The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Candidate Julia Miller	Candidate Mike Szymanski

Candidates clash in race for Seat 2

By Natasha Collins

Tensions between City Council candidates Julia Miller and Michael Szymanski became public at recent forums when both candidates publicly threw innuendoes and insults at one another in an apparent attempt to gain voter support.

Many women present at a Chamber of Commerce forum Oct. 9 said they were angry that Szymanski pointed to his opponent's gender and age as a way to compare their qualifications.

And in a tit-for-tat response Oct. 16, Miller insinuated that Szymanski's local support was weak and that most of his campaign contributions had come from outside Sunnyvale.

The conflict began when both candidates decided to run for the same seat, Szymanski said. "She had called me and asked me what seat I was going to run for, and I said I didn't know," he said. "When we ended up running against each other, she started telling people that I had no integrity and had switched seats to run against her."

Miller said she has no ill feelings toward her opponent, and it was Szymanski who insulted her in public.

"There has been no tension coming from me. He is the one that has had inappropriate behavior during this campaign," she said. "At the Chamber of Commerce breakfast [Oct. 9] he is the one who criticized me."

According to several who were present at the Chamber breakfast, Szymanski used Miller's age and gender as a way of comparing the candidates' qualifications.

"Whether it was intentional or not, the gauntlet has been thrown," said Suzi Blackman, executive director of the Chamber. "I think you will see the tides changing in how the campaigns will be run."

Szymanski told The Sun he would ignore Miller's accusations and insults and continue to run a clean campaign.

"I have never said anything bad about her. I don't know what the purpose of her actions are," he said. "Maybe that is what big-city politics is all about."

Miller also said she would run a straightforward campaign and not allow her opponent's behavior to affect her.

"I have been out in the community getting the voters," she said. "I don't have to stoop to his level."

Miller also claims Szymanski removed campaign literature she left on people's doorsteps.

The suggestion that he removed her literature is ridiculous, Szymanski said. "The next thing you know she will be blaming me for her divorce."

Although both candidates have vowed not to attack each other publicly, at the candidates' forum Oct. 16 neither kept their promise.

In her opening statement, Miller questioned her opponent's experience and time in the community.

"Mike has only been on the Planning Commission for 13 months and served on one committee," she said. "I have served Sunnyvale longer than my opponent has lived here."

When asked about campaign spending, Szymanski alerted the public to Miller's past election experience. "This is my first time running, unlike Julia, who has run before," he said.

The third candidate running for Seat 2, Joe Martin, will not partake in the negative campaigning, he said.

"I am the neutral party between the two of them," Martin said. "What people need to think about is, how are they going to be as councilmembers? They can't even get along with their opponents in the campaign. How are they going to get along with opponents at other cities?"

Voters will decide on Nov. 4 which candidate will best serve the community.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, October 22, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.