Election decisions 2020

Ok, as I stated elsewhere, the purpose of this blog is to let me talk about politics without people bringing in my work or my person as a way to credit or discredit what I say. And now, the election is upon us, so it is time to get to work!

Where?

I'm currently residing in Santa Clara county, in California. I mention this because the things that matter most to me are specific to that area, and I wanted to save you from the effort of Googling some of the below names.

Card A -- Federal President, Representative, and Senator

I really don't like Biden. His manner is dismissive of a clear threat (Trump), and he conducts himself poorly in debates. I haven't yet seen evidence of his abilities as a leader (looking through his voting records, for example). He's also lifetime politician, which I do not consider a good thing for our democracy.

On the other hand, I don't really like Trump either. He's been effective in most of what he said he'd do, but he could have done a bit more when COVID struck, has not had great positions on humane treatment of immigrants, and has a very slanted view of things. I like him better than Biden, but let's see what our other options are.

Jo Jorgensen; she has some academic degrees (mostly in Psychology, but, she also worked at IBM for a bit so she likely has a good handle on tech). She is very realistic about social security, seems to have a reasonable perspective on immigration, and leans very free market.

Free market is a double edged sword; we do have regulation, and it supports centralization of resources to those who can afford lawyers. So, unfortunately, I don't think simply supporting dropping of restrictions is sufficient. But, it is a step in the right direction.

Her COVID mask opinion is interesting; rely on businesses to adopt a pro-mask or no-mask situation, and let consumers decide. I don't agree with this, since the learning curve is fatal. But all the same, I get the perspective.

Basically sourced from Wikipedia.

Gloria La Riva's Wikipedia page is a bit sparse. Her page doesn't have much either. I'm going to set this candidate aside for now.

Rocky De La Fuente looks like that guy from 30 Rock. Sorry.

Rocky does look to have a background in mathematics, which is a step above most other candidates. He has a background in business, much like Trump, having grown a business and a few spin offs pretty successfully. His views seem reasonable, although his fix to social security and retirement will only hurt people in my generation (we pay more, and wait longer).

After reading a bit, I'm going to vote Jo Jorgensen. She seems the best equipped for the modern world, is not 80 years old, and has realistic (if harsh) views on many things. I agree with her stances on taxes, social security, immigration, and personal rights. I disagree about certain things, but only so far that I think some rights currently delegated to the federal government should be given to states, and not simply 'ignored'.

Representative

My choices for representative are Ro Khanna and Ritesh Tandon.

Starting with Ro Khanna, who has a decent wealth of information on his website. I like his stance on the internet, but dislike his stance on social security (again, not benefitting future generations, just allowing the status quo to go on). Generally, his stances on immigration look OK.

Ritesh Tandon doesn't have many specifics on his website, and is reaching a little bit for what his responsibilities as a federal representative would be (he should not be using traffic in the Bay Area as one of his platforms!).

Given Ritesh's lack of information on his websote, I'm going with Ro Khanna.

Senator

My choices for senator are Alexander Glew and Josh Becker.

Alexander Glew has an absolutely terrible website. But, he does have some real information on it. I generally agree with this objectives as they related to housing and free market, including medicare/medicaid. So yeah, maybe?

Josh Becker has very little information on his website, and again, focuses on things like "Reducing our Choking Traffic" as a platform (the second item on his Priorities page).

So, Alexander Glew it is.

Card A -- County of Santa Clara

Now, these are the things that matter a lot more! This are more local elections, where my vote could actually matter.

State Assembly

I don't know how the California government is structured as well as I should, but I imagine this position provides much the same function as the federal congressional branch. Proposes new laws, which the governor signs into being.

I really liked Peter Ohtaki's page. Simple, to the point. He doesn't say too much about what he's going to do, and the things I care about (addressing cost of living out here by opening more land up to development, homelessness, immigration reform, etc.), and I think his COVID thoughts are stupid. But whatever.

Marc Berman has little to no information on this page.

So, I vote Peter Ohtaki.

Judge of the Superior Court

Only one name listed; Stuart J Scott. I'm going to write in my name.

Board of education

Two choices; Grace H Mah and Melissa Baten Caswell.

Grace H Mah makes bold claims about how underfunded the schools are (this is what literally every school ever says), and advocates for spending wisely, without giving details. What she does do, which is very good, is talk about past contributions. I don't have time to dig into all her efforts, but I like that she actually gets stuff done.

Melissa Baten Caswell does not have as strong a record, and again lacks details on what she will do, but has a background in tech. However, I do not think her extremely strong technical background is needed here (as long as she understands the difference between HTTP and HTTPS!).

I'm voting for Grace H Mah.

Foothill-de Anza Community College District

I get to vote 3 here, and there are only 4 names. So, I have no opinion.

Can I leave this blank?

Member, Board of Supervisors District 3

Two choices; Otto Lee and Kansen Chu.

Otto Lee does talk about issues I care about (housing), and seems very realistic about other issues. He names specific technologies he think can be employed to improve things such as traffic.

Kansen Chu does not have much on his website (let me rephrase; there is not much written a concise way that helps frame his political perspectives). And to be a little bit biased, there are characters there I don't understand (i.e., mandarin characters in his logo).

So, I'll be voting Otto Lee.

Card B -- City/District

Mayor, three choices: Michael S Goldman, Nancy Smith, and Larry Klein.

Michael S Goldman; no. His views on things like housing an requirements would make development of additional housing difficult or impossible. This allows the current status quo, which makes the wealthy landowners wealthier and encourages homelessness.

You can talk directly with Nancy Smith, which is a neat thing to advertise. Maybe I'll setup a meeting before I vote.

Larry Klein is the current mayor, maybe. He wants to finish downtown (which I think would be awesome), and hints at plans to address affordable housing.

City Council Member; 3 choices.

Charlotte Thornton, little to no information available. There is a statement in her application to city council. It is rather over-the-top and colorful.

Leia Mehlman has a website, and it is well written without wasted words. Her platform is reasonable, although it does not address anything that matters to me.

Omar Din nailed it on his homepage; making Sunnyvale affordable. I don't agree with his bit about mobile homes (low density housing is half the problem we have here!), but he has the right priorities.