By Robert Haugh
It was 225 days ago that indicted Councilmember Anthony Becker appeared in Santa Clara County Superior Court and said he needed time to secure the Public Defender as his attorney.
Becker is facing misdemeanor and felony charges for leaking a grand jury report and lying about it. He could serve up to four years in prison.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Daniel Nishigaya granted him more time.
Local attorneys and community leaders speculated that Becker was just playing the judge and the system because he never intended to get a private attorney. They were right. Becker still has a public defender.
Becker shows up in Superior Court again tomorrow for a hearing to set a trial date. It’s the third time the judge will try to do so.
Since he was indicted, numerous community leaders have called for him to resign.
But Becker refuses and continues to draw his City Council salary.
Becker can theoretically collect his paycheck for another full year when his term expires at the end of 2024.
Becker has told an associate that he’s not running for re-election.
The 49ers don’t appear to think Becker is running either. Or they’re not supporting him anymore with ads and money.
Santa Clara Now, a Facebook group that the 49ers created, are running ads to help Councilmembers Suds Jain and Kevin Park but not Becker.
Hi RJ,
You are obviously a master of English grammer and spelling.
Your critical thinking skills need to be improved.
I suggest you take this “Critical Thinking” class to understand the words you and others scribe.
If the best you have is to point out grammer in other’s posts, your intellect is questionable.
This class would be perfect for you: https://www.deanza.edu/faculty/ramireztono/phil04/phil04.f.18.syllabus.pdf
Your life is like Monopoly. Don’t pass GO! Do not collect $2000. Go to jail!
If Becker is doing the job and isn’t suspended from contributing then he is entitled to the contracted compensation, this should not be in question. Notice how this blog didn’t report on previous Santa Clara city employees who were suspended from their jobs, headed to court on criminal charges and were eventually convicted all the while collecting salary, benefits, and retirement contributions in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Burt Field’s comments and poor sentence structure indicate he needs to spend time away from the Internet and City Hall. Suggestion for Burt: Spring semester at Mission College starts on January 27, 2024. Two English Composition with Additional Support classes are available either hybrid or online and seats are still available. Section 33546 or 33548, https://schedule.wvm.edu?college=mc
RJ, Burt’s message was very clear. That is the objective, be understood. This isn’t an English class, it is a civil discussion.
Your nitpicking about sentence structure indicates to me you found nothing in his content to criticize.
I suspect Becker thought the niners would lend him one of their many attys, but found out the friendship was of the fair weather variety. Perhaps it’s true there is no honor among thieves, nor loyalty.
@MrHMyers: After all these years of reading and listening to his ranting we can sum it up to three character traits Burt possesses – uneducated, hypersensitivity, incomprehension. That guy should not be the face or voice of any group representing residents or city groups. The recommendation to take a class isn’t to belittle anyone, it’s an opportunity to remind people that continuing education is a good thing.
Just because Becker requested time to find a private attorney and didn’t replace his public defender does not automatically mean he “played the judge.” He may have tried to find one and found that he could not find one he could afford and then decided to continue with his public defender.
Well
A couple things come to my mind very quickly.
1. When does the term “Court Appointed Attorney” become relevant?
2. Why is this person still making important decisions on our City?
3. Under what circumstance would this ever be a good idea?
I understand “Innocent until proven guilty”. That said, it’s a really bad look when for the past 225 days this one person has been fully engaged in all City matters.
How many times did he even think to recuse himself from any 49er / City issues?
You can look that up if you have the time… My short search netted me once, and then he even screwed that up as well.
I can spend more of my time trying to make sense of the “How and Why” someone like this could even be considered to run for public office. I am intentionally choosing not to go that low.
We have a GREAT City… We just need to get it back.
The path we have to take is the one that leads to the voting booth.
First step is getting registered to vote.
Second step is then voting what is best for our City. Not one local company…
Keep the Elected Police Chief and Elected City Clerk at all cost. The foot print the 49ers have in our City Hall is already too great.
Burt Field
Former Volunteer Parks and Recreation Commissioner
(A lot has happened in 225 days, most not good for our City)
Does everyone realize if Becker had admitted leaking we would not be discussing this? No charges at all would filed.
Field not reappointed. Very dumb. Burt is qualified beyond belief. If Becker reconsidered his motion, he would be a hero.
If 49ers took 2 million, redid swim center and parks, they would be heroes.
The funny thing is, if Becker decided (in a moment of clarity) to turn-coat and make all his 49er dealings public, he could actually be welcomed back into SC circles. Maybe not as a hero but as a wayward son of sorts. It would take time but SC is such a forgiving place for those who are penitent.
Think about that.
What do you all expect – that he would quit his job that pays him to support himself? He, like most of you I am sure, needs income. I 100% doubt any of you would quit, so get off your high horses.
Juj S. – Doesn’t he make only $2,000/month? That is hardly enough to support oneself at $24k/annually. I would 100% quit that job and get a better paying job. That is what I expect of others as well
Hi Suds,
He is an elected official and we, the public, have aright to expect more from him (and from you).
Come on Baby Faced Becker. Take your lumps like George Santos did. And then flip on your buddies like Santos did!
Becker has been spending his time sending nasty emails to critics and pursuing his nusiance fppc case against soccer parents. What a waste.