☆ Election roundup (4/14): Are local voters and our politicians tragically star-crossed?

Maybe it's because they were teenagers. Or met just a few days ago. But we all know how Romeo and Juliet (here, the 1996 film) ends—and the misunderstandings and missed signals that lead to both's tragic deaths.

Gov. Newsom campaigned fervently against Prop 36, but it passed—with 68.9% voting “yes” (69.8% in SCC). SJ Council endorsed Prop 5 (8–2), but most County/State voters (respectively, 54.3% and 55.5%) couldn't stomach it and voted “no.” In this Opp Now exclusive, SJ community leader Tobin Gilman and HJTA's Susan Shelley analyze this startling disconnect—between local politicians and the people they are supposed to represent.

Biggest repudiation of the election?

Susan Shelley, Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association VP of communications: The biggest repudiation is the voters approving Prop 36 after Governor Newsom tried everything he could to prevent it from being on the ballot, and to put something on the ballot that competed with it in order to confuse voters. He campaigned against it. So, the biggest repudiation is 70% approval of Prop 36 against the governor's active campaigning.

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Biggest loser?

Tobin Gilman, San Jose community leader, retired Silicon Valley technology industry executive: The SJ mayor and city council, which formally voted last summer to support Proposition 5 without any public outreach. Once again, the politicians and the bureaucrats on the city’s Intergovernmental Relations team were on the wrong side of history and thoroughly detached from the sentiments of their constituents. With roughly 126,000 votes still to be counted in Santa Clara County as I write this, Prop 5 is losing by approximately 10 points.

Related:

• SJ D2 candidate Lopez: Prop 36 a “compassionate solution” for homelessness, addiction, crime

• Why some retail thieves slip through the cracks—and what CA can do about it

• SF Chron is No on Prop 5: says “Frankenstein” initiative would raise taxes, then ban local gov'ts from using proceeds on 96% of CA's residential land

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