Board candidate gets Bloomberg’s attention
One other significant piece of news from Election Day: David Neighbors, a Berryessa resident, lost his campaign for the Santa Clara County Board of Education to the controversial Anna Song. But there was one welcome piece of news in his mailbox near the end of the race. Neighbors’ campaign received a $ 10,000 personal check from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, part of a wave of procharter schools money coming Neighbors’ way.
Song, you may remember, opposed granting permission to Rocketship Education to open 20 new charter schools.
Bloomberg spent upward of $ 9 million of his own money — OK, tip money for the New York City mayor— to support candidates who shared his views on gun control and education reform. Neighbors’ reaction?
“I was really flattered that Mayor Bloomberg would even recognize my campaign,” Neighbors told us.
What does it mean for his future? You could argue that Neighbors has received a benediction. He’s well- situated for another run at the county Board of Education, or the San Jose council seat of Kansen
Chu four years from now. A footnote for the political junkies: Neighbors is registered as decline- to- state. And he is half- Latino.