FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

I was elected in the middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The loss of sales and hotel tax revenue caused a large deficit which forced the City to let go many as-needed employees, reduce services, and dig into reserve funds.

 

We had a $14.6 million structural deficit in FY2022 which we reduced to only $0.9 million in FY2024. We were also able to restore some of our reserves from a surplus in  FY2023.

 

For years I have complained about frivolous spending like landscaping at the intersection of Lawrence and El Camino Real. I also complained about the City spending $2 million of tax payer money on the "Super Celebrations" around the time of Superbowl 50.

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The City wasted over $5 million dollars fighting a California Voting Right Act Lawsuit. This was absurd because no city had every won a CVRA lawsuit. Also, as soon as the judge forced us to hold district elections, Raj Chahal was elected to the City Council. Many neighboring cities went straight to district elections to avoid the mistake that Santa Clara made.

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The City needs to look at new revenue sources. When the City Council lifted the 10 PM weekday curfew at Levi's Stadium in 2021, concerts and other events generated millions of dollars for the Stadium Authority. I was one of the key champions for updating our business license tax via Measure H which passed in November 2022 and is expected to generate $6M annually for the general fund.