By Robert Haugh

Santa Clarans are voting on four City Council races that will determine the control of City Hall.

Two of the 49er Five are up for re-election:  Councilmembers Suds Jain (District Five) and Kevin Park (District Four). Jain and Park are getting a combined $1.2 million in independent expenditures from the team. 

They both voted to help the team with favorable legal settlements that cost Santa Clara taxpayers millions.

The team is backing two “ghost candidates”:  George Guerra (District 6) and Albert Gonzalez (District One). The two are not really running their own campaigns. They’re counting on a combined $1.2 million from the team in independent expenditures to put them over the top.

But the two most dominant figures in the elections maybe these two:

That’s a doctored photo from a Santa Clara News Online April Fool’s story that said Jed York is representing indicted Vice Mayor Anthony Becker in his felony perjury trial that starts on November 6.

Who knew that a joke photo might turn out to be true? York and Becker are united in the City Council elections. They are the two most dominant figures this fall in the Mission City.

Becker has been featured in the Santa Clara Police Officers’ direct mail campaign. They are using him to show how corrupt City Hall is.  This may turn out to be a smart move. 

York has written the big checks to fund TV ads, text messages, push polls, and direct mail.  

A lot of York’s messaging has been negative, attacking Mayor Lisa Gillmor who isn’t even running for re-election.  This move may backfire since a lot of attacks look personal.

York’s campaign has also attacked former City Manager Deanna Santana and fellow NFL owner Stephen Ross.  He owns the Miami Dolphins and the Related Companies, the developers of the massive mixed-use project north of Levi’s Stadium.  These moves also look personal.

It’s only three days until Election Day.  We’ll know soon how the Becker strategy or the York strategy worked.