Willow Glen Resident
News
District 6 race for councilman takes a turn and goes from friendly to testy
By Eli Segall
Leading up to the Nov. 7 election, the race to replace outgoing San Jose City Councilman Ken Yeager was amicable. The six candidates joked around at neighborhood forums, shunned negative attacks and kept the campaign trail clean.
That all ended Jan. 29, when the two District 6 runoff candidates, Pierluigi Oliverio and Steve Tedesco, took questions from a packed audience at Cory Elementary School.
"Every time Tedesco had the microphone in his hand, he had something negative to say," said Cory Neighborhood Association member Cari Hays. "It was this continuous jabbing, like poking a bruise over and over again."
Throughout the night, Tedesco, 53, repeatedly called his opponent a "slightly misleading" candidate. He disputed Oliverio's title as campaign manager of a 1994 bond measure, mocked his interest in technology and claimed he joined the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association only after he had entered the council race.
Oliverio, a 36-year-old software executive, offered rebuttals but refrained from counterattacks.
"Tedesco is running a slightly more negative campaign than Pierre," said Michelle Stetkovich, an undecided voter who attended the forum, "but I really thought Pierre handled himself well. I was very impressed by him."
The forum was not the first time Tedesco, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Silicon Valley, has questioned Oliverio's credentials. His campaign volunteers have been handing out a "Compare the Candidates" sheet. In it, Tedesco lists 25 examples of his own employment and volunteer experiences; Oliverio, the flier claims, has no background in community leadership, youth activities or public safety.
Tedesco, who has spent his entire career in the nonprofit sector and belongs to more than a dozen civic groups, defended the flier and his remarks at Cory.
"This campaign is as much about issues as it is about our résumés and track records," he said. "It's not negativity, and it's not jabbing; I'm trying to come up with corrections for slightly misleading statements."
Oliverio, a Willow Glen native, told the 80-plus audience members on several occasions he is an "independent" candidate, as he has not accepted any campaign contributions from lobbyists. He emphasized his experience in the high-tech industry and endorsements, which include Yeager and former San Jose Mayor Janet Gray Hayes.
He later described Tedesco's flier as inaccurate and dismissed his comments entirely.
"When people go negative, it's because they're desperate," Oliverio said bluntly.
Art Maurice, one of the original six candidates for the seat, moderated the forum; Oliverio and Tedesco discussed half a dozen local issues and agreed on almost all of them. Both want the city to purchase the 17-acre BAREC site on Winchester Boulevard from the state and either keep it as open space or convert it to parkland. Both aim to increase the number of after-school programs, and each intends to work to attract more businesses to San Jose.
The District 6 city council seat became available after Yeager's election in June to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. He was sworn into that seat in December.
The runoff election will be held March 6.
For more information on Steve Tedesco, visit stevetedesco.com or call 408.282.4935.For more information on Pierluigi Oliverio, visit fromhereforus.com or call 408.266.5310.
