You really must wonder what goes through the head of some of our City Council folks.
They were sued by Robert Rubin, go to court to fight a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit, and after spending millions to defend their position they lose. So, they (we) get to pay Rubin’s fees as well.
What you really need to question is why did they think they could win? Rubin has not lost a CVRA case to date.
In addition, Santa Clara was a prime target, ripe for legal action. We have had one minority elected in the last 50 years. Yet, nearly 60% of our population are minority.
Then, there were the warning letters that Rubin sent the Council. Instead of addressing the issues he brought forward, the Council majority brushed them off like last week’s newspaper.
One of those letters arrived before the last election in 2016, and wouldn’t have seen the light of day if it weren’t for a tip the Weekly received. It’s not like these Council members haven’t had enough warning. But with an attitude that reflects “its not our money,” they went a little crazy, not only ignoring Rubin but trying an end run around the law.
They figured they could convince voters to pass Measure A, with a two-district plan.
But guess what? The voters won.
What else was amazing was the $85,000 of out of State money that was poured into supporting this Measure.
Opponents only raised $7,800 which goes to prove, a really bad piece of legislation just can’t be bought and paid for in Santa Clara.
The Mayor has an answer for this. She is going to tweak Measure A and put it back on the ballot for November. “The voters just didn’t understand the issue. It was too complicated,” she says.
Want to bet on that one?
Now the Judge who presided over the court hearing will have more to offer on this issue. He will release his decisive remedy on July 9th. It is possible, just possible, that Santa Clarans’ will not have a City Council election in November, since we failed the elementary CVRA test.
You see, when all the evidence is presented and made clear, it is apparent that our Council has been sitting on their hands. With numerous warning letters over the last 6 years, how could they just try to ignore the elephant in City Hall?
With a futile attempt to divide the City into two districts the Mayor and Council were hopeful they would qualify as a CVRA approved city.
In November she wants to repeat the same plan. How brazen is that? First, she ignores Robert Rubin’s warning letters, spends millions in litigation fees, then arrives at a half-baked plan that doesn’t address the real issue.
Thank God our voters are paying attention.
