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Santa Clara City Council Appoints Six New Commissioners 

By Robert Haugh

Over the past two evenings, the Santa Clara City Council appointed six new City commissioners. 

Congrats to the new Commissioners:

Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) for a partial term through June 2025: 

  • Guillermo Jenaro Rabadan

Board of Library Trustees for full terms ending in June 2028:

  • G. Salim Mohammed 
  • Daniel Huynh 

Civil Service Commission for a full term ending in June 2028:

  • Samuel Pumarejo

Cultural Commission for a partial term ending June 2027:

  • Abinas Roy 

Parks and Recreation Commission for a full term ending June 2028:

  • Derek DeMarco 

Savita Chari, the only female applicant to the five commissions, was edged out of the Parks and Rec appointment by DeMarco on a 4-3 vote.

Councilmembers Anthony Becker, Raj Chahal, Karen Hardy and Kevin Park voted for DeMarco.

Mayor Lisa Gillmor, Councilmembers Suds Jain and Kathy Watanabe voted for Chari. 

8 comments

  1. I hope at some point Savitha Chari and I meet up. I’m sure Derek DeMarco is a good person as well. Derek, just try to not get too close to them as it’s difficult to get that smell off of you after, even after just a few minutes of being around them.
    Just in case you are not familiar, it is very common for one of the 49er 5 to rotate their vote so it does not always end up 5-2.
    You see 4-3 seems so much closer, so much nicer, almost like our City is normal.
    Almost like our Mayor and Lone Santa Clara Council Member might actually win a vote now and then. But Math is Math….5 or 4 is always greater than 2 or 3.
    Even the “Indicted One” figured that math out.

    That’s why I’m so vocal whenever any one tries to blame our Santa Clara Mayor and Lone Santa Clara City Council Member for the state our City is in right now.
    These two poor Elected Officials have never had a chance to win anything, once we went to Districts.
    The 49ers did the math, and figured out it was cheaper to pour Millions of our dollars into the campaigns than to pay us the money they owe us.
    Good for them, not good for us.

    So just to revisit my fun night last May when I was not Reappointed to the Parks and Recreation Commission.
    No reason was ever given, but it was painfully obvious that it was 100% personal.
    The actions that night reeked of a Brown Act Violation. For you who do not know what that is, please look it up. It is not how you want your local government to be run.
    3 Yes, to 3 No, with 1 Abstaining.
    Remember all I needed was 4 votes to get Reappointed. When Chahal was asked why he choose to Abstain, he would not answer. When any of the others were asked why they voted No, they would not answer.
    If you ever look back at the Video, you can hear some members in the audience even laughing when our “Indicted One” would just shake his head “No”. Just like a 3 year old not wanting to give up their snack or to go take a nap. Seriously you can hear people in the audience laughing.

    If you have not registered to vote, please do. While you are at it, try to get someone else as well.
    Our City is worth it, I’m not anti 49ers, I’m just Pro Santa Clara, and it’s time we start to direct our City again.

    Burt Field
    Memorial Day Weekend will mark 61 years of my family living in Santa Clara.

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  2. Susan

    You are on the money!!

    Huynh was Park’s treasurer.
    Huynh is one of the guys Jay Reed knows.

    Good call

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  3. Good crop of appointments. Some very stellar. Hopefully future council material? Two observations:

    Savitha was the better candidate hands down for P&R position. Why did 4 idiots vote against her?

    Huynh is a putz for the 49er 5. All 5 voted for him. This guy does NOT deserve any appointments. Library trustees should stick him in a corner with a comic book.

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    • Despicable comment, Susan. DeMarco is well educated, puts a lot of effort guiding others to achieve higher education, and is active with volunteer community services. The Council had to make a decision, I’m sure Chari can still be valuable in other areas of community service in Santa Clara. Both DeMarco and Chari are much better than the unlearned and perpetually whining Burt Field.

      Huynh appears to be a nice, young man. He is educated and constantly gives back to others in the community. There is nothing political about the City Library and I’m sure the staff will appreciate his contributions.

      Susan: Daniel has never offended anyone, referring to a young person, who is eager to give back to his community, as ‘putz’ (idiot) is a reflection of your horrible personality.

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    • Go back and watch the 49er bloc CRC meetings. Watch strings raising huynh’s hand voting in tandem with other 4 to get rid of elected police chief. Surprised more of them didn’t apply for commissions and be rewarded for their loyalty to the 49er 5 and their overlord.

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    • @Susan… You’re a nut. Outside of of contributing to the community, there is very little reward for being on a commission unless, of course, your name is Nancy Biagini who’s husband runs a commercial real estate company. Then it’s beneficial to be on the Planning Commission. The City has 17 openings coming up next year on various commissions, why don’t you put your name on the list and see if you’re better than those you criticize? (spoiler alert: you’re not)

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    • Susan – I think you’re arguing with the 49ers PR consultant. Don’t waste your time

      Reply

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