October 12, 2006

Mayoral candidates hold press conferences regarding
gambling, environment and endorsements

By Carol Rosen
Times Staff Writer

It must be a good week for press conferences. Both mayoral candidates held them about an hour apart on Monday, Oct. 9 and later in the week Chavez held another press conference to announce support from Norm Mineta, former congressman and U.S. transportation secretary. Chuck Reed’s press conference dealt with gambling contributions while Cindy Chavez announced her environmental plans on Oct. 9.

Mayor candidate Cindy Chavez unveils her environmental plans at a press conference surrounding by supporters including, first row from left, Chavez, Sen. Barbara Boxer, U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, City Councilmember Nora Campos and U.S. Rep. Mike Honda. Behind them, from left, are Palo Alto Councilmember Peter Drekmeier, State Rep. Sally Leiber, Ted Smith of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition and County Assessor Larry Stone. Not pictured are State Rep. Ira Ruskin, City Councilmember Ken Yeager and Mary Davey of the Committee for Green Foothillls.

Former Mayor Tom Mc-Enery and former Council-man and mayoral primary candidate David Pandori joined Reed at his conference in front of City Hall. Using reports released over the weekend, Reed said that gambling interests contributed up to $55,000 to the Santa Clara County Democratic Central Com-mittee United Democratic Campaign.

In addition, Reed noted that the same United Democratic Committee “ap-pears to be coordinating campaign mailings with the Chavez campaign. They report having spent $128,000 on the Chavez race.”

The party has broken no laws, said Steve Preminger, the chair of the Santa Clara County Democratic Party. The organization wants only to communicate with Democrats, but sometimes things can change. “The law allows the party five percent overage in mailings in case voter lists are not up to date. [For example, sometimes] someone has changed their party and it’s not been recorded and a piece of mail is sent to them.”

Reed has never been offered any money from the committee, said Reed press contact Victor Ajlouny. Reed told reporters that he has rejected gambling interest attempts to “gain his support to find a casino location in his district and believes there is no place in San Jose or Santa Clara County for casinos…I will oppose and will continue to oppose any casinos in San Jose or in the surrounding areas if I am elected mayor,” Reed said.

Preminger said the committee had received two contributions from Native American tribes. Although there is no communication allowed between the committee and Indian gaming interests, Preminger said he thought the contributions were expected to benefit the top of the ticket; the governor’s race. Last year, Gov. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, signed a proclamation that no urban area can have gambling.

However, to ensure that there is no impropriety alleged because of the contributions, Preminger said he authorized the $55,000 to be sent out of Santa Clara County so that it would not be used for local candidates.

Environment
Meanwhile, just about an hour later, Chavez unveiled her environmental agenda. She was joined by a number of supporters including California Sen. Barbara Boxer, Congressional Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Mike Honda, State Rep. Ira Ruskin, City Councilmembers Nora Campos and Ken Yeager, Board of Directors of the Santa Clara County League of Conservation Voters Chair Rod Diridon Sr., Santa Clara Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Helen Chapman, Senior Strategist with Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition Ted Smith and Palo Alto City Councilman Peter Drekmeier.

“When it comes to the environment, I am prepared to translate hopes into reality—to move the city toward more sustainable policies in four areas: mayoral leadership, livable urban spaces, slow, smart growth and green innovation,” said Chavez. “By creating more parks and establishing “green” growth policies, we will ensure a healthy, sustainable future for San Jose.”

A two-page handout lists the criteria she hopes to put before the City Council if she is elected. Among these commitments are:

- A council committee focusing on sustainability, attracting green technology businesses, harnessing the clean economy and tracking the city’s progress to implement the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement

- Expanding and exceeding the Cool Cities campaign goals with a target of converting 35 percent of total city government energy usage to energy derived from renewable sources by 2014

- Fast tracking permits for green buildings

- Hosting an environmental summit

- Town hall meetings to promote and educate residents about energy-efficient living

- Making city departments accountable for integrating environmental conservation for buildings, procurement, contracting, operations and maintenance in the city

- Continue refining the city’s procurement policies and promote purchasing and recycling

- Convert the city’s vehicle fleet to clean fuel vehicles

- Require 50 percent of all new non-emergency vehicles run on clean energy fuels

- Aggressively implement and expand the Green Building Program requiring new buildings to meet minimum LEED guidelines

- Encouraging sustainable design and exploring various methods of finance for green projects.

Her other proposals include preserving 1,000 acres of open space for parkland, planting 18,000 new trees throughout her first term, promoting infill development and creating incentives to attract green energy and clean tech businesses. She also advocates partnerships with private sector, venture capitalists and foundations to establish a “San Jose Green and Clean Endowment” that would fund an annual award for the best green technology in Silicon Valley.

In addition to Mineta, former San Jose mayors Robert Doerr, Janet Gray Hayes and Susan Hammer joined Chavez at the Wednesday, Oct. 11 press conference.