By Robert Haugh
Santa Clara Resident Dr. Ron Patrick is a Planning Commissioner – for now.
According to multiple City Hall sources, Coucilmember Anthony Becker wants to remove him and he may have his chance next week at the City Council meeting.
Dr. Patrick was appointed to the Planning Commission on June 6th after Council interviews.
Becker made the motion to appoint him. Yup. No kidding.
Then suddenly and mysteriously, Becker said he discovered that Patrick might not be a Santa Clara resident.
City Hall insiders believe Patrick is being targeted by the 49ers who don’t want to see him on the Planning Commission because he’s complained about their poor stadium management.
Patrick hinted at that in an oped he wrote for Santa Clara News Online. Patrick wrote:
“This is a decision that is essentially political. And many Santa Clara residents watching this process think there’s a political agenda at work, including me. Maybe it’s because I’ve raised issues in the past about how the stadium events negatively impact neighborhoods and more needs to be done about it.“
At the July 5 Council meeting, Becker insisted that the City Council agendize an action item to remove Patrick.
Patrick was at the meeting and addressed the Council publicly. You can watch his 2-minute speech here.
Patrick also laid out the legal research to show his residency.
The vote was 5-2 to agendize Patrick’s removal at a future meeting. The 49er Five voted in favor. Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Councilmember Kathy Watanabe voted against the motion.
Despite Becker’s move, Patrick was sworn in and officially became a Commissioner on August 2. His first Planning Commission meeting is on August 24.
Editor’s Note: The 49er Five are Councilmembers Anthony Becker, Raj Chahal, Suds Jain, Karen Hardy and Kevin Park.
Jed York spent $3 million in November 2020 to elect Becker, Jain, and Park. They were previously 0-6 in Santa Clara elections. Chahal and Hardy have received gifts from the team recently without reporting them.
The 49er Five meet with the team on an almost weekly basis and have voted to help the team win millions of dollars in concessions from the City since December 2020.
[…] was unanimously appointed by the Council in June. He was sworn in earlier this […]
Anthony Becker has no morals or concerns for the Santa Clara community. He has his own agenda. He is in for the perks and the 49ers and the fabulous five. Everytime Something comes up that’s good for Santa Clara, Becker and the fabulous five go against it.
They are going against Patrick , ridiculous There is no way Becket will ever beat Lisa Gilmore . He’ll be munching at Taco Bell
In his Aug. 8th op-ed mentioned above, Ron Patrick says he is currently registered to vote in Santa Clara. What isn’t clear is what the County of Santa Clara Registrar of Voters had listed for Patrick’s residence in April when he submitted his application for the Planning Commission and on June 6th when he was interviewed for the position. Presentations during the July 12th City Council meeting also aren’t clear on the subject. * Was his voting domicile his house in Mountain View or his place of business in Santa Clara (5191 Lafayette St) or at another address in Santa Clara (4666 Armour Dr)?
If Patrick did lie or mislead City Staff or the Council on his application or during his interview for the Planning Commission, Anthony Becker’s motion has merit. Other related issues may be interesting but lack evidence, such as:
• Are the 49ers behind Becker’s request?
• Did Patrick’s change of voting domicile from his house to his business meet legal requirements? **
One related issue with evidence, is the suitability of having a planning commissioner whose domicile doesn’t meet city zoning and code requirements. Suds Jain briefly touched on it during the July 12th meeting. According to the Interim City Attorney, Patrick living at his place of business, 5191 Lafayette, violates building codes and current zoning of the property, but it doesn’t disqualify him from being on the Planning Commission. ***
Lisa Gilmor mentioned during the July 12th City Council meeting that there are only two qualifications to be a planning commissioner: you have to be 18, and you have to be a qualified elector in the city. True, but the City Clerk’s comments at 3:53:40 of the video for the meeting indicate there’s substance to Becker’s concerns.
* July 12th City Council meeting with the issue starting at 3:20:00, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8sn5uBrlD4
** Information about how a voting domicile is determined is in the California Elections Code sections 2020 through 2035,
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=ELEC&division=2.&title=&part=&chapter=1.&articl
*** City Attorney’s Office July 7th memorandum, https://santaclara.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11046027&GUID=ACBED4A2-9EB7-4CAC-A741-76A0EF136FAE
Dave, you bring up legit questions regarding his residence. My question to you is this-shouldn’t this have been investigated prior to his appt to planning commission? Then, all of a sudden the Issue has changed. It really smells like someone behind the scenes didn’t like this guys politics and now it’s become an issue. Who did the investigation prior to his initial appointment? Does the City require proof of residence before applying?
Thanks
Just watched the video. Becker is in full form. Must say I started laughing out loud pretty early on, and just couldn’t stop laughing for quite some time. Don’t think he little talk was suppose to be humorous, or have that result, but it sure did for me.
Thought that was the end of it, but then he tried to compare what he might have handed in to a potential employer, you know that thing where you show up on a regular basis, and they pay you, normally with a check.
My question is, “Has he ever had a real job?” Well that just got me laughing harder once again.
Sometimes truth is actually funnier than fiction.
Thanks “Yorkville 5” Commisioner Becker
You should be a comedian if this Political thing falls apart anytime soon.
Burt Field
burt.field@gmail.com
Watching Becker speak is more painful than watching this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww
That video clip of Becker is hard to watch. He is just plain stupid. He is obviously working for Rahul.and the Yorks. He is such a disgrace to our city. The 49er5 are self serving criminals and need to go.
Word on the street is that a back room deal was made to kick Patrick off and appoint Mario Bouza so that he won’t run against Raj Chahal for District 2! Like Bozo Bouza would have a chance so throw him a dog bone and appease him! Like everything else, Becker is the lap dog that will do anything for his backers!
Based on old Santa Clara politics and how corrupt they are. this tactic of back room deals sounds like a Magan/mclemore plan. Get rid of the old Santa Clara way of corrupt politics.
Becker is a bumbling idiot.
Go watch the recording. Becker actually says “after I went home that night I REMEMBERED that Mr. Patrick lives in Mountain View.”
You remembered that he lives in Mountain View? That implies that you knew it beforehand. The reality is you didn’t know sh** until 49ers Rahul Chandick called you up and told you that you made a bad decision.
The bottom line is that you’re a complete moron and total hypocrite. You’re complaining about someone moving into the city to get on planning commission? Yet you yourself carpetbagged your way into District 6 to run for City Council there. You’re complaining about someone living in their RV at a business parking lot? Yet you complain about classist comments disparaging renters and non-homeowners.
Becker is everything wrong with politics today.
Well said.
Becker has nothing going for himself and is trying to make a career out of politics. By taking support and payouts from businesses and people that are against the residents of Santa Clara is just a bad way to start. Of course that’s all he has. He wasted his money by going to school for 8 years to study film. He hasn’t been able to make any money at that so he is going to try to do it by trading the Goodwill of the Santa Clara residents for his own personal gain.
He have nothing to run on because he’s a loser so all he can do is try to dig up dirt on our mayor and staff.
I wonder what district he’s going to park his car in for his hilarious run for mayor.
The 49er 5 are all hypocrites.
They let Kevin Park off the
Hook to give the public an
Explanation for why it took
Him so long to correct forms
That he misrepresented
Information. Yet they are out
To destroy Ron Patrick. Glad
Patrick got sworn in which was
The right thing to do. If these
49er 5 remove him after he did
Nothing wrong and let Park off
The hook to provide proper 700s
It shows that they are nothing but
A bunch of self serving hypocrites.
This is so silly. Becker and Jain want to repeal the public record yet Becker minion Cardona wants Gillmor’s social media records. So if she wished my niece a happy birthday it is code for Jain is a bum. And now some commissioner struggñing to be inside like 56 percent of working class people is a secret vote for Boss Lisa! Under the California Supreme Court ruling, Patrick could run for mayor if he lived on a couch in back of Merry Mart! It is a matter of law. So Bugsy Becker should buy some more Chili Cheese Fritos and go back to watching Game of Thrones. The Weekly is backing this crap. I have been a caustic critic of Haugh for five years but he is doing good work on this issue. Patrick is being screwed.