By Robert Haugh
Santa Clara residents have re-launched a recall against Councilmember Suds Jain, accusing him of unethical behavior, divisiveness, and failure to deliver results for his district.
The initial recall petition highlighted how Jain covered up felony activity by former Vice Mayor Anthony Becker. But it had clerical errors, forcing the campaign to restart.
Campaign organizer David Kertes said the recall petition is being advertised as required by law. Then, the campaign will “wait for approval from the City Clerk to move forward.”
Once approved, Kertes said the group expects to begin collecting signatures within 10 days “unless the City Clerk asks us to correct something.”
The group has 25 volunteers ready to circulate petitions across District Five and will have 120 business days to collect at least 2,055 valid signatures to qualify the recall for the ballot.
Kertes said frustration with Jain has been growing among residents, including some who once supported him.
“Suds always attacks Lisa (Gillmor) because he has been a failure and has to blame someone,” Kertes said. “How can Suds have five votes for anything he wants and still get nothing done?”
He added that Jain “has done nothing for District Five except complain that Lisa will not shake his hand and blames her for his failures.”
Kertes said the recall’s early supporters include “Suds Jain voters who have seen the light” and were among the first 80 residents to sign the initial recall petition.
“We need a leader who fights for residents and brings the council together,” Kertes said. “Suds is bad for District 5 and even worse for the residents of Santa Clara.”
If the City Clerk certifies the petition, the group could begin collecting signatures as soon as mid-November.
Go get him, David! The residents of District 5 are cheering for you!!
Jain maintains his focus is the County Homeless Task Force.
Homelessness is tragedy that must be resolved.
Veterans, Seniors. Children
NONE OF THESE PEOPLE SHOULD BE HOMELESS.
The stark truth is District 5 elected Jain
What are they getting?
Mr. Kertes, please let us know how any Santa Clara residents can help you.
I am sure you have spent some money, and from what I have heard that is maybe the smallest of the hurdles you will need to jump over to make this happen.
What may actually help is I am pretty sure he has not won any friends with the current group of Santa Clara City Employees. Believe it or not, much of this Recall Effort will fall into their hands when it comes time to tally the votes.
I know you don’t need any cheerleaders right now, so please let the average resident in Santa Clara know how best we can support this effort.
Just The Facts Ma’am
Why we don’t support Suds
Not a leader for District 5. Suds does not engage on issues that District 5 residents bring to him such as street maintenance in District 5, concerns about SVP during the major storm blackout in 2024, off campus SCU student housing concerns, concerns about development projects that don’t fit with the neighborhood. He has provided little visible active support for rebuilding Downtown. Suds says “Some people don’t realize that I can’t tell the City Manager what to do nor can I tell staff what to do. It takes a majority vote on the council for any action — even to agendize an item for discussion. I can’t kill a project or approve a general plan amendment on my own.” However, we do expect and want someone to take a leadership role in advocating for our District.
Minimal communication with District 5 residents. Suds has declined to publish a District 5 Newsletter although many other Councilmembers do so. Apparently District 5 residents don’t need information and communication.
Supported proposals that waste taxpayer funds. Suds promoted the special election to revise the City Charter to appoint rather than elect the City Clerk and the Police Chief. This special election wasted taxpayer funds at a time when the City faced significant budget issues. It was clear at the time of the election that the majority of voters opposed the proposed change. Suds has been a proponent for parking fees for City owned parking including Franklin Mall. Suds supported spending City funds on a consultant study of parking fees at Franklin again when it was clear that there was little support for this. And Suds has but has yet to address the concerns raised about this issue.
Influenced by 49ers. Suds claims not to be influenced by the support the 49ers have provided him in his campaigns. However, his voting record is consistently in favor of the 49ers. He defends his support as “making the best of it”. He has failed to hold the 49ers accountable for actions such as committing to the Super Bowl and the World Cup without the City’s consent. He has failed to hold the 49ers accountable for their lack of community engagement with Santa Clara and lack of support for local Santa Clara needs.
Interestingly the frequent critic of the recall,,Roger V Kint is a sports marketing consultant from HOUSTON with a red and gold client.