By Robert Haugh
Days before the 2020 election, Kevin Park asked the Santa Clara Weekly/Silicon Valley Voice (SCW/SVV) to kill a potential story involving domestic disturbance calls at his home.
At that time, Park was running for City Council, backed by the 49ers with approximately $1 million in independent expenditures that year.
After Park won his race in November 2020, he became part of the 49er Five, the Councilmembers who the Grand Jury concluded were selling out Santa Clara residents to help the team.
Information about Park’s October 2020 action was recently provided to Santa Clara News Online (SCNO) by a confidential source who has been reading SCNO’s special reports and who has requested anonymity.
SCNO confirmed the validity of the information by reviewing an email sent from Park to the publication in October 2020. The emails were sent from Park’s personal email account to: scweekly@ix.netcom.com and editor@svvoice.com.
Both are emails for Angie Tolliver, who is the publication’s editor.
In the last five years, SCW/SVV has not written any stories about Park and domestic disturbance calls. There have been three, including one last month reported by SCNO.
For decades, the SCW/SVV received regular and considerable advertising and other revenue from the 49ers.
The publication’s publisher/lobbyist Miles Barber has bragged to a Santa Clara resident about how he likes to dine with 49er owner Jed York at Vito’s Trattoria, near San Jose airport.
Park’s Email
In Park’s email, he tries to downplay the two incidents in 2017 at his home that required the Santa Clara police to send a patrol car.
Park frames the issue as a personal and cultural struggle rather than a domestic disturbance at the home of a City Council candidate.
Park wrote in detail about the challenges his wife faced adjusting to life in America, particularly with mental health care and cultural differences.
Park said that there was no violence involved in the 2017 police calls.
Park also said that there’s a lack of support for immigrant families, and it’s difficult to navigate the mental health systems in Silicon Valley.
This is a developing story, and SCNO will continue to write about it.
Editor’s Note: I worked at the Santa Clara Weekly from 2006 to 2016, and Angie Tolliver was my editor. As a reporter, I heard rumors about then-Councilmember Dominic Caserta and the alleged harassment of his female students at Santa Clara High School around 2008. But Angie stopped me from reporting on a possible story. Santa Clara learned about Caserta’s actions later from numerous female students. I regret that to this day.
[…] successfully suppressed press reports in the Silicon Valley Voice/Santa Clara Weekly about one of the calls during his 2020 […]
[…] Santa Clara News Online (SCNO) previously reported, the email was sent to editor Angie Tolliver, who has overseen coverage decisions at the […]
Park has opposed an Ethics Commission 4 times since 2008.
Park has accepted favors from Mike Honda and has used Honda to get free trips to Korea.
As much as Kevin Park is despised (count me in) in his conduct and decisions that are destroying our beloved Santa Clara, there are circumstances unknown to all that may be causing poor representation of District 4. Perhaps his wife or other family members are mentally ill or under other stresses over the last eight (8) years that derail him for giving his best to Santa Clara.
That said, On August 5th, SCNO reported:
“As Santa Clara News Online has reported, Park’s home has been the site of at least THREE domestic disturbance calls since 2017.”
There is a pattern. The “domestic disturbances” may be classified as “domestic abuse” or “domestic violence,” depending on the Peace Officer’s evaluation of the circumstances. BUT… one must surmise that for each of the THREE “domestic disturbance” events that they did not fall within CA Penal Code § 13701 (see below). Who were the individuals of the SCPD that made those decisions?
Non-physical forms of abuse do fall within the harmful behavior that our laws seek to remedy.
Again, perhaps Park just engages CONTINUALLY verbally abusing his loved ones. Not a crime, but NOT a characteristic that us Santa Clarans hold as a value.
CA Penal Code § 13701 (2024) sub-section (b) states “The written policies SHALL encourage the ARREST of domestic violence offenders if there is probable cause that an offense has been committed…Peace officers shall make reasonable efforts to identify the dominant aggressor in any incident. The dominant aggressor is the person determined to be the most significant, rather than the first, aggressor. In identifying the dominant aggressor, an officer shall consider the intent of the law to protect victims of domestic violence from continuing abuse…..”
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&division=&title=5.&part=4.&chapter=1.&article=
All this material was sent to Civil Grand Jury last night. Case to be opened.
I believe that the SCW/SVV published the police blotters in the past (don’t know about today). If so, how did they handle this? Did they not publish the blotter that would presumably have contained the incidents, or did they remove it from the blotter when they published it?
Four months ago; Park was asked through public records to produce emails and texts from Becker alleging harassment. Park swore in a statement to Becker judge that such existed.
Nothing has been produced
I was just wondering if the police blotter were being published back then by the SCW/SVV and if Park’s incidents were selectively omitted.
So there are two stories here.
One is the a possible crime, domestic abuse. Even though that’s serious, you have rightly made that secondary here. It would be good to see or read Park’s letter. But I trust you’re summarizing it because there may be some personal information there or you’re trying to protect a source.
Two, is the coverup. In this case, Tolliver is covering for Park. It’s noteworthy that your personal experience is that she frequently covers for alleged abusers.
I’m glad you’re covering this story. As we know from past political scandals, the coverup is what drives the story, not the crime. Keep it up.
Kevin Park
2007
2008
2009
Spoke at city council meetings
Heavily objected to Weekly”s role in Santa Clara
Opposed 49ers stadium
Jay Reed email. PARK BOASTED THAT HE SET UP KATHY.