By Robert Haugh
On Tuesday, City staff met with property owners to discuss the Suds Jain Paid Parking Plan at Santa Clara’s Franklin Mall.
There were lots of questions and few answers. Some attendees told Santa Clara News Online (SCNO) that it was an evening of “confusion and frustration.”
A few weeks ago, notices went out to property owners, informing them that the City is seeking vendor proposals for the Suds Jain Paid Parking Plan.
But, surrounding neighborhoods were left out of the loop, and they’re the ones who will be directly impacted when people park in the Old Quad and other neighborhoods.
When residents showed up to the meeting in person and on Zoom, they were greeted by City staff who seemed unprepared.
The staff admitted they were working on the Request for Proposals (RFP) but couldn’t explain why the City was pushing forward with the RFP before knowing what the public thought.
According to City Staff, a public hearing will come soon. But it felt more like an afterthought than a priority to attendees.
And then there’s the elephant in the room – Jain.
But the elephant in the room wasn’t even in the room. The man who’s been pushing this paid parking plan is nowhere to be found because the meeting was scheduled to conflict with a Council meeting. (Hmmm)
Jain has made zero effort to engage with residents about the Suds Jain Paid Parking Plan, despite being the primary driver of the move.
SCNO has received comments that the effort is “un-Santa Clara” and Jain is “vindictive.”
His absence at the meeting only added to the growing frustration, as people wondered if he was avoiding the heat or just didn’t care to hear from the community.
SCNO will follow this story and report if Jain shows up at any neighborhood meetings to defend the Suds Jain Paid Parking Plan.
I dont get it. How can this clown just unilaterally decide that this plan is being put in motion. No input from the community? No council votes on it? WTF is going on here?
Is it just me or does Suds Jain resemble Nixon in the way he acts and the way he looks?
Jain doesn’t give two craps about the residents he supposed to represent.
He ran for reelection as the savior of the downtown project and ridiculed his opponent as not being able to vote on any downtown projects.
Outside of this moronic paid parking proposal what has he done in 4+ years?
Wait until he terms out and I’m betting there still won’t be anything.
District 5 has been played for fools by him.
How can The City allow one paid Shill for the 49rs create such havoc?
Because staff doesn’t want to lose their jobs. No different than DC. Do the thing I tell you to do no matter how it will hurt the little people. The 49er 5 hold the power. Sad. They learned well from Caserta.
The Welshman
To answer your very fair question, my only guess it’s what Jed York wanted him to do.
As the saying goes, “You get what you paid for”. Before the 49er poured Millions into our local elections, no one had ever heard of any of these Individuals. What is telling is some even moved to our City to qualify to run for local office.
That seems strange….
So bravo to the 49ers for finding a very cheap way to take over a City.
How come Suds Jain has not been held accountable for knowing about Becker’s lies that he told while under oath in court?
Isn’t it also a crime to Obstruct Justice, and not freely tell the truth when you know someone is lying to the courts?
At a bare minimum this is what I would expect from an elected servant to any City or Government.
So how did he win reelection?
3 Options seem fair to look at.
1. Either he is really good at what he does, and won on merit.
2. No other candidates.
3. The 49ers poured a lot of money into the local election, and are expecting a return on their investment.
Just the Facts Ma’am