Politicking At Public Events Earns Resident Ire

As election day nears, local candidates are doing what they can to amplify their voices in an attempt to reach voters. As a result, residents may be confused as to what sort of activity is allowed.

A few situations at community events this election season have sparked outrage among residents. Many claim candidates are using these events as political platforms, decrying the lack of enforcement to prevent campaigning.

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a Magical Bridge playground at Fair Oaks Park in September, a local restaurateur donated ice cream to the city for the event. Santa Clara City Council candidates Satish Chandra (District 1), David Kertes (District 5), Teresa O’Neill (District 4) and Kelly Cox (District 6) handed out the ice cream.

Later that month, at the Art & Wine Festival, the same slate of candidates, billed as Reclaiming Santa Clara, had a booth inside the gala. Other candidates had booths outside the venue in an area billed as the “free speech zone.”

The slate of candidates is allied with Mayor Lisa Gillmor, but it isn’t just those candidates who ignited controversy.

At a city council meeting near the end of September, many took umbrage with the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce promoting a Diwali celebration. Many claimed District 1 candidate Harbir Bhatia’s campaign flier was tucked inside promotional information the chamber distributed to potential festival attendees.

Her critics, including Chandra, claimed Bhatia was leveraging the event for political gain.

Despite the perception, nothing the candidates have done is out of bounds. While many may find the behavior in poor taste, none of it is against the rules. That is because there doesn’t appear to be any city policies governing — or even defining — whether such activities are permitted.

“Political campaign activities are protected by the First Amendment,” Janine De la Vega, the city’s communications director, wrote in an email responding to an inquiry about candidates handing out ice cream. “First Amendment activities are permitted in public parks as they are traditional public forums.”

The Political Reform Act of 1974, administered by the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), governs political activity in Santa Clara. But those policies are silent on the aforementioned matters.

The only mention of campaigning is to define what constitutes “election-related activity.” However, the Political Reform Act does not constrain any of the specified activities or relegate them to specific areas.

In 2018, Vice Mayor Anthony Becker tried to purchase a booth at the Art & Wine Festival but was denied.

De la Vega wrote the city has no record of Becker attempting to purchase a booth inside the festival grounds, adding that the rules have not changed since then. The Reclaiming Santa Clara booth, which cost $1,600, was part of a suite of sponsorship opportunities available to anyone, she wrote.

“The activity at the booth in question did appear to constitute political activity and campaigning, but [it] did not appear to violate any of the City’s local campaign rules,” De la Vega wrote.

Council Policy 008 governs city-building rental. In that policy, a single line prohibits “campaign or campaign-related fundraising.” However, De la Vega wrote that the policy hasn’t “by its terms” been applied to outdoor areas, such as parks.

Despite this, one council member said the rules around who can campaign on city property and under what circumstances are nebulous.

Council Member Suds Jain, who is up for re-election in District 5, said it was clear candidates at the Art & Wine Festival were not supposed to campaign in the fairgrounds. He said he is “not up in arms about it,” adding that he understands the purpose of the restriction — to insulate festival-goers from being inundated with political messaging during a community event.

“Nobody seems to know what the rules are because they aren’t written down,” Jain said.

With its booth at the Art & Wine Festival, Reclaiming Santa Clara was simply testing the fence, Jain said, exploiting the lack of rules about campaigning while relying on the ignorance of others.

Jain sits on the city’s Governance and Ethics Committee; he said he plans to take the matter up there and “close the loophole.”