I'm in
posted by Jacquie at 2:52 PM
Ok, so no one has a clue who San Jose Revealed is, I sure as hell don't, though I have my guesses. On this blog you will know at least one person by name, me. You may not agree with me, but you will know me. Oh, I guess I should sort of explain who I am.
My name is Jacquie Heffner, and I have lived in San Jose for over 20 years, before that I lived for three years in Monterey, and before that I lived in San Francisco, where I was born. I work part time, and have done a bit of political consulting, currently I also serve on the Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee.
Why am I involved with politics? Because I believe that through politics we can work together for the greater good. We are very lucky in our area to have, for the most part, great elected officials, people who really care about serving the public, people who try to do the right thing, sometimes fail, but at least seek to serve something greater then themselves.
Through politics we can help those who need our help, we can further policies that help us all achieve our American dream, we can work together to improve our schools, medical insurance, better mass transit, better housing, fair wages, we can create and maintain programs that will serve our youth and keep them off the streets, there is no end to what can be done through political means to make our society a better place for all citizens.
We also have in our area a very disorganized and ineffective Republican Party, which, for the most part, has made my job as a Democrat that much easier. The local GOP is, in a word, meaningless. Now that is not a bad thing if you are a Democrat, because one can count on the local GOP to get behind and support some of the worse candidates on record. Two recent ones come to mind: Hon Lien and Ram Singh.
Both of these folks were endorsed and actively supported by the GOP, and both were unqualified, had no experience and little or no community involvement. Who can forget the YouTube videos of Hon Lien's performances at the D4 debates? And while there is no video online, I can assure you that Ram Singh was no better in the D2 debates. And guess what? Both candidates lost, continuing the SVGOP's record of losses, and Singh lost to a non-candidate.
In our current round of elections Republican Dean Andal is seeking to unseat Jerry McNerney for CD-11. Andal is no different from the GOP of today, and that means that he is mired in a scandal that makes keeping CA CD-11 in the hands of democrats all the easier.
And we also have local Republican Pat Waite (running for SJ City Council seat 8) creating his own mini-scandal just recently with his slight of hand on his endorsement page. Seems he included the San Jose Mercury News as one of his "endorsers," when in fact they had endorsed his opponent, Rose Herrera. Of course he also abbreviated the quote on his page, leaving off the most important part about how he would not build bridges on the city council. Of course we heard excuses and the offending information was pulled, but the damage had already clearly been done.
For the most part I will just post some thoughts on whatever local issue grabs my attention, once in a while I might have a tidbit or two for you. And by the way, I love living in San Jose, and why I love it so is a whole other post ; )
My name is Jacquie Heffner, and I have lived in San Jose for over 20 years, before that I lived for three years in Monterey, and before that I lived in San Francisco, where I was born. I work part time, and have done a bit of political consulting, currently I also serve on the Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee.
Why am I involved with politics? Because I believe that through politics we can work together for the greater good. We are very lucky in our area to have, for the most part, great elected officials, people who really care about serving the public, people who try to do the right thing, sometimes fail, but at least seek to serve something greater then themselves.
Through politics we can help those who need our help, we can further policies that help us all achieve our American dream, we can work together to improve our schools, medical insurance, better mass transit, better housing, fair wages, we can create and maintain programs that will serve our youth and keep them off the streets, there is no end to what can be done through political means to make our society a better place for all citizens.
We also have in our area a very disorganized and ineffective Republican Party, which, for the most part, has made my job as a Democrat that much easier. The local GOP is, in a word, meaningless. Now that is not a bad thing if you are a Democrat, because one can count on the local GOP to get behind and support some of the worse candidates on record. Two recent ones come to mind: Hon Lien and Ram Singh.
Both of these folks were endorsed and actively supported by the GOP, and both were unqualified, had no experience and little or no community involvement. Who can forget the YouTube videos of Hon Lien's performances at the D4 debates? And while there is no video online, I can assure you that Ram Singh was no better in the D2 debates. And guess what? Both candidates lost, continuing the SVGOP's record of losses, and Singh lost to a non-candidate.
In our current round of elections Republican Dean Andal is seeking to unseat Jerry McNerney for CD-11. Andal is no different from the GOP of today, and that means that he is mired in a scandal that makes keeping CA CD-11 in the hands of democrats all the easier.
And we also have local Republican Pat Waite (running for SJ City Council seat 8) creating his own mini-scandal just recently with his slight of hand on his endorsement page. Seems he included the San Jose Mercury News as one of his "endorsers," when in fact they had endorsed his opponent, Rose Herrera. Of course he also abbreviated the quote on his page, leaving off the most important part about how he would not build bridges on the city council. Of course we heard excuses and the offending information was pulled, but the damage had already clearly been done.
For the most part I will just post some thoughts on whatever local issue grabs my attention, once in a while I might have a tidbit or two for you. And by the way, I love living in San Jose, and why I love it so is a whole other post ; )
Labels: Herrera, Introduction, Jacquie Heffner, Lien, McNerney, Singh, Waite
2 Comments:
Regarding the Democratic Party.
I don't think it is corrupt, but certainly it isn't open to new candidates that aren't shills for the party. They have endorsed the same folks over and over again -- even though those candidates aren't qualified or strong -- over candidates that are qualified, strong, and dynamic.
I can think of many examples and so can you.
What gives?
Actually you are not correct, there have been many candidates that have been endorsed that are not the same old folks, for instance Judy Chirco was given a dual endorsement when she first ran, and at the time she was a new candidate.
Two candidates who are running right now are "new" candidates, Ash Kalra, running for San Jose City Council District 2 and Rose Herrera, running for San Jose City Council District 8. Neither of these candidates has held office before, both are "new" faces who have earned our endorsement because they are qualified and strong.
What, exactly, do you define as a shill for the party?
We endorse the candidates that have community experience, from being neighborhood leaders, to serving on boards and commissions, a whole range of criteria. Remember, we are a political party and our endorsement means that the person has proven to us, through their qualifications, that they are good leaders as well as Democrats.
We are always open to new candidates, and we routinely encourage people to run for office, to seek out our help and our support.
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