Author: Rich Robinson (Rich Robinson)

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan addressed over 200 people at the Villages on Feb. 15 in an event sponsored by the Senior Academy. His presentation was professional and polished. His analysis was cogent and his recommended solutions for homelessness, affordable housing and public safety were well-received. But his overall message was pessimistic: “It’s not going...

Serving San Jose as a councilmember is more than an honor, it’s a job. Congratulations to Domingo Candelas for being appointed to District 8. But now his real work begins. Also, thanks to all the other applicants who went through the process. Their task is to now support their district by working with their new...

News flash: The 2022 campaign is over. It’s time for our public leaders to govern. The next election year—2024—will come soon enough, but there’s no need to continue the silly season now. The worst manifestation of our current body politic lies at the national level, but our local politics are not immune from the personal...

Appointing new members to the San Jose City Council is in the best interest of the city, can provide unity of government and is more in line with the reasoning of our national founders than an expensive special election. The simple facts are these: A special election will cost around $10 million of taxpayer dollars...

First, congratulations to Matt Mahan for winning the San Jose mayor’s race. He wasn’t my choice, but I wish him the best of success. Mahan won the race for mayor, but his opponent Cindy Chavez did not lose. Electorally, San Jose is a tale of two cities. One, a voting majority made up of neighborhoods...

All positive information isn’t truth—and all truth isn’t positive. Thus the complaints about “negative” campaigning get lost in the failure of critical thinking and analysis. Political speech is highly protected and lying is not against the law, unlike commercial speech. If Listerine tells you they can cure the common cold, they get sued, fined and...

San Jose mayoral candidate Matt Mahan, county supervisorial candidate Johnny Khamis and sheriff candidate Kevin Jensen are all actively courting Republican voters in their quest for public office. Khamis and Jensen were once Republicans, while Mahan is not. Khamis publicly left the party in 2018, while Jensen—a registered Republican since 1988—changed his status to no party preference...

Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez has picked up the endorsements of two former mayoral candidates, San Jose Councilmembers Dev Davis and Raul Peralez, in her run for mayor. In fact, the majority of the San Jose City Council and those elected in June are endorsing Chavez. But Mayor Sam Liccardo, after pouring money into...

Many of us have been flabbergasted by the revelations of the January 6 committee, which includes our local Congressmember Zoe Lofgren. In recalling the days before the insurrection, most of us were counting the days the man-child still held power. We were hoping his damage would be limited to outrageous pardons and highly questionable Presidential...

Norman Y. Mineta was the greatest and most successful politician ever to come out of San Jose. Last week, he returned for his last time to San Jose from Washington D.C. Norm’s friends gathered to say goodbye and the tributes of former President Bill Clinton, former CIA Director Leon Panetta, former San Francisco Mayor Willie...