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Cunningham challenges Yeager on 'soft money' donations
Candidates have one more public forum left in race
By Kate Carter
District 6 city council candidate Kris Cunningham opened a candidates' forum last week by issuing a challenge to her opponent, Ken Yeager, that both sign an agreement banning "soft money." The pledge, which she handed to Yeager, would have both candidates ask their supporters to desist from making independent expenditures on their behalf for the rest of the race.
This was the candidates' third public meeting before the general election, but they addressed some issues for the first time at the Oct. 17 forum at the Rosegarden Library.
Cunningham expressed concerns about the role independent expenditures, or soft money, could play in the final weeks of the campaign, and challenged Yeager to sign a written agreement stating that he would refuse any help financed by soft money in his campaign.
Yeager addressed Cunningham's offer at the end of the forum, saying that he wouldn't sign the pledge until he had a chance to read it. Yeager later told The Resident that he and his staff would look at the proposed pledge and decide whether or not to sign it.
The text of the pledge states that the signatories would "refuse all soft-money assistance from special interests in our campaigns ... specifically, we call on all outside groups to immediately and permanently cease and desist running ads, mailing materials, or conducting other activities designed to boost or attack either my campaign or Mr. Yeager's campaign."
The pledge also includes the stipulation that both parties will send letters to their outside endorsers asking them not to pursue independent campaign materials or efforts, and that copies of these letters would be sent to San Jose's Campaign Finance Review and Ethics Board.
The candidates stated their stances on Measure A, which Yeager supports and Cunningham opposes, and on the Calpine power plant in Coyote Valley, which Yeager opposes. Cunningham says she wants to examine the plan in more detail and won't support the plan until she has heard more from the planned November community hearing.
Other issues raised include the politicization of appointees to the planning commission, which both candidates said they would work to reduce; and higher-density housing, which both candidates said was a difficult issue that required careful planning and assessing the needs of increased affordable housing in San Jose; and maintaining the quality of life of San Jose's neighborhoods.
The candidates were also asked about the recent disclosures about Mayor Ron Gonzales' affair with staff member Guisselle Nuñez. Both proposed, as council members, responses of censorship of the mayor; and possibly modifying the city's laws to make it illegal for any city employee to become personally involved with a subordinate--a law that is not currently on the books.
Cunningham and Yeager will have their last forum at First Congregational Church at the corner of Hamilton and Leigh avenues on Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. The event is sponsored by People Acting in Community Together.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
