Elections are always important to local communities, but nothing can be more critical to Santa Clara than a majority of City Council seats up for grabs. Seeing your current council members and prospective council members answer questions regarding future development, affordable housing, open space, urban agriculture and transparency in government can help you make an informed decision. 

This is a non-partisan forum and open to all candidates.

Come join the Old Quad Residence Association partnered with the Sierra Club, Stand Up for Santa Clara, Win6Village and other neighborhood groups for an evening of questions and answers.

Wednesday, August 31st, 6:30pm-8pm
Location: Senior Center located at 1303 Fremont Street, Santa Clara, 95050

We plan to video tape and publish the forum on YouTube after the event.

Reported from the San Jose Mercury News on August 25, 2016 by Ramona Giwargis

Santa Clara city officials say they’ll hire an attorney to investigate claims that former mayor and City Council candidate Patty Mahan violated the city’s new lobbying ordinance.

The complaint against Mahan has political undertones. It came from Deborah Bress, who’s running for city clerk against Rod Diridon, Jr.and who has been a sharp critic of the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium project which Mahan had supported.

Mahan is accused of not registering as a lobbyist despite meeting with city officials to discuss a billboard company’s contract.

Reprint by Ramona Giwargis, rgiwargis@bayareanewsgroup.com

SANTA CLARA -- Two years after the San Francisco 49ers opened their new stadium here, the NFL team officials are finding a chilly reception at City Hall, where Santa Clara's elected leaders had once welcomed them with open arms.

Mayor Lisa Gillmor, who had backed the stadium project, is now among team management's sharpest critics. With voters set to decide four seats on the seven-member City Council in November, including three Gillmor allies seeking re-election, she and her allies are casting the race as a referendum on the team's influence over City Hall.

"I think this is going to be a monumental election in Santa Clara, and it will define where we go as a city," Gillmor said. "I've heard the 49ers are lining up their candidates that will do their business. The question facing Santa Clara voters is going to be very simple: Do you want the 49ers running the city?"

Santa Clara city staff wants the city council to hire the law firm of Burke, Williams, and Sorensen LLP to represent our city against the 49ers who are trying to lower their own rent. This is the same Pro-49ers law firm who has been sitting on the same side of the table as the 49ers against the Santa Clara Youth Soccer community.

Get Up Stand Up, Stand Up for Your Rights!

We're thankful for everyone's support and happy to report that the Santa Clara Youth Soccer Park is back in operation. The NFL is making due on their promise to repair the Soccer Park, and while we wait for replacement soccer dugouts to get installed, we give the NFL credit for repairing the damages from Super Bowl 50. 

Tonight at 7pm, the Santa Clara City Council will appoint its next Mayor to replace Jamie Mathews who resigned last Monday. We applaud the council for coming together quickly for the good of our city. Santa Clara's next mayor will be appointed tonight, with Lisa Gillmor as the frontrunner.