Xavier Campos, Shirakawa Filed Fictitious Business Accounts with Campaigns
Dec 11, 2013 by Josh Koehn Politics Comments (2)
George Shirakawa Jr. and Xavier Campos created fictitious businesses names that would have allowed them to escape detection of campaign finances.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office seized documents in a Thanksgiving eve raid that implicate Xavier Campos’ campaign in funding the red-baiting political mailers that helped him win a seat on the San Jose City Council. Now, records obtained this week by Metro/San Jose Inside suggest that the District 5 councilmember engaged in a highly unconventional campaign finance practice—one used by the incarcerated former county supervisor—that would have allowed him to establish phony campaign bank accounts that could have gone undetected by agencies monitoring election spending.
Mayor Reed Sits out Mayor’s Race for Now
Dec 11, 2013 by The Fly Politics, The Fly Comments (1)
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed is not expected to endorse a candidate to succeed him until after the primary.
There are enough candidates for mayor of San Jose to field a football team with a few water boys, but no one entrant should expect the blessing of Mayor Chuck Reed just yet. With a year left on his final term, the mayor’s five pension reform supporters on the City Council—a.k.a. The B Team—are all vying to drag their files over to the 18th floor’s corner office, and he needs their support to gets things done.
San Jose’s Next Mayor Can Lead on Education
Dec 11, 2013 by Joseph DiSalvo Politics, Culture, Media Comments (0)
San Antonio’s Mayor Julian Castro led a bold initiative last year to improve preschool access in his city. (Photo courtesy of UCN)
There is a dangerous shortsightedness about constricting the role of mayor in San Jose and the campaign to only things that he/she can influence. Doing so makes San Jose seem small minded and insignificant. Are we not the Silicon Valley, the economic engine for the state, nation and world? Are we not the 10th most populous city in America? We must think bigger or we will lose out.
Plan to Fix Broken Streetlights Goes before Rules Committee
Dec 10, 2013 by Jennifer Wadsworth Politics, Business Comments (2)
Leasing streetlights to cell phone providers could expand 4G service and get some of the city’s broken lights fixed, according to two councilmembers.
Copper wire theft and other problems leave hundreds of streetlights dark, creating a public safety problem in several neighborhoods. But what if the city leases these poles to telecom companies as cell stations to expand their 4G network? Councilmembers Rose Herrera and Sam Liccardo proposed the idea, saying the lights get fixed, courtesy of Philips, and San Jose receives better cell phone service while residents aren’t left in the dark.
Rocketship Asks City for Help Securing a $35 Million Loan
Dec 9, 2013 by Jennifer Wadsworth Politics, Culture Comments (9)
Rocketship schools have been cropping up throughout Santa Clara County, where the company eventually plans to operate upward of 20 campuses.
A private nonprofit charter school chain wants the city to act as a conduit financer for a $35 million loan to build another campus and make improvements at a couple others. Rocketship schools, owned by San Jose-based Launchpad Development Company, will ask the City Council to approve the bond issuance when it meets Tuesday. The council also considers plans to regulate pot clubs, accept an insurance settlement for a burnt-down historic home and OK a contract with the city’s police union.
San Jose Considers Stricter Pot Club Ordinance, Outright Ban
Dec 8, 2013 by Jennifer Wadsworth Politics, Business, Culture Comments (6)
The city wants to take another crack at regulating the medical marijuana industry. (Photo by it was 3 a.m., via Flickr)
Leveraging anecdotal evidence of increased crime and a poll conducted by teenage prohibitionists, the city aims to tighten restrictions on local pot clubs. Under new rules—if they garner a majority vote Tuesday from the City Council—dispensaries would operate no closer than 1,000 feet from a school, 500 feet from a substance abuse clinic and 150 feet from a home.
Xavier Campos’ Campaign Paid for Illegal Flyers, Warrant Reveals
Dec 6, 2013 by Josh Koehn Politics Comments (5)
New evidence seized in a search of George Shirakawa Jr.‘s home links Xavier Campos’ 2010 campaign to fraudulent political mailers.
A search of George Shirakawa Jr.‘s home the day before Thanksgiving turned up evidence that suggests Xavier Campos’ 2010 City Council campaign paid for materials to create a fraudulent political mailer that helped the San Jose city councilman get elected. The mailers portrayed Campos’ opponent, Magdalena Carrasco, as a communist to East San Jose’s Vietnamese voters, and Shirakawa’s DNA was found on a stamp affixed to one of the mailers. Campos ended up winning the primary election against Carrasco by 20 votes and later won the runoff.
County Poised to Continue Rural Metro Ambulance Contract Despite Bankruptcy
Dec 6, 2013 by Jennifer Wadsworth Politics, Business, Culture Comments (1)
Rural/Metro went bankrupt in August but the ambulance company is expected to continue providing emergency transport services for county residents.
Despite going bankrupt in August, it looks like Rural Metro will continue providing ambulance services for Santa Clara County residents—at least through 2016. Other items on Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors agenda include a request for $8 million from the department that oversees the child abuse hotline and a discussion on the Santa Jose Sate hate crime allegations.
SJSU Launches Independent Review of Hate Crime Allegations
Dec 5, 2013 by Jennifer Wadsworth Politics, Culture Comments (7)
Hundreds of students rallied last month at the SJSU campus during an NAACP press conference about alleged hate crimes.
In the wake of high-profile hate crime allegations on campus, San Jose State University has enlisted a retired judge to conduct an independent review of what happened. LaDoris Cordell, San Jose’s independent police auditor, will oversee the investigation, which will look at how the university failed to prevent four white students from racially terrorizing a black roommate.
Levitt Pavilion: The Process of Remaking of St. James Park with Music
Dec 5, 2013 by James P. Reber Politics, Culture Comments (12)
The Levitt Pavilion in Arlington, Texas is one possible example of what could go up in St. James Park in San Jose.
The Levitt Pavilion received support from the San Jose City Council this week, after Sam Liccardo gathered enough interest from neighbors and urbanists to get approval for an “Exploratory Committee.” Will it be “the answer” or “part of the answer” to what ails St. James Park? We shall see.
Mission Statement: This site is designed to encourage political debate, discussion and change in our city, started by people who value San Jose and are interested in her future and in this valley’s place in the state and nation.
Disclaimer: All views expressed on this site are solely the opinion of the individual writer.
Comment Policy: Please read our comment policy before posting.
© 2013 San Jose Inside. All rights reserved. Contact us
