May 9, 2014
Cannibalism is an unusual tactic in political campaigns, but that is what we are seeing in the campaign to elect Kevin Jensen Sheriff. The Deputy Sheriffs Association (DSA) and Correctional Peace Officers Association (CPOA), which are running the Jensen campaign in the absence of any real campaign by Jensen himself, have attacked Sheriff Laurie Smith with mail that blames her…
May 7, 2014
While there are many reasons to celebrate the Month of May, (see list below) including the fact that it’s National Salad Month, I would like to suggest a new one of extraordinary significance: Get Out the Vote Month. Traditionally, Get Out the Vote (commonly referred to as GOTV) efforts focused on the final weekend prior to election day. And, that made a…
Apr 22, 2014
The delegates to the South Bay Labor Council voted on the last few endorsements before the June 3rd Primary Election, and they decided to stay out of the fray of the controversial issue of whom to endorse in the race for judicial seat 24, currently held by Diane Ritchie. The delegates overwhelmingly voted to make no endorsement in that race. …
Apr 14, 2014
When I filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission and the San Jose Ethics Commission against mayoral candidate Sam Liccardo, I did so because I take laws seriously. Liccardo has cheated his way through the early part of the campaign to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he shouldn’t get away with it. Tweet
Apr 13, 2014
On Tuesday, April 8th, the San Jose City Council approved an ordinance to provide for the hiring cops or firefighters who are denied disability pensions under Measure B. The discussion of the item provided a rare event – 3 Galactic Whoppers and 1 Mega-Whopper at a single meeting. Tweet
Apr 10, 2014
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…
Mar 31, 2014
Ok, I admit it. I’m writing a Whopper critique of a column in the Wall Street Journal – which is kind of like fishing in your bathtub. But I’m busy this week so excuse me for going after the low hanging fruit. My target is Daniel Henninger’s article of March 26th which is titled, “Why Can’t the Left Govern?” Obviously…
Mar 21, 2014
On March 12th, the Fly, a column posted on the blog San Jose Inside, presented an article titled, “Odd Bunch: Republican Sheriff Laurie Smith, Organized Labor. The piece focused on the fact that Cindy Chavez and other Democrats and labor leaders supported the re-election of GOP Sheriff Laurie Smith. The article is loaded with whoppers, but the most scale-busting lunker…
Mar 13, 2014
The Santa Clara County Deputy Sheriffs Association could be on its way into some hot water after having failed to file campaign contribution report for two years, and possibly longer. According to a complaint filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission, the DSA has not filed form 460 reports for contributions made to political candidates from 2010 through the end…
Mar 5, 2014
A new internal poll shows Sheriff Laurie Smith is headed for reelection in June. The news comes as no surprise as Smith has long been the most popular countywide elected official for years. The latest research was conducted by EMC Research whose analysis was clear; “Sheriff Laurie Smith is in an extremely strong position heading into the election year and…