☆ Opinion: Nonstop campaigning norms could destroy the SJCC

Pat Waite, president of SJ-based Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility (CFR), launches an Opp Now exclusive series on 2023 Local Gov't Hopes & Fears. Waite’s biggest wish and apprehension for this year’s City Council (respectively: budgetary oversight and combative “permanent campaigning”) below.

Biggest Wish:

My biggest wish for our city is that our City Council finally acts upon the need for a deep dive into San Jose’s budget. City spending of nearly $6 billion is essentially on autopilot. Each year, the Council works diligently on… generally less than 1% of that. They focus on allocating any excess funds or closing any budget shortfall.

It is time to dig into the detail and ferret out the inefficiencies that inevitably arise in every organization of such size. $6 billion can solve a lot of problems, and we certainly have plenty that need solving.

Biggest Apprehension:

Permanent campaign: the idea that politicians are always in campaign mode, even when they are not actively running for office.

Politicians once campaigned during election cycles and governed in between elections. Nationally, this ceased being the case long ago. Until now, San Jose has mostly avoided this malady.

I fear that our city’s next two years will be marked by the gridlock of the permanent campaign, as those opposing Mayor Mahan work to thwart any progress on his agenda so that they can oust him in the 2024 election.

San Jose faces many problems. A permanent campaign would be a very bad thing.

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