During the October 21st, 2025 City Council meeting on Item 4B: Action on the Stadium Authority Financial Report for the quarter and fiscal year, Mayor Gillmor said her famous lines, “I just recall us getting the info a lot sooner than this. This is the longest period I’ve ever experienced not getting the information.” Déjà vu, right? How long can a public elected official continue to lie and con a city and its people this way? Whether it’s the 1980s, 1990s, or now, Gillmor’s playbook hasn’t changed. Whether it was grilling Betty Hangs, the Chamber of Commerce president, for six hours in 1993; daily interrogations of the 49ers or her colleagues in the 2010s and today; or the grand jury reports of 1987, 1991, 2016, 2022, and 2024 — it’s the same game plan and the same scripted lines. I give Gillmor kudos for one thing: consistency over the last 30 years. Familiar Gillmor plaque quotes include:
- “I am not getting the documents.”
- “We are losing money.”
- “I want an audit or a performance audit.”
- “This issue is not going away.”
- “The team owes the city money.”
- “The team is not profitable.”
- “When I ask for information and I am not getting it, I have a real problem.”
- “Stonewalled.”
- “This Council.”
And now, we can add this quote to the plaque: “This is the longest period I’ve ever experienced not getting the information.” If you hear these scripted phrases from the Gillmor mafia playbook, know you’re being duped. It’s all smoke and mirrors and “Monkey Business”, her words, not mine. It’s always been Lisa Gillmor’s way or the highway to hell. Whatever the era, it’s always the same players:
The Terrible 2 (Gillmor and Mayor Eddie Souza)
The Terrible 2 Version 2.0 (Gillmor and Watanabe)
The Terrible 2 Version 3.0 (Gillmor and Cox
Two people in the minority making the most artificial noise and undermining the basic functions of government with temper tantrums. From 2016 to 2020, we experienced the “Ferocious Four,” a solid vote majority of Brown Act violators ruling Santa Clara with an iron fist. We can never have that return. Gillmor built her brand on fighting “corruption” and preaching “transparency,” but her own actions raise serious questions about ethical and transparent leadership:Conflicts of interest, Weaponizing the legal system, Selectively enforcing rules.
These have become her trademarks, just like her recycled quotes over the last 30 years. Even her former allies — from councilmembers to community leaders — eventually become targets once they stop serving her agenda. This isn’t about politics anymore; it’s about trust — trust that erodes between a city and its mayor. When a mayor gets a grand jury report out in election years, publicly undermines colleagues, sabotages business, and uses her office to attack rather than lead, that trust erodes. Santa Clara deserves better. We deserve leadership that unites, not divides — transparency without manipulation, accountability without intimidation, and progress without fear. Santa Clara deserves the truth, not a Gillmor PR machine.