City Council is known as a part time job but in reality it is a Full time job. There are not only regular council meetings but events during the day and committee meetings that often happen during the middle of the day. The Councilmember schedule is demanding and when I was first elected I balanced everything from my day job to all other responsibilities. The Councilmember role comes with lots of commitments and time.
That makes me question my neighbor and fellow Candidate for District 6 Kelly Cox. I question Kelly’s ability to serve as Councilmember for the following factors. First Kelly had stated in the news about the role of councilmember, “I don’t know how I’m going to juggle finishing my masters program and doing it[City Council]”.
Second, is about recusals, for example, Kelly will have to recuse on items like the entire
Downtown project and Santa Clara University issues because she works for Santa Clara University. Similar to how in the past Councilmember Jain had to recuse because his wife had worked at Santa Clara University till she retired.
In addition to recusals, will Kelly denounce the negative campaigning by the Santa Clara POA per the “ethics pledge” that she and other candidates signed? The same POA that supports Kelly and the other slate of candidates? Based on the “pledge” that Kelly and other candidates signed, Kelly would have to denounce the negative campaigning by the POA and if elected, Kelly would have to recuse from voting on any issues related to the Santa Clara POA. The “pledge” states, “If an independent expenditure attacks my opponent(s), I will immediately condemn such behavior with a public statement. If elected, I will recuse myself from votes related to the funders of the negative attack”. Since there has been no public statement from Kelly to condemn or denounce, will Kelly be recusing herself from votes related to the POA?
Additionally, Kelly has had poor attendance for the Santa Clara Council Candidate forums. She missed two major forums, the MCA forum on Friday October 18th and the League of Women Voters on October 29th. In fact the League of Women Voters was trying to find a date and time that would accommodate me and all of my fellow District 6 candidates, Kelly and George. If someone misses that many forums, is the commitment to the city council really there? Why miss so many is my ultimate question.
Is Kelly afraid to debate the issues? I have always been available to debate the issues at any place and any time. With my busy schedule I have always made accommodations to participate in all of the Santa Clara Candidate Forums, never denying any appearance.
Would Kelly debate me on the real issues facing the city? I am open to it.