November 9, 2006

It’s Reed

San Jose chooses new mayor

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

Despite all the hoopla, allegations, mudslinging and speeches, it all came down to one thing Tuesday night—votes. When the votes were counted, it was Chuck Reed who won the race by about 32,000 votes and nearly 20 percentage points.

Above: Pat Dando, Dennis Fong, Chuck Reed, Jose Mendoza and Ann Fong celebrate Reed’s victory. Fong is co-owner of the Tropicana Shopping Center and Mendoza owns San Jose Men’s Wear at the Tropicana. While on the council, Dando and Reed were the only members not to vote to take over the shopping center by eminent domain. Photo by Julie Davis Berry

Cindy Chavez conceded the race to her campaign workers around midnight, when it was obvious the lead that Reed had built during the absentee ballots was too strong to conquer. She told them that she had already congratulated Reed and planned to do everything possible to help him. The two are scheduled to meet later this week to discuss things.

It was a hard-fought race on both sides, but the theme of Election Day 2006 throughout the country appeared to be change.

Chavez appeared unable to detach herself completely from the Gonzales administration and its problems with the Norcal garbage scandal, the Grand Prix and the indictment of Ron Gonzales on bribery and conspiracy charges.

“We went up against the machine and we won,” Reed told supporters in his acceptance speech. “We were outspent two to one and we won! I want to thank the people of San Jose for focusing on issues. I want to thank the Vietnamese community especially for being some of my most enthusiastic supporters,” he said.

Starting early
Reed started his mayor-elect duties Wednesday morning with a meeting with City Manager Les White to discuss “a long list of things we need to get done,” he said.

His next job is to put together a transition team, which former Mayor Tom McHenry has agreed to work on since he has “been there, done that and already has the T-shirt,” Reed said.

The mayor-elect added, “It’s going to be great. We have a lot to do, but we can only move the pile one shovel at a time.”

Major Kim Campbell and her husband Scott Campbell are quite happy with her father’s win. Photo by Diego Abeloos

Reed was also relaxing. He had breakfast with his entire family, “something that doesn’t happen too often around here,” and was hoping to go for a bike ride in the afternoon. His daughter, Air Force Major Kim Campbell, who is based at Nellis Air Base in Nevada, is spending the week with the family.

Candidate support
Besides Reed and his family, campaign workers and various supporters attended the campaign bash to share the glory. Among them were three of the five mayoral primary candidates, two of which, David Pandori and Michael Mulcahy, threw their support to Reed after the primary.

District 8 Councilman Dave Cortese, who also was on the June ballot for mayor but did not support either candidate, said of Reed that “he’s a candidate that speaks to parents with kids in school and [to] retirees. It is obvious that the whole anti-corrupt message is the number-one issue with voters. He stayed on point, which was
important.”

There have been some rumors that Reed might choose Cortese as vice mayor. When asked if he would like to be vice mayor, Cortese said, “I’m looking forward to working with Chuck as mayor. If an opportunity came up to gain additional leadership on the council I would welcome that, but it is up to a vote from the entire council.

Pandori also expressed his pleasure. “I’m happy for Chuck. He’s a stand-up guy. It’s great to not only see a good person triumph, but that it doesn’t depend on glamour or muckety mucks.

Cindy Chavez takes the podium early in the evening to thank her campaign workers and supporters. Surrounding her on stage are a number of dignitaries, former and current office holders and her family. Among them are: former mayors Janet Gray Hayes and Susan Hammer, City council members Judy Chirco, Madison Nguyen and Forrest Williams, Assemblyman Joe Simitian, Parks Commissioner Helen Chapman as well as Rod Diridon Sr., Jaime McLeod, Wally Sandoval and Amy Dean as well as her husband Mike Potter. Photo by Carol Rosen

Pat Dando, former vice mayor and current president and CEO of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce also was pleased by the Reed victory. “This is pretty exciting,” she said. “I think Chuck will make a great mayor. He’s a decent person.”

Crowded event
Meanwhile the Chavez event read like a Who’s Who of city Democrats. Besides a large number of city council members, including Forrest Williams, Madison Nguyen, Nora Campos, Judy Chirco and Ken Yeager, former San Jose mayors Janet Gray Hayes and Susan Hammer and former councilwoman Charlotte Powers attended as well as Congressman Mike Honda, Assemblyman Joe Simitian and various other civil servants, including Wally Sandoval, Amy Dean, Jamie McLeod, Rod Diridon Sr. and Helen Chapman.

In spite of early returns indicating a large gap in Reed’s favor, the mood at the party was upbeat and most people expected the margin to narrow as the votes came in. “It’s too close to call right now,” said Chirco at one point. “We’re facing the early absentee ballots—it should narrow as today’s ballots come in.”

Cindy Chavez took time out for a photo with fellow council members Nora Campos and Ken Yeager.

Williams added that he too thought the race would be close. He had spent the day getting out the vote and walking the precincts for Chavez. “We can’t stop and not take risks,” he said about his choice for mayor. “Everyday people have to live in this valley too.”

As the clock neared midnight and Chavez’ votes still lagged, she said, “I can wait it out all night. What pleases me is that we are far behind and the room is still packed with smiling people.”

Future plans?
The vice mayor isn’t planning to take much time off either. After a few days, she plans to get all her projects in order, make sure the transition with newly elected District 3 council member Sam Licardo goes smoothly and finish out her term.

As for the future, “I know there are many, many ways to serve the city of San Jose, and I plan to find them,” she told the Times.