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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Hopefuls: Kris Cunningham and Ken Yeager tackled issues--including Measure A, which Yeager supports and Cunningham doesn't--last week at a WGNA-sponsored debate.
Dist. 6 council candidates spar on experience and local issues
Oct. 11 debate was sponsored by WGNA
By Kate Carter
With just three weeks left until election day, District 6 city council candidates Kris Cunningham and Ken Yeager have been making their last push for votes.
The two candidates met for their third public forum at a Willow Glen Neighborhood Association meeting on Oct. 11.
Both candidates pointed to their experience with neighborhood issues and dealing with city government while questioning their opponent's qualifications and commitment to the community.
Cunningham continued to challenge Yeager on his knowledge of neighborhood issues and participation in neighborhood meetings. She also suggested that his campaign money is coming from many sources outside of District 6 and San Jose, a charge Yeager denied.
Yeager emphasized his ability to network and build relationships, and expressed concern that Cunningham's public criticism of primary candidate and police Sgt. Jim Spence's endorsement has made a working relationship between her and Mayor Ron Gonzales and the police officers unlikely (see sidebar).
On the fundraising front, Yeager has reported raising more than twice as much as his opponent. Campaign finance disclosure reports filed on Oct. 5, show Yeager leading Cunningham in available funds by $56,894.99 to $27,456.26.
Yeager has also been touting his recent endorsements from Peninsula Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Assemblyman Jim Cunneen and U.S. Commerce Secretary Norm Mineta, who was a former San Jose Congressman and mayor.
More than 100 people filled the hall at the United Methodist Church on Minnesota Avenue.
The neighborhood association board and members of the audience asked the candidates questions about issues specific to Willow Glen and city- and county-wide concerns.
The candidates agreed on several issues. They said they support the library and parks bonds, a District 6 community center for teens, more programming for seniors, the completion of the Los Gatos Creek Trail, and using the tobacco tax money to provide health coverage to San Jose children whose parents can't afford it.
They also said they will work to enforce the airport curfew and to make sure airplanes aren't crossing over neighborhoods on their approaches to San Jose International.
Neither candidate said they were in favor of the current plan to move City Hall downtown. Yeager said he never supported the move, but did support the construction of a new building. Cunningham said she supported the move when San Jose voters approved the original proposal, but she doesn't support the current plan that was made with less public input and at higher cost than originally planned. Both candidates promised to work to keep the costs of the new civic center down.
Both candidates said that they would support a traffic study near the proposed Longs Drugs on Lincoln Avenue one year after its opening, rather than the six-month study Longs wants. They also both support measures for improving pedestrian safety and traffic calming.
Yeager said that traffic calming was one of his most important goals, saying it is "the No. 1 issue in our neighborhoods." He also proposed hiring a person to make sure that the city's traffic policy is carried out and that traffic improvements are implemented.
Cunningham said that the way to solve traffic problems is to get more money in the budget for streets and traffic.
Both candidates also referred to Lincoln Avenue's The Glen restaurant and bar, when they said they support the city's 24-hour policy that forces businesses located 300 feet from a residence to close after midnight.
Yeager emphasized his support of the conditional use permit because of the flexibility it gives businesses to have some privileges with conditions.
"You need to have a little bit of quibble room," he said. He referred to an article in The Resident where he was quoted as supporting the conditional use permit.
Cunningham said that the 24-hour policy was one of the conditions the neighborhood wanted to be in the conditional use permit for The Glen.
Cunningham criticized Yeager's support of using a conditional use permit to keep bars and restaurants in check, and suggested he may not understand the policy.
"There's always a conditional use permit," she said. She quoted a Mercury News article that said Yeager supporting The Glen's right to stay open until 2 a.m. as long as there was no dancing.
The candidates differed in their stances on Measure A, which would authorize a half-cent sales tax in Santa Clara County from 2006 to 2036 to cover the costs of a variety of public transit projects, including the extension of BART to San Jose.
Yeager said he supports Measure A because of the need to begin planning the project now, and because the tax to cover transit projects would allow more money for road and highway improvements.
"It's a question for me of do we go forward or do we wait?" he said.
Cunningham said she opposes the measure, although she supports the BART extension.
"Measure A will not bring traffic relief right now," she said. "This plan is not put together very well in my opinion."
She said that the plan could be better and could address more pressing traffic problems, such as Interstates 280 and 880, and the Montague Expressway.
The candidates were asked how they would help a community through a conflict about which it was evenly split.
Yeager said that the city council member should "serve as someone who can bring people together and try to resolve these issues," and said that it was important to build trust between conflicting parties "so that issues aren't quite as contentious when they come before city council."
Cunningham said it was necessary to inform both sides of how much they could expect to achieve. She also said that the people who are impacted most by a situation should have more of a voice in the outcome.
"There's a difference between people's right to stay up late and drink and people's right to have peace and quiet in their homes," she said.
Cunningham said she is proud that 70 percent of her primary campaign funds came from within District 6, and only 17 percent came from outside San Jose. She said that she is concerned that half of Yeager's primary campaign funds came from outside of San Jose and only 25 percent came from within District 6.
Yeager denied those percentages and said that he raised $22,000 from within District 6, which was on par with the $24,000 that Cunningham raised. He also said that the contributions he has received from elsewhere do have the district's interests in mind, and referred to financial support he received from San Jose Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
Cunningham, however, shot back by saying that Lofgren has not endorsed Yeager.
Yeager's campaign spokeswoman Denelle Fedor later told The Resident that approximately 38 percent of Yeager's primary contributions came from sources outside San Jose and approximately 33 percent came from within District 6.
In the most recent campaign finance disclosure statement covering contributions received between July 1 and Sept. 30, approximately 40 percent of Yeager's contributions were listed as coming from outside San Jose. Approximately 23 percent of Cunningham's contributions were listed as coming from outside San Jose.
Yeager has been endorsed by many of San Jose's powerful politicos, including current Mayor Ron Gonzales, former Mayors Susan Hammer and Janet Gray Hayes, a majority of San Jose's sitting council members and his opponents from the primary, Spence and Mike Borquez.
Yeager has also gained official endorsements from the San Jose Police Officer's Association and the San Jose Firefighter's Association, among others.
Cunningham said that these endorsements don't reflect the actual support she has from real police officers, firefighters and residents of District 6.
She has been endorsed by District 6 Councilman Frank Fiscalini, whose seat she would take if she wins. Other San Jose supporters include former Mayor Tom McEnery, Assemblyman Mike Honda, Councilwomen Pat Dando and Linda LeZotte, and the entire San Jose Unified Board of Trustees, including Superintendent Linda Murray.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
