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Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Sign Language: Willow Glen lawns tout the contenders for the District 6 seat on the San Jose City Council.
Candidates pull out all the stops
From attending public forums to walking precincts, hopefuls prep for election day
By Chantal Lamers
Anyone driving through the neighborhoods of Willow Glen would find it hard to miss the election about to take place. Campaign signs are the newest addition to hundreds of lawns over the past couple of months. The March 7 election will determine which of six candidates will get comfortable in the vacant San Jose City Council seat when Vice Mayor Frank Fiscalini retires.
The race for the District 6 seat has been a long one for some candidates who began collecting endorsements and campaign contributions late last summer. In the final stretch of the race, the candidates, all long-time San Jose residents, have been walking precincts on weekday evenings and weekend afternoons. During the past few weeks, candidates have spent long evenings at neighborhood election forums, vying for the votes of the district's residents. All six candidates, a mortgage banker, a police sergeant, a retired public health adviser, a political science professor, a neighborhood activist and a multimedia producer and their volunteers, are working overtime sending out last-minute mailers and making phone calls.
Candidate: Mike Borquez
Mike Borquez
It's 7:30 a.m. and Mike Borquez is just beginning what will be a 14-hour day of campaigning and attending to his daily grind as a mortgage banker. For now, he sits among the aroma of hazelnut coffee and about a dozen members of the Kiwanis Club of Willow Glen Sunrisers.
The club meets once a week above the Washington Mutual Bank on Lincoln Avenue and today Borquez is guest speaker. After an introduction from the club's president, Borquez smiles and takes the podium. He starts with a quote from Will Rogers: "There are two ways to judge a politician," he says. "Confidence and character."
Borquez, the son of migrant farm workers, was born in Watsonville. When he was 18, he joined the Marines, fought in the Vietnam war and traveled in Southeast Asia. Borquez attended California State University, Chico, on the G.I. Bill and has been a San Jose resident for the last 30 years.
He tells his attentive audience about his "leadership platform" for improving the traffic flow in and out of Valley Fair shopping mall; revitalizing W. San Carlos Street; solving parking and speed problems in downtown Willow Glen; continuing support for crime prevention in neighborhoods; and improving district parks.
"A politician can determine the interest by the number of people that show up [to city council meetings]" he said. "It's incumbent upon council members to make sure residents are informed."
Borquez wants to build communities that are closely knit, in which the 11 existing neighborhood associations within the district work with each other, have websites and email access. Borquez wants a community that will question him, and he vows to be a politician who will answer back.
"I have a lot of ideas for the district, I have a lot of energy," he tells the Sunrisers. Borquez ends his visit with Kiwanis members by shaking hands and handing out signs and "I like Mike" magnets. It's 8:30 a.m., and after a quick stop at his treasurer's office, Borquez is off to work.
Borquez has already managed to put his mark on San Jose with his seven-year battle to erect a veterans memorial in downtown San Jose. He began the battle in April 1990 and lobbied until the art piece became a permanent fixture in the city. The memorial, which stands next to the Center of Performing Arts, was dedicated on Veteran's Day 1998.
The door to Borquez's Campbell office is covered with postcard-sized advertisements for San Jose arts and music events that have since come and gone. Borquez was appointed arts commissioner in 1997 and chaired the Cultural Education Neighborhood Arts.
The father of two checks his email, his phone messages and his busy calendar. He will spend his weekend with teams of volunteers made up of high school and college students, co-workers and friends. He also will spend part of his evenings walking the neighborhoods of District 6, knocking on doors and spreading his name to voters.
Jim Spence
Jim Spence laces up his shoes and looks out the front window of his Willow Glen home. He looks past his manicured lawn and the campaign signs planted in the ground. He looks toward the cloudy sky and judges he may have to walk neighborhoods this afternoon in the rain. In the final weeks of the election, rain or shine, Spence wants to continue getting his name out to the people who populate District 6.
Spence, a sergeant in the San Jose Police Department and 29-year veteran of the force, took a leave of absence in January so he could channel his energy into his campaign. Spence is trying to absorb everything residents want in a council member and learn about the topics that heat up the neighborhoods. His dining-room table has become campaign headquarters, his mother has become his treasurer and his brother, Greg, has become his adviser.
Spence has lived in San Jose his entire life. He grew up near a chicken farm off Curtner Avenue. Now Spence, a San Jose State University graduate, feels that taking over Fiscalini's seat would be like coming full-circle.
Spence has worked on the mayor's Gang Task Force and with at-risk youth. He says that spending time in a patrol car has helped him contemplate ideas for making Lincoln Avenue safer. "We're concentrating a lot on slowing down cars, but how about focusing on getting pedestrians across the street?"
Spence wants to get motorists' attention with radar signs warning drivers how fast they're driving and using pedestrian-activated lights in crosswalks.
Another priority for the council hopeful is increasing police training, including bringing high-speed driver simulation devices to the local department. Spence also wants to make sure that firefighters have proper equipment so they can safely identify and control toxins in fires.
Spence has been endorsed by agencies including the San Jose Police Officers Association and the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Santa Clara County.
"I do believe the city needs to be more user friendly and open to the public," Spence says, noting it sounds like a cliché. "I want to get ideas from the 11 neighborhood associations and find out what it is I can do to help them accomplish goals, help them facilitate their ideas, help them open doors."
Daniel Lopez
Dressed in suit and tie, Dan Lopez sits with a manila folder full of notes, ideas and reasons why he's decided to run for the open District 6 City Council seat. He's just returned from an interview at a local radio station on a windy day in downtown Willow Glen.
The sun peeks through a cloudy sky; sitting outside a coffee shop, Lopez waves over passersby like candidate Bill Chew, who stops and chats atop his rollerskates. A passing woman wishes Lopez "good luck in the election," and Lopez smiles and politely thanks her.
The retired public health adviser, father of five children and grandfather of five, spends his time as an activist for the Hispanic community attending events like the opening of the Mexican Heritage Cultural Center and the Democratic convention. "We need to get involved in the community," Lopez says. "It's important to let people know there's a place they can meet."
Since Lopez tossed his hat into the race two months ago, he's been handing out campaign posters, recruiting volunteers to make phone calls and recently set up a campaign website.
A veteran himself, Lopez wants to strengthen support of American vets by offering them increased job opportunities. He also wants to encourage local businesses to provide senior centers with computer training that seniors can use for personal research and for job hunting. The council hopeful wants to bring government back to the people. Lopez hasn't asked for or accepted endorsements or contributions throughout the election.
Lopez admits he doesn't have much city council experience but says he does have the ideals to carry out the will of the people he hopes to serve. "It starts from the bottom up in every city," he says. "Every city makes up the nation and establishes who we are. We are the servants of the people, not the other way around."
The California native has spent the last 24 years making San Jose his home. After spending five years in the Army and six years in the California National Guard, Lopez went to college enrolling in continuing education courses with an emphasis in labor studies.
"I'm a pretty shy guy," Lopez says. "I don't really like having the public eye on me but I'm willing to sacrifice that for what is right."
Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Politics 101: Ken Yeager teaches political science at San Jose State University.
Ken Yeager
It's almost noon. Dozens of students are pouring through the door of business classroom 210 at San Jose State University. The students, mostly made up of young twenty somethings, chatter away until their political science professor, Ken Yeager, arrives and begins an interactive lecture on local politics.
Yeager starts class with "News Around the City." Three students discuss an article in the local paper associated with city politics. They discuss a proposed power plant, Greenline and complaints that Mayor Ron Gonzales isn't active enough in San Jose arts. Sometimes, the students ask their professor and council hopeful where he stands on issues.
But Yeager doesn't just preach local politics to his students, he is active in them. He spent two terms as a trustee for the San Jose/Evergreen Community College Board and has served on Mayor Gonzales' Education Task Force; he is president of the Rosegarden Neighborhood Association and also is a member of the Guadalupe River Park and Gardens Board, and he chairs San Jose's Airport Curfew Monitoring Committee.
Yeager hopes voters will give him the opportunity to take that experience into council chambers. "I want to slow down traffic in the neighborhoods and speed it up on the freeways." Yeager plans to pursue ways to bring BART to San Jose. In the short term, he wants to build a heavy rail connection from San Jose to already intact BART stations. In the long run, Yeager wants to build a San Jose BART station. The council candidate wants to expand Highway 87 into six lanes, so drivers won't speed through local neighborhoods.
Yeager plans to continue improving parks like the Guadalupe River and looks forward to rebuilding theWillow Glen and Rosegarden libraries. He also plans to enforce the airport curfew with the commercial airlines. Since the curfew committee was formed, four of nine airlines have changed their schedules so they are less apt to land after curfew, says Yeager.
That afternoon, students jot down notes about powers of the mayor and city manager. Yeager, who brings a handful of council agendas to class each Thursday, requires his students to attend at least two City Council meetings. Since his decision to run for council, he has lightened his teaching load to three classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The candidate has a degree in political science from San Jose State. He earned a masters in sociology and education from Stanford University, as well as a doctorate in policy analysis from Stanford.
After class and a pit stop at his campus office he is off to check in with campaign headquarters--the garage at his Rosegarden home. He spends early evenings walking neighborhoods. Many of his volunteers are neighbors, friends and former students who now work for the city and county.
Yeager is endorsed by Mayor Gonzales, former mayors Susan Hammer and Janet Gray Hayes and council members Cindy Chavez, John Diquisto and Margie Matthews. He boasts a long list of endorsements that include state senators John Vasconcellos, Liz Figueroa and Byron Sher; assembly leaders Elaine Alquist and Lou Papan; and neighborhood residents across the district.
"I don't think anybody embarks on this adventure without a lot of thought," he says. "I feel that I can do a good job; it's important to elect good people to office."
Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Track Record: Kris Cunningham talks with outgoing council member Fiscalini.
Kris Cunningham
Getting into the car with Kris Cunningham, one must be prepared for a long ride. During a drive through Willow Glen and surrounding District 6 neighborhoods, the council candidate points out places where she has made a difference as a neighborhood activist. "It's a good district; I like it and it's got a lot of good people. It's the envy of other districts because it's got so many neighborhood associations."
Cunningham grew up in Willow Glen, married and raised three sons here. She graduated from San Jose State with a degree in political science.
The neighborhood activist has a long list of projects she has complete throughout Willow Glen and San Jose. She believes these accomplishments makes her the best candidate to fill Fiscalini's council seat. "My track record has shown I've been involved," Cunningham says. "It's a good base to be coming from."
As she drives past a dilapidated produce stand on Minnesota Avenue, Cunningham mentions she's been working with residents there who have concerns about the proposed apartment building that will replace the fruit stand. "People don't know how much leverage they have--they have a lot," she says. Cunningham attended a meeting in the neighborhood, helping residents get answers from builders.
Cunningham spent five years on the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, serving as a board member, treasurer, its first vice president and then its president. She spent three years on the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association organizing events like Founder's Day, the historical homes walk and coordinating volunteers.
Cunningham has been helping residents and a church come to an agreement over traffic problems in the Canoas Gardens neighborhood. She worked with contractors and neighbors on the midtown Safeway on safety measures like making sure a loading dock was built on the side of the grocery store. Neighbors didn't want an alley behind Safeway, fearing it would become a potential area for graffiti. "I'm a hands-on representative," Cunningham says. "That's where I come from; that's what I have been doing for several years."
Cunningham has also worked with Walk San Jose and participated in a demonstration in an intersection off Fruitdale Avenue. Volunteers attempted to walk across the busy streets, from corner to corner, something even busy streets should permit pedestrians to do. "We have so many streets with that problem," she says.
Cunningham has spent the last decade with the San Jose Unified School District volunteering for its Bond Oversight Committee, the School Site Selection Team and the Excess Properties Committee.
Driving past Willow Glen homes sporting Cunningham campaign signs, the candidate hopes all she's done for San Jose and for the county will help her get elected. She worked on an airport master plan, a group-home ordinance, planning and code-enforcement groups, the Los Gatos Creek Trail, the library master plan and county violence-prevention program.
Cunningham has endorsements from Fiscalini, Assemblyman Mike Honda, former Mayor Tom McEnery, council members Linda LeZotte and Pat Dando, SJUSD superintendent Linda Murray and trustees Carol Myers and Gary Rummelhoff. WGNA president J. Michael Gonzales and San Jose/Evergreen Community College trustee Richard Hobbs are among many others in a long list of neighborhood supporters.
Passionate about neighborhoods, Cunningham believes she's shown a lot of integrity and leadership over the years when people have been discouraged. 'It's [about] quality-of-life issues," she says. "People's homes are where they want peace and safety."
Bill Chew
This is the fifth time Bill Chew has entered the race for City Council. A familiar sight in his white cowboy hat, Chew gets his name out to voters by roller-skating through neighborhoods, waving and talking to as many residents as he can.
Chew produces a cable-access show called Neighbornet With Bill Chew. The council-meetings regular wants to see council meetings aired live on public television. Chew politely declined to be interviewed for this article.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
