While Xavier Campos seemed to recover from his scandal-induced loss of the ability to speak this week, all but announcing victory in his tight race Magdalena Carrasco on Tuesday, the Carrasco camp is claiming voter fraud in the Eastside San Jose City Council race. Kevin de León, the LA state assembly member (and Carrasco’s ex), says he’s been hearing from eyewitnesses who claim to have spotted some shenanigans by members of the South Bay Labor Council (SBLC) in District 5.
Some say they saw Campos supporters loading boxes of uncounted ballots into their cars at East Side polling spots on election day. Others say that the SBLC sponsored a job and Halloween fair at the Mi Pueblo Shopping Center in the week before the election, advertising to Spanish-speakers to bring their ballots so that they could “help fill them out.”
The most frequent compliant, however, comes from Eastsiders who report seeing people representing themselves as Carrasco supporters going house-to-house collecting absentee ballots. In fact, de León says that Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s office is investigating a claim from one East San Jose woman who signed testimony stating that a man identifying himself as a Carrasco worker came to her door and claimed that he was there on Magdalena’s behalf to collect her family’s ballots.
Further, some of Carrasco’s number crunchers say there was a disproportionate rush of new voters signing up in District 5 during the election’s last registration period. They tell Fly that 716 new voters were registered in 654 District 5 households within one month. Considering that the East Side race came down to less than 20 votes in the primary, and that Campos is taking his sister’s seat now with a mere 305-vote lead, Carrasco’s supporters don’t think those numbers add up.
Assemblyman de León, a pro-labor legislator at the state capital, is telling everyone he knows about a chat he had with former San Francisco City District Attorney (and the apparent newly elected California Attorney General) Kamala Harris last Saturday. Harris’s brother-in-law is Tony West, who famously fell victim to a racially tinged mailer when he was running against the SBLC-backed Manny Diaz (Nora Campos’ former boss) in the 2000 assembly race. “Kamala was telling me that that was like the dirtiest race of all time, but I told her, ‘Oh, I can one-up you with this one.’”
Boohoohoo. If it were the other way around, with Carrasco leading, I’m sure the Campos campaign would have claimed the same thing.
He won by 305 votes, maybe even more.
Elections happen. Let’s move on.
Congratulations Councilmember Campos!
> Others say that the SBLC sponsored a job and Halloween fair at the Mi Pueblo Shopping Center in the week before the election, advertising to Spanish-speakers to bring their ballots so that they could “help fill them out.”
Interesting. But what does it mean?
Could any night school lawyer offer an opinion regarding what if anything might be illegal about this?
Does this violate any election law?
No, that sort of thing isn’t illegal.
I’m thinking that if people bringing ballots were given cash, prizes or something else for letter SBLC workers fill out their ballots, then its illegal, otherwise it just good old machine politics.
How about if they were led to believe or promised that they would get jobs?
Job fair was put on by Mi Pueblo. Halloween flyers were handed out at Mi Pueblo to shoppers all week. Event was a Halloween safety awareness event. Next year it is on the 29th of October. Do you want to be a sponsor?
The only investigation should revolve around why Carrasco failed to file Federal Income Tax Returns for 7 years in a row, purchased two houses without a job or proof of any income (She could not have produced tax returns because she did not file any), and trying to claim a $75K exemption for a house she did not live in. She has been busted by the bankruptcy court and the US Attorney for these shady deals. OH, and the voters saw through her sob stories and held her accountable for her lies.
OOOPS…the other investigation should revolve around Kevin DeLeon and his residency. He spends so much time in San Jose, how can he claim he is a resident of his East Los Angeles district that he has been elected to represent?
Carrasco lost, fair and square and the Metro should try and actually find some facts before printing such BS.
Way to go Xavier for working hard and actually living in the district you will represent!
Is there any pending legal inquiries into Carrasco’s bankruptcy? She filed the bankruptcy, had the issue with the tax filings but those are resolved issues aren’t they?
Xavier Campos’ issues with his former employer are pending. The District Attorney’s office is investigating his involvment in the theft/embezzlement/misappropriation of nearly $2 million dollars in public funds via city, state, county and federal grants.
It would seem the rumblings of voter tampering are the least of his problems.
Wondering, it appears you have inside information about the direction and scope of the MACSA inquiry. Where in the press release or comments from the District Attorney’s office did it say Xavier Campos is being investigated….show us please.
The fact of the matter is that Campos is not under investigation, it appears that the CFO pulled some financial scheme and was caught. Xavier was not the CFO.
So, I understand the bitter disappointment of those who supported Magdalena Carrasco; the no tax filing, no tax paying, didn’t live in the district, carpetbagging, no job but purchased two houses, bankruptcy done and then take out an equity line of over 150K and then not make a single payment, not one…and you wonder why the voters rejected this fraud. I don’t.
If Xavier did something he should not have done then the DA should ring him up, but don’t accuse him of something and have zero to back it up. I accuse Carrasco of being a fraud because the facts say she is.
The document provided to the public by the SJ Mercury News filed by Michael Sterner, Lieutenant in the Santa Clara County Office of the District Attorney speaks to the scope of the investigation including the reasoning for the raid of the MACSA offices and confiscation of files, computers and documents. It also spells out pretty clearly a higher level of knowledge and direct involvement of Xavier Campos. Campos’ statements to the press have pretty much been that he is proud of his work at MACSA and that he had no knowledge of diversion of funds. Read the documents and the interviews with the staff, former staff and board members.
Not only did Mr Campos have knowledge of the money issues, he was the one person dealing with the SEIU union to set the timeline for repayment (which still has not been done). He knew the money was missing, he knew the money was due employees. It wasn’t just “cash flow” issues but included money taken out of the paychecks of employees and still not sent to the pensions and 401 accounts.
Mr Campos’ revised statement was that “its them not me and if they say its me, they’re lying” Yep thats some credible statement. I guess you’re right. Case closed.
Bankruptcy not withstanding a legal way out of your personal financial woes is much better than a convicted felon. Just wait, Campos will be one soon enough.
I accuse Campos of being incompetent at best. Felon embezzler at worst. Im confident that DA Rosen won’t let this slide. Its too important to all of San Jose but especially the families, seniors, children, teachers and staff that were cheated out of programs and money by Campos’ negligence and possible criminal activity.
He doesn’t get a hall pass because his sister has been the monitor. Hopefully you’ll be the kind of friend that stays by his side and visits him in jail.
“It wasn’t just “cash flow” issues but included money taken out of the paychecks of employees and still not sent to the pensions and 401 accounts.”
If money was actually removed from employees’ accounts, that is clearly grand theft. Where’s the D.A. on this?
Its very difficult to believe that Xavier Campos isn’t a target of the investigation, irrespective of whether such a claim was specifically enunciated in a press release. Maybe he’ll be indicted, and maybe he won’t, but I’d say its pretty damn clear he’s being looked at by the D.A.‘s office.
Do you seriously disagree?
The DA is still investigating right?
Can the individual teachers/staff file suit to reclaim the money? Would they sue MACSA? The Officers? The Board of Directors?
I got to know the Campos family over the course of this year. I met Xavier, I met Nora, and I had a familiar feeling about them. The same exact feeling I got from Donald Rocha.
They’re people that were born and raise to love San Jose, and have tremendous pride in it. Nothing will ever tear them away from here.
I understand Chuck wanting to endorse Carassco, he’s fighting for well intentioned and responsible leadership in City Hall. Maybe it feels like he’s hitting a brick wall sometimes, and years of bad leadership has gotten SJ where it is now. I disagree with his strategy, but hey, he’s mayor so he can pretty much do as he wishes. I know Chuck will work with these guys hedidn’t endorse.
My words probably resonate with a lot of people. A lot candidates just spout the same rhetoric during a campaign. If everyone looks the same, what else do we have to go on for the measure of a good councilmember?
Work with Campos, not against. Maybe if we built a new entertainment district in his district, you could start getting ad revenue for the Spanish version of the Metro, la metropolitano.
I understand and appreciate your sentiment Mr Cortese. I just wonder if you’ll feel the same if the investigation into the MACSA pension and now RDA fund misappropriation scandal will lead to criminal charges against Mr Campos.
He may very well be a nice man in his private life but in his professional life he has worked at one agency his entire adult life and it is kneedeep in mismanagement, fraud and embezzlement. MACSA is an agency that those of us who live on the eastside have trusted for decades and depended on for service to the most marginalized in our community. Xavier worked there for 20 years working his way up to Chief Operations Officer. I’d like to believe that he didn’t have anything to do with the fund misappropriation but it seems highly unlikely that he had no knowledge of the illegal workings going on there. Its almost worse if he didn’t because then I’d believe he isn’t the most astute executive officer and would doubt his abilities to serve this district on the city council.
I am not sure of why Mr Reed backed Ms Carrasco but it seems that the MACSA business being unfinished and possibly (probably?) having a criminal end for Mr Campos might be one reason.
So, it’s down to two possibilites: 1) He’s completely incompetent and couldn’t find his way out of a paper bag; or 2) His brain is so tiny and underdeveloped, he has to concentrate on sustaining his pulse and respiration and there’s simply not enough capacity remaining for anything else. Whew, not a good choice.
anyone know the possible penalties that Campos and the other MACSA execs could be facing if charged with embezzlement?
Jail time? Fines? Probation? Community Service? Are they felonies or misdemeanor charges based on the amount that is stolen?
Alum Rock:
Time will tell, but this site sensationalizing the scandal without actual proof of his involvement, and hinting that he had a hand in it is nothing short of libel at this point.
Wait 6 months, a year and lets see what the investigation brings… If he’s guilty of any wrongdoing, we end up with a special election and get him out of there. If he’s cleared of any wrongdoing, how many people that frequent this site will hold SJI accountable for what they’ve done to libel this mans name?
I’ve worked in shady companies before. Here’s one gem I worked for in the 90’s, if you have time to read the case, it’s a pretty interesting read.
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/comp17659.htm
I worked as the sysadmin for the company. Corporate structure pretty much forbids a COO from check signing, and it’s usually the CFO’s or CEO’s duty to sign checks. (which is why I question Xavier’s involvement) Usually COO’s manage facilities, hire contractors to paint walls and mow lawns and have little to nothing to do with the exchange of money.
Going back to my own experience though…
The COO I worked for was a great man, but being that he was COO it was his job to make sure the company had the facilities and equipment to do its job.
He never had any dealings with the fundraising. He never signed checks. One day the company ran out of money and he had to start cutting people. I got switched from Salary to hourly, and walked. Others got the same thing. Tired of not having the funds to hire people, tired of bills not being paid, he left. A week later the CEO asked the rest of the dev team if they could work a month for free, until he got more funding, and they walked (carrying out anything that wasn’t nailed down)
I don’t know the entire situation at Masca, but it sounds very familiar to what happened at Intracom. A big influx of cash, some people taking their “cut” that shouldn’t have, and a COO charged with trying to make it look like they had spent the money the way they were supposed to, and finally saying, “Fuck this, I’m out.”
Maybe Xavier does know something, but it wouldn’t be wise to make anything public knowledge at this time. If he starts spouting publicly what he knows, the folks that did wrong will know what tracks to cover… That is an advantage we can’t lose at this point of the investigation.
One more thing I’d like to throw out here…
I don’t have anything against Magdalena. As I said earlier though, I think a big part of San Jose politics is we have a lot of old families here, and people are vote based on name. That’s why she lost. The only thing people know about her, is she has 2 gigantic trilingual billboards in front of James Lick High school.
There’s also another aspect to this which I’d like to point out. I think D5 seeing how much the Carasco campaign spent was probably a turn off to some people.
I grew up in the area (went to James Lick and Sheppard Middle), and I know that there is a certain amount of dissent against “the establishment” so to speak. Magnalena was probably seen by many as being so. She did great at the beginning, getting out there, preaching in Spanish, but she shot herself in the foot at the end because she went on a full scale media blitz.
Mr Cortese again I appreciate your viewpoint. However I must again go to Leadership and competence. Mr Campos may very well be innocent of any criminal charges (I hope he is simply for the reason that the last thing San Jose needs is the cost of another recall or special election ala Madison Nguyen).
There is money missing and unaccounted from at MACSA. That is not a fact in dispute, correct? He was the COO. He may not have been charged with signing checks but he was charged with direct oversight of those charter high schools. He was also on the administrative team and attended board meetings where he was provided and expected to be well versed in the operation of the agency. How is it that he (and all the other board members) missed these discrepencies for so long yet took steps such as liquidation of assets and property for cash flow problems? They knew something was amiss yet never fully investigated or ran internal audits.
That seems suspicious. Maybe its innocent and they trusted the other financial agents of the agency. But why would they? They are accountable to the funding sources (state, federal, county, city) with reports so why not make sure you’re in full compliance? How do you take money for a preschool, spend the money and never have the preschool materialize? How do you meet with union representatives to work out a repayment plan for pensions and the like and never check the problem internally? Or follow up to make sure the repayment is actually done?
As a city council member Mr Campos (like Mr Rocha) will inherit the budget woes of his predecessors there appears to be serious flaws in his competence in these matters with an agency budget that tops out at $20 million or so, so why have confidence in him to administer a $3 billion dollar complex budget like the city’s?
Competence aside, what about leadership and accountability? Accountability not to the District Attorney’s office but to the community MACSA served. He was the Chief Operations Officer at an agency where he worked for 20 years, who has provided service to the community for 45 years. Where is the apology for allowing this to happen during his tenure? Where is the commitment to resolution? Not a call for an expedient investigation to clear HIS name but to repay the teachers, the staff and the community? Leadership is a gift and sadly Mr Campos has exhibited none of the leadership qualities a city council member needs.
His statement to the press that it was the CFO and CEO but not him and they’d be liars if they said he had knowledge made the week before the election came across as very defensive and almost desperate. Again, I don’t doubt he is a very nice man in some areas of his life but his record of public service is largely dependent on his record at MACSA and its tainted and suspect. Time will tell but its the community that continues to suffer while time ticks away.
Campos may not have the endorsement of the Metro but since he’s was one part of a three team executive team at MACSA which is currently under criminal investigation he shouldn’t have the endorsement or support of the local papers.
How is it beating a dead horse as you call it if there is voter tampering? There may be no credible evidence to the claim, maybe it is just sour grapes but if it is true and there was voter fraud that is a very serious charge and should have a very serious consequence. Anyone who attempts to thwart or circumvent our fair election process should be held out with the greatest consequence that is available. It is intolerable to rig elections or steal votes. That said, the onus is on the Carrasco camp to produce the evidence. If they have people who can attest to this personally they should be put in touch with Debra Bowen’s office or Kamala Harris’ office for full investigation. This is a bigger issue than the Campos/Carrasco battle for district 5 these charges go to the integrity of our San Jose elections ongoing. The Campos issue is more focused with the MACSA investigation (which is also ongoing and should be reported on regularly for the public’s good)
As for Campos having no support at this site, I’ve read quite a few very biting remarks towards Carrasco that are from people who very strongly support Campos. The proof of his mettle as a leader will be how he moves forward after the election is certified. Lets see if he is the unifying local leader he has proclaimed himself to be.
The blitzing was done by the union backed Campos with the robo calls and push polls.
Carrasco didn’t outspend him overall he had more money from the start of the campaign to the finish. The race was close and I can understand where Carrasco supporters are disappointed about how close she came to toppling the name brand. What is surprising is how vehemently against Carrasco his supporters STILL are after the election. They want her to be gracious in defeat and yet offer no humility in their victory. Could it be that the victory isn’t secure just yet? Or that they feel the pressure of the ongoing investigations and all these other allegations?
Empirical victory for sure. The cost to the Campos machine and affiliates is much higher than the price tag of the billboards. They come off like playground bullies
What is surprising is how vehemently against Carrasco his supporters STILL are after the election. They want her to be gracious in defeat and yet offer no humility in their victory.
This site supported Carasco, and is the one that’s beating a dead horse by publishing this story. Campos has 0 support on this site, so the point you just made has been debunked.
Does anyone really want to look closely at the votes in D5? We’re not just talking about comparing registration signatures to voter signatures, but actually looking to see if people who are registered and voting actually have a legal right to do so?
That’s the elephant in the room no one will talk about, our elections have the air of legitimacy but pretty much anyone can fill out a postcard and become a voter without any checking being done by anyone. The only time it is questioned is if someone specifically challenges an election and a voter. The national parties have gotten involved on occasion in this but are basically too weak to do it at the local level. What would an audit of the San Jose voter rolls really show?
Who would do that? I agree it should be done but who has the actual authority to check the 700 plus newly registered voters in district 5 to see if they are legitimately able to vote in that district? It wouldn’t be too far fetched to think that out of town city union workers wanted to vote in the critical measure V & W issues and paired it with the fear that Campos has pissed away what they thought would be a sure and easy victory. The fact that he’s ahead only 350 votes is reason enough to take a closer look.
DOes the election board do this? Do citizen’s need to file complaints or does it trigger an automatic review if a district has an unusual amount of newly registered in only one voting district/
“Maybe if we built a new entertainment district in his district,…”
Yeah, would that ever be a boost for DT.
Fraud is still a part of American politics. We see it both in the campaigns as well as in the process of collecting and counting votes. It has a long history going back to the political machines back East.
Most of the times, for most races…the voting is clean and the campaigns honest.
As far as this particular race, it got dirty in the primary and stayed that way. I don’t know if there was organized fraud around voting (false registrations, ballot stuffing, etc) but know that it is certainly possible given the “traditions” of such things.
I, for one, am glad the election is over regardless of who won or lost. It seems like too much energy is sucked up with posturing rather than policy.
Unfortunately it seems like the ball is still in play. Carrasco’s supports are being aggressive because they think Campos may win the election vote wise but still may have to give up the seat if he faces charges and is convicted of money tampering at MACSA. That seems like a reasonable position.
Campos won’t be able to be a city councilman from behind bars right? Its politics so its all a little dirty and as unsavory as some of the things Carrasco’s team are putting forward so far nothing is illegal actions on their part. People go back to her bankruptcy but thats not illegal and I bet if you ran the background checks on all the union workers in Campos team that there will be a few bankruptcies too (the sign of the times unfortunately).
That wouldn’t make me think she’s a bad person but being convicted of a crime (not just accused of it) especially if its a crime that takes money from the community you serve and the community you want to represent) THAT would make me think he is a horrible person. Only time and the D.A. investigation will tell. In the mean time I suppose we have SJ Inside to keep us abreast since the Merc isn’t covering this at all. Thanks SJ Inside.
The lengths this guy will go to stand up for his ex-wife who has gone into hiding since election day. She refuses to return a call to the mercury news and the next day she brings in her big bad husband from East LA to claim every trick in the book.
Ironically, if you ask an election law attorney where many of these types of practices take place, they’ll point to LA. The same area where Kevin DeLeon was just anointed to the State Senate without facing a single challenger. Not in the primary. Not in the general.
The Metro should tell this guy to go back to his district and do his job rather than injecting his LA political tactics into our community. Quit printing his garbage.
Do you know what the residency requirement is for a state legislator to run for office? For example, if you lived in, say, San Jose but ran for office in Los Angeles, would that be allowed?
I know of two recent news reports of elected officials who said they lived in a particular district but actually did not…there was a Supervisor in SF who was caught doing this and a state legislator in Los Angeles who did the same thing. Does anyone know if there is a certain amount of time that an elected official has to live in the district they represent to legally say they are from that district?
The Carrasco Camp lives in the largest glass house that they should be the last group to throw stones, in fact they should not even throw a pebble with regard to residency.
Couldn’t find the residency info once in office but here’s the basic info to run: To run for Member of the Assembly, the candidate must be a United States citizen and a registered voter in the district at the time nomination papers are issued and may not have served three terms in the State Assembly since November 6, 1990. According to Article IV, Section 2(c) of the California Constitution, the candidate must have one year of residency in the legislative district and California residency for three years.
I’ll keep looking for the amount of time required in the district if elected.
Doesn’t DeLeon have a daughter in San Jose? It would make sense that he spends a good amount of time in San Jose as he passes from Southern CA to Sacramento to spend time with his daughter. I actually give him some credit for staying involved in his daughter’s life. That shouldn’t be discouraged it should be encouraged. LA to Sacramento is quite a commute if he’s making it by car by plane its not that big a deal to make a 45 minute hop to San Jose then on to Sacramento.
Let L.A. worry about their elected officials while we worry about ours.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_16462119?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com
go to bottom of page 4 of the District Attorney investigator’s report about the MACSA fund embezzlement. Then read the top of page 5.
“Rebeca Armendarez, (*SEIU staff representing MACSA employees who have had money deducted from their paychecks but has not shown up in their pensions) told me that she had been meeting personally with Xavier Campos, MACSA’s Chief Operations Officer, about the issues related to the grievances since November 2007 and before that her co-workers had been meeting with him. She told me that Xavier blamed the issues on administrative errors. He said the CalPERS/CalSTRS reports were done quarterly and they should wait until the next quarter. He also said they were having financial difficulties and they would catch up. Kimberly told me she asked him about the SEIU dues and he told her they were just late and they were having accounting problems. Rebeca told me the dues were withheld from the employee’s paychecks but not submitted to SEIU as they were intended.
While working on the CalPERS/CalSTRS contribution issues SEIU learned that MACSA has also failed to fund their employees 403 (b) retirement contributions. MACSA provided SEIU reps with a proposed payment plan after the grievance was amended in September 2008. According tot his payment plan, MACSA has not funded their employees; VALIC retirement plans since February 2007.”
The report goes on….
“…MACSA submitted a payment plan acknowledging they failed to fund both the employee and employer contributions to the CalPERS/CalSTRS and VALIC 403(b) retirement funds. The amount owed to CalPERS/CalSTRS was listed as $390,050 and the amount owed to VALIC was listed as $723,474”
Read the entire document yourself. Its not posturing by the Merc or the opinion of a blogger at SJ Inside. Its the legal documement investigating the fraud from the District Attorney’s office.
I have one lingering question: HOW WAS IT THE UNIONS GAVE CAMPOS THEIR BACKING WHEN HE WAS THE COO OF THE OPERATION THAT HAS DEFAULTED ON THE PENSION AND RETIREMENT PAYMENTS TO UNION MEMBERS? HOW IS IT THAT THEY CAN OVERLOOK NOT ONLY THE AGENCY CONTRIBUTIONS BUT MONEY TAKEN FROM THEIR PAYCHECKS, HAVE MEETINGS WITH CAMPOS TO ARRANGE REPAYMENT, NEVER RECEIVE REPAYMENT AND STILL GIVE HIM THE ENDORSEMENT? How dumb are those union leaders?????
Regarding your question, union members are not the sharpest pencils in the drawer.
I wasn’t trying to disparage union workers, my ire is directed at the Union honchos that buy into these damaged candidates because they think they can control them regardless of the peril they put the city in for incompetence.
The unions gave the endorsement to Campos over Carrasco, Herrera or Resendez knowing full well that that the MACSA issue existed and that it was union workers who have had their pensions stolen from them, not just employer contributions either but actual money taken out of the paychecks of the workers that never got sent! Its shameful. Shameful for MACSA and any and all who were a part of that scam and shameful for the unions for overlooking it and not demanding that Campos aggressively pursue the recouping of the money for those workers.
“representing MACSA employees who have had money deducted from their paychecks but has not shown up in their pensions..”
If the money for pensions was deducted, but spent elsewhere, that is definitely grand theft.
“HOW WAS IT THE UNIONS GAVE CAMPOS THEIR BACKING WHEN HE WAS THE COO OF THE OPERATION THAT HAS DEFAULTED ON THE PENSION AND RETIREMENT PAYMENTS TO UNION MEMBERS? HOW IS IT THAT THEY CAN OVERLOOK NOT ONLY THE AGENCY CONTRIBUTIONS BUT MONEY TAKEN FROM THEIR PAYCHECKS, HAVE MEETINGS WITH CAMPOS TO ARRANGE REPAYMENT, NEVER RECEIVE REPAYMENT AND STILL GIVE HIM THE ENDORSEMENT?”
Because union “leaders” work for themselves, not the rank and file. For instance, if there is a strike, the rank and file get no pay, but the union reps. still get one.
>>>I have one lingering question: HOW WAS IT THE UNIONS GAVE CAMPOS THEIR BACKING WHEN HE WAS THE COO OF THE OPERATION THAT HAS DEFAULTED ON THE PENSION AND RETIREMENT PAYMENTS TO UNION MEMBERS? HOW IS IT THAT THEY CAN OVERLOOK NOT ONLY THE AGENCY CONTRIBUTIONS BUT MONEY TAKEN FROM THEIR PAYCHECKS, HAVE MEETINGS WITH CAMPOS TO ARRANGE REPAYMENT, NEVER RECEIVE REPAYMENT AND STILL GIVE HIM THE ENDORSEMENT? How dumb are those union leaders????? <<<
Answer: There are many unions. SEIU did not endorse Xavier Campos. “Unions” aren’t a big monolithic groupthink machine. Not all unions are the same.
Is the $390,000 missing from CalSTERS/CalPERS accounts and the $723,474 from the VALIC accounts in addition to the $400,000 that was already reported missing from the charter school teachers? The $500,000 from the RDA for the preschool that was reported in the SJ Merc is on top of this amount too.
Is the running total now close to $2 million dollars in missing funds? Thats some cash flow problem all right! The documents don’t address where the money is. Is it an internal accounting error like Xavier claims or did someone actually walk off with nearly $2,000,000 dollars from MACSA?
Beautiful! Thanks for that link!
Kevin DeLeon faced two challengers in the primary.
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2010-primary/pdf/96-100-senate.pdf
We know the police have evidence that sitting councilman Pierluigi Oliverio committed the actual crime of theft when h stole at least one campaign sign from private property.
These “allegations” are typical when races are close.
> We know the police have evidence that sitting councilman Pierluigi Oliverio committed the actual crime of theft when h stole at least one campaign sign from private property.
We know that members of the SJ police union were involved in the sending of San Jose three police units to Oliverio’s residence and reported that Oliverio had some campaign lawn signs espousing a position that the SJ police union endorsed and supported financially. We have NO evidence that members of the SJ police union responded in a similar fashion to ANY other lawn sign incident.
We do NOT know whether the dispatch of the three police units to Oliverio’s residence was initiated by SJ police union members as an act of political harasssment, or in response to the legitimate request of citizen NOT associated with the SJ police union.
Not being a tax lawyer this is off the record, but if you do not owe taxes then filing a tax return is, at best, irrelevant.
Hmmm…she did owe taxes, that is why the US Attorney opposed her bankruptcy filing—-go to:
http://www.questions4carrasco.com and you will see for yourself.
So, are you saying that she did not work/owe taxes from 1998 to 2004? How did she qualify for a home, oh sorry, two homes without a job or income or proof of income? Her story does not add up…
Source is biased. Check the public records not the filtered version from Camp Campost.
The dung pile just makes you smell like shit.
Carrasco: Bankruptcy court handled her case and its already dismissed.
Campos: Macsa criminal investigation ongoing.
Point: Carrasco
Ah so Team Campos doesn’t like political coronations? Like the one they thought Xavier would sail to with no real challenge in the primary? Seems Carrasco was a spoiler for his coronation and he’s just pissy that DeLeon is better at the game of politics than he and his big sister are.
Carrasco has been seen in the community all week since the election. Xavier was virtually in hiding since the DA raided the MACSA offices and took all the information on his time as COO in their CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION of MACSA and its Officers. I was beginning to think he was hiding out with Bin Laden in a cave somewhere.
If DeLeon is so much better at the game, how did he manage to lose to the Campos siblings? The results speak for themselves, pal.
Mr Deleon wasn’t in a race in San Jose. He won his race for Senate with 100% of the vote. Yeah the results do speak for themselves, pal.
All this time I didn’t realize the Campos siblings were siamese twins. Thanks for the clarification. Lets hope they can work out how they share a cell when the DA moves on the information at hand.
DeLeon ran in a very heavily gerrymandered district, where he was guaranteed 80 percent of the vote automatically, just for being the Democratic nominee. And incumbents never lose their primary battles, so he was guaranteed his primary victory as well. There wasn’t one competitive state Legislative race in the state this year.
Which is why the redistricting for CA is important.
No one should be guaranteed the seats because of affiliation. Nora Campos won her Assembly seat pretty much the same way. Once she was the Dem candidate from the primary she was pretty much guaranteed the seat. Funny how the Campos supporters take issue with that in regard to Mr DeLeon but not with Ms Campos.
I don’t buy that its the Campos siblings at the core of any of these underhanded tactics. They don’t have the brainpower. My money is on George Shirakawa. He always manages to be at the center of all these circles yet is amazingly silent on all these workings. I bet he’s shuttling his “crew” out of the city as we speak.
So, employing your logic, when the CEO of a Bank committed a crime you would taint all of the bank tellers working in the branch offices?
You have no facts to back up your accusations, none. The fact of the matter is that the voters rejected the LA Dodger Carrasco and her husband’s LA politics. She was propped up by a Mayor that couldn’t find the East Side of San Jose if he tried, and a Chamber of Commerce that opposed the revitalization of King and Story.
DeLeon is a crybaby and he better start spending his time in the district he was elected to instead of his Almaden Valley residence…politics can get ugly sometimes. Can you imagine the uproar in LA when his real residency is exposed? It is against the law to not live in a district you represent…..
Oh and the last time I checked the registrar of voters website, Campos won and Carrasco lost, rumor has it she is packing her bags to move again…
If a CEO of the bank embezzled money and the VP’s helped him do it then you betcha they’d all be tainted by the acts. Read the documents of the investigator, they’re linked in this steam of comments and made available by the Merc. The full document of the DA’s investigator. Not an opinion column or a news story, or a blog or commentary. The District Attorney’s investigator’s report that blows a hole in Mr Campos’ denial of any wrong doing. He knew as far back as 2007. He’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer or he would have laid low. Very low. He should have been a shadow and let the public ire fall on Olivia Mendiola-Sosa and Ben Tan.
Its almost comical how angry the Compost camp is post election and “assured” victory at Carrasco and her exhusband. I can imagine an uproar in LA… not! You stand with great indignation about making statements about Campos without “proof” even though the District Attorney’s investigative report is but the first round of proof, yet you make salacious allegations against DeLeon as if they are fact “its against the law to not live in the district you represent…” Oh what a tangled web you weave.
Oh btw, the last time I checked the registrar of voters website for Santa Clara County has yet to certify the vote count in the D5 race. You claiming a de facto victory is further evidence of your stupidity. You obviously can’t distinguish between fact and fiction. Thanks for playing.
No voter fraud should be tolerated in San Jose. If there is voter tampering or something amiss, investigate it. Clear the name of the SBLC if there is nothing to the suspicions and nail them if there is.
716 new registered voters in District 5 seems like an awfully high number but in this aggressive and close campaign maybe its not unusual, especially given the additional issues of Measure V & W.
Will the election board spot check those new registered voters to make sure they actually live in District 5? What happens next?
Well, it’s all over now and those who voted for the one with the very short memory will get exactly what they deserve… nothing.
That, my friend, is the very sad truth.
Lesser of two evils was the choice and sadly the lesser of the two seems to have prevailed. Flawed, potentially criminal and lacking backbone.
Yeah Eastside!
An interesting epilogue to the D5 race (well, interesting to me, anyway) is the fate of Aaron Resendez.
How did he fall to ninth (and last) place, in the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District race?
http://www.sccgov.org/elections/results/nov2010/#42
Bad blood over his City Council run ie., payback from the Campos camp, presumably? Or was it something else?
Perhaps we can get California to add a new lottery game, Guess the Date Campos Goes To Jail. The closest guess, without going past the date, is the winner.
Thats brilliant! His sister Nora can be a Vanna White type that pulls the numbers (that doesn’t require much brainpower does it?)
Do we get extra points if we guess the date AND whether or not he’ll be sworn in to the council already? How about a bonus number by guessing how many officers it takes to handcuff him and lead him out of city hall?
Seeing Cindy Chavez’s mug in the picture of her bearhugging Campos is enough to make me want to puke. Guess she didn’t get the memo the last time her name appeared on a San Jose ballot. SAN JOSE HAD NO CONFIDENCE IN HER LEADERSHIP AND ABILITY TO RUN THE CITY. We definitely don’t need her backroom deals ala her Gonzalez days to play out with any new city council reps. The fact that Campos would align himself with such shady characters is proof enough he doesn’t have good decision making abilities. Who needs MACSA scandal when he’s in bed with sharks like Chavez.
So now we read in the Murky News that MACSA got $815.085.00 from the city to fund various programs. I guess the COO, Xavier Campos, didn’t look too hard, since MACSA says they couldn’t find an operator for the school built with those funds. May we presume the buildings paid for by that money stand empty? They were completed in May 2009.
MACSA diverted over $1.1million in employee pension funds on Xavier’s watch. Some of that undoubtedly paid his salary, stolen from the workers.
Xavier and Nora remain silent.
And the voters of D5 elect him anyway. No wonder the East Side gets nowhere.
I’m with you on this one JMO. Frightening to think thousands of people cast a vote for this guy given all this. WOW! He is however innocent until proven guilty, so let’s wait for the investigation to be concluded before hanging the guy.
His sister wasn’t working there and shouldn’t be drug into this, or held responsible for her brother’s alleged actions. My own brothers do dumb (not criminal but dumb) things that I disagree with too.
Nora Campos should absolutely be brought into this as a city council member who represented district 5 where this took place. MACSA isn’t a small operation, and the approval for those city tax dollars they received and mismanaged were approved by her. AS THE SITTING CITY COUNCIL PERSON FOR 9 YEARS WHERE WAS HER OVERSIGHT OF PROGRAMS PROMISED TO HER DISTRICT CONSTITUENTS??
She managed to show up at the ribbon cutting photo-op but didnt bother to ever check, not even around the family dinner table with baby brother Xavier, about whether the preschool ever opened and was operational?
So much for caring for the community eh? They stake their claim to fame as their “homegrown roots” the “lived my entire life in district 5” (which is a lie for both of them btw because during both of their first and failed marriages they lived outside D5) but they didn’t show too much concern for the community when they were being stiffed and stolen from.
And now that it comes to light neither one seems to be fighting for justice for the community that was victimized. Xavier called for an expedient investigation to clear his own name. How about an expedient investigation to recoup the losses the seniors and kids and teachers have suffered by their incompetence?