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As San Jose winds down from a feisty and expensive election season, Councilmember Sergio Jimenez asked lawmakers to rethink campaign finance regulations to help restore public trust in local government. “We’ve seen an astonishing amount of money spent on negative, divisive and often — as we all recall — misleading or outright false advertisements,” Jimenez...
Public webinars coming up on status of iconic landmark in downtown San Jose
Three years ago, a group of San Jose philanthropists aspiring to build a world-class landmark downtown and donate it to the city began with the idea of erecting a light tower at Plaza de Cesar Chavez — a 21st century update on San Jose’s original icon, a 237-foot structure adorned with newfangled electric light bulbs,...
Diep concedes San Jose City Council race, Cohen names transition team
San Jose City Council candidate David Cohen over the weekend declared victory over Councilmember Lan Diep in the nail-biter District 4 race. Cohen on Nov. 9 also started naming his transition team, which met over the weekend to begin building a staff and preparing to take over the council office in January. The race was...
Political panel files court action against Santa Clara County education trustee
The Fair Political Practices Commission is taking longtime education trustee Anna Song to court. Just one day before the general election, the state’s political watchdog announced it filed a complaint with the Santa Clara County Superior Court against Song and her campaign for failing to file required campaign finance statements for her Santa Clara County...
Santa Clara lawmaker calls herself environmental candidate but owns lucrative oil and coal stock
Teresa O’Neill has touted herself the environmental candidate for Santa Clara City Council but a review by this news organization found the councilmember owns up to $1.02 million in stocks in oil and coal-mining companies, according to her recent Form 700 disclosures. On her ballot statement and in various interviews, O’Neill has cited fighting climate...
Lan Diep a Democrat? San Jose party officials say not so fast
A recent campaign mailer from San Jose Councilmember Lan Diep urges voters to support Joe Biden and himself — a “fellow Democrat” — but records show Diep joined the party just seven months ago. Before that, he had no party preference and was a registered Republican for seven years. Diep, who faces a tough re-election...
Questions swirl about Santa Clara candidate’s lobbying record, relationship with mayor
As the race for two open seats on the Santa Clara City Council heats up, documents obtained by San José Spotlight raise questions about one candidate’s relationship to the mayor and his lobbying activity. Robert Mezzetti, a longtime San Jose attorney, is facing Anthony Becker and Gary Barve in the District 6 council race. Mezzetti...
49ers drop $250,000 to defeat mayor’s allies on Santa Clara City Council
One day after San José Spotlight reported a developer funneling money through the Santa Clara police union to elect allies of Mayor Lisa Gillmor, her archnemesis — the San Francisco 49ers — threw in six figures to defeat them. The 49ers on Sept. 30 dropped $250,000 into a committee called Citizens for Efficient Government and...
Strange bedfellows? Carl Guardino endorses Dave Cortese
Carl Guardino once raised six figures to defeat Dave Cortese’s bid for mayor. Now he wants to see him go to Sacramento. Guardino, the powerful former CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, has endorsed Cortese’s bid for the Senate District 15 seat. Cortese, a Santa Clara County supervisor, is competing with former FEC commissioner...
Police union backs all-white Santa Clara City Council slate with $25K developer donation
With a hefty donation from a developer building a massive project in the city, Santa Clara’s police union is funding campaign mailers supporting a slate of City Council candidates backed by Mayor Lisa Gillmor. The Related Company has coughed up $25,000 to the Santa Clara Police Officers’ Association Political Action Committee to re-elect Councilmembers Kathy...