By Robert Haugh
Mayor Lisa Gillmor has appointed downtown advocate Mark Kelsey to Santa Clara’s City Hall Community Advisory Committee after Councilmember Suds Jain led the effort to block Gillmor’s original choice, former City Attorney Brian Doyle.
Jain may have succeeded in keeping one critic off the committee. But Gillmor’s replacement is also a public critic.
Kelsey and his wife, Kathy Kelsey, publicly supported the campaign to recall Jain.
In a July 1 comment on Santa Clara News Online, Kathy Kelsey questioned whether that political activity played a role in an earlier Council vote against appointing her husband to the Neighborhood-University Relations Committee.
“Given our public support for the recall campaign of Suds Jain, it’s difficult not to wonder if politics played a role in his appointment being denied,” she wrote on SCNO.
Jain led the 4-3 vote to remove Doyle from the City Hall committee.
Doyle had sharply criticized Jain’s ethics in a December 2024 SCNO opinion piece about Jain’s conduct during the Anthony Becker perjury case.
Gillmor said Doyle’s experience with San Jose’s City Hall relocation would have been valuable. Councilmembers Raj Chahal, Karen Hardy and Kevin Park joined Jain in blocking the appointment.
Kelsey is a member of Reclaiming Our Downtown and has pushed City leaders to move faster on restoring Santa Clara’s historic downtown.
He has also criticized the City’s handling of the proposed Agnews land swap. In a May comment on SCNO, Kelsey called the proposal “putting the cart before the horse” and argued that City Hall’s future should be considered as part of the Downtown Specific Plan.
(Read Kelsey’s full SCNO comment here.)
Kelsey wrote on SCNO that the City should study using the Civic Center property to help fund downtown infrastructure and relocating City Hall downtown. He also criticized the Agnews site’s limited access to Caltrain and the proposed BART station.
His comments appeared in response to SCNO’s May report on the proposed land swap.
The committee will review Santa Clara’s facility needs and possible locations for a future City Hall.
Brian Doyle was a poor excuse for an attorneyHe failed to bring a settlement proposal to the Counsel Which is an integrety issue. That cost the City 2 million dollars. He often left his desk as City Attorney to adress the counsil on matters they were activly debating. He was fired from his position as City Attorney. Do you really believe he should sit on any committee in the City of Santa Clara?
Mr. Richards your statement about my actions with regard to settlement proposals is utterly false. It is also defamatory. Please desist before further attempting to damage my professional reputation.
Ed Richards, sounds like you’ve been listening to a lot of hearsay like Suds Jain.
I love it.
I still do not know why Brian Doyle was blocked. It seemed very petty and shame on Raj and Karen for voting the way they did. This just shows they cannot let things go and the reason voters should not vote for either for Mayor. Neither is a leader. We need change. I am so glad Mark Kelsey is now on board. He is a great add for the city of Santa Clara. He will represent all residents very well. Congrats Mark!