“Outwit. Outlast. Outplay.” is the tagline of the long-running reality TV series Survivor. While the show enters its overplayed 50th season, Mayor Lisa Gillmor continues to run her own long-running game—one where the rules bend in her favor. What began as a reality-TV gimmick now perfectly describes the political reality in Santa Clara. That may be Survivor’s slogan, but it has become the governing strategy of Mayor Lisa Gillmor. She has mastered this game, tipping the scales at every stage—on the dais, behind the scenes, in the courtroom, and in the media—until she stands alone as the last survivor. In Santa Clara, politics isn’t about transparency or public service; it’s about survival. Decades in, Gillmor remains politically Teflon: nothing sticks, accountability never lands, and she continues to run the game undefeated.

Outwit

Gillmor is very well known for her ability to outwit her opponents/enemies. As I have described before in my prior letters, The Gillmor Network and Unmasking the Gillmor Dynasty, she has many tools at her disposal. The list is long: loyal members of the public, “ethics experts,” the legal system, city staff, disgraced and disgruntled former city employees, special advisors, and of course, you can’t forget Jude Barry. These tools and methods give her the ability to outwit them all.

Again, as I said before, what current councilmember (minus Kelly Cox and Albert Gonzalez) has the deep pockets and these resources to compete? None.

By pushing issues like the Ethics Commission and having people like Tom Shanks call into Governance and Ethics meetings as a voice of reason because of his “ethical” experience—yet always appearing to be aligned with Mayor Gillmor—you see the pattern. Then you have Wanda Buck, who was selected to be the tree lighter at this year’s Christmas event (notice the pattern: it’s always someone close to Gillmor who gets selected), calling into that same Governance and Ethics meeting as someone who believes there is an ethical crisis in Santa Clara. The only ethical crisis actually happening is Mayor Gillmor, Tom Shanks, and Wanda Buck misleading the public.

Councilmembers get outwitted by Gillmor all the time by voting for things she demands. The optics the Gillmor machine presents imply guilt and push these councilmembers to stupidly think it’s a good idea. For example, at the last Governance and Ethics meeting, I warned the committee members (Chahal, Park, and Jain) not to support an ethics commission. Yet Councilmembers Raj Chahal and Suds Jain thought they knew better and moved forward with not just the Grand Jury’s idea, but ultimately Gillmor’s idea (they are the same beast).

During the meeting, no one had examples of a city the size of Santa Clara that has an ethics commission, besides the convenient input from City Attorney Glen Googins referencing Chula Vista. That move was to convince Suds Jain and Raj Chahal to go along with it. It is a head-scratcher that in the same meeting Jain and Chahal stated how many lies were in the Grand Jury reports and how many crimes Gillmor has committed, yet still voted to move forward with the ethics commission proposal—the same proposal from the mayor who conveniently suggested an ethics commission in her anti-corruption plan in response to the very friendly Grand Jury report that was leaked by her, Kathy Watanabe, and the POA.

It is not limited to just the Governance and Ethics meeting that Gillmor outwits this council and the people of Santa Clara. It happens so often you can miss it. You have grand juries that promote the Gillmor narrative of wrongdoing in election years. You have former Police Chief Pat Nikolai, a sworn officer to uphold ethics and integrity, chiming in to lie directly to the public—running election ads and writing letters to the district attorney to investigate councilmembers. You have district attorneys that carry out investigations, indictments, and convictions of political opponents to defend those lies.

Additionally, Gillmor takes her own failures and terrible decisions and flips them onto others. Lately, the Gillmor machine is pushing the salary narrative about how much money the city council is paying the city manager. Mayor Gillmor is projecting her poor decision of giving Deanna Santana an overly generous loyalty salary in 2017, which created the precedent. Yet now she complains about the high salary of the city manager? Gillmor is both the cause and the effect, yet she finger-points at the current council.

The same pattern appears with issues like the stadium (which Gillmor helped bring here), the stadium contracts she signed that she now disputes, and the swim center—something she failed to fix during her 30-plus-year tenure on council. She blames all of this on a council elected in 2018 and 2020. This method keeps working day after day, year after year. Just like how time kills everything, if you tell a lie long enough and repeat it enough, people will believe it.

Bottom line: Gillmor has “outwitted” all of us with her corruption.

Outlast

Gillmor believes she only has to outlast the current council. She knows there is no succession plan because the current council—minus Kelly Cox—are just normal people who ran without a bigger agenda. There is no Jain machine or Chahal machine. There has always been the Gillmor machine, with someone lined up to run for council at all times.

It is a simple process of elimination. With Councilmembers Chahal and Hardy termed out in 2026, there is a civil war brewing between them. You can’t miss it. Both want to run for mayor, and neither is backing down—but that is a letter for another day. There are other factions: Kevin Park often votes alone or cannot get support, and Karen Hardy sides with Gillmor, such as with last summer’s Related vote. Gillmor’s plan is to enhance the civil war between Chahal, Hardy, Jain, and Park. Divide and conquer.

She knows their independence is their weakness and that they cannot unite to defeat her. Gillmor knows she has undeniable loyalty among her minions, including when she had a majority nearly six years ago. Many say, “Gillmor does not have a majority,” which is true—but not having a majority is just a speed bump for her. Gillmor runs the City of Santa Clara.

The rate at which they are going after councilmembers Kevin Park and Suds Jain is alarming. What they are doing to Kevin Park is painting a picture of domestic violence, burglary of a neighbor’s home, and failure to pay property taxes, with very little evidence. The goal is to ruin his reputation by attaching stigmas. The Gillmor machine is running the same takedown playbook they used against Dominic Caserta.

Suds Jain, on the other hand, is consistently accused of hiding the “crimes” of former councilmember Anthony Becker. Now they claim Suds is the mastermind. Make it make sense. David Kertes’ efforts to recall Suds have been aggressive, and he continues to deny any involvement with Mayor Gillmor, which is a bold-faced lie. However, Suds Jain’s own messaging to protect himself is terrible, and his continued actions on council fuel Gillmor’s fire.

The pattern is undeniable. Gillmor has Teresa O’Neill on standby to replace Kevin Park. The Gillmor–Robert Haugh blog clearly lays out their strategy. They hope to shame Park out of office so the council can appoint O’Neill or force an election she would run in. You can guarantee she is planning to run in 2028.

Based on the blog’s many accusations, one can’t help but wonder if Gillmor and O’Neill are involved in the marital issues surrounding Kevin Park. I get that feeling. As I’ve said before, many marriages and relationships fail because of the Gillmor machine. Even recently in court, the Santa Clara County District Attorney hinted at a “what if” scenario involving Anthony Becker and a possible divorce. These marital and financial issues are weaponized distractions, deliberately engineered to consume time and attention. The same playbook is being used against Suds Jain through PRA requests—burying him in process while David Kertes pushes the Recall Suds Jain campaign. This has always been the Gillmor strategy: overwhelm, distract, and strike while opponents are tied up.

It was said that Gillmor made promises in 2022 and 2024 to Deanna Santana and Brian Doyle that if they gave her time, she would remove the current council and reinstall Santana as city manager and Doyle as City Attorney. 

Gillmor’s plan was to outlast the current council (Hardy, Chahal, Jain, Park) for six years. So far, it has worked. One councilmember convicted, another accused of domestic incidents, another accused of hiding crimes, while two others may split the mayoral vote in 2026 giving an automatic Kathy Watanabe victory. 

What happens next? Will Gillmor get Kelly Cox to step aside so she can run for Council with Kathy Watanabe running for mayor in 2026? Will the Gillmor dynasty last? The answer is yes—it has lasted decades. If Gillmor and Watanabe are elected, that’s another possible eight years. That’s what Gillmor, Watanabe, O’Neill are counting on: sticking around long enough until all opposition is taken out or gives up.

Bottom line: Gillmor has what it takes to “outlast” us all. 

Outplay

Like the title of the 2024 Grand Jury report, “Outplayed,” it was a subtle yet blunt message to those who oppose Gillmor on the council and that sports franchise tenant here in Santa Clara. From the dais and council chambers to the courtroom and the media, all were “outplayed” by the Gillmor machine.

Gillmor has proven she will do whatever it takes to survive politically—no matter the cost to Santa Clara. Outwitting opponents, outlasting accountability, and outplaying the public has been her formula for decades. The result is a city left divided, distracted, and damaged. It will takes years to recover from the damage the Gillmor machine has inflicted. 

Bottom Line: In Santa Clara, Gillmor has “outplayed” all who dared to challenge her. 

It is time to vote Gillmor and her cronies out of the Santa Clara tribe and finally end a game that has gone on far too long.

So Santa Clarans, what are you going to do about it? Will voters continue to elect Gillmor’s hand-picked candidates? Will the people of this city continue to support her agenda and policies?

Councilmembers Chahal, Park, Hardy, Jain, Gonzalez—what are you going to do about it? Will you continue to be outwitted, outlasted, and outplayed?

Do something. Save Santa Clara.

Roger Kint