Majority rule has its flaws. Paradoxically, our democracy—considered a pretty good means of governing—is decided by majority rule…except when it isn’t. Let’s look at our City Council where decisions are made bi-weekly. There are seven Council Members and when there are four votes for an issue and three votes against it, the majority rules. Now, … Read more
Vice Mayor Dominic Caserta went out on a fragile limb at City Council in September to challenge Mayor Lisa Gillmor. He made a passionate plea for a pragmatic and practical position to prevent the posibility of our public province being pushed into poverty. Having sat on prior Councils, Caserta has a very good understanding of … Read more
Common sense is such a wonderful commodity. It is what makes most organizations succeed. The lack thereof…causes them to fail. However, the application of common sense is a rarity, particularly at Santa Clara City Hall. Now, you can be sure that if common sense could be bought, this Council majority would spend millions to buy … Read more
David Copperfield is America’s greatest and most successful illusionists. His magic tricks have entertained, baffled and amazed millions. He does more than 500 performances every year, most in his hometown of Las Vegas. One illusion that helped launch his career was making a Lear Jet disappear on television in front of a live audience surrounding … Read more
One of the first duties of a City Council is to establish and preserve the financial integrity of city finances. Our current Council has not done that. Led by Mayor Lisa Gillmor, Santa Clara City Council has been on a runaway financial train that is taking us down the path of financial collapse. Beginning with … Read more
Our City Council has voted to enforce a weekday curfew that limits stadium events to 10 p.m. Yet they have granted more than 20 exceptions to Great America to operate past 10 p.m. on weeknights and weekends. This double standard is argued to be ‘different strokes for different folks’ because Great America doesn’t produce as … Read more
The City Council “grudge match” against the SF 49ers has escalated to a new low. Following the disappointing results of an expensive taxpayer audit, Mayor Gillmor has called for another audit hoping for a different result. As Council Member Dominic Caserta said, “Are you kidding?” Watching the audit review and results Thursday night was painful. … Read more
Like a firecracker with a bad fuse, the much-touted Stadium Audit has turned out to be a serious dud! As you recall, last year’s election was centered around the “millions” the 49ers were allegedly stealing from our City. Even after the election Mayor Gillmor, and her hand-chosen candidates, continued to feed the media and the … Read more
Coming soon to a City Council meeting near you. A $100 million dollar decision for or against Santa Clara revenue. Here is the issue. In 2010, when voters approved Measure J to build our stadium without the use of general fund dollars, the stadium was to be paid for from revenues from events at the … Read more
Santa Clara’s Charter Review Committee has been assigned the task of creating districts for future City elections. They were assigned this task two years ago, before attorney Robert Rubin filed a lawsuit against Santa Clara for voting violations of the California Voting Rights Act. They missed the mark. That Committee took a detour and spent … Read more