Tom Shanks

Unofficial Ethics Pledge Ignites Political Sparring Match

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Tom Shanks refuses to answer questions about an unofficial ethics pledge he sent to council candidates, including when he sent it to each candidate.

A former ethics consultant for Santa Clara is calling for council candidates to sign an ethics pledge. But there is a problem. Two incumbent council members say the demand is a political ploy. One even went so far as to call it “McCarthyism” masquerading as ethics. The consultant, Tom Shanks, has been stridently critical of … Read more

Tom Shanks: From Ethics Referee to Political Player

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Tom Shanks once served as an ethics consultant for the City of Santa Clara but now it seems he's traded his values in to play politics instead.

Some say that one-time Santa Clara ethics consultant Tom Shanks has given ethics a back seat to politics: First in an editorial published in September by the Mercury News attacking Mayor Lisa Gillmor’s political opponents. Second in consistently refusing to meet or speak with those he targets in his attacks. “I have repeatedly emailed him … Read more