Councilman Xavier Campos and the Working Lunch

San Jose requires its elected officials to make their calendars public. The idea is a little sunshine on day-to-day activities holds Mayor Chuck Reed and the City Council accountable. After an extensive review of public calendars for all 11 elected officials in San Jose, it’s clear that no one loves a working lunch more than Councilman Xavier Campos. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like he’s actually doing much work during his midday snacks. Campos’ calendar notes 107 separate lunches/luncheons in the first eight months of the year. By comparison, District 1 Councilman Pete Constant came in second with a distant 55 lunches, while Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen has been the least enthusiastic lunch lady with just four meals tallied on her calendar. So, why does Campos have so many lunches on his schedule? It could be to beef up his calendar and make it seem like he’s actually doing something. Sadly, all too often the councilman dines alone. If his calendar is to be trusted, Campos ate with other people just 15 times in his 100-plus meals. That sounds depressing, but taxpayers who take a mere hour may feel worse. The lil’ bro of State Assemblywoman Nora Campos, who formerly oversaw District 5 before Fredo inherited East San Jose, managed to stretch 93 of his 107 meals longer than an hour—generally he reserved a 90-minute block to nosh and digest. It’s possible Campos is simply omitting the names of people he meets with, which could be of interest to the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). Word is the state’s political watchdog is still looking into Campos’ ties to admitted felon and former county supervisor George Shirakawa Jr. The FPPC audit of Campos is now in its fifth month after the previous investigator on the case died.

The Fly is the valley’s longest running political column, written by Metro Silicon Valley staff, to provide a behind-the-scenes look at local politics. Fly accepts anonymous tips.

15 Comments

    • Word has it Juan Estrada, Magdelena Carrasco and many more are planning to take on Campos. He better start doing something on the council besides his extended lunches.

  1. I live in District6 , but if there ever was a non- story this is it. It is all speculation and he took 93 lunches that were more than one hour. So? If journalists were required to have a license, who ever wrote this should lose theirs. Yuck

  2. It seems Campos is the only one who eats regularly.  I’m concerned that the rest of the City Council will suffer from malnutrition. Perhaps the County has a program that would provide them with free food.

  3. OK, WE ALL KNOW COMPOS WILL BE GONE, AND CARASCO, WILL BE BACK.
      HOWEVER, DOES MR XAVIER, EAT ALONE BECUSE NO BODY LIKES HIM? HAS SAN JOSE INSIDE HAVE A DNA, ON WHAT HE EATS. HERE’S A QUESTION, DOES HE FREQUENT THE GOLD CLUB? HAS THE DA FOUND ANY DNA ON THE POLE DANCERS FROM MR. COMPOS.
    I HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THE EVENTS OF THE FIRST PUSH TO BRING THE A’S TO SAN JOSE, SINCE STONE AND GONZALES, USED A MISSED SPELL SIGN, TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THIS IDEA IN SOME WHERE IN ARIZONA. I KNEW THEN THAT THIS WAS A MISGUIDED ADVENTURE.
    THINGS ONLY GOT WORST. EVERY BODY WAS DIPPING INTO THE POT! THE MAYOR, WAS ASS DEEP IN P CARD , WHAT EVER.
    WE WATCHED AS THE WITCHUNT DELELOPED, IN GEORGE’S DIRECTION, YET AS THE DA’S PERSONAL ISSUES DEVELOPED, EVERY ONE BAYED IN WHERE HIS ISSUES WOULD GO.
    I HAVE WITNESSED THESE WITCH HUNTS BEFORE IN OUR FAIR CITY! EAST SAN JOSE ESPECIALLY
      I AM IN LINE TO BUY GEORGE’S BOOK ON WHO WERE THE POWER BROKERS, IN HIS 20+ YEARS.
    I SEE A BIG CHANGE A COMMING!
    GEORGE, IF THEY SEND YOU TO PERGATORY, FOR THEIR CRIMES, AS YOUR’S. ENJOY YOUR STAY AND GIVE US THE BEEF! YOUR DAD WOULD BE SO PROUD OF YOU. I WOULD BE SO PROUD OF YOU!
    BY THE WAY SAM, YOUR DOWNTOWN IS A GUETTO!
    THE VILLAGE BLACK SMITH

  4. Is that a typo in graphic or does is say that Madison Nguyen logged 41 (forty-one) lunches in February 2013 – doesn’t February usually only have 28 days?

    Other than that this is a very typical “Fly” non-story …. long on innuendo and very short on substance. Very effective on weak minds though… very effective.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *