Shameful attack against Khamis is unwarranted

Two campaign mailers sent to Santa Clara County residents last week include uncalled-for attacks on former San Jose City Councilman Johnny Khamis, who is running for the District 1 seat on the Board of Supervisors.

The hit pieces were funded by the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council COPE and Service Employees International Union, which have a deserved reputation for dirty election politics, using misleading statements and outright falsehoods to try to sway voters. Using misinformation and disinformation to achieve political goals is shameful.

The first mailer carries a big headline claiming that Khamis' leadership “makes you sick,” implying that as a councilman he took action to spread COVID-19 in San Jose.

The mailer includes an unflattering photo of Khamis surrounded by more than 50 COVID images and says that “In the middle of COVID, lifelong Republican Johnny Khamis told businesses they should `shut down' to avoid paying sick leave to essential workers.”

It's littered with lies: Khamis didn't help spread the virus, he didn't encourage businesses to shut down and he isn't a Republican.

The truth is that, as a councilman, on March 24, 2020, Khamis initially opposed a proposed emergency paid sick leave policy that would provide extra protection for any essential employee in the city who was still working and potentially impacted by the coronavirus crisis.

His objection was that it didn't include an exemption for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. What he actually said was, “After this regulation, we might not have any (small businesses downtown) because it would be easier to not comply with this and shut down because they're not making that much money anyway.”

Then on April 7, 2020, Khamis was part of a unanimous council vote to approve the emergency paid sick leave policy without the exemption for small businesses that he had sought.

As for the claim that Khamis is a lifelong Republican, which labor groups doubled down on in the second mailing: Khamis was a registered Democrat from age 18-29. He then became a registered Republican until he was 50. Four years ago, disgusted by Republicans' treatment of immigrants, he registered with no party preference.

Fair criticisms of campaigns and candidates are expected and acceptable. But neither of these labor hit pieces is fair or accurate. Voters should ignore them.