insight. Maybe now you aim your skillful and scholarly talents to the mayor’s race so we know who are the “creepiest” candidates.
Thanks for keeping the level of SJI so high.
#36: I think Cindy is creepy, or better said, Gonzo II.
#19. Who is the “Reform” candidate you are referring to?
Ed, I was under the impression from the Resident Newspapers (ie Willow Glen) that you are the mayor of Willow Glen. You are referring to District 7 in your note and using the term we and our. Why District 7 and who are the “we” and “our” you are referring to? I am not disagreeing with you just interested in your citywide involvement.
#36—We don’t disagree in concept about Cindy, just the terminology.
Novice,
That’s articulate, educated, creepy candidates to you.
Are ya lovin’ the ride with W. Hamas in charge of the Palestian Authority, Shiites in charge in Iraq, Sharia Law the code for Afghanistan, and Cheney with a beer and a shotgun.
Do you feel safer today than you did four years ago?
Dan,
We / our refers to 5-6 non-partisan community groups who are working together with multiple neighborhood associations to sponsoring non-partisan community public policy and candidate forums.
I have been active in individual and multiple neighborhood associations, community groups and various San Jose city advisory, review or citizen committees for years and currently President of Willow Glen Neighborhood Association and past Chair – United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County ( UNSCC) – members are mostly San Jose neighborhood association leaders
UNSCC is a non-partisan educational association that was requested to help organize District 7 – Neighborhood and Community Leaders group
Steve,
United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County , League of Woman Voters and a number of other non partisan community groups are working out the details for our 2nd Public Policy Forum in April and a 3rd Forum in October to continue our public policy and issues discussions that we started at the 1st Neighborhood and Community Public Policy Forum held during UNSCC’s Annual Conference last November where we had representatives of Chamber, Community Labor, Media, Neighborhood groups discussing the public policy issues.
We are planning a City wide Mayor Candidate Forum in early May at City Hall modeled after our District 7 Neighborhood and Community Leaders Candidate Forum held last May that helped to change the candidate’s campaign focus to local important issues.
We will possibly work with other multiple neighborhood and community groups to put on other Neighborhood and Community Leader Candidate Forums in various Council Districts locations between mid April to mid May.
San Jose Inside participants, community organizations, voters and residents who attend the many Candidate Debates or Forums can ask the Mayor and other candidates for ” full disclosure political campaigns “ which means what are their important public policy priorities and their detailed proposed solutions if we are going to have “ no surprises “ San Jose city government.
You are right, we all need to participate in educating the voters and residents but the candidates also have a major responsibility which many do not do to educate the voters about the important challenges and issues ( assuming they actually understand them, which a few do not based on my early conversations with them ) and what specifically they intend to do if elected about our challenges and issues or how they would use our public participation process to develop, build community support for workable solutions rather than what has been typical for San Jose (a) typical back room meetings or public meeting where the public can not attend due to time of day but the politically active groups who have full time people or a financial interest attend and propose public policies or tax spending plans that many voters if asked would not approve.
If it was easy, we hopefully would have done it along time ago – It is not but we all have a educational responsibility which many of our elected officials and community leaders seem to chose to ignore or are not fully aware of their part in all of us working together to make San Jose a great city for everyone not just a few and their political groups
#19 Who are you taking about since every Mayor candidate is now a ” Reform” candidate
Most candidates are using the ” reform ” political label but have no actual or proposed reforms just more of the same ” San Jose special interest – politics as usual ” with different campaign supporters who all are expecting the new elected officals to pay them back with public policies or taxes – more ” pay to play” politics
You can start to possibly believe the “reforms” are real when we see real reform proposals not more political campaign happy talk
TOM,
Let’s not forget about the underdog of the six candidates, LARRY FLORES he is the one who will be taking votes away from Cindy because he comes from labor. When you speak to him, the great about him is that he is not a politician but one of us, take a look at his website http://www.larryfloresformayor.com and you will find out that he never waited to run like some of the other candidates, he was the third candidate to file, call the clerks office and ask about him! Sooner or later they are going to have to deal with him just watch and see! Again, I will never vote for one of the incumbents to many broken promises but for the first time my vote is for a regular guy, remember the race between Madison and the other candidates nobody paid any attention to her, now look at where she’s at!
Pat Dando made a great comment today, “don’t hear what the politicians are saying, but rather who are they and where they came from!”
I’m just one of many students passing around the word to vote for Larry Flores.
Thanks’
GM
Novice,
Fundamental to democratic institutions is the understanding that minority populations have rights. Pure Democracy is simply a dicatorship of the majority over the minority.
Further, it is imperative that populations seeking to govern themselves have an educated electorate.
A fundamental flaw with the Bush Administration policy is their lack of understanding of the cultures they are fighting.
Giving Democracy to folks in Iraq, with three different cultures—each of whom believe democracy means they can impose their will on the other cultures is a bad idea.
Until Sharia Law, the Shiites, the Sunnis and the Kurds recognize individual liberty as well as democratic dominance, there will be no peace.
Ditto for Hamas.
My solution for Iraq would have been to partition it in three, allow the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds their own territory, utilizing a common market to share the oil profits.
I would not support a Democratic election for those populations until the concept of democracy was better understood and accepted.
The Japanese and German models after WWII apply to this region as well. Of course, you first have to win the war.
Rich
I’ve been thinking (again) about Tom’s reference to family and I have discovered what I believe motivates his preoccupation with family ties.
By qualifiying someone by family, Tom hopes to create a hierarchy where those who are from families with “impeccable credentials” or families “distinguished for their business acumen and philanthropy” can run for office. I’m surprised he didn’t make the case that a Bellarmine diploma is a prerequisite to seek office. This sort of paternalistic view smacks of elitism. But, you all probably already knew that was Tom’s point.
Once again, an interesting spin by Rich. He portrays Cindy as a leader because she was not smart enough to cut herself loose from Gonzo—thus portraying her as a leader instead of the stooge she is. Doing the right thing would have been supporting open government, demanding a city manager who actually did his job instead of doing the mayor’s bidding, not supporting a raise for the nearly fired CM, not telling people one thing and doing another, etc., etc. Instead Rich would have us believe that all of this is what makes her a leader. About the only item on which we can agree is that Cindy is generally a nice person. Hardly a ringing endorsement of her leadership skills.
Arabs aren’t smart enough to manage a democracy? The liberal bigotry of low expectations strikes again.
“Fundamental to democratic institutions is the understanding that minority populations have rights.”
This has been so perverted and flipped on it’s head by the legions of ACLU brownshirts that the minority now rules via judicial fiat.
Thus we have 24×7 ACLU led efforts to jackhammer any and all references to God, the pledge of allegiance, the boy scouts, etc. into oblivion to ensure that we don’t make some minority lunatic fringe in this country “uncomfortable”.
Rich,
Your question/statement avoids the obvious: Why did Cindy stick with Gonzales for so long? It was only when it was obvious that censure was a foregone conclusion that she switched sides.
I agree that Cindy is a nice person. I also think Chuck and Dave and the other Dave are nice guys, and I’m sure Michael and Manuel are also decent people too. Nice is not the issue. What I am looking for is leadership qualities. That’s an area Cindy seems to consistently come up short.
We saw it again when she did a last minute flip flop on bonuses for city administrators. When union leaders spoke against the increases she switched her vote. Bada-bing bada-boom.
Why not just elect Phaedra as Mayor and cut out the middle woman?
Today a Merc editorial pointed out a flaw in a proposed new rule that would require lobbyists to report how much money they raised for a candidate. The new rule will only require disclosure if a candidate asks the lobbyist to raise funds. Why not do as the editorial board suggests and require such disclosure from all registered lobbyists? Who is providing the “leadership” at city hall pushing for this watered down rule?
See http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/13897213.htm
Rich, thank you for pointing out in #46 that we don’t live in a “pure democracy” here in the good old USA.
Thanks to the Electoral College that serves no useful purpose, we are in a situation where the extremist minority is enjoying 8 years of fascist dictatorship over the more moderate majority. After this latest hunting accident and the way Mr. Cheney thumbed his nose once again at the public and the press, I’ve ordered my “slash though W” stickers to counter those sickening “W ‘04” ovals the sore winners refuse to remove from their cars.
Also, your closing remarks in #31 included this statement:
“And Pandori would be more difficult to beat for a number of different reasons, which I care not to share at this time—as I am committed to another.”
It seems you weren’t willing to divulge who “another” was (although most of us here probably had a pretty good idea) but you have clearly done so in #41. Too bad you’re behind status-quo Cindy as anything you write here going forward re: the mayor’s race will be tainted as far as I’m concerned.
We share a lot of the same views, but absolutely not about Cindy.
Rich are you an Albino?
Does that explain the solidarity you have with Cinzo aka Conzo. I heard albinos stick together, but this takes the cake.
Word of warning to everyone here. The Albino home is the Albino Dome next to the office building we all call city hall.
2 oldest political con games are
– career politician con game – I hear your concerns and let
Thanks Ed. Being new to this whole thing leaves me with questions. However, being an elderly native son I am not new to San Jose and Central Santa Clara County.
Yikes,
You have obviously never met Cindy.
You can disagree with Cindy, support other candidates for Mayor, bash Gonzalez, rail on labor, howl at the moon, but Cindy is a very nice person.
If this were an old time political campaign where everybody got to “meet” the candidates. Regardless of your current view Cindy would win hands down.
She is charming, straight forward, has tremendous integrity and understands government, San Jose and its needs.
You can speculate about her motives, but what you hear is what you get, whether it is politically correct or not.
That is actually what separates her from many in the pack. Ask yourself one question,
“If all she cared about was being Mayor would she not have deserted Ron sooner, made better headlines by calling for his dismissal, avoided taking the lead on controversial issues she knows are unpopular.”
Sometimes doing the right thing means not doing the politically correct thing—it’s called courage and regardless of whether you agree with her, she makes decisions based on her values and knowledge and is always able to articulate her position.
If you can find someone better, vote for them.
Gopper,
Unless Kucinich pulls the upset of the century – I’m betting the Dem’s throw in the towel on creepy candidates and tap Hillary in 2008.
Let’s see if angry fares better than creepy.
Rich,
Are you suggesting that Palestinians shouldn’t be allowed to have elections?
Are you suggesting that the US should have installed a strong man in Gaza instead of allowing elections?
Are you suggesting that Shiite’s by nature are sinister, evil, and not to be trusted?
Sharia law? I wholeheartedly endorse having the ACLU take on and stamp out Sharia law in Islamic countries.
I’ll even start a fund raising drive for free plane tickets to the middle east for our social justice heroes.
With six canidates to listen to and the assurance of a run-off it is important to take the time to vote for the most competent person to insure that the finals has at least one acceptable choice, that can win, to potentiallly handle the future of our city. The other choice in the run-off will assuredly be Cindy Chavez and that is a truly appaling thought.
The San Jose City Council has been essentially taken over by the Central Labor Council with the election of Nancy Pyle, Nora Campos, Madison Nguyen as core constituants of Cindy Chavez and the less liberal all democrat, but labor friendly, sitting council. We have seen policies that dictate the rate of wages paid to non city workers by independent business people seeking City business, even though the industry being hired may not have a union wage structure. We have seen wages and benefits for city workers exceed those available to those that pay the taxes that fund their jobs. The current economic poilices of this council and certainly one under the leadership of cindy chavez and the central labor council will only widen this rift as they try to increase their Socialistic view of power over the free market local economy.
Garson and Tom McE
My father is in the picture that you find on the link in item #12.
He was part of the Bellarmine Block “B”
What I think this illustrates is that my family has a corporate and chronological history of the way this valley has developed, grown, and failed. There are no more trees around here for fruit to fall from….
My father used to say, “it was all orchards, it is going to look like Los Angeles pretty soon.”
Correct, he was.
I did not go to Bellarmine, I went to high school on the west side. Had I went to Bellarmine, I would have been class mates with Sam Loccardo, who I have met, and believe is a wonderful human being. His character spine is one of service to the community and protection of the people.
My inquiry is this, do you think he has a better shot at winning District 3 (I know it isn’t as big a deal as the Mayor’s race) than I do, because he has the diploma as a BELL?
Yes, Sam has better shot at winning District 3 primary but not runoff
Bellarmine Bells raise more money but can not win because business candidates recently do not relate to or have important issue solutions voters support
Race is between Joel and Sam for runoff against Manny
Marginal candidates should focus on important local district issues If Joel and Sam do not develop solutions voters support, someone might get 2nd runoff position against Manny
As unknown candidate, voters want focus on many local issues not talk about national issues
Garson – I guess you don’t know much of my record: the developers who have sprawled and twisted SJ to their needs would rather have Charlie Manson in power than me – and Bellarmine is no magic touchstone to high office or anything else – it is a place that teaches and respects certain values that most would consider important – I learned mine at home and honed them by running small businesses and listening to people – so I guess “family” is important, but not in the narrow way you surmise – we could use such experiences on the City Council now. There are many other schools and places that respect and teach the same values. We need all of this we can get in our city. TMcE
So, Dan #1, if they build a concert venue @ the fairgrounds, where do people who want a nice meal before the concert go in that area? GREAT freeway access, Dan. Jeez, the closest is 87 @ Curtner. Why not put it in Morgan Hill and make it really remote from everything else?
Greg #13—wow, we can agree on something. For a couple of decades I have been wailing in the wilderness that 90% of the residents of San Ohaze could not care less about downtown development. Those who own land there—like the McE’s—keep pushing it, but most of us would rather see neighborhood services and smooth roads and functioning community/senior centers than some pipe dream downtown.
Never forget that San Hozay is not a city of 1 million. It’s a town of 50,000 surrounded by suburbs of 950,000. And, most of us want to keep it that way. That’s why we have district elections that Balkanize San Jose into little mini-mayor fiefdoms.
You want a city—oh, say like Detroit that we just passed as #10 in the US of A?
Andrew#14: You seem to revere “council consensus”. Would that be the same consensus that let city hall re-siting, missing the interior fixtures part for $45 mil, allowing NorCal to go through? We need council dissent.
Mark T #16 hit the nail on the head. Charisma ain’t the be-all-and-end-all, but you hafta have some of it.
#s 17 & 18—sad but true.
Ed #20 is correct in theory, Steve # 21 is correct in the real world.
Ahhnold came in on a campaign of people dissatisfied with business as usual. Those voters soon returned to their apathy, and so we’re stuck with the usual stalemate in Sacratomato. Why would it be different here in San Ohaze?
GM#24—Larry WHO? When may we expect to hear from him?