An odd alliance seems to have been forged between the left-leaning South Bay Labor Council boss Cindy Chavez and gang-bashing Republican crime-fighter Dolores Carr. Chavez last month made an impassioned plea to SBLC members for endorsing the district attorney, which reportedly surprised many of the executive board members and union delegates in attendance. According to a source who was present, Chavez stood and railed against challenger Jeff Rosen. Rosen, Chavez reasoned, is endorsed by Sam Liccardo, who is linked to former mayor Tom McEnery and Deputy District Attorney David Pandori.
Pandori was involved in prosecuting pro-labor lobbyists Tony Arreola and Sean Kali-Ray until Carr pulled him off the case and dropped charges. Carr also went easy on a former Chavez associate who hacked into Liccardo’s girlfriend’s email and posted material found there to an anonymous Labor Council-aligned smear blog.
According to Chavez, the Liccardo-Pandori-McEnery trinity would run the DA’s office behind the scenes, with Rosen as their front man. Chavez reportedly is concerned that the DA has the power to, say, bring corruption charges against politicians, and says she doesn’t trust Rosen. The audience of 60 or so presumably Democratic labor leaders was not impressed.
According to Fly’s source, the meeting grew heated after another audience member stood up to defend Rosen. The initial motion, to give a dual endorsement of both candidates, was defeated, and the second, to give a sole endorsement to Carr, was also defeated, in votes so contentious that instead of counting by a raise of hand, members were asked to walk to either side of the room to show their vote. “I have never seen anything like this before,” says Fly’s source. Finally, an open endorsement—essentially an endorsement of no one—was passed.
Cindy was a really good councilmember and not so good mayoral candidate. Obviously, the voters saw this.
Cindy was a really good political director and not so good executive director. The labor council should begin to see this.
Cindy was a really good Gonzo-Clone, but the jury is still out on her skills as Union Goon.
If Cindy is pushing a Republican candidate for a major countywide seat, she has no soul. Carr has and will continue to help the cause of the Republican Party in our County. WTF?
And what is so bad about the Republican agenda? What is the Republican agenda, according to you? It’s not like the Democrats have done a bang up job of running the county.
I am deeply disappointed by Cindy Chavez. She’s smart but behaving very stupidly.
She sent threatening letters to State Assemblymen because she was unhappy they wanted a responsible, ethical councilwoman for San Jose’s eastside? And now she makes a “plea” for labor to support a Republican who has never done anything for labor?
Chavez refuses to back Jeff Rosen because she fears Sam Licardo, David Pandori and Tom McEnery will be secretly pulling the strings of poor puppet Rosen? Wow.
Here are a few tidbits about the Republican Chavez wants to support
* Violated the Constitution of the State of California by selecting a Judge as her second in command.
* Eliminated the County’s Cold Case Unit. Instead, she hired two new public relations staffers to enhance her public image.
* Broke the law by inviting her husband to listen in on a confidential wiretap briefing.
* Removed herself from the murder case of a beloved community leader after it was made public she had a conflict of interest – her husband was earning a living on the same case.
* Refused to prosecute gang rapists despite the victim being a minor and in a room filled with witnesses.
* Does favors for high-roller contributors.
* Blacklisted a Judge when the Judge found one of the DA’s deputies lied.
I was supporting Jeff Rosen before the Chavez disaster because I knew I could expect an ethical and responsible District Attorney with Rosen. I wonder what her old pal Karen Sinnunu thought when she read Chavez jumped ship.
“According to Chavez, the Liccardo-Pandory-McEnery trinity would run the DA’s office behind the scenes, with Rosen as their front man.”
If I believed that were the case, I’d almost certainly vote for Rosen. Tom McEnery was the best damn mayor San Jose has had in the last 40 years (the best since Thomas Fallon, perhaps?), and I quite enthusiastically voted for David Pandori in 2006. But alas, a Sam Liccardo endorsement of Mr. Rosen doesn’t seem very likely to entail the happy outcome described above. I’m sticking with Carr.
Kevin- SMART choice! I’m with you!
I see Rosen’s campaign staff is hard at work twisting and distorting the facts again. It will only get worse as DA Carr gains more and more of the endorsements from the people he can’t. For those of you who really want the truth, go to http://www.DoloresCarrforDA.com. It contains the truth as opposed to the misinformation that Rosen is putting out.
A fact not mentioned by the press is that DA Carr was a labor leader and the union President for the DA’s and public defenders for 5 years. She cut $11.7 million dollars without anyone losing his/her job. She was also a Superior Court Judge.
Are you being paid by the Carr campaign?
Truth Seeker asked, “Are you being paid by the Carr campaign?”
No. Are you being paid by the Rosen campaign?
If you are truly a “Truth Seeker,” then I suggest you spend your time really looking for the truth about Rosen rather than questioning me.
Sam Liccardo, David Pandori and Tom McEnery remind me of another wonderful trio.
The Bee Gees were originally a singing trio of brothers — Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were successful for most of their forty years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a harmonic “soft rock” act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as the foremost stars of the disco music era in the late 1970s. The group sang three-part tight harmonies that were instantly recognisable; brother Robin’s clear vibrato lead was a hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry’s R&B falsetto became a signature sound during the disco years.
Cindy Chavez is like Joan Baez.
Cindy Chavez art moar cleft laek Geoffrey Chaucer. Weir neede moar olde folke in politics.
Jeff Rosen for District Attorney? That would be the worst thing to happen for Santa Clara County! Why? His cronies Sam Liccardo, Tom McEnery, and David Pandori who are known around their respective circle of friends as the “Three Headed Devils”.
To give a bit of insight about Tom McEnery who was obviously the mayor and rightly he did “some” good thigs for San Jose. However, he sided deliberately with his coffers so they could gain financially with city dollars. Moreover, when Tom (cat) was out of office, he gained tremendouly with city dollars with the renovation of his own family business in downtown San Jose. Tom and his cronies truly benefitted and manipulated city dollars for their own selfish benefits to get richer. Shame shame! But he did it.
As far as Sam Liccardo, he is making a name for himself with harsh Rebublican tactics to smear his naysayers. Yet, let this skunk in city office expose himself as seen by his ridiculous beard even though he shaves to the bare skin. The point is that you can see the rat though he tries to hide it (analogy).
And now for the worst and misguided of the Three Headed Devils-David Pandori. When he was city councilman it was widespread that he could not urinate in the men’s room when someone else was utilizing the facilities. As assistant DA, people view him as a harsh prosecutor who will send his own mother mother to prison if he could find a legal way to charge her because she spanked him as a kid. Yes, David pandori is traumatized and has and is prosecuting innocent people through the power of the “People of California” as Assistant DA.
So for Jeff Rosen to be DA of Santa Clara County would be detrimental to the people of this great and diverse county. As I mentioned, Jeff’s friends Sam, Tom, and David these individuals are the Stalin’s or the so-called buthchers of out great county. So the message is to run them out of California!
I like Licarrdo and Pandori and McEnery.
All three of them are Democrat yet aren’t knee-jerk thinkers. They’re progressives. They’re doers. They want to get things done.
Cindy is very smart and kind hearted, but it’s time that old time Democrats and labor in general realize that Hubert Humphrey is dead.