Kansen Chu had a productive holiday season, mainly, the council member says, because he didn’t take a vacation. Fundraising for the District 4 City Council race later this year, Chu says he raised $45,000 for his campaign in the final two weeks of the year.
As of right now, Chu’s only opponent in the race is Tam Truong, a San Jose police officer who is aligning himself with Mayor Chuck Reed on pension reform. Where Truong stands on other issues is hard to say. Most elected officials, such as Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen, are just becoming acquainted with Truong because he is new to the race. Chu says he doesn’t know a thing about his opponent.
“Not at all,” the councilmember said in a phone interview. “I poked around even in the Vietnamesse community—not a lot of people have heard about him. I definitely welcome any challengers. This is the democratic system, so I just need to be well prepared and not take any challengers lightly.”
When does Kansen Chu have to disclose his campaign contributors ?
It will be interesting if the same insiders, lobbyists, sports team owners, and developers have given Chu money for access when they want rezonings, city taxes or favorable city treatment
Seems a decent guy who listens to people in his district and on city wide issues
“Most elected officials, such as Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen, are just becoming acquainted with Truong”
Not so, Madison Nguyen and Tam Truong’s wife are friends. She is well aware of Tam and encouraging him to run despite denials to the contrary. Tam has an uphill battle ahead of him as his fellow police officers will no doubt turn on him with gusto given his alliance with the mayor, and rightly so. I predict the POA will support Chu and jettison Truong as soon as he starts campaigning.
Pete C. Will tell them like the last time what to do. Besides I’m sure someone is trying to line up a job with the city. (SPY)
If Truong gets elected, he leaves the PD and does not even get a retirement. He cannot be a POA member and he hasn’t been with the PD long enough to do much with his contribution. Clearly Truong thinks, like all politicians, that he can parlay a city council job into something else long term. Most cops plan on a 25-30 year career. Obviously Truong’s loyalty isn’t to the POA, but to himself. As for Constant, other than Reed he is the most hated man working for the city by the POA. You can bet that Constant will cozy up to Truong but the POA will avoid them both.
Kansen has been a disappointment. But, how about giving consideration to another District 4 Candidate – Rafael Sabic? The guy has given alot of time to Berryessa – and really cares about the community.