If you are a Santa Clara voter, you may not believe this. On the other hand, if you are not a Santa Clara resident, you really won’t believe this.
Santa Clara City Attorney Brian Doyle and Mayor Lisa Gillmor have burned through millions of City dollars foolishly, legally dubious, and thumbed their collective noses at the electorate.
You can read the details by our political reporter Carolyn Schuk as she peels the layers off the ball of yarn that has been spun over the last five years. Schuk details the non-scheduled spending by Gillmor and Doyle as they played legal dodge ball with the courts and Santa Clara’s budget and bills.
If you were a businessman or woman and had an employee who made business decisions that cost you millions each year, you would terminate them in a heartbeat. Especially an in-house attorney who made bad decisions and gave questionable costly advice that was invariably wrong.
Attorney Doyle is still employed by Santa Clara.
Council Member Suds Jain said he had met with the 49ers and they want Doyle gone. Well, I’m shocked, shocked! If you asked the majority of Santa Clara voters, they want Doyle gone, too.
Nice folks the 49ers, but who the hell cares what the 49ers think? Listen to the voters who elected you to office. The 49ers may agree with Santa Clara voters, but the 49ers don’t vote, residents do. Voters are asking: why is Doyle still employed? He doesn’t tell the truth, consistently makes bad decisions, and with Gillmor’s prodding, has cost Santa Clara millions.
Mayor Gillmor is elected and has two more years on her current term. She plans to run for Mayor again in 2022. You have to wonder: Does she plan to run on her record of running up millions in legal costs, a $40 million budget deficit, and bloated city salaries?
But Doyle is an “at-will” employee and if this new Council can ever get their program on the same page, Santa Clara will once again have competent and trusted legal counsel.
Listen to your voters.