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Newly-released transcripts reveal astonishing details of the ongoing legal saga featuring Santa Clara Councilmember Anthony Becker, who pled not guilty to charges for the alleged leak of a secret grand jury report. The criminal grand jury heard testimony from 21 officials in March and April — from city leaders to political insiders and 49ers’ executives. Deputy District...
The ‘political assassination’ of Santa Clara Councilman Anthony Becker
Forty eight hours after Santa Clara’s city attorney confidentially emailed a critical grand jury report to councilmembers, the city’s politically-charged police union launched a damning website blasting the city’s top leaders. The site revealed the confidential report’s name, full paragraphs with incriminating details and photos of five councilmembers criticized in the report—including Anthony Becker, who...
Embattled eBay exec has ear of another San Jose mayor
Days after his election, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan allowed a disgraced former eBay executive linked to a vicious stalking scheme to build his transition teams, work on his schedule and broker a meeting with a tech leader. New emails obtained by San José Spotlight highlight the continued political influence of Steve Wymer, the former...
From the CEO: San Jose turns a blind eye to transparency
More than a year ago, San José Spotlight and the First Amendment Coalition sued San Jose and its former mayor for blatant violations of public records laws. A quick refresher: former Mayor Sam Liccardo deleted a government email and persuaded a resident to contact his private account to skirt disclosure. The city claimed no emails from...
From the CEO: How do we remain unbiased?
A prominent Silicon Valley leader called me just as I was wrapping up my work for the day. This person, who I’m not naming to respect their privacy, was angry about our election coverage. In particular, one name came up – Johnny Khamis. The former San Jose councilmember unsuccessfully ran for a county supervisor seat...
Can Cindy Chavez catch up in San Jose mayor’s race?
With 90% of ballots counted by Tuesday afternoon, San Jose mayoral candidate Matt Mahan now leads opponent Cindy Chavez by 6,351 votes. As of election week, there were roughly 356,071 outstanding ballots in San Jose, though it’s highly unlikely all of them will be returned. The county mailed 524,698 ballots to registered voters in San...
‘A boogeyman’: Why a former candidate is appearing on San Jose attack ads
It’s been four months since Sajid Khan’s name appeared on a ballot. Yet his face is popping up in campaign mailers across Silicon Valley. In many ways, he’s become the “boogeyman” this campaign season—his own words to describe the bizarre and hateful ads inundating voters weeks before Election Day. Khan, a deputy public defender who mounted an...
From the CEO: Why we don’t endorse political candidates
Campaign season is upon us and your mailboxes are undoubtedly overflowing with political mail. San Jose voters may have recently seen political mailers boasting our San José Spotlight logo along with quotes from our articles. While we are glad to see our journalism resonating with folks, it’s critical we make one thing clear—we do not...
Grand jury shunned accused Santa Clara officials
Santa Clara County’s civil grand jury failed to interview the majority of Santa Clara councilmembers it condemned for alleged misconduct in a controversial new report. Three of the five councilmembers admonished in the report — Kevin Park, Raj Chahal and Anthony Becker — told San José Spotlight they were never contacted by the jurors. They...
‘Hatchet job’: 49ers rip Santa Clara County grand jury report on political influence
The San Francisco 49ers are lambasting a scathing new grand jury report that questions the team’s political influence and relationship with five Santa Clara councilmembers. The 61-page report, which will be publicly released Monday—the same day voters receive ballots in the mail—focuses on what it calls the “49 Five,” a politically-loaded term coined by opponents...