The news passed rather quietly last weekend, but voters in San Jose’s District 6 won’t have much to do on June 3 …. incumbent Pierluigi Oliverio is the only candidate for City Council.

The filing deadline for candidates was last week, and Oliverio is unopposed. Other city districts will have some interesting races, but not here.

Oliverio has had a fairly uneventful term replacing the departed Ken Yeager, and has been just as visible in the community as his predecessor. The WG Times recently published a review of his first year, and he continues to engage with citizens across SJ with his weekly SanJoseInside column.

WG voters who live east of Meridian Avenue will still get to vote on the Santa Clara County Supervisor’s race to replace Blanca Alvarado, but George Shirakawa Jr seems to be the only candidate with a realistic shot.

At least we’ll still have some online polls to complete …

Quite frankly, the election to replace Ken Yeager on the City Council ended rather quietly, with Pierluigi Oliverio winning the election with relative ease last Tuesday. Due to lower voter turnout in the March runoff, both men secured only a few more votes than they had in the November primary.

Other than the Garden Theater’s celebratory proclamation, the excitement died off quickly.

It seemed like the election night parties received more coverage than the actual results. Sal Pizarro from the Mercury continued that paper’s election coverage theme: “Election night parties reflect candidates’ personalities,” even publishing an in-depth comparison of Oliverio’s restaurant party and Tedesco’s home-bound get-together. With the Metro in between publication deadlines, the party was the only news to report, and they have so far only published that on their news weblog.

They may not have graciously admitted defeat after switching their endorsement, but the Merc’s Editorial Board did at least acknowledge that “Oliverio’s fresh outlook and start-up mentality captivated large numbers of voters.” And a news story later last week alluded to Oliverio’s campaign “moxie,” and Mayor Chuck Reed warned of the “steep learning curve” ahead.

For it’s part, the WG Resident did cover the results in its regular edition on March 9 (page 7, if you have the printed version), but the story doesn’t seem to be available on their website’s March 9 version (which is still dated Wednesday for some reason).

Early campaign returns suggest that Pierluigi Oliverio will represent District 6 on the San Jose City Council. At 10:45 pm (more than two hours after the polls closed), the Registrar of Voters tally has Oliverio leading 58% to 42% over Steve Tedesco.

The SJ Mercury News provided this mathematical analysis shortly after the polls closed:

County elections officials have said they expect only a 30 percent turnout - or about 11,433 total voters. More than 7,000 people had already voted via absentee ballots by 5 p.m. Monday, meaning the winner may already have been determined before a single vote from polling places is counted.

Just in case anyone needs a little help or a little inspiration to participate in today’s special election, the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters can help you find your polling place right now. Type in your address (leave out the “street type”), and your polling pace and precinct number will magically appear. Or, you can call the Santa Clara County elections office at (408) 299-8683 or (408) 299-7655 (POLL).

If you are looking for almost-up-to-the-minute results, the Registrar of Voters has that, too, but not until after the polls close at 8:00 otnight.

There are only five days left, and Saturday could be your day to decide.

Steve Tedesco has been hosting regular Saturday-morning coffees in advance of Tuesday’s election, and this week is no exception. Drop by his campaign office (1090 Lincoln Avenue) between 9:00 and 11:00 am and introduce yourself.

Later on Saturday afternoon, Pierluigi Oliverio hosts an informal “Community Interactive Forum,” 5:00 to 6:00 pm at the Willows Senior Center (2175 Lincoln Avenue).

Compare the candidates. Ask them questions. Read their campaign materials. Assess their beverage and food selection. Use whatever criteria you’d like … just plan to vote on Tuesday!

The battle for the District Six seat on the City Council has heated up again — and this time it includes the local press.

The SJ Mercury News and the weekly Silicon Valley Metro took each other to task this week, reporting on multiple sides of the story, disputing each other’s veracity and accuracy.

Last Saturday, the Merc published a story questioning Oliverio’s track record of fundraising for a local nonprofit:

From the Merc: The executive director of a prominent non-profit says Oliverio is exaggerating his fund-raising role with her organization. While Oliverio has publicly claimed his work for the group was one of his three proudest accomplishments, she said he raised less than $350.

“It makes me feel like we have been exploited and used for political gain,” said Kathleen Krenek, head of Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence. “It begs the question, `what about his other accomplishments?’ ”

The Metro’s Fly objected to the characterization in its February 21 edition:

From Metro: We knew things were getting messy in San Jose’s District 6 race, but the hit piece that ran in the Merc on Saturday was just ridiculous. Reporter Joshua Molina dissected Pierluigi Oliverio’s résumé with the help of Steve Tedesco backers and a few erroneous omissions of fact. The story’s key source, nonprofit executive Kathleen Krenek, claims she isn’t endorsing Tedesco (another nonprofit executive), despite the fact that her name is clearly listed as a supporter on Tedesco’s campaign website. Wags around town have also seen her sporting the candidate’s green and white buttons at campaign events. Subtle!

In its February 23 edition, Molina updates the story. Although he didn’t directly challenge Metro’s reporting, the two papers clearly see things differently:

The Mercury News: Krenek said she didn’t know her name was on Tedesco’s site; Tedesco said he barely knows Krenek and included the names of anyone who donated money to his campaign.

Krenek has said she donated $20 each to Oliverio, Tedesco and candidate Clark Williams during last year’s primary race, although Oliverio says he received no such donation. Krenek offered to look for her canceled check.

But, wait … there’s more! The Metro also questioned the Merc’s reporting of previous electoral campaigns waged by Oliverio:

Metro’s Fly continues: Molina also jabs at Oliverio for his supposedly clandestine attempts at public office under a “different name.” The scandalous truth: Oliverio went by “Pierre,” a shorter version of his own name, because it’s easier to pronounce. He ran unsuccessfully for school board when he worked as a teacher in 1992 and for City Council in 1994—two facts that Molina claims credit for “revealing” only recently. But Oliverio told the Merc’s editorial board months ago, which they mentioned when they endorsed him before the November election.

Perhaps in response, the Merc printed a small retraction on February 23, clarifying Oliverio’s previous runs at elected office. The daily paper took the additional step of adding the clarification as a banner update to the online version of its original February 17 story.

The Mercury was quiet today, but did report on more mean-spirited campaign tactics unfolding in the District 4 race to replace new Mayor Chuck Reed.

Among the more interesting “forum” opportunities for the two candidates for the District Six seat on the San Jose City Council is actually online, but it’s not for the faint of heart.

Both Steve Tedesco and Pierluigi Oliverio were given chances to post 500 words or less on their candidacy on the local political weblog, SanJoseInside.com.

Neighborhoods Are Our Building Blocks
Steve Tedesco, February 12, 2007:

Our vision for the future of San Jose should be nothing less than assuring that the city we leave for future generations provides the quality of life and opportunities that were provided for those of us who were born and raised here.

My son, who is seventeen, is already concerned that he may not stay in San Jose. He talks about how he’s tired of the traffic and how congested this area has become. He’s not sure if he will be able to find a job and be able to afford to live here. And he is just like thousands of others.

My vision is to rebuild San Jose around the unique character of our neighborhoods and focus on the establishment of a vibrant downtown which will become the center of our city. …

Accountability and Visibility
Pierluigi Oliverio, February 19, 2007:

The City of San Jose Via a Web Browser

If elected, constituent service will be my top priority.

For the past twelve years, I have worked in the private sector high-tech industry. Based on my experience, web browser technology is an excellent communication tool that can be implemented into the way the City of San Jose does business. By implementing a web-based solution to the District 6 office, I will be able to enhance constituent services and, within a year, have empirical evidence describing specific outcomes by tracking constituent issues in real time.

If you enjoyed the recent decrease in campaign civility, you should check out these ongoing discussions. After the candidates posted, readers started a vigorous debate on the issues and the candidates, with the vast majority of commentors chiding the candidates for a lack of creative ideas and inspirational leadership.

Actually, the discussion devolved into political name-calling and a collection of notable quips. Commentors almost universally panned both posts, and then began questioning the leadership potential of both candidates. And since neither candidate has returned to add a comment in their defense, neither of them looks very good.

But, it’s good reading nonetheless, just so you can say you’ve read about both sides.

WGx hates to be right. Sensing a coming surge of negativity, WGx appealed for civility and high-minded discourse in the District Six campaign between Steve Tedesco and Pierluigi Oliverio.

The SJ Mercury News carried features on each of the candidates this week. The balanced articles reasonably presented Oliverio’s lack of experience and questioned Tedesco’s mild track record of accomplishment.

And then Tedesco called Oliverio “a sunny, happy guy who hasn’t done a damn thing.”

And in campaign literature that arrived in mailboxes this week, Tedesco seems even meaner:

While my opponent hands out recipes and puts up smiley-faced lawn signs, I continue to be a problem solver for you.

Tedesco might want to get a better proofreader for his literature, however. The brochure’s confusing sentence structure is tough to read in places, and the grumpy part about smiley-faces is formatted with an un-hyphenated line break after the word problem …

While my opponent hands out recipes and puts up smiley-faced lawn signs, I continue to be a problem
solver for you.

Hey! WGx liked the smiley faces!

With six weeks left before the March 6 run-off election for the District Six seat on the San Jose City Council, both Steve Tedesco and Pierluigi Oliverio still seem to be on the moral high road. But if you prefer an ethical and high-brow political debate, there may reason for concern.

This weekend’s “Internal Affairs” section of the SJ Mercury News challenged Oliverio’s campaign brochures, suggesting pictures with an unidentified woman and some children portray him as a family man:

Take a gander at recent mailers from San Jose City Council candidate Pierluigi Oliverio, and you’d conclude he’s a family guy. … Here’s the interesting part: Oliverio’s not married, nor is he a dad.

So what? Was the Merc was stretching to say something about the race, given the lack of news coming out of it? In fairness, the paper also noted a minor discrepancy on Tedesco’s part, where his website quotes the Mercury’s October editorial: “Tedesco would be a good addition to the council,” even though the rest of the editorial was endorsing Oliverio.

And while we’re keeping it friendly, it would be OK if Pierluigi removed the words from his website that quantify his opponent’s narrow victory in the November election: “… [I had] 2046 more votes then my run-off competitor who only had a 49 vote difference than the third place candidate.” The numbers don’t lie, but he’d better be careful … 69% of ballots were still cast for someone other than Oliverio.

Since the updated political lawn signs from both Pierluigi Oliverio and Steve Tedesco both feature circles (or smiley faces), you might want to join them – literally – and circle a few dates on your calendars, too:

The “San Jose District 6 Leaders Group” and the Preservation Action Council of San Jose host the next major forum, scheduled for Wednesday, January 31 @ 7:00 pm, at the United Way (1922 The Alameda). The candidates will answer questions regarding land use issues including, but not limited to, zoning regulations, high density transportation corridors, neighborhood planning and historic preservation.

The WGNA will be hosting its official Candidate Forum on February 13, 2007, at the Willow Glen Baptist Church, the same site as its last few forums.

A wider geographical audience is expected at another debate, this one hosted at the 7:30 – 9:00 pm on February 27 at the Billy DeFrank Center (registration in requested).

In addition, the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters has updated its election information for the March 6 Special Election. The last day to register to vote is February 20, and the last day to request an absentee ballot is February 27.