Now that I’ve received my ballot, I can research the rest of the candidates and propositions that weren’t in the statewide voter information guide. These are all tough because, with local races, there’s just so little info online!
Judge of the Superior Court Office #24 — a guy named Stuart Scott is running unopposed. I might just write in a pointless write-in — Scott apparently has some ethics complaint against him, and he’s a former prosecutor. Doesn’t really matter though.
Santa Clara Board of Education Trustee, area 1. Choosing between Grace Mah and Melissa Baten Caswell. Both seem to have a good background and know what they’re doing. I just changed my mind on this one — I was going to vote for Mah, based on her slightly more detailed issues page, but changed my mind to Caswell based on the comments in https://medium.com/@rmehlinger/the-official-2020-mehlinger-voting-guide-a9e2a9cca693 .
Foothill-De Anza Community College District Governng Board Member. I need to vote for three out of the four: Govind Tatachari, Peter Landsberger, Laura Casas, and Gilbert Wong. So I need to just pick one to vote off the island. Gilbert Wong, Laura Casas, and Peter Landsberger are the incumbents, and they seem like they’ve got good experience. I was unable to find controversies or scandals online about them. The challenger — Govind Tatachari — seems like a decent guy too. But he doesn’t seem to have the background or experience , I tried to find what would make him qualified for this position and didn’t find anything other than his industry experience. So I’ll stick with voting for the incumbents: Wong, Casas, Landsberger.
For Sunnyvale Mayor, I’m voting for Larry Klein. Others made the case for it much more persuasively than I would, so just linking them here: http://www.dweeb.org/2020/09/25/my-november-2020-sunnyvale-endorsements/?fbclid=IwAR2JKoMOkIyP0mAO97_1V9FYFzAF8NsohrKrq8IcnXXHREnho95bv64VOw , Mhttps://medium.com/@rmehlinger/sunnyvale-needs-mayor-larry-klein-dce4c4a3fc72
Sunnyvale City Counclimember District 4 — I have a choice between Russ Melton and Paul Joseph Lesevic-Campos. Russ Melton seems to know that he’s doing, and PJLC seems to have no campaign website, no internet presence, and I cannot find anything about him besides the name. Might as well not be on the ballot for all I can find. Voting Russ Melton.
El Camino Healthcare District Director — I need to vote 3 out of 5, choosing from John Zoglin, Jane Chen Lombard, Caroll Ann Somersille, Julia E. Miller, and Meghan Fraley. Meghan Fraley has excellent experience both as a doctor and as a community organizer, that’s good. John Zoglin seems to be a well-respected incumbent, but who’s not a doctor, just a marketing executive. Julia Miller is also an incumbent, but there’s some unspecified and secret misconduct allegations, of which she was not exonerated but also not punished for, in what was kind of like a settlement but not really. The allegations were never described, and there’s counter-allegations that the whole thing is a political hit-job. Surprise drama! Which is, of course, bloody impossible to resolve, since everything is secret. …this reflects poorly both on Miller and on Zoglin, who was a boardmember at the time and voted for the investigation without revealing to the public even the barest hint of what it was about. Carol Ann Somersille is also a doctor, contributes to a community clinic and cares about reducing healthcare inequity according to her website. She’s also been a board member at El Camino Medical group, which seems relevant. And finally, Jane Chen Lombard. She too is a doctor, and has leadership experience at Palo Alto Medical foundation. Honestly, to me, the challengers here seem more promising than the incumbents, with their investigation scandal. Jane Chen Lombard, Carol Ann Somersille, and Meghan Fraley seem like the people to vote for to run this healthcare district, with both medical experience, leadership experience, and bright vision based on their respective campaign websites.
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Director, Ward 3 — I have to choose between Jed Cyr (incumbent) and Ed Riffle. Voting Jed Cyr, since the other guy appears to have no campaign website or online presence, and I couldn’t find anything negative or scandalous about Cyr, who seems to be doing a fine job.
Voting Yes on Fremont Union High School District Measure M — renew existing parcel tax to fund the local high schools. Yes, funding education is important, and COVID is already going to hit school budgets hard, bad time to cut things further.
Voting Yes on Santa Clara Valley Water District Measure S — another measure to renew an existing parcel tax, this one for pollution cleanup, creek protection and restoration, flood protection, etc. Useful stuff. However, it’s actually a tough choice — because the main question here isn’t the funding, which already exists for the next 8 years, but whether to make the tax permanent, requiring a citizen initiative to overturn, or whether to keep it temporary. I think this topic isn’t going to be one that isn’t going away. The arguments against making it permanent are mainly that it would decrease accountability, and that the water district is ineffective and prone to cost overruns… but I think that should be addressed by changing the water district governance, if there’s an issue there. I’m generally unsure, though, and am on the fence here.
Voting Yes on Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (Caltrain) Measure RR — voting yes to keep Caltrain running! This one’s easy.
Phew, so that’s everything! I’ll probably finalize and send out my ballot next weekend, so I’ve got until then to find and hear any counterarguments.
