Our Unique Opportunity

By Rod Diridon

We have a unique opportunity in our town to set the standard for good government.

But Santa Clara is the only one that has an entrepreneurial spirit to make things better, and elected City Clerk that is responsible to the voters, and a recent history of award-winning good government programs.

I'm referring to the Anti-revolving Door Lobbying Policy which limited the influence of lobbyist, award-winning best practices set by the Ethics Ordinance Committtee, and the fiscal reforms set by the Campaign Finance Reform Committee to level the electoral playing field.

I'm a founding member of both of those committees and the Chair of the Campaign Finance Reform Committee. By fully implementing the recommendation of these committees we'll do a couple of things.

First, we'll have a more engaged and informed electorate, and a more motivated community.

Next, we will allow voters the ability to cut through the muck you see during an election cycle and make educated choices that best reflect their own ideology.

Finally, if the City Clerk is knowledgeable about elections, we'll close loopholes that currently allow unscrupulous candidates to hide campaign contributions from voters.

At the end of the day, I'd like people to look at Santa Clara and say "That's the way government should run." And, people in Santa Clara will say, among the many reasons why we love to live here, "I am so glad that I live in a city that empowered me to be more educated, more engaged, and make choices that really represent me.

We have a unique opportunity and we should not squander it with "politics as usual."