The competition for Santa Clara County’s District 1 seat is a crowded one, and the end result of the June 7 major election may tip the ideological scales of the Board of Supervisors for years to return.
Within the fray is former San Jose councilmember Johnny Khamis, who hopes to proceed South County’s decades-long legacy of sending conservative voices to the board. The seat is presently held by Mike Wasserman, who will time period out this yr.
Two progressive candidates are decided to interrupt District 1’s conservative stronghold: Santa Clara County Board of Training member Claudia Rossi and Morgan Hill Mayor Wealthy Constantine. Different candidates embrace labor-backed San Jose Councilmember Sylvia Arenas and case supervisor Denelle Fedor.
If Rossi or Constantine are elected, progressive supervisors Cindy Chavez and Susan Ellenberg would get a dependable ally for future board majority votes. Supervisor Otto Lee is taken into account a swing vote, as is Supervisor Joe Simitian, who has typically sided with Wasserman.
In terms of fundraising, Khamis holds a sizeable lead.
Since 2020, he has raised near $250,000 in marketing campaign contributions from a mixture of building and actual property pursuits. They embrace a $1,000 donation from Inexperienced Bay Building Co. in San Jose and $1,000 from San Jose’s Republic City Properties President Michael Van Each. Khamis’ present endorsements embrace San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and Gilroy Mayor Marie Blankley.
Khamis says he needs to overtake the county’s method to homelessness and is pushing for “fiscal duty.” In an interview, he mentioned the county has targeted an excessive amount of on a housing-first technique and desires to speculate extra sources into therapy of mentally sick and drug-addicted people.
“The people who find themselves homeless want much more than housing,” Khamis mentioned.
Khamis was virtually disqualified from the race as a result of a redistricting battle the previous yr moved his Almaden Valley residence from District 1 into District 5. That pressured him to maneuver to a house within the southern portion of San Jose’s redrawn District 1.
Khamis ran for state Senate District 15 in March 2020 however misplaced after ending fifth. On the finish of 2020, Khamis termed out from the San Jose Metropolis Council.
Although far behind, Rossi has raised the second highest quantity of marketing campaign funds — greater than $75,000 final yr and a further $3,000 this yr — principally from labor and schooling leaders. That features $1,000 from Allan Kamara, president of the county hospital system’s nursing union, and $1,000 from Wesley Smith, govt director of the Affiliation of California Faculty Directors.
Along with serving on the county’s Board of Training, Rossi is a registered nurse who has labored at quite a lot of clinics for underserved communities. She has secured Ellenberg’s endorsement and that of the county’s Democratic Occasion.
In distinction to Khamis, Rossi mentioned the county’s homelessness situation is pushed by a scarcity of reasonably priced housing and monetary insecurity.
“I don’t need for a minute to say that there aren’t psychological well being points that have to be addressed,” she mentioned. “However I do know from a long time of expertise (that) it begins with being one paycheck away from being homeless.”
Rossi says she additionally needs to see extra money spent on preventative look after circumstances reminiscent of diabetes and hypertension, believing that might trim healthcare spending, which presently accounts for roughly half of the county’s $9 billion finances.
She and different schooling leaders early final yr strongly opposed San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s efforts to persuade college districts and their academics to reopen in-person lecture rooms. In an an op-ed column within the Mercury Information, they accused Liccardo of politicizing the problem. In 2020, Rossi forged a dissenting vote within the Board of Training’s 5-2 determination to maintain a high-performing constitution college open, She contended it didn’t adequately serve college students with disabilities.
Third in fundraising is Constantine, who collected near $60,000 final yr and $4,000 this yr, principally from enterprise and nonprofit leaders, together with $1,000 from Carl Guardino, former CEO of the influential Silicon Valley Management Group, and $500 from San Francisco-Marin Meals Financial institution Director Katherine Khera.
In an interview, Constantine mentioned he additionally views psychological well being and drug abuse as predominant causes of homelessness, however suggests tackling the problem by elevating the minimal wage and making certain higher entry to medical health insurance.
The state’s extreme drought additionally is a vital situation, Constantine says. The Morgan Hill mayor says his metropolis has been a pacesetter in water conservation whereas close by cities have fallen brief. He mentioned a extra unified response to the drought is important.
“Others aren’t pulling their weight,” Constantine mentioned. “They’re simply doing what they’re allowed to do. We have to have a coordinated effort.”
Earlier than changing into mayor, Constantine served on the Morgan Hill Metropolis Council for eight years. He beforehand labored as a firefighter for the San Jose Fireplace Division.
Constantine has been endorsed by Chavez and South Bay Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
Two latecomers to the race are Arenas and Fedor.
Arenas has reported elevating about $19,000 up to now this yr. The District 8 San Jose council member mentioned in an interview she would push for the restoration of small companies harm by the pandemic and discover higher public transit choices for South County. She says her grasp’s diploma in public administration makes her uniquely certified for the job.
“We've got within the race somebody who's a nurse, a former firefighter (and) a businessman,” Arenas mentioned. “Whereas I believe there’s worth in each a kind of professions, I’ve needed to speculate my schooling in public administration. I made a decision this could be my career, serving my group.”
Fedor has served as a staffer for 4 San Jose council members over time, together with for now-political foe Khamis, in addition to Ken Yaeger, Pierluigi Oliverio and Pat Dando. Whereas she hasn’t been elected to public workplace earlier than, Fedor mentioned she brings a “recent perspective”.
“It’s the workers that does the work,” mentioned Fedor, who presently works as a case supervisor for San Jose-based reasonably priced housing nonprofit LifeSTEPS. “I definitely have the expertise to handle workers as a result of I’ve accomplished that already. And to know the inside workings of making coverage.”
Fedor, whose marketing campaign hasn’t reported any contributions up to now, mentioned she want to see extra transparency on the fuel pump. One in every of her concepts is to place an itemized checklist of taxes and charges on clients’ fuel station receipts.
Former San Jose State College political science professor Terry Christensen mentioned he views the District 1 race as “up for grabs,” with Khamis and Rossi as the 2 frontrunners.
Whereas Khamis has been in a position to pull in significantly extra money than the opposite candidates, Christensen mentioned his transfer away from Almaden Valley due to redistricting value him his most loyal voter base. He mentioned Rossi in the meantime has an edge over Constantine as a result of she managed to snag the coveted labor and Democratic Occasion endorsements.
District 1 consists of huge swaths of land that stretch from the San Antonio Valley within the northeast by way of Coyote Valley all the best way south to Gilroy.
Throughout this previous yr’s redistricting battles, District 1 misplaced Los Gatos and San Jose’s Lexington Hills neighborhood however gained town’s Evergreen neighborhood. The district has been overseen by Wasserman, a Los Gatos resident, since 2010. Earlier than Wasserman, Gilroy resident and conservative Don Gage was supervisor since 1997.