UPDATE—Friday 6pm: Mayor Chuck Reeds Endorses Carrasco; see bottom of post.
Voters in San Jose’s District 5 have a rare opportunity this year to send a message to City Hall and reject politics as usual. A hard-fought battle is under way between council sibling Xavier Campos, who is backed by the South Bay Labor Council, and a political newcomer named Magdalena Carrasco.
Carrasco began to attract notice after her first few appearances at candidates’ forums last Spring. Speaking in either English or Spanish, she articulated a dissatisfaction that she said many of her neighbors shared—a feeling that their representatives were not paying attention to their needs.
The daughter of workers at the Del Monte plant, she grew up on the East Side, attended Independence High School and, as she tells it, “had all of the big family experiences” at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.
After high school, she left to attend UC–Santa Barbara, where she became involved in social work, teaching Spanish literacy to migrant workers and working with ex-gang members. That’s where she met and married Kevin DeLeon, who later ran for and won a state Assembly seat. Since divorced and remarried, she and DeLeon remain close friends. Carrasco returned to San Jose 19 years ago and went to work for the county’s social services agency, and later First 5, a nonprofit serving young children and their families. She has four children.
Despite this impressive catalog of genuine community involvement, supporters of her opponent, Xavier Campos, have attempted to cast Carrasco as some kind of outsider. That’s not really surprising. It is likely that Campos, whose sister Nora now represents District 5, sees many of his neighbors as outsiders, simply because they are not political insiders.
This race had been pretty much a sure thing for Campos before Carrasco jumped in, and the SBLC has made it very clear that they don’t believe Carrasco has any right to step up as she has. In fact, SBLC sent a threatening letter to members of the state Assembly who have come out in support of Carrasco. (Most of them, like DeLeon, have impeccable labor-friendly voting records; that is not good enough for the SBLC, whose strong-arm tactics have recently gone beyond mere political hardball.)
Though Campos has more money and more, Carrasco has a shot at this seat because she seems better able to connect with East Side voters. The fact that she is fluent in Spanish is a big plus with many of them (Campos does not speak Spanish).
Carrasco argues that district residents haven’t felt a connection to City Hall under Xavier’s sister, Nora Campos, for years. They feel that District 5 has been used as a chess piece while the real issues— dwindling community services, problems with public transportation, and above all else, gang violence and public safety—have been ignored.
Xavier Campos worked for 20 years at the Mexican American Community Services Agency (MACSA), ultimately becoming chief operations officer. MACSA is now under criminal investigation following findings that it was skimming from its employees’ pension funds.
Even more troubling is Campos’ loyalty to the SBLC, which represents labor interests that may or may not be aligned with the residents of the district. At a time when compromise on labor negotiations could save some district money, Campos, like his sister, is likely to continue to resist concessions.
With its large population of immigrants, the East Side will be the district where people will be the most deeply affected by budget cuts. District 5 is perhaps the most important seat up for this election season, in terms of how politics can affect voters and their families. We’re confident that Carrasco would do a credible job of representing them.
Update: The press release from Mayor Chuck Reed’s office is here: Mayor_Endorsement.doc
Nora was never anything more than a figurehead. The SBLC pulled the strings and she danced around like a marionette. And now, being termed out, she’s running for State office in an attempt to continue feeding from the public trough. I’d hazard a guess that, were one to say “Good Morning” to her, she’d be stuck for an answer.
Given her brother’s background and lack of Spanish speaking skills, I’m betting that he too would be little more than an SBLC stooge. Time for a new District 5 champion, Carrasco will likely do well.
What were the chances you’d jump on board with this decision. You know nothing about Magdalena and if she were to miraculously get herself elected, you’ll be on here next year inevitably bashing her for something.
Thanks for the humor – I always enjoy sniping from cowards who hide behind their mommy’s skirt, in complete anonimity. Disclose your real name and someone might take you seriously.
P.S. Who helped you figure out the anti-spam word?
> Xavier Campos worked for 20 years at the Mexican American Community Services Agency (MACSA), ultimately becoming chief operations officer. MACSA is now under criminal investigation following findings that it was skimming from its employees’ pension funds.
> Even more troubling is Campos’ loyalty to the SBLC, which represents labor interests that may or may not be aligned with the residents of the district. At a time when compromise on labor negotiations could save some district money, Campos, like his sister, is likely to continue to resist concessions.
ICK! Don’t need him.
> After high school, [Magdalena Carrasco] left to attend UC–Santa Barbara, where she became involved in social work, teaching Spanish literacy to migrant workers and working with ex-gang members.
> Despite this impressive catalog of genuine community involvement, . . .
OH NO! Another “community organizer”.
I recommend that voters of District 5 vote “None of the Above” and leave the seat empty for the next term.
In fairness, there are two other candidates for the seat.
Although among the two with any likely prospect of winning, I agree with Metro that the Carrasco woman seems less bad.
Politically inept South Bay Labor will see another massive election defeat in June as their union loyalty before public good candidates lose again
A repeat of 4 years ago when Chevez. Diaz, James, Sinunu and others lost during a election year when Democratic won most races
A neighborhood advocate is what we need!
Great decision!
I have done some research on community outreach and discovered in 2007, a political henchman of the Mayor, Victor Ajlouny was paid over 36,000 dollars for writing reports and doing outreach.
One memo written by a staffer exists. Nothing else.
Lee Price signed three invoices with no backup.
Ajlouny took money to meet with us. He lives in Nebraska and once threatened a planning official (see Metro). Ajlouny also took money for working in Berryessa Schools and has no record of producing community outreach there. Carrasco has done so much more!
Hmmm, a political newcomer named Magdalena Carrasco, the only woman running, a mother of 4 no less. Someone from the neighborhood that knows what’s going on in the community, knows what issues need to be addressed within the community, and is actively involved in her community. Someone who has worked for the county social services agency, a nonprofit org that serviced young children and their families.
All that, and you just had to go there Mr.” Strident Critic”… Oh no, a Community Organizer!!! And lookee there, she even speaks Spanish ‘gasp’ where is her birth certificate?! Who let Glenn Beck out of his Ivory Towers unto the unsuspecting Bay Area public?
Anyway good call Metro. Go Magdalena!
> Hmmm, a political newcomer named S——P——, the only woman running, a mother of 4 no less. Someone from the neighborhood that knows what’s going on in the community, knows what issues need to be addressed within the community, and is actively involved in her community. Someone who has worked for the [local,] county [and state] social services agency, a nonprofit org that serviced young children and their families.
Sounds suspiciously similar to an Alaska women I heard a lot about recently.
All the really, really smart liberals said she was a completely unqualified yokel, and way out of her depth.
Your candidate should probably forget about a political career, stay at home and make sure her daughters have plenty of sex education and abortion services.
Why is it that Mr Campos seems to be evading the obvious question that the public deserves the answer to?
HOW IS IT THAT YOU CAN BE WITH AN ORGANIZATION FOR 20 YEARS, OPERATE AS THE CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER AND DURING THAT TIME SKIMMING FROM EMPLOYEE PENSION HAPPENS (TO UNION TEACHERS NO LESS!) AND THE MACSA BOARD ADMITS THAT THE MONEY IS GONE AND YET YOU SEEM TO BE ABLE TO JUMP SHIP THE MOMENT BEFORE THE SCANDAL BREAKS TO BE TAKEN UNDER THE WING OF SHIRAKAWA AND YOU EXPECT THE PUBLIC TO BELIEVE YOU HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF THE SKIMMING OR WEREN’T INVOLVED?
If you had no knowledge, why didn’t you? You were there 20 years and the COO. How incompetent do you have to be to not notices hundreds of thousands of dollars unaccounted for in an agency that has to meticulously keep records for state and federal funding?
Or is it not incompetence but guilt that you hide? Were you involved in the skimming? In the hiding of the skimming? Who exactly are you protecting Mr Campos?
The public deserves and answer BEFORE we cast our ballots.
Your right, Strident Critic!
Magdalena DOES look like Sarah Palin.
She is either going to have a big problem separating herself from all the slime dished on Sarah, or all the warm fuzziness slathered on Magdalena will have residual benefit for Sarah!
I hesitate to be negative, but here goes. I have a real problem with Nora Campos.
She was educated to be a fashion designer but she got elected by exploiting ties with Cesar Chavez.
And those ties never existed.
She was and is about as far removed from the farmworkers movement as a person can be.
Her so-called ties to the movement are cynical lies.
I don’t know anything about her brother, but if he’s anything like Nora, I hope he doesn’t win.
You know nothing about Nora Campos. She got elected by working for in the District 5 Council office for years serving the community. She said her parents were involved with the farm workers movement in San Jose, and she marched with her parents as a child. And she said she grew up with her parents providing beds to farm workers and organizers.
That’s far from exploitation. That’s the house she grew up in.
And she’s done more for East San Jose than any elected official before her. If you disagree, provide evidence.
Your wording is taken directly from her public relations bio, an artfully worded document.
The extent of her claim for involvement with social justice for the poor boils down to the fact that she may have joined a parade for a few blocks when she was a first grader.
And being so moved by this one “march” and her socially aware parents, (who may have actually joined another march as it passed through the neighborhood) she grew up to major in fashion design.
Do I have evidence that as a small child she didn’t walk a couple blocks along with a lot of other people? No, nobody would have any evidence to disprove such a meaningless statement, and that’s why she dares to claim it.
Having worked for the farmworkers myself, at one point as the full time office manager for San Jose office, I have a pretty good idea what involvement with the farmworkers was all about. I had the keys to the office. I opened and closed it everyday. I worked with the volunteers and the paid staff that earned $5 per week. Campos, trying to associate herself in anyway with the United Farmworkers, turns my stomach.
I haven’t followed District 5 politics for a long time so I can’t honestly say what kind of job she’s done there, but I can tell you her claim to have even the slightest thing to do with the United Farmworkers or to even be inspired by them, is the carefully worded lie of a politician.
Politicians have been known to twist the truth from time to time, but this lie is a big one and to exploit the farmworker legacy with lies for her own political gain is obscene.
Its interesting that you mention legacy because the poster above you claims that Ms Campos-Struthers has the legacy of having accomplished more than any other East Side elected official. Perhaps they don’t consider any of Blanca Alvarado’s accomplishments monumental or legacy-worthy. I know the residents of Poco Way would almost certainly disagree.
Would inclusion in the “legacy” of Campos be the Roberto Cruz library? The Alum Rock firestation? The Alum Rock Youth Center? I received her slick mailer yesterday touting those very achievements as part of her legacy.
Funny how no mention of the complete story is there. What sort of legacy will empty buildings be? Because with the continued and almost militant support for SBLC and her husband’s trade unions Ms Campos-Struthers assures that libraries will be only open 4 days a week. Community centers will be closed several days a week as well. That nifty refurbished fire station? Not so nifty without the personnel to run it.
Thats some legacy. Now she wants us to annoint her brother? Thanks but no thanks.
Magdalena Carrasco is the ONLY viable choice for District 5.
Nora seems like a person who fights for the poor rights to me.
Let’s not forget, 2 years ago she was the ONLY person to vote against giving Tom Mcenery that $6m gift.
http://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/entries/mcenerys_6m_san_pedro_square_gift_includes_car_jewelry_and_toys/
And just last week, I saw her vote down an agenda item that is going to take $406k from the Low income housing fund to bail out business’s with under 35 employee’s that makes over 150k@year. Does the hairstylist working out of their house on White and Gion make 150k@year? I doubt it, so who is it really going to help? (And that’s 150k+ @ year, not $150-250 or $150-500, $150 to infinity)
http://www.sanjoseca.gov/clerk/Agenda/20100511/20100511syn.pdf
Does the hairstylist working out of their home on White and Gion have a business permit to operate in a zoned residential area? Have you ever tried to find a parking spot on those residential streets where council members have turned a wayward eye to the obvious violation of city zoning codes.
Why is it that only some people have to play by the rules?
I don’t reside in District 5, but after reading the Metro endorsement, I went to her website and made a campaign contribution.
Magdalena Carrasco appears to be a polar opposite of Nora Campos.
I really hope Carrasco wins.
Political dirty trick played on San Jose City Council candidate Magdalena Carrasco
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15099804
Magdalena Carrasco is ahead in polls over Campos and 2 others – so wonder who sent illegal malicious dirty tricks mailer – not candidate’s campaigns
Guess who uses dirty tricks and former political operative run http://www.SanJoseRevealed.com web sites to attack political opponents
No matter what you think of SBLC, you are making a serious accusation to say that they were behind the mailing. This was a serious violation of the law. SBLC knows how to do hit piece mail without breaking the rules like that. The piece is low quality and pretends to be paid for by the candidate’s committee. I do not believe for one minute that the SBLC would be behind such an egregious violation.
You will get what you pay for either way. Whomever is elected, the one who sides with Reed to hammer non-uniformed City workers already constantly frozen wages and benefits will see the ramification. Its a rule of commerce and service ignored by many that competent people demand incentives to work at an establishment. For example, you will soon see the drain of an incredibly talented group of City Inspectors once Sick Leave payout reductions are forced on them. You will loose any educated professional with private sector savy to other Cities that are more sophisticated than “across the board” solutions.
What we have now is public workers “civil servants” as it were making six figures. The salaries and perks of city workers are way out of line with the rest of the workforce in San Jose.
You get what you pay for is exactly what the Unions are banking on. Thats why they buy and pay for their candidates regardless of qualification or connection to the community. You’d be hard pressed to find a more disconnected so-called lifelong community resident than Xavier Campos (and I say “so-called” because he can’t even be truthful about having not lived in District 5 his entire life). It doesn’t matter how much you pay for your corvette or your suits or fancy shoes. He spends all his time in city hall rather than in the streets of the East side community he seeks to represent. The suits are nice but reek of the stink of the whole MACSA scandal. What will happen to the kids who depend on the services MACSA provides when it goes belly up because of the lack of leadership and accountability there? He was the Chief Operations Officer not some afterschool program lead. San Jose deserves better.
The best option is Magdalena Carrasco. She comes without the labor baggage or the taint of being so entrenched with the flailing desperate-to-stay-elected camp that Campos is affiliated with.
Political Dirty Tricks happened before Mercury reveals Richard Hobbs and Tony West were targets of similar dirty illegal hit pieces and District Attorney is investigating
DA to investigate malicious campaign flier
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15105644
What is known about 3 political election races, political players and illegal political mailers ?
1) Carrasco, Hobbs and West were in contested races with Campos, Shirakawa, and Diaz
2) Campos works for Shirakawa and is running to replace to Nora Campos his siter in District 5 Council seat Nora Campos Diaz’s Chief of Staff replaced for Manny Diaz previous District 5 Council member
3) Campos, Shirakawa, and Diaz have Labor’s endorsement
4) Key to finding who sent illegal political mailers either
a) they did it before
b) political player or political consultant and years of indepth past Eastside political campaign knowledge
c) political consultant or someone with indepth Eastside campaign knowledge assisted
d) has political or personal motivation to take chance on sending illegal mailers or really dumb
Who sent mailer?
Unlikely but possible
1) Campos, Shirakawa, and Diaz campaigns – very unlikely, politically stupid and illegal
2) Labor – again unlikely, stupid but possible since Labor is angry desperate to win elections and not have more multiple election defeat by voters
3) Chamber – to embarrass labor supported candidate – again very unlikely but possible
3) Carrasco, Hobbs and West campaigns to embarrass labor supported candidates – again unlikely and stupid but if they had knowledge of past mailers – so possible
Most likely – very possible
4) Vietnamese group continuing infighting between 2 Vietnamese group over highly profitable real estate development rights granted by friendly Council members in San Jose’s Districts 5 & 7 – but required past indepth political knowledge – very possible
5) Independent angry labor political operatives as many believe were behind http://www.SanJoseRevealed.com attacks on labor political opponents but had to have knowledge or was given knowledge of past mailers – very possible
4) Carrasco supporters or political operatives of supporters who want Carrasco to win by embarrassing Campos and had prior knowledge or mailed past mailers – very possible
6) Someone not with either campaign but with indepth political knowledge, has a political grudge against 1 or more political players or political consultants Likes setting people against each other to fight as we have seen in past local politics and frequently on political blogs – very possible
Last Wild Guess – Maybe Mercury or one of their supporters, one of largest and vocal political players, just out of bankruptcy sent Mailers to sell more papers and support their political candidate – unlikely
Will we see more illegal mailers in other local races ?
Is this San Jose Inside or not?
Someone should know who political players or angry person, political groups or consultants that would risk sending illegal mailers
Who are possible names, political consultants, political groups or information to help DA ?
San Jose’s Political Telenovela is better than any soap opera or Telemondo, Univision, or Telefutura Telenovela except local political players are not as good looking
Here is some Telenova Dance Music for District 5 race – Do you only Wanna dance ? – Enjoy
http://mp3bear.com/dirty-dancing-2-havana-nights-soundtrack-mya-do-you-only-wanna-dance
4) Carrasco supporters or political operatives of supporters who want Carrasco to win by embarrassing Campos and had prior knowledge or mailed past mailers – very possible
Yeah like Campos needs any help embarrassing himself. MACSA scandal alone is an albatross around his neck.
My thought is that the dirty hit pieces serve to strengthen Carrasco’s position. The mindless and cowardly losers committing these acts have unwittingly made her the underdog in terms of voter emotions.