Recently, Bob Kieve gave a personal opinion on his radio station KLIV that was dead wrong. Kieve attacked Supervisor Dave Cortese and said the most important issue in the Mayor’s race was Labor’s support for him. He opined that such a result would be bad for San Jose.
The real issue in this race is who can bring San Jose together. The false choice of labor versus business is simply a creation of the politics of division that has not served this city well for the last 7 years. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Labor is a force for positive change. Their agenda includes increasing the minimum wage, the children’s healthcare initiative and support for working families. It is not antithetical to business. In fact, the economy improves as a result of these initiatives.
Business, especially in Silicon Valley, has provided innovation, opportunity, and employment. Labor understands they need thriving businesses and a healthy economy. Business knows it needs an educated and viable workforce to be successful.
Moreover, there is a shared interest for both business and labor in improving transportation, protecting the environment, providing education for our children and making housing affordable for an ever increasing workforce. San Jose, the capital of Silicon Valley, needs both labor and business to work together.
The continued demonizing of either side simply divides the population and prevents needed efforts to advance our common agenda. The most serious of which is our current public safety problem caused by the unconstitutional pension reform agenda that was recently struck down by the courts. That mean-spirited attack on public employees split this city, hurt public employee morale, caused deep divisions among natural allies and the results have be devastating for our community.
Other cities have addressed the issue working with their employees and have garnered bigger savings. The whole debacle in San Jose cost taxpayers money including millions in attorney fees. Now candidates for Mayor are working to “fix” what remains of the law as police recruitment is too low and crime is too high.
It is time to move on and provide the leadership necessary to bring the sides together for the benefit of the whole city. We need people who will work together, not simply continue the mindless divide that never should have occurred.
Cortese may be just the Mayor we need. He is supported by labor in this election, but he was not in his last race for Mayor. He also has a good record among businesses and has worked well with others on those governmental bodies in which he has served.
Silicon Valley is growing and is leading the nation in the economic recovery. We need our leaders to come together. That is not to say there will not be disagreements, but those arguments should be couched in language and attitude that acknowledges that we are all working toward the same goal; to make San Jose the best city possible.
On that note: Bob Kieve has been one of those leaders in our valley. While we may disagree, his integrity is without question and his record of community service is unmatched. Even if his candidate does not win he will continue to be a positive influence in our area. He is also a person who understands disagreement is not dislike. That’s why when he is wrong, we should point it out.
Rich Robinson is a political consultant and communications specialist.
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