BY DAVE PRICE
Daily Post Editor
Santa Clara County government officials say their budget is tight and they will be cutting grants to charities, like those who feed the poor.
Yet it’s remarkable that in this period of supposed austerity, Supervisors Margaret Abe-Koga and Otto Lee found $65,000 to give an organization headed by former Assemblyman Evan Low that helps LGBTQ politicians get elected across the U.S. The money will go to a one-day meeting Low is organizing in Campbell for about 100 people.
Todd Langton, who heads Agape Silicon Valley, which provides food for the homeless, told the supervisors that the grant to Low’s group feels like a slap in the face. He said, “$65,000 for a one-day summit — imagine how many homeless LGBTQ people we could feed with that money.” He only got $10,000.
The supervisors heard the same thing from other charities that had their grants reduced.
I’m not going to bash the LGBTQ cause, but I’m not sure the county should be doing business with Low, given his recent history. On April 10, the state Fair Political Practices Commission fined him $106,000 for concealing campaign donations and expenses. The FPPC even said Low tried to pass off a $110,000 paid appearance by actor Alec Baldwin as voluntary. One FPPC official called Low’s dishonesty “egregious.”
I wonder why Abe-Koga, the former Mountain View councilwoman who now represents the county district that includes Palo Alto, would sully her reputation with this $65,000 grant to Low’s group.
Editor Dave Price’s column appears on Mondays.
Plus: notwithstanding Mr Low’s own conduct, and also the dubious use of public funds for what are essentially political purposes …
The people who attend events like Mr Low’s are Political People, not regular people. Think about it – did you ever go to one of these shindigs? Regular people don’t do that, only Political People do. These are folks with time on their hands for such pastimes, a.k.a. people with money. Political People (which includes Ms Abe-Koga and Mr Lee, as it happens), think $65K is a pittance. But to a lot of these hardscrabble local charities, $65K is a fortune.
I’m sure Ms Abe-Koga and Mr Lee, not to mention Mr Low, would howlingly decry the new US House budget that slashes money from the poor and spends it on the affluent. Seems ironic.
How did we go from the strong ethics of Joe Simitian to somebody like Margaret Abe-Koga?
Can we get a re-do on the November election. I’ve decided I voted for the wrong person for supervisor.