Vote Ellenberg for Santa Clara County District 4 supervisor

Supervisor Ken Yeager is termed out after serving for 12 years on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. His departure represents a major loss of institutional knowledge on safety net issues critical to the county’s most vulnerable residents. It has also created an increasingly nasty race for the District 4 seat in a strong field of seven candidates.

District 4 stretches from Santa Clara to San Jose and Campbell. The winner of the seat will likely serve as a crucial swing vote on the five-member board. The ideal candidate would work with both labor and business interests for the public good without being beholden to either. Someone with the heart and intelligence to protect access to health care and other services for poor children and families while also being a voice for fiscal sanity.

Susan Ellenberg best meets that criteria and deserves voter support in the June 5 election.

As president of the San Jose Unified School District Board of Trustees, Ellenberg has gained valuable experience managing a $335 million budget. Her background as an attorney, middle school educator and member of the Santa Clara County Commission on the Status of Women will serve her well in addressing what she regards as the county’s top issues, protecting health care, and early childhood care and education.

Ellenberg, with candidate Don Rocha, has a dual endorsement from Yeager and the Santa Clara County Democratic Party. Her position on issues indicates more of an independent approach. Her endorsements, ranging from former state Sen. Becky Morgan, a Republican, to former Supervisor Blanca Alvarado, a Democrat, show her appeal across the political spectrum. The current board has only one woman. Adding Ellenberg would bring welcome perspective and diversity.

San Jose City Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio is the most difficult candidate to assess. His ability to cut to the heart of complex financial issues and challenge labor is unsurpassed, and he has a passion for mental health issues. But he is weak as a collaborator. Voters should know that he is being forced to address a 2013 sexual harassment lawsuit against him and the city by his former chief of staff. They should also know that while the specifics of the case are not known, it was over verbal abuse. Oliverio was later dropped from the lawsuit, and the city settled out of court for $10,000, a further indication of the lesser severity of the case.

Rocha demonstrated a strong intellect as a member of the San Jose City Council. But he is also weak at building coalitions, and his connections to county Supervisors Cindy Chavez and Dave Cortese would tip the balance of the board toward labor.

Jason Baker is well versed on transportation and housing issues from his experience on the Campbell City Council. But his poor name recognition, coupled with a failure to raise needed campaign funding, makes him a long shot to make the runoff. Dominic Caserta’s inability to make headway as a councilman in the divisive mess that envelops every aspect of the Santa Clara City Council make him a poor fit even before the barrage of accusations of sexual harassment against him. Mike Alvarado and Maria Hernandez do not have the experience, backing or knowledge of the issues to merit voter consideration.

Ellenberg is the candidate best-suited for the job. She deserves voters’ support June 5.