The Santa Clara marathon Council meetings have returned. Midnight last Tuesday was not enough, as the Council retired for the night to return once again on Wednesday.
Top of the discussion was more money for Santa Clara Police Department. Chief Pat Nikolai worked the Council asking for funds to fill vacancies, support police programs and improve City safety. The Council was not moved and didn’t buy what was being sold.
Perhaps it is the lack of prosecution as multiple offenders are freed as fast as they are found and arrested. It is now “normal” to see the same thieves back on the street taking or destroying people’s property. The police might find a more receptive Council if the government returned to one of America’s basic rules…Law and Order.
Then of late, there is always the issue of money, or in Santa Clara’s case, the lack thereof. With red ink pouring out from the City’s treasury bottle, the new Council has taken on the prudent task of finding a cork as opposed to a funnel.
The Council’s decision did not sit well with Mayor Lisa Gillmor nor with her 2020 leftover and sole Council supporter, Kathy Watanabe. The Santa Clara Police Officers Association PAC donated more than $300,000 to the Mayor’s candidates in the November election. It was payback time for the police, but this time Gillmor failed to deliver.
Nice to have a City Council that views the budget with resident’s wallets in mind. These folks are looking at a burgeoning budget that has gone bonkers! With a forecast of a $42 million shortfall, it appears the store has already been given away.
Santa Clara’s Mayor Gillmor and City Attorney Brian Doyle are holding an empty money bag which they have drained dry. Gillmor’s lavish salary awards and consultants’ contracts, along with Doyle’s million-dollar litigation bills have sucked the Santa Clara bag barren. Gillmor could have saved the City $4 million by just responding politely to CRVA Attorney Robert Rubin, but she ignored him and he sued Santa Clara and won.
Attorney Doyle seems to see himself as the Perry Mason of Santa Clara defending an at-large election system that had already been disallowed in numerous cases over 20 years. After losing this multi-million-dollar case in court he insisted Santa Clara appeal the judge’s decision. He lost again. There were even rumblings he wanted to take it to the Supreme Court. Talk about good money after bad…Santa Clara has an attorney who appears to be incapable of even knowing when he is wrong.
Thank you, voters, for bringing the God-given gift of common sense to the Santa Clara City Council. Thank you, Council Members, for taking on the challenge of a city out of control.
