Parks and Rec board member Yu “Yudy” Deng and City Council incumbent Vicki Veenker were the two Palo Alto candidates to win an endorsement for council from the Santa Clara County Democratic Party.
The party decided to endorse two of the candidates even though there are three vacancies.
Here are the other party endorsements for races in the Post’s circulation area:
• Palo Alto School District, 2 at large seats, Linda Henigin;
• Mountain View City Council, 3 at large seats, Silja Paymer, Erik Poicon and IdaRose Sylvester;
• Los Altos City Council, District 2, Anky van Deurson;
• Mountain View-Los Altos High School District, Area 3, Thida Cornes;
• Los Altos School District, 3 at large seats, Bryan Johnson, Vaishali “Shali” Sirkay and Brandon Stroy;
• Santa Clara County Water District, District 7, Pete Dailey;
• Mountain View Whisman School District, 2 at large seats, Devon Conley;
• Regional Measure RTM, half-cent sales tax to support BART, Caltrain and other transit agencies, Yes.
In other words, vote Ja! to staying the course. Also, why isn’t Palo Alto making more of an effort to support Menlo Park in their fight against this proposal for the Sunset property that for all practical purposes is also in Palo Alto. They’re going to have to let Rob Bonta sell out to a Russian oligarch in return for a measly 100 affordable units that probably won’t be very affordable anyway. As Gavin Newsom said: “You’re going to get it whether you like it or not.”
I’m perfectly capable of thinking for myself. I don’t need some party boss handing me a list and telling me who I’m supposed to support. I’ll judge candidates by their records, actions, and what they actually stand for—not by a party endorsement stamped on their forehead.
And when it comes to Veenker, I have plenty to consider on my own. As mayor and a councilmember, she bears responsibility for the decisions she participates in. On the OSV issue, I find her leadership and the city’s response disappointing. More importantly, Veenker voted to reappoint the former planning commissioner after reviewing the investigative report, saying she did not believe it established sufficient grounds for an abuse-of-position finding. The report has remained confidential. That raises legitimate questions about the city’s vetting process, the safeguards for removing commissioners when ethical concerns arise, and Veenker’s own judgment and accountability in that appointment.
The best predictor of electoral failure in Palo Alto continues to be an endorsement from the Santa Clara County Democratic Party.
SC Dem’s eternal preference for relentlessly mediocre and poorly-qualified candidates — those least-equipped to deal with real problems — is a feature, not a bug. The Party Organization is in hock to the Party’s very worst elements: overinfluence from special interests like public-sector unions and Big Real Estate; an obsessive fixation on identity politics that overrides common sense; a predilection to hand public money and resources to whichever grievance group whines the loudest; and, yes, a flagrant disdain for science and arithmetic equal to that of the Republicans. Smarter, more incisive and better-qualified candidates see through those things, and so fail SC Dem’s filter.
The problem for the Party is there are too many smart people in Palo Alto who understand all this. When SC Dem does get a win in Palo Alto, it’s usually in spite of, not because of, the Party; JLH, for example, had a stellar professional resume. But in Palo Alto at least, opposing SC Dem’s candidates continues to be the better bet.
I am very disappointed that the Santa Clara County Democratic Party did not endorse John Craig and Avery Wang for the two open PAUSD School Board seats.
The endorsements seem to reflect a very progressive political perspective, but I know many Palo Alto Democrats who are more moderate and who are looking for candidates who prioritize fiscal responsibility, good governance, transparency, accountability, and academic excellence for every student.
For those of us whose priorities don’t necessarily align with the party’s progressive agenda, these endorsements simply don’t reflect how we think about our school district or who we believe can best serve our students and families.
I hope voters will take the time to look beyond party endorsements and learn about all of the candidates—their experience, priorities, and approach to governing PAUSD—and make their own informed choices.
Party endorsements are not usually important to me, and especially in a city council race which should be nonpartisan. To endorse a candidate with practically no relevant experience over others with deep experience suggests more of the same internal herd pressure to always agree. Unfortunately, even in Palo Alto it seems the Democratic party is on the path of becoming irrelevant.
These endorsements remind me of the Santa Clara Democratic Party’s long-standing tradition of endorsing the candidates with the least experience so they’ll simply be party mouthpieces instead of independent thinkers who delve deeply into the issues. My favorite endorsement was of a young City Council candidate whose slogan was “Vote For Me! I’m a bisexual bicyclist!” — as if that would solve any of PA’s problems.
As always, follow the money and you’ll see the money keeps flowing to the endorsed candidates who reject the idea of local control and prefer to carry out Sacramento’s high-density dictates regardless of the costs, regardless of the lack of funding and infrastructure …anything to feather their personal nests in preparation for their runs for higher office.
Veenker has long ignored the problem of OSVs in her desire to a) fall in line with party priorities and b) her nonsensical craven concern that PA might get sued.
So while OSV population doubles and OTHER communities have acted, PA has positioned itself as the regional OSV dumping ground, hurting residents and businesses while our leaders clutch their pearls and wonder whyever could our sales tax revenues keep tanking.
Some of us joke that the local Democratic party hacks really work for the GOP since votes for Democratic candidates keep falling in spite of the abominable performance of Trump and the rest of the spineless GOP.
Enough with the puerile virtue-signalling and money from outsiders. Think critically when you vote locally.
We have to very smart and competent candidates who have spent years doing a stellar job on city commissions and more recently one on city council and neither was endorsed, Bryna and Ed. On the other the hand Deng did very little on the Parks and recs committee but raised a lot of money for democrats and is very pro developers got endorsed. Its no wonder as a lifelong democrat, I’m disenfranchised with party base.
A number of years ago I actually asked the then-head of the Santa Clara County Democratic Party about the widening gap between the Party’s priorities and those of a majority of Palo Alto voters. He basically blew me off — didn’t think it was an issue.
Echoing Anonymous. Over the years I’ve written to them questioning their endorsements of those with the least knowledge and experience and never got a reply. This was way back when people started saying “This isn’t your father’s Democratic Party” any more.
The amount of money being poured into local races by outsiders is shameful.