Xavier Campos, never one to fret about the perception that he doesn’t play by the rules, is at it again. Less than two weeks after the ex-San Jose councilman joined the lobbyist/consulting firm of buddies Ryan Ford and Rolando Bonilla, Campos called the office of new downtown Councilman Raul Peralez to set up a meeting. Peralez passed on the request, but his chief of staff, Lydia Guel, took the meeting in his stead. She told Fly that Campos wanted to introduce himself and talk about continuing work that had been done in coordination between Peralez’ District 3 and Campos’ old stomping grounds, District 5. Additionally, Guel said, they talked about an upcoming flag raising ceremony and connections Campos could assist with at the Mexican consulate. When Fly asked if she was concerned the meeting might violate the city’s revolving door policy, Guel responded: “What’s the revolving door policy?” The D3 staff is admittedly green, but Campos should absolutely be aware of the policy that bans former city employees and elected officials from trying to influence City Hall decisions for two years after leaving office. In particular, the policy prohibits Campos from “providing advice or recommending any action with regard to a city or agency legislative or administrative matter” that he worked on in his last 12 months in office. Campos should be especially well aware of the law considering his former chief of staff, Josue Garcia, twice sought an exemption from the rule. Ford insisted to Fly that Campos did not violate “the letter or the spirit of that law” since he wasn't representing a client, adding that he was so confident he thought City Attorney Rick Doyle “would laugh” at any suggestion that this might violate the revolving door policy. Fly gave Doyle the rundown and he didn’t seem to get the punch line. “It’s a concern and we’ll look into it,” Doyle said.
The Fly
Campos Meets with City Staffer; Revolving Door Concerns Raised
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San Jose Councilman Xavier Campos invoked the Fifth amendment regarding a stolen election in 2010. (File photo)
Who else on the Council (including staff and the Mayor’s office ) has Campos met with, spoken with in.person. phone, text email…. while Peralez and his staff may be admittedly “green” I doubt that there is anything but the usual biases at play that have prompted “The Fly” and Metro to continue with their selective tattle-tale themes.
If the public wanted this guy to represent their interest, they would have kept him elected. He lost, by a LOT. If he’s not representing their interests, then who’s interests is he representing?
SJI isn’t biased. They brought this whole story of Campos/Shirakawa to light. They have an obligation to the public to continually follow up on it. It would be like cutting out the last 15 minutes of a movie. Shirakawa definitely sent out those mailers and mismanaged funds to go gambling. Xavier plead the fifth.
How many times have I heard cops say, “THESE PEOPLE ARE IMPOSSIBLE! I WANT TO HELP THEM, BUT THEY WON’T TELL US WHO COMMITTED THIS CRIME OUT OF FEAR!” Xavier is no better than those that stay silent at a crime scene.
SJI is biased. How many times has the Council approved waivers to the “revolving door policy” for employees/staffers/former politicians who were loyal to Boss Reed?
I think I asked a legitimate question regarding whether or not campos met with or attempted to meet with current mayor/council/staffers besides Peralez and his office. It’s a simple question that a real “investigator” police/PI/journalist would ask And provide an answer to so that the work product did not reflect a bias.
SJI has repeatedly reported with a slant portraying it’s favored pols in the best light while reporting through inuendo and inference on those they would rather tarnish. keep in mind SJI endorsed Gagliardi while ignoring his foibles and went to Pinterest and generated outrage over cupcakes. what was SJI,s beef with Raul? HE was a cop? Labor’s candidate? Why did the like Gagliardi? He was lined up with Reed/Liccardo Measure B…. ?
Is anyone ever gonna wipe that smirk off Baby X’s face?