A year after his defeat, the candidate for Santa Clara’s District 5 city council seat is attempting to oust the council member voters elected.
Last year, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters (RoV), 6,049 voters cast ballots for District 5 candidates, incumbent Council Member Suds Jain and challenger David Kertes. Jain edged out Kertes by a little more than 500 votes.
But although the voters spoke, the results left a bad taste in Kertes’ mouth. He said many who voted for Jain have approached him at the farmer’s market, telling him they don’t want to slog through the remainder of Jain’s term with him helming the district, he said.
“I had a lot of people who voted for Suds tell me that they want the recall,” Kertes said. “Nothing is getting done. People are saying, ‘I voted for the wrong person.’”
Kertes said he has been hearing from residents that many issues are going unaddressed.
He cited a lack of movement on the city’s downtown, the elimination of city baseball fields, paid city parking, noise issues at Santa Clara University and the relocation of Santa Clara Unified School District’s Wilson Adult Education campus.
These issues hurt residents’ quality of life, Kertes alleged.
Additionally, he laid the blame for the city’s salary spending at Jain’s feet.
“I just said enough is enough … I am not going to wait another three years,” Kertes said.
The city needs someone with proven leadership, Kertes said, someone who will listen to residents’ concerns and meet with them regularly. In addition to being a youth baseball coach, Kertes sits on the city’s salary setting commission, which determines how much the city pays the mayor and council members.
Although the city will be on the hook for the cost for potentially two special elections, Kertes said that money is a drop in the bucket.
“If I look at the waste we are doing with the city, we are talking millions. If I am able to prevent millions of wasteful spending, that is a good ROI,” Kertes said.
For the District 5 office, according to the elections code, Kertes needed to gather 60 signatures favoring the recall. He gathered 90 signatures.
In order to recall Jain, 2,050 voters must favor the recall. The recall election must be held between 88 and 125 days from the time the recall is initiated. Unless a regular election takes place during that time, the recall would be a special election.
It’s not just what Kertes is calling unaddressed issues, either. He said Jain has lowered ethical standards, demonstrated by his protection of former Santa Clara Vice Mayor Anthony Becker, who a jury convicted of perjury last year. Kertes said that unwillingness to turn in Becker makes Jain ill-suited to lead the city.
“Any other city council would have been censured. We should be held as council members to a higher standard,” he said. ”My values and ethics should be stronger than anyone’s. If it were me, I would have said something right away.”
However, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office has not charged Jain with any crime.
Kertes is no stranger to allegations. Last year, he bore the brunt of allegations that claimed he colluded to bamboozle his former employer. The case was later settled, clearing him of any wrongdoing.
As a result of the negative attention focused on him for those allegations, Kertes took umbrage with The Weekly’s publication of the lawsuit. He hand-waved comparisons to allegations against Jain and those against him, saying they are “different.”
But Jain said Kertes is just grumbling because he lost, claiming Kertes just wants a do-over.
“My contention is that the people knew all this, and they voted for me,” Jain said. “This is basically all he has against me. He is saying I am unethical … He can make these vague statements and create doubt in people’s minds.”
Jain challenged Kertes’ assessment that city salaries are bloated, pointing to the disparity between City Manager Jovan Grogan and fired City Manager Deanna Santana.
In 2024, Grogan’s total pay and benefits were $536,152, according to Transparent California. In 2022, her last year working for the city, Santana’s total pay and benefits were $785,295.
Adjusted for inflation, Santana’s salary and benefits would have been worth more than $841,000 in 2024, according to the U.S. Inflation Calculator.
Not to mention, Jain added, while overall salaries may be higher, the city’s budget has also grown substantially.
In 2019-2020, the city’s budget was $955 million, according to city budgets. The most recent budget shows the city’s budget is now $1.2 billion.
As for the downtown, Jain said he cannot force a developer to propose development.
Jain scoffed at the notion that his policies are hurting the quality of life.
“My neighbors absolutely love me,” Jain said. “To allege that I have degraded the quality of life is total crap.”
Cost estimates for — potentially two — special elections were unavailable from the RoV. Although the Santa Clara County website doesn’t list how it calculates costs for elections, neighboring Alameda County does.
Alameda County, according to its website, estimates that special elections cost between $23 and $25 per registered voter for a stand-alone special election. One that coincides with a countywide primary election costs between $8 and $10 per registered voter. One that coincides with a general election costs between $5 and $7 per voter.
District 5 has 9,971 registered voters, according to Ballot Box.
So, if Alameda County’s estimates are in the same ballpark as Santa Clara County’s, each election would cost between $229,333 and $249,275 for a special election, between $79,768 and $99,710 for a primary and between $49,855 and $69,797 for a general election.
Contact David Alexander at d.todd.alexander@gmail.com
