November 2, 2006

OPINION

Chuck Reed is the best choice for the next four years

The city of San Jose has been through the ringer with the current administration. Norcal, the Grand Prix, the Cisco/City Hall scandal, a mayor under indictment, all of which has taken a toll on governance of the city. We believe that it is time to take a different approach to governing the city and that is why we are endorsing Chuck Reed for mayor.

Reed is somewhat stoic and conservative in his approach to development and fiscal issues, and we believe that the city would benefit from his leadership at this time. Bringing Reed’s brand of conservatism to the city’s budget will prove more beneficial to the citizens than what we’ve had from the current administration.

Photo by Jeff Frazee

Achieving the goal of transparency is a primary focus for Reed. This will be a huge turnaround from the current insider politics, which is rampant at City Hall. In his Reed Reforms he lists specific actions to shine a light on everything from closed-door meetings to city employee disciplinary actions to emails regarding city business.

Cindy Chavez is an intelligent, charismatic, hard-working woman who has often been linked to the indicted mayor, Ron Gonzales. So, although theoretically her charm and intellect would lend her to be an excellent leader of the tenth largest city in America, there is legitimate concern about her connections to Gonzales, as well as her allegiance to labor unions which some worry might influence decision-making during her tenure. This is not what San Jose needs right now.

On the other hand, Reed could learn a lesson or two from Chavez in regard to building a consensus among his fellow council members. While in the past he has too often taken a lone and sometimes negative approach to his fellow council members, it is essential that he listen and create a positive atmosphere and allow all of the council members to maximize their talents. We do appreciate that Reed has said he wants to encourage all of the council members to focus on the city as a whole rather than continue the current mini-mayor system, which has been detrimental to certain districts and to the “health” of the city in general.

We like that Reed has specific ideas to fight crime. One of his objectives is to increase police officers throughout the city and to work collaboratively with the county to fight the spread of gang-related problems. Reed also plans to appoint former mayoral candidate David Pandori as co-chair of the mayor’s gang task force because of his experience with gangs while working as a deputy district attorney.

While both candidates have good ideas for the future, Reed appears to be able to prioritize the city’s goals by using a more methodical approach. A little bit of Midwestern conservatism will go a long way toward making thoughtful decisions regarding major development issues in Coyote Valley and Evergreen. These decisions will affect future generations for many years to come and a common sense approach to issues like traffic, and the ratio of jobs vs. homes, is essential where these developments are concerned.

Although Reed has been roundly criticized for filing expenditure reimbursements for donations to religious groups and political organizations, we were pleased that he admitted his mistake, apologized to the people of San Jose and returned the money. Since then, it has become clear that he did nothing illegal and that the system for council member reimbursements is cloudy at best. And while that doesn’t excuse his actions, we were pleased to hear him say that he should have held himself to a higher standard, instead of denying his actions publicly.

The decision to endorse the stoic Reed over the charming Chavez is based on our belief that at a time when public faith in local government is at an all-time low, Reed will bring honesty and integrity back to the mayor’s office.