You have experienced working with individuals who display that God-given gift of common sense.
You might think that common sense is shared by all. Yet, when the time arrives to make intelligent decisions, often common sense is replaced by nonsense and in some cases no sense.
What motivates decision-makers to abandon the great gift of good sense in favor of decisions that make no sense?
One of those answers can be found in the current turmoil between political parties and the predictable actions known as politics.
You don’t need to travel far to obtain a firsthand picture of political power plays.
Under the skin of superficial political actions, you have witnessed the out-of-balance ego, personal greed, the posturing for power and the absence of common sense.
This is certainly not relegated to national politics. Santa Clara has more sharp points of conflict than a porcupine has quills.
If you have followed local politics for any period, you might have asked yourself, “How did that person get elected?”
When you peel off the banana skin from past elections you often find that it was money that made the candidate an incumbent.
While candidates are limited as to what they can raise and spend, there is no limit to the amount of money third party Independent Expenditure Committees can dole out to support identified candidates. Candidates who are sympathetic to the IEC’s plans and projects.
A case in point is Santa Clara’s last general election in 2016. More than $70,000 was raised from six developers and the California Apartment Association in Santa Clara. This money went to the Santa Clara Police Officers Association PAC, which in turn used it to promote the Mayor’s chosen candidates for Council election.
Just as a note, we couldn’t find another POA in California that raised that kind of money from outside donors.
As you might guess, the six developers all had projects before the Council either at the time or in the recent past. New projects were subsequently approved by the Council Members they helped elect.
The Mayor’s “chosen” candidates have since voted in lockstep with every policy and action she has endorsed since 2016.
How have they done?
The current Council majority of Gillmor, Watanabe, Davis and O’Neill have created a budget deficit exceeding $30 million.
They have embroiled Santa Clara in multiple lawsuits including with the Asian Law Alliance, The City of San Jose, The 49ers, the Santa Clara Firefighters and a host of other entities.
They backed Measure C, thumbing their nose at the courts, voters and minorities.
Common sense has been absent and replaced with non-sense motivated by ego, power and desire to be right even when they are wrong.
It is time for Santa Clara voters to do the right thing and replace the current incumbents with candidates who are independent, responsible, and objective.
