Milestones: Vote for Who?

How do you vote for a City candidate?

Do they seem like a nice person? They are friends of a friend? You can recognize their name on the ballot? Did they present a plaque to your community organization at City Council?

Looking at the line up of Santa Clara’s crop of candidates, consider the contribution they have made to your community.

You can judge the results of incumbents by reviewing their success or failure by first peeking at the financial condition of the City.

This revealing snapshot alone is a scary process.

The first rule suggested by experienced politicians is: “Do no harm.”

This advice appears to have been totally ignored by the current Santa Clara Council majority.

On track to burn through half of what was a $70 million budget stabilization reserve in the next two years — $34 million — the current Council has made a lot of vendors happy, made a number of attorneys wealthy, and encumbered residents with a budget hole so deep, they are looking up to see the bottom.

There are not enough fingers on both hands to count the number of lawsuits Santa Clara is embroiled in and…spending money on.

Santa Clara legal fees and lawsuits reflect the crassness of the current administration.

The “do no harm” advice does not seem to apply in Santa Clara.

Try as this Council might, they cannot sue their way out of the deficit.

That means that residents are responsible. This responsibility extends to the selection of council members that understand and can apply simple arithmetic.

Simple math with your own home budget tells you if you earn one dollar and spend two, it is only for a time. If you wish to continue this plan, you have to borrow. The hole does not disappear, it grows deeper.

One example is: How can a city the size of Santa Clara, justify or afford, the highest paid City Manager in the state of California?

The answer lies with the current council members you voted for and trusted to manage your money and your City.

It appears there is a serious disconnect here.

This out-of-touch-with-reality mentality is like a speeding train roaring along the tracks with everyone in the club car sipping champagne and eating caviar. The only problem is, there is no engineer driving the train — they are also in the club car.

The end result is predictable, and it is only a matter of time.

So, this brings us to the question. “Who do you vote for in Santa Clara?”

The one question you have to ask is: “What has this candidate done for Santa Clara the past five to ten years?”

If they have done damage, they get no vote.

If they have spent you into oblivion, it is time to vote for someone else.

If they propose and promise fiscal integrity, vote them in!