Read the full story here Web Link posted Tuesday, July 21, 2015, 10:58 AM
Town Square
Assembly race: Berman, Kasperzak off to fast starts
Original post made on Jul 24, 2015
Read the full story here Web Link posted Tuesday, July 21, 2015, 10:58 AM
Comments (1)
a resident of another community
on Jul 24, 2015 at 9:06 am
One of the early candidates for State Assembly, Mike Kasperzak, is from my town of Mountain View. He is smart and experienced - in his fourth term on the City Council. However, Mr. Kasperzak has not always taken the best positions on key issues. When Mr. Kasperzak first ran for City Council in 1996, the Council had placed on the ballot an advisory measure concerning NASA's proposed use of Moffett Field for thunderous pre-dawn commercial air cargo jets. Kasperzak said he was "open" to the plan. Voters opposed it and Kasperzak did not grab a Council seat. Two years later, Kasperzak ran again - this time promising to be an "advocate" against air cargo at Moffett. This time, he won but never became an advocate against air cargo. Some 9 years ago, Kasperzak realized that a registered Republican would not do well seeking partisan office on the Peninsula. So, he simply switched parties. While there are many examples of bad decisions by Kasperzak as a councilmember in Mountain View, what happened on April 21,2015 may top the list. Representatives of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) asked the City Council to support their plan to seize the left lanes on El Camino Real from San Jose through Palo Alto (in each direction) for VTA express buses only - one bus every 10 minutes (3 miles apart) during peak hours. Two councilmembers had been declared ineligigle to vote as they owned property on or near El Camino. Kasperzak first said about the plan "I do not know what I want." He then joined 2 newly-elected councilmembers in a 3-2 vote for bus lanes that will, if approved by the VTA Board, bring auto traffic on El Camino (in the remaining lanes) to a near standstill. Even crossing El Camino would be greatly delayed. The VTA's plan is part of a larger plan for El Camino called the Grand Boulevard Initiative, and SamTrans is also planning bus-only lanes in San Mateo County. In Mountain View, a discussion is underway regarding whether to initiate RECALL petitions against Kasperzak and his two City Council cohorts. Yet, because big money is needed in elections in larger districts (such as an Assembly District), most anyone with money can run and just maybe win the seat.
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