It seems that Pam Foley doesn’t have to try to hard to get her name out there as a candidate for San Jose City Council. Even though the San Jose Unified school trustee has no history at City Hall, she seems to be getting attention from San Jose’s political insiders. Assemblyman Jim Beall invited Foley as his guest to attend the Santa Clara Democratic Party fundraiser Friday evening. The night before, Chamber CEO Pat Dando gave Foley a plug at the chamber’s Women in Leadership dinner, which drew 1,000 people to come hear Meg Whitman speak. Foley herself was pleasantly surprised when Dando introduced her, not just as a school board member, but as a candidate for San Jose’s District 9 council seat. “It’s always nice when you can get that plug,” Foley said. But what struck some insiders as a little odd is that Dando neglected to mention Foley’s opponent—Jim Cogan. Not only is Cogan chief of staff for Councilman Pete Constant, he used to work as an aide in Dando’s office when she was on the city council. Cogan, who skipped the event to take care of his son, brushed it off as no biggie. “I don’t feel like it was a slight at all,” he says.
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Dando: Former Aide? What Former Aide?
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Really Jim? Not a slight?
Perhaps it’s because you are a fan of stabbing your bosses in the back:
http://www.sanjoseinside.com/sji/blog/entries/constants_aide_porn_defender/
http://www.metroactive.com/metro/12.03.08/fly-0849.html
Really?,
As someone who has worked for Jim Cogan I take great offense to your claim that he would stab Pete in the back.
First and foremost, Pete would kick his ass. Second,I would kick his ass. Third, Jim has pushed issues on behalf of Pete that are contrary to his own philosophy taking personal hits for doing so (ie the porn filter issue), so how is it you believe that he could stab him in the back?
Pat Dando has had a number of pp work for her, and eventually she will have had to make a conflicting decision about who might or might not be a good councilmember(this is more a credit to her and the type of people she developed underneath her when she was a councilmember). Her decision to support Pam Foley doesn’t mean that Jim isn’t qualified or capable.
In this early stage, despite Jim and I’s difference, I think he would serve D9 residents well on the city council.
Just to be clear – Pat Dando was announcing local elected officials attending the Chamber’s event to promote a Republican candidate for governor. Pam Foley attended the Chamber’s event. Pat announced Pam as a school board member and candidate for city council. That’s typical at these kind of events. Why would Pat mention Jim Cogan’s candidacy, when he did not attend the Chamber’s event? It’s hard to believe that real “insiders” would find this “a little odd.”
Paul Higgins is proving to be the Chief Apologist for the Office of Councilmember Pete Constant (and Jim Cogan) on San Jose Inside and San Jose Revealed:
http://www.sanjoserevealed.com/2009/04/crusades.html
Paul, that won’t get you your job back.
Perhaps your bucking for Campaign Manager?
Who is this Pam Foley person? I’ve lived in D9 for 11 years now, I’m an active member of my community, and I’ve NEVER even heard of her! What has she contributed to this district, and besides being yet another school board member, what does she do here in D9 to better our City?
I feel like this older, wiser, TEACHER/School Board member, and sexism thing is getting really old. Just because women want to support one another doesn’t necessarily mean they are qualified enough to beat a younger, more experienced male. For once, I’d like to see someone YOUNG AND experienced in D9’s Council seat.
I just want to know why career politicians are using the School Board as a path to get elected to the City Council, or the County Board of Supervisors? Whatever happened to people getting on School Boards because they care about the education, and the well being of children?
I really hope we get Jim Cogan for a Council Member instead. He has a lot of integrity, and has been professional enough to do his job as Chief of Staff for Constant, even though he and Pete differ on a lot of things. (Pete by the way doesn’t have such a huge ego that he expects his staff to believe as he does. He just expects them to do their job properly, and Jim has.) I have worked with Jim on many community issues, and unlike SOME City employees, or Council members, he has always followed through on any project we’ve worked on together.
Jim has many years of hands on experience in the City, and understands the needs of taxpayers, citizens, employees, and the City. He is the President of Crime Stoppers, so he understands first hand the importance of public safety, and the needs of crime victims. Jim has been a homeowner in D 9 for many years, and he sees what needs to be done to better our district.
Most importantly, he’s a husband and a Father so he certainly wants what is best for our children, our neighborhoods, streets, and traffic. Things like keeping libraries open, making sure our schools have crossing guards, clean parks, and public safety are going to be high on his list of priorities. I hope D9 voters don’t repeat picking the same old type of candidate to feel safe. I also hope they don’t forget that just because Jim is young, doesn’t mean he is not educated, or qualified enough to make great things happen for our district and our City.
Please Vote For Jim Cogan For City Council!
Dando did nothing wrong. This is much ado about nothing. Pam is an elected and was introduced as such. Even if Cogan were there he would not get a plug as he is not an elected. Also, Jim is courting labor’s support quite heavily and telling people he is doing so. Why would Dando push a candidate who is so actively seeking the help from labor? Also, Jim has no record to speak of. He has no voting record on issues and has championed issues for 3 very different electeds and never had to take his own position…how do voters know him or what he thinks. So the question is not what does Dando think, but “Will the real Jim Cogan please stand up?”
5 – Most of us could say the same thing about Jim—who is he? He has linked himself to the out-of-touch Constant and therefore his own integrity is questioned. If you disagree with someone as much as Cogan supposedly does then you owe it to yourself and your potential constituents to find another job. How can you continue to work and support someone who you disagree with?
#6, and #7,
Anon said, “Dando did nothing wrong. This is much ado about nothing.” You are absolutely correct. Pat Dando is a very wonderful woman who has done a lot for SJ. I really like her!
Anon said, “Also, Jim is courting labor’s support quite heavily and telling people he is doing so. Why would Dando push a candidate who is so actively seeking the help from labor?” Ummm, so is Pam Foley. All candidates court both sides. They’d be dumb not to. And how do you know Pat won’t endorse Jim, he worked for her when she was on the Council?
Anon said, “Also, Jim has no record to speak of. He has no voting record on issues and has championed issues for 3 very different electeds and never had to take his own position…how do voters know him or what he thinks.”
A couple of things Anon, the fact that Jim worked for 3 different electeds goes in his favor, not against him. It only shows that he has been exposed to understanding the needs of different districts, and three different personalities. It shows he’s versatile enough to work with strong people, is certainly knowledgeable of city policies, knows how to work well with city staff, can get things done that need doing because he knows who to go to get what. (Not an easy task if you know what I mean!) And by the way Anon, Jim has no voting record because he is NOT a Council Member, but he unlike Pam Foley, will hit the ground running and will not spend his first year trying to figure out City Hall, or City staff. Pam Foley has no voting record either because she is not on the Council. A School Board member, and the budgets they deal with are nowhere in the same league as the City Council and the City budget! And School Board members DO NOT have to deal with the many diverse issues, groups, and individuals that Council Offices do. As Chief of Staff, and having worked under conservatives like Pat Dando, and Pete Constant, as well as more moderates like Linda LeZotte, I am certain Jim has a ton of experience in working on City budgets.
#7-D-9er said, “Most of us could say the same thing about Jim—who is he?” I guess you have a fair point there. But if you didn’t know him you wouldn’t be making statements about who he works for, and what you think he should do, right?
As an active member of the community, I do know Jim very well. He doesn’t confine himself to Pete’s district. I see him at MANY community events both city and county.
Having said that, let me say this D-9, I don’t know anyone in the world who is lucky enough to work for a boss they agree with 100%, or say even 75% of the time. The fact that Jim is working for Pete Constant doesn’t make him any less educated or qualified to run, then it made him when he worked for Pat Dando, or Linda LeZotte. As a matter of fact, the fact that Jim can work for Pete just shows me that he can work with, shall we say in kindness, difficult strong-minded people?
#4
I won’t even dignify your comments with a response except to say that if you want make this personal then at least man up and put you real name to your comments. Until then:
Wait for it…
(index finger goes to mouth)
Wait for it…
Shhhhhhh