Silicon Valley chamber CEO steps down
Nonprofit organizations also cutting ties with business group after ‘blatantly racist’ attack ad
As Election Day fast approaches, Silicon Valley’s largest chamber of commerce and one of the most influential groups in South Bay politics is facing a serious reckoning.
Less than three days after coming under fire for a racist attack ad posted by the business advocacy group earlier this week, Silicon Valley Organization’s CEO, Matt Mahood, resigned Oct. 29 as part of the fallout.
“The events of the last few days make it clear to me that it is best for the Silicon Valley Organization, for me and our community that I resign from my position as president and CEO so that we may begin the process of healing, working together and breaking down the barriers and divisiveness that exists in our country and community,” Mahood said in a written statement issued Oct. 29.
On top of that, dozens of members of the organization and some of its board members are cutting ties and prominent community leaders are calling for the complete dissolution of its political action committee, which supports businessfriendly candidates. By Oct. 29, the SVO had deleted webpages for its CEO, staff and board of directors, in essence scrubbing any reference to those involved with the organization.
The controversial ad was posted on the organization’s website earlier this week and quickly taken down after community members, prominent nonprofit leaders and elected officials strongly condemned it . The black-and-white image, which was part of an attack ad funded by the SVO Political Action Committee against San Jose District 6 council candidate Jake Tonkel, who is trying to unseat Council member Dev Davis, featured a group of Black men rioting in a street. On top of the photo, the ad read, “Do you really want to sign onto this?”
According to an SVO statement issued Oct. 27, the ad was intended “to demonstrate the consequences of cutting the police budget by 80%,” which the organization falsely claimed Tonkel favored.
Although Tonkel took part in some demonstrations against police brutality earlier this summer and is advocating for a deeper dive into police reform in the city, he has never publicly stated that he wants to cut the police budget by 80%.
Mahood’s resignation comes a day after the organization’s executive board denounced the ad as “blatantly racist” and announced it was placing Mahood on administrative leave, hiring a thirdparty investigator to determine how and why the ad made its way onto the website and suspending all campaigning efforts.
T he investigation, which will be conducted by the law firm Carothers DiSante & Freudenberger LLP, is expected to take up to two weeks, and the findings will be posted on the organization’s website when finished, according to the SVO board of directors.
Although the probe has not been conducted yet, Mahood said he is “confident that the results of the investigation will show a breakdown of internal process and control, and that I had no knowledge of the image’s posting on our website.”
The organization has not identified the individual responsible for posting the photo and has referred to the person only as a “web administrator.”
As soon as he was made aware that the ad existed, Mahood said he had it taken down immediately. “The investigation will find that it was a horrible mistake made by someone on the SVO team — the team for whom I am ultimately responsible for,” his statement said.
Mahood has served as president and CEO of the SVO — previously known as the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce — for the past 13 years and previously led the Sacramento Metro Chamber for nine years.
SVO board members Joshua Howard and Anil Babbar of the California Apartment Association resigned Wednesday in protest , citing their disap - pointment in the “inappropriate and blatantly racist imagery that was posted on the SVO website.” Michael Lane, the San Jose d i r e c t or of nonpr of it SPUR, confirmed Thursday that his organization also was giving up its seat on the board, which he was set to take over in January.
“They’ve created a really toxic environment where there is almost no separation between the organization and its PAC,” Lane said in an interview Oct. 29. “There are some folks there who just would prefer to play political hardball rather than working on policies to help their businesses, and we cannot participate until there’s a complete restructuring and reset.”
Valley Water — a member of the SVO for 44 years — also has rescinded its membership in protest of the organization’s pattern of racist campaign efforts.
The SVO has 1,200 business members throughout the greater Silicon Valley that employ 300,000 people.
At a news conference Thursday, leaders of the organization’s executive board of directors — Chairman Michael Bangs, Vice President Madison Nguyen and member Kevin Surace — refused to answer any questions from reporters, including how many other members and board members had resigned in protest, who is spearheading the organization in the interim and whether any other organization employees are facing repercussions.
Nguyen said the organization “is here to take full responsibility for not just our past mistakes but we are also making external and internal commitments to change.”
The organization is putting together a Diversity and Inclusion Review Board and will launch new cultural sensitivity training for all of its employees and board members starting next week, Nguyen said.
It’s not the first time the SVO has been accused of funding racist attack ads. In previous races, the organization faced public scrutiny for darkening photos of current Council members Sylvia Arenas and Sergio Jimenez, who are both Latino.
A nd now prominent community leaders such as Gregory Kepferle, CEO at Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, are calling for the organization to dissolve its PAC.
“T his is not about a mailer or a webpage. It’s about symptoms of a much larger and deeper problem of a racist culture that’s been allowed to exist within SVO and its PAC,” Kepferle said. “The PAC itself has proven it cannot be a legitimate advocate for policy for all of our community members, and it needs to go.”