By Robert Haugh

The bombshell story that SanJoseInside.com ran on Santa Clara Councilman Dominic Caserta a couple days ago has a lot of people talking.

A former campaign staffer, Ian Crueldad, says Caserta walks around the campaign HQ (also his home) semi-nude. Caserta allegedly threatened Crueldad and said the 49ers would get him. Another campaign volunteer also said in the story that Caserta allegedly touched a young woman’s thigh and whispered in her ear.

That story seems to have opened the floodgates for more Caserta stories. There are a lot of stories floating around Santa Clara and making their way to this site. Some of them are old and we’ve heard about them before. Some of them are new. Some are from anonymous sources. Some are from credible sources.

We’ve interviewed a few credible sources whose stories are consistent with each other. So, we think what they have to say is relevant to our readers and Mission City residents.

Caserta Has a Temperament Problem

We’ve documented Caserta’s outbursts and attacks on his colleagues at lots of council meetings like: here, here, and here.

But it looks like he doesn’t need to be in the city council chambers to explode. Caserta is a long-time teacher at Santa Clara High. Sources tell us that when he coached girls basketball, he was known for yelling and losing his cool. Players and parents allegedly complained about it. Some say he was fired from coaching. Here’s Caserta’s response in an email he sent to us:

“I was the varsity girls basketball coach at Santa Clara High school for two seasons for the 1999 and 2000.  I resigned after the 2000 season; was not fired.”

Caserta did not comment on the allegations about his temper and outbursts.

Caserta May Have Had Issues With Semi-Nudity Before

Caserta also coached boys tennis at the high school. Sources tell us that he used to practice with his team with his shirt off. That made some players and parents uncomfortable. Some say he was fired from coaching because of it. Here’s Caserta’s response in an email he sent to us:

“I was the varsity boys tennis coach at Santa Clara high school for four seasons from 2010-2013. I resigned after the 2013 season; not fired.”

Caserta did not comment on the allegations about playing with his shirt off.

We know these are serious charges against Caserta. But the sources are credible and there are multiple people making them. None of them are actively involved in other supervisorial campaigns against Caserta.

We gave Caserta a chance to respond to these charges. He didn’t fully answer the questions. We’ll give Caserta more space to write a more detailed opinion piece if he wants to.