The Left Hook
Politics and Policy With a Punch
Monthly Archives : October 2014
Oct 30, 2014
Liccardo Campaign: A Pattern of Ethics Violations
The Liccardo for Mayor Campaign broke multiple San Jose laws, according to a complaint filed yesterday with the City’s Ethics Commission and obtained by The Left Hook. The violations include a failure to file a report for an in-kind contribution of a voter list from Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen. The Liccardo Campaign sent this letter to the contacts on that list.…
Death Threat Against Milpitas Council Member
Interest in the race for Milpitas City Council just shot up a few notches after a council member received a death threat. Council candidate Rajeev Madnawat, an intellectual property attorney affiliated with the prominent San Jose firm of Hoge Fenton, sent this email to soon-to-be termed out council member Armando Gomez. In the email, Madnawat berates Gomez for supporting candidates Marsha Grilli and Deepka Lalwani, saying: ” I can assure you…
Oct 29, 2014
Rocha Has Strong Words for Mayor Reed’s Political Stunt
Council member Don Rocha is venting some long-harbored frustration with Mayor Chuck Reed, as he shows in this letter to the U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of CA, Melinda Haag. Reed contacted Haag requesting she investigate allegations that the San Jose Police Officers Union President was encouraging new recruits to quit the department to shore up the union’s complaints…
Oct 27, 2014
Policy Watch: Your weekly tip sheet for what’s going on in your community.
San Jose: Considering zoning changes to allow people to take perfectly good long term rental property and zone it for short term rental similar to AirBnB. This could take affordable rental properties away from working families who can’t afford a $3000 studio downtown. Earthquakes Stadium signage: Modifications to the Sign Code would allow additional/larger signs, including programmable electronic displays and…
Oct 27, 2014
SJ Crime is Up, Not Down
Does anyone really believe that if police officers continue to leave the City of San Jose that crime will decrease? That logic is just kooky, but Mayor Chuck Reed and now San Jose Police Chief Larry Esquivel are manipulating statistics to get us to believe that. Tweet
Oct 27, 2014
Will Chappie Publicly Fire Ajilouny?
He who lies down with dogs gets up with fleas. Right now, District 1 San Jose City Council candidate Chappie Jones is itching like crazy. Jones political consultant, Victor Ajlouny (Eagle Communications) has just been tied to a trash for cash scheme designed to discredit Police Officer Association Jim President Unland. Tweet
Oct 24, 2014
Ajlouny Lawyer All But Admits to Client’s Ethical Misstep
The plot thickens in the ethics scandal involving Mayor Reed’s political strategist Victor Ajlouny, with a tacit admission from Ajlouny that he did in fact encourage former Officer Aaron Ettinger to lie about whether the head of the police union was telling cadets to quit the department. Tweet
Oct 24, 2014
Political Tactics Put Affordable Housing Proposal in Peril
In politics, bringing different points of view together can sometimes be like herding cats. But after two years of pushing, pulling, negotiating and educating, a diverse coalition that deeply cares about San Jose’s affordable housing crisis could be making some real progress. If all goes as planned. But this week, Mayor Chuck Reed turned that little if, into a big…