The Resident
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County candidates tussle on nonprofit group's panel
ByStephen Baxter
Three of the six candidates looking to replace termed-out Santa Clara County Supervisor Blanca Alvarado participated in an April 23 debate at the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits.
San Jose Mercury News columnist Patty Fisher moderated the panel at 1922 The Alameda, and roughly 25 nonprofit leaders and other residents attended. Candidate Richard Hobbs, a trustee of the San Jose-Evergreen Community College District, was joined by school teacher Patricia Martinez-Roach and former San Jose Councilman George Shirakawa Jr.
The county's District 2 represents parts of the Rose Garden and Willow Glen areas from Park and Meridian avenues to Highway 87, and it includes downtown and parts of East San Jose.
All the candidates emphasized their work with children, seniors and the poor, especially from the East Side of San Jose, and agreed that the county needed to raise revenue to support the work of nonprofit groups.
The candidates were asked whether they supported a new sales tax to help fund county services. Hobbs said he would support it, but that it would be hard for county residents who face rising gas prices and other costs.
Shirakawa said he also would support the proposed tax, but he said Hobbs changed his position on it from an earlier forum hosted by the San Jose Chamber of Commerce.
"So which is it, Richard?" Shirakawa asked. "He changes his answer depending on the audience," Shirakawa told the crowd.
Hobbs replied, "I never said I would not support the sales tax, so I don't know where that's coming from."
Hobbs said if Santa Clara County's sales tax rose to 10 percent, it would be tied for the highest sales tax among California counties.
All the candidates said they supported providing county employees "living wages."
When the issue came before the San Jose City Council in 1998, Hobbs said that he spoke in favor of it during the public comment period of the meeting before it passed in an 8-3 vote. Hobbs also pointed out that Shirakawa was a city councilman who voted in the minority.
Shirakawa appeared visibly upset.
"You need to listen to the tape from that night," Shirakawa said to Hobbs. Shirakawa added that he believed raising some employees' wages would exclude others, and that is why he voted against it.
"I don't want to seem angry, I'm not angry. I'm not a bully," Shirakawa said.
Martinez-Roach, who sat between the two men on the panel as they traded barbs, asked, "Should I move?"
The audience laughed.
Martinez-Roach, who teaches kindergarten and has worked in public schools for 34 years, indicated that she would advocate for services for the poor.
"It doesn't mean I don't care about rich people, too, but they can take care of themselves," she said. "I'm a Democrat. I support Hillary Clinton," she added.
Angela Albright, a 27-year-old who works at Gardner Family Care in the Gardner neighborhood, watched the debate. She said afterward that all the candidates appeared to value the work of nonprofits and were wary of cutting their budgets, but she disliked some of the candidates' styles.
"I don't like when candidates get snippy with each other," she said.
Voters will choose a new District 2 county supervisor in a June 3 election; the deadline to register to vote is May 19.
