October 21, 2004

Almaden Times Weekly endorsements

Elect Rich De La Rosa to San Jose City Council District 10

The electorate must change the balance on the San Jose City Council this Nov. 2. Right now, losing Vice Mayor Pat Dando to term limits is looking particularly gloomy. In District 10, which includes our readers in Almaden, Santa Teresa and Blossom Valleys, the only way to partly equalize the council’s pro-labor majority is by voting for businessman Rich De La Rosa and making the city a more business-friendly place.

De La Rosa has shown he has fire in his belly, especially to correct injustices. When eminent domain threatened the East Side Tropicana Shopping Center where his family has operated De La Rosa Latin American Imports since 1939, De La Rosa showed courage by representing several storeowners who successfully fought the city’s plan to acquire the property to overhaul it.

He also owns and operates other small businesses and has strong relationships with the business community. We think that’s good, as we believe small businesses are the backbone of the economy.

De La Rosa has also shown that he can be a peacemaker. We admire the way he brought the beleaguered Hispanic Chamber of Commerce together last year by spending precious volunteer hours trying to unite the Latino business community. This is a man who cares enough about issues to sacrifice his own time to make things better for the good of the community. That’s the kind of leadership San Jose needs in January and that’s the kind of leadership De La Rosa will bring to a heavily influenced council.

The race between the two candidates, San Jose-Evergreen Community College Trustee Nancy Pyle, 65, and De La Rosa, 51 has taken an interesting turn the past few weeks. Both candidates have gone out of their way to tell voters they will not allow their political consultants to lobby them. We think this is admirable on both parts.

Years ago, incumbents and those who opposed them gave little thought to the improper and often unethical influence of registered lobbyists. And although we haven’t liked the negative campaigning that’s occurred between the candidates as Election Day draws closer, we believe both are genuinely fighting hard for District 10.

Unfortunately for voters political decorum often deteriorates as Election Day approaches.

We admire Pyle for her teaching career, her service as an administrator for the college district, her contributions to the Almaden Valley Community Association and for having done her homework and revamping her campaign, but we don’t think she has a complete understanding of the issues affecting the district.

We also didn’t think it looked appropriate for Pyle to send an invitational letter to a political fundraiser Sept. 22 in which important development issues facing the city were mentioned. The invitation gave the impression invitees—developers, builders and business owners—could somehow discuss these issues with seven of 10 council members who hosted the junket. We thought this further gave the appearance that a “pay to play” culture exists in the city, particularly with its elected officials.

We also get nervous whenever seven of 10 council members band together for whatever reason. It’s more than a quorum and it’s against the law for them to discuss matters pertaining to the city behind closed doors. Despite assurances that these issues were not discussed during the fundraiser, we were still left concerned about this attitude at City Hall. We have no tangible assurances that, if Pyle is elected, this will stop. We feel confident De La Rosa will not participate or be invited to these parties, and we think that’s great. We need an independent voice at City Hall who’s not afraid to buck the trend.

Pyle, described as a registered Democrat with an independent mind, has an impressive list of endorsements that includes many respected political figures, including eight of 10 council members. But De La Rosa, a Republican, has Dando’s support. And we think this is a must to win this election. Dando has proven an effective leader and a smart woman who has served her community diligently for a decade speaking boldly about domestic violence and other women’s issues. She will be a tough act to follow but we have faith in De La Rosa and his desire to serve the city with honesty, integrity and a desire to improve the lives of the city’s nearly one million citizens.

We also believe he’s the candidate who best represents two of our most important ideals at Times Community Newspapers: transparent government and cultural diversity. He’s a strong supporter of the Brown Act, which will translate to more openness at City Hall and he’s also an ethnic minority. De La Rosa will work hard to represent our city’s diverse population. On Nov. 2, vote for Rich De La Rosa.