Two elected officials
from Santa Clara - Councilman Dominic Caserta and City Clerk Rod
Diridon Jr. - are gearing up to run for the 22nd Assembly District seat
next year. A third, Councilwoman Jamie McLeod, is considering it.
Why are so many Santa Clarans weighing a bid for higher office? Chalk
it up to a vibrant political climate in recent years - and maybe some
of the fame afforded by the city's nationally recognized campaign
ethics program.
But with up to three officials vying for termed-out Democrat Sally
Lieber's seat - which covers Cupertino, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, most
of Santa Clara and a slice of San Jose - some political observers
wonder whether the campaign for the Democratic primary could harm the
city leadership's dynamics and ability to craft meaningful policy at
the same time the city is evaluating a mammoth stadium proposal from
the San Francisco 49ers.
"At a minimum, people competing for the same Assembly district have an
incentive to compete for getting attention or credit for stuff that was
done," said Bruce Cain, director of the University of
California-Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies. "It doesn't
have to happen, but conceivably the relationships can turn sour and
make it hard for them to cooperate."
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