Dear Ann Ravel,
I read the San Jose Inside article last week about the money you’ve taken from the anti- Persky Recall campaign and I was shocked.
You spent the entire Senate District 15 primary campaign attacking my fundraising, and it turns out that you’ve taken thousands from folks who opposed the recall.
I was even more shocked to hear that you would keep that money and not, instead, donate it to help victims of sexual assault.
It has become clear that you are not who you’ve claimed to be. You claim to stand for women’s rights and the women of our county, yet you chose not to disavow some of your supporters who’ve argued that Chanel Miller, a woman of color was “not attacked,” by Brock Turner. This is unacceptable and flies in the face of every woman in our county.
This, unfortunately, seems to be a trend.
During the primary campaign you attacked me for supposedly taking “dark money” and PAC contributions, all the while claiming that you’ve taken a pledge not to do so.
Seeing the news about the anti-recall money caused me to look at your filings. You’ve taken tens of thousands of dollars in PAC money. What happened to your pledge?
And now you are the beneficiary of a massive independent expenditure funded by Uber and Lyft? Seriously? They are grotesquely trying to buy this election and you’ve said nothing. I thought you were about transparency and clean money in politics?
Senate District 15 leaders deserve to know where you truly stand. We need principled leadership, not mere lip service. You’ve repeatedly said one thing but done another.
You apologized about your roll in the anti-recall effort, but then took their money to fund your senate campaign. You claimed to take a pledge against PAC money, but you’ve taken tens of thousands and counting.
You purport to be about rooting out super PACS and dark money in politics, but you are the active beneficiary of huge dark money PAC funded by tech billionaires.
Please, Ann—reconsider your stance on the anti-recall money. Make good on your anti-PAC pledge, and repudiate the massive billionaire PAC funding your campaign.
Or, admit that you are all about politics as usual. You cannot have it both ways.
Sincerely,
NORA CAMPOS
Former Assemblywoman, 27th District
San Jose, CA
If I was Ann:
I’d snarkily answer “I take the 5th” then have my husband go scream at Nora’s husband while in line at Starbucks.
> If I was Ann:
> I’d snarkily answer “I take the 5th” then have my husband go scream at Nora’s husband while in line at Starbucks.
One of the problems of been a tiny little inconsequential pissant, such as I am, is that you always miss out on all the juicy insider personal grudges, viciousness, and eye-gouging.
Would a public spirited observer care to fill us in on the backstory or back stories as the case may be?
Please don’t leave anything out, and extra embellishment and drama would entitle the correspondent to additional popular gratitude.
Dish, please.
Ann Ravel went after Lisa Gillmor but refused to disclose who her client was.
“You claim to stand for women’s rights and the women of our county, yet you chose not to disavow some of your supporters who’ve argued that Chanel Miller, a woman of color was “not attacked,” by Brock Turner.” — Nora Campos
When I came across this line it gave me pause, during which I foolishly thought I could correctly guess, out of the large herd of local candidates, the identity of the stupid woman responsible. And though a stupid line it certainly is, there is within it a symmetry that is commendable for the way it weaves together so many different threads of estrogen-laden idiocy. To wit:
— No one person or group can “stand” for the rights, opinions, or interests of “the women of our county,” and any claims to do so insults the hundreds of thousands of independent-thinking women who have a different take on the issue at hand. This truism is well-known and respected by intelligent people, ignored by those too dumb to get it, and relied upon by those leaders who owe their success to the ignorance of their followers.
— Candidates for office rely on support from financial contributors, volunteers, and voters; candidates who allow outsiders, especially those with their own agendas, to prune their list of supporters lack the autonomy required to govern responsibly.
— Playing “Mean Girls” is best left to high schoolers. Attempting to blackmail a candidate into renouncing supporters due to the unrelated, legitimate actions (or opinions) of those supporters is no more sophisticated or fair-minded than a clique of young bitches threatening to banish a classmate unless she abandons her unpopular friends.
— “Chanel Miller, a woman of color.” That’s not what she was on the night of her encounter with young Mr. Turner, and her color had nothing to do with the case. If memory serves me, a more apt description of Ms. Miller would include the words drunk, disgrace, and self-destructive. Had “woman of color” accurately described her that night she would have been able to remember meeting Mr. Turner, accompanying him outside into the darkness, and what it was that actually happened to her. Due to her irresponsible behavior the only evidence that an attack might have occurred was, as they say, in the eye of the beholder (who stumbled upon the pair).
Is this a great country or what, Nora? Is there anywhere else on the planet where ten-cent brains have taken so many so far in politics?
Ha. This is rich. Nora Campos is easily the most corrupt, hated politician to come out of San Jose politics. And that’s saying a lot. She’s the reason George Shirakawa went to jail. She’s promised in two campaigns to do Big Oil’s biddings to get them to spend money for her. She’s just angry that Ann beat her in the Primary – she feels like that spot should have been her. Wrap it up, Nora, your time is done.
Nora, querida, NO LE PIDAS PERAS AL OLMO! Also, Ravel is who she says she is: A career politician. En la guerra y el amor, todo se vale chulis!
For the people who want the “dish.”
https://www.sanjoseinside.com/the-fly/sources-assemblywoman-nora-campos-spouse-brawls-hurls-slurs-at-fairmont-hotel-event/
Jeez….is this high school musical or what? How embarrassing is this article? Ms. Campos, learn how to write persuasive arguments without sounding like a jilted ex-girlfriend or something. Distasteful to say the least.
Ann Ravel is getting my vote. It’s a vote for maturity.
Terry J, Yup – and believe Campos, aka Mrs. Neil Struthers, also holds the record for abusing staff and a gold star for worst attendance.
Awarding her brother Xavier’s company, “Business of the Year” – after his raiding a nonprofit’s pension fund, sending illegal mailers, and taking the 5th, her fierce defense of husband Neil’s use of racist and homophobic slurs, his stalking opponents at Starbucks, …the list of goes on and on.
A condemnation of Ann Ravel by Nora Campos is a compelling justification to vote for Ravel.
Thank you Nora Campos for pointing out what should be obvious. Ann Ravel talks out of both sides of her mouth. Doesn’t matter what you think about Nora Campos’ politics or reasons for bringing this to light…it’s the truth. Ann Ravel is a dark money politician as much as Nora is. Lyft and Uber are pathetically coming to her rescue only because they are “buying” her she will owe them a lot if she is able to win the votes or should I say buy the votes.
These pre COVID politicians like Campos, Cortese, Beall and sidekick Low really don’t get it. Nora, tells us some more about how Beall tried to get you fired from your job, and his “union goons” tried to intimidate your family. You told the Metro, can you finish the story? Or what Cortese meant when he said “there would be a price to pay” when the Mercury News endorsed another candidate? Nora, I’ve been trying to get ahold of you. Looked at your whole record and it wasn’t bad. You did alot of good.
Why are you still travelling on the wrong train? We need you. Call me.
> Ann Ravel is a dark money politician as much as Nora is.
How is it that “democracy” gives us two such awful choices?
The “top two primary” system just stinks of manipulation and corruption.
It benefits someone, just not the voters.
I saw that endorsement from Uber et al. I guess she didn’t realize that Prop 22 I will require a 7/8th majority to change anything having to do with them. Why would you take money from companies who will kneecap you with any legislation regarding them.
Those of us who live and work in Los Gatos know Ann Ravel for the outright fraud and corrupt career politician she is. She wrote the book on Santa Clara corruption as county counsel. She not only took money in the Persky recall and 2018 election, she knew that election was rigged when these emails were produced in a public records response none months after the election: https://beta.documentcloud.org/documents/20392725-2019-12-25-dauberemails-compilation-wm.
Ann Ravel was sent the Dauber emails obtained in 2019 and did nothing but announce her candidacy and endorsement of Rosen who literally used public funds to assure Dauber had everything she needed to get Persky recalled and Judge Cindy Hendrickson on the bench. Hendrickson is already pouring attorney fee awards in domestics violence cases with her little scam involving McManis Faulkner and Hoover Krepelka law firms.
Don’t let Cindy Chavez off the hook either, she is front and center in all of it backing Rosen so she doesn’t find herself indicated for all the corruption arising from that big fancy new family courthouse she was in a hurry to build on the backs of local families.
> Ann Ravel was sent the Dauber emails obtained in 2019 and did nothing but announce her candidacy and endorsement of Rosen who literally used public funds to assure Dauber had everything she needed to get Persky recalled and Judge Cindy Hendrickson on the bench.
Sounds very icky.
But, I’m kind of a bumpkin regarding local judicial and criminal justice (or injustice) matters.
Could you try to explain for the benefit of us laymen what is going on that citizens should be alarmed about and deplore. Laywomen might also be interested in knowing, too.
This explains some of it pretty well if you are interested @SJOUTSIDETHEBUBBLE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPPX_rL3ujU
As DA Jeff Rosen blocked my records requests , and prosecuted me for recording police in a public courthouse, he secretly supported Dauber while claiming to oppose the recall. This is one way fake news is created and the public is duped. If you want to read the emails they are partially in the former post.
Ann Ravel and James McManis both got the emails, then said they didn’t care and went off to some holiday parties with the presiding judge ( Debra Ryan ) and Jeff Rosen’s endorsement for Ann Ravel. I take no political position, but an under informed public leads to ignorance in voting and the elevation of individuals to public office where corruption flourishes without a free press mindful of its role in a democracy. – Thank you for always staying informed and exercising your right to participate in your local government- it is far more important than the national elections.
Outside my role with the local press, my personal opinion of Ann Ravel is that she would be very dangerous in public office. This opinion is based on a two hour interview with her and numerous accounts from individuals who lived near her, participated in community and religious events with her and who knew her as a mother of Los Gatos students who participated in Los Gatos Rowing Club. I also understand her husband is an adoption attorney. Mr. Rosen’s wife is a judge who does adoptions in the county where courtrooms are closed to the public. I understand Ms. Ravel’s cousin in law is Adam Schiff who was the prosecutor during the Trump impeachment hearings. There are clearly party issues and alliances that we can’t see from regular disclosures. It is the job of a free and independent press to make sure you are informed of those relationships so you are educated when you vote.