If you are not voting this year, stop reading this column. You won’t make a difference and candidates frankly don’t need you.
However, if you are going to vote, do you know much, or anything, about the candidates and/or issues?
You can wait for the voter’s guide to arrive. Or you can continue reading and become informed about a very important but low visibility race for State Senator.
If you have been even marginally aware of who does what to whom and for what in the political world, this is a race you want to take a look at.
As you may know, Bob Wieckowski has been a solid state senator representing Santa Clara for the past seven years. Respected, approachable and responsive would be a good way to describe him. Now he will be leaving Santa Clara only because districts have been redrawn and his new district bypasses Santa Clara.
It would be an oversight to omit our appreciation for his dedication, action, help and honesty as our state representative.
Wieckowski’s replacement will be one of two candidates and his endorsement goes to Hayward City Councilwoman Aisha Wahab. Aisha was the first female council member ever elected in Hayward. They have no term limits in Hayward and Aisha ran against a 20-year incumbent. Yet she won in a landslide.
When you meet or listen to Wahab, you can’t help but pay attention. She is brilliant, articulate, and incisive, with a get-it-done attitude. Her presence on the Hayward council has been like a shot of penicillin to a pneumonia patient. Before she arrived, Hayward was years behind in city services and the long-term incumbents were comfortable with just maintaining the status quo.
With Wahab’s inquisitive nature and built-in firepower, she created a new meaning for the word “accountability.” Public services and personnel were transformed through her tireless attention to detail, purpose, measurable objectives and results.
Now Wahab aims to bring these skills to Santa Clara as your state senator. Her proven record deserves every Santa Clara voter’s support and vote.
Wahab’s opponent is the current mayor of Fremont, Lily Mei. Mei has proven to be a marginal and a rather controversial caretaker. Her administration has been marked by controversy. That includes an alleged coverup of embezzlement by Mark Danaj, a crony of fired Santa Clara City Manager Deanna Santana who spent time on the Santa Clara payroll after he was let go from Manhattan Beach.
When you compare the two candidates, Wahab is a Maserati, and Mei is a motor scooter.
Senator Wieckowski recognizes and appreciates talent. In this race, Aisha Wahab has the skills, energy, focus and track record to receive your vote.