 |
|
|
|
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Winning Smile: Ken Yeager, left, Mike Borquez, center, and David Thomas, dressed as 'Uncle Sam,' share some laughs at Yeager's election night party at Lou's Village while waiting for election results.
Yeager wins council seat
Yeager becomes city's first openly gay city council representative
By Kate Carter
District 6 voters chose Ken Yeager to represent them on San Jose's city council yesterday, bringing to an end a long and heated campaign.
"I'm very proud of the residents of District 6 and San Jose. It just means we can look beyond gender, race and sexual orientation and elect the qualified representative," said the openly gay Yeager of his victory. "It was a good campaign and I look forward to working with [Kris] on the issues we both value."
Cunningham said she was proud of the campaign she ran.
"This has been a hard-fought race between a grassroots effort and a political machine," she said. "Unfortunately we could not overcome the odds, though we came ever so close. When I started this whole thing, my feeling was we give people a choice," said Cunningham. "My life will go on."
Both candidates presented voters with a host of qualifications and experience, often differing only on the type of their political involvements and leadership styles.
At press time, 68 of 69 district precincts reported Yeager ahead of Cunningham by 53.8 percent to her 46.2 percent.
Yeager lives in the Rose Garden neighborhood and teaches political science at San Jose State University. He is president of the Rose Garden Neighborhood Preservation Association, was elected to two terms as a trustee on the San Jose/Evergreen Community College Board and chairs San Jose's Airport Curfew Monitoring Committee.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Last-Minute Effort: While doing some last-minute campaigning at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Willow Street, city council candidate Kris Cunningham waves to supporters beeping their horns as they drive by.
Cunningham lives in Willow Glen and has worked as a teacher. She spent six years on the board of the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, two of those a president. She also works on various San Jose Unified School District committees.
Yeager said that the key to his victory was his concentration in district areas outside Willow Glen. "We spent a lot of time in non-Willow Glen precincts, and Kris had made no inroads there," Yeager said, pointing out that he rang a lot of doorbells in the Rose Garden and in the areas near Bascom, Meridian and Southwest Expressway where there are many apartments. "We always knew District 6 is a lot bigger than Willow Glen," he said.
Both candidates emphasized their experience and commitment to neighborhood issues.
On nearly all the issues, both Yeager and Cunningham agree. However, Yeager was a supporter of Measure A, the county-wide sales tax to fund public transit improvements including extending BART to San Jose which was appeared to be headed to approval last night. Cunningham did not support Measure A.
The campaign was also affected by the issue of The Glen restaurant and bar on Lincoln Avenue that two years ago was prevented from staying open after midnight because of a community effort led by then-WGNA president Cunningham. Cunningham supported the 24-hour policy which restricts businesses within 300 feet of a residence from staying open after midnight. Yeager said he supported a conditional use permit that would allow businesses a trial period to determine if they should adhere to the 24-hour policy.
An offensive mailing to Willow Glen Business and Professional Association members that included a vulgar slur against Yeager last week capped a campaign that was marked by tension over which candidate's experience better qualified him or her for the job. Cunningham said her grass-roots experience and honest approach put her above Yeager. Yeager said his political experience as an elected official and an employee of Susie Wilson during her time as both city councilwoman and county supervisor, accompanied with his more compromising style, made him the better choice.
Yeager raised significantly more campaign money than Cunningham. Although the final campaign finance disclosure reports aren't due until January, the most recent showed Yeager with nearly twice as much to spend.
|
|
|
|
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
