The Pandora’s box of Santa Clara politics may be on its way to having the lid slammed shut.
Voters have awakened to the massacre of their finances, questionable lawsuits and retaliatory actions against local businesses like the 49ers.
When voters evaluated the hokey intent of Measure C, it became very clear that fewer voting districts were not in the best interest of the community.
In fact, they have become aware that many statements and promises made by the Mayor and her Council cohorts have not been in their best interest.
This was best demonstrated by the 60% majority who defeated the “less is better” nonsense proposed in Measure C.
You might optimistically think this would be cause for the Council to change their thinking and become more sensitive to residents’ wishes. Apparently not.
Monday night the Council held a meeting to possibly decide on a replacement candidate for Council Member Pat Mahan, who stepped down two months ago.
One thing we have observed when this Council has a personal agenda, they are a bit sketchy when it comes to rules. City Attorney Brian Doyle is the Bill Maher of Santa Clara when he creates “New Rules.”
Of course, the plan and intent of this Council are wholly transparent (similar to concrete wall). Their real intent was to select a “favorable” candidate who will fill out Mahan’s term — which is only a handful of months — and then run in the November 2020 General Election as an incumbent. The unwritten rule overriding all others is: Complete allegiance to Mayor Gillmor, her cronies and their agenda.
Monday night’s scheduled selection meeting was a total exercise in futility. It would be appropriate to quote the great Bard as it was “much ado about nothing!” The sensible choice, according to Karen Hardy and Raj Chahal, was Suds Jain. Jain was quickly rejected by the majority of Gillmor, Watanabe, Davis and O’Neill. It seems Jain didn’t pass the “Yes, Madam” test.
Hardy and Chahal made it clear they would not consider other candidates and wanted to defer it to the voters. Since it takes five of the remaining members to elect a replacement candidate, the vacant Council seat will remain unfilled until the November election.
Thank you, Karen and Raj, for being savvy enough to stop the runaway political train and give the vote back to the voters. A tip of the hat to both of you.
You forgot that we have 6 distinct Districts now and District 5 wanted someone immediately to step into the position because of all the complexities going on in the district. It was not a fair process. Was it legal. Yes, but it was not fair. There were many great candidates to choose from. The decision should have been made without prejudice to any candidate all of them should have been heard. The whole process left a bitter taste in my mouth for local politics.
Mahan was elected when elections were at large, so the other Council members provide adequate representation. District 5 as “District 5” has no existence until the 2020 elections. It’ll be fine.