The Santa Clara City Council swore in the winners of the November election. At its meeting on Dec. 17, Council Members Suds Jain and Kevin Park, new Council Members Albert Gonzalez and Kelly Cox, along with new Police Chief Cory Morgan and City Clerk Bob O’Keefe, took the oath of office. Outgoing elected officials Council … Read more
Santa Clara City Hall appears to be delegating enforcement of campaign reporting laws — and even its own Dark Money ordinance — to the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). In September, City Council Members Anthony Becker, Kevin Park and Suds Jain filed City and state complaints against the unregistered political committee Stand Up for Santa Clara … Read more
Stand Up for Santa Clara has answered the City’s request to explain its failure to report political spending. Stand Up for Santa Clara official Dana Caldwell wrote the City on Nov. 1 and claimed, “Stand Up for Santa Clara was incorporated as a 501(c)3 in 2022.” Despite its insistence on its 501(c)3 status, Stand Up … Read more
Santa Clara City Hall has acted on a complaint that charged Stand Up for Santa Clara with violating the City’s campaign finance reporting rules. On Oct. 23 – five days after The Weekly published an article about the city clerk’s apparent inaction – City Clerk Hosam Haggag sent a letter to Burt Field, a founder … Read more
Santa Clara City Clerk Hosam Haggag has responded to a request for comment from The Weekly about the City’s handling of a dark money complaint filed against Stand Up for Santa Clara, however, not by conventional methods. Instead of replying to an email sent to the official City Clerk email account and Haggag’s City email … Read more
Update: Since posting this article on our website, Santa Clara City Clerk Hosam Haggag has responded via a series of comments below. The Weekly has published a new article examining Haggag’s claims below that he reached out to the three people who filed the dark money complaint against Stand Up for Santa Clara. This new … Read more
At its third meeting on Sept. 14, the 2023 Santa Clara Charter Review Committee heard from Los Gatos appointed City Clerk Wendy Wood and retired Mountain View Police Chief Max Bosel. The committee asked both speakers if they ever felt intimidated by the fact that they could be fired at any moment. Santa Clara City … Read more
What does City Clerk Hosam Haggag do? While the City’s website has a list of activities assigned to the Clerk’s office, what is listed doesn’t necessarily tell the story. The website lists several honors attributed to the Santa Clara City Clerk, but these were awarded during Rod Diridon Jr.’s time in the office. Since Diridon’s … Read more
Editor’s Note: In this article, we mistakenly labeled City Clerk Hosam Haggag as a Gillmor ally. Mr. Haggag correctly pointed out that he is an elected official. It has been corrected. Just because the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) logs a complaint doesn’t mean that the commission is investigating the complaint, found it has … Read more
Campaign donations have accelerated since the September campaign finance reports, with plenty of treats from real estate and union interests for mayoral candidate Lisa Gillmor and City Council District 2 candidate Nancy Biagini. Direct donations so far have reached about $117,000 cumulatively, while spending by PACs currently stands at $60,000 Gillmor, Biagini and candidates for … Read more