Cindy Chavez
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| Cindy Chavez | |
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| Born | April 7, 1964 Alamogordo, New Mexico |
| Political party | San Jose City Council member 1998-2006 |
| Spouse | Mike K. Potter |
| Children | Brennan Mateo Chavez Potter |
Cindy Chavez (born April 7, 1964) is an American politician who served as Vice Mayor of San Jose, California. While a member of the San Jose City Council, she represented Council District Three (which includes the downtown area). Chavez was first elected to the Council in 1998 and re-elected in 2002. In 2005, she was chosen by the San Jose Mayor and confirmed by her colleagues on the City Council to serve as Vice Mayor. She recently worked as an instructor of local civics at her alma mater San José State University.
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[edit] Education
- Chavez was educated at Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward.[citation needed]
- She graduated in 1987 with a B.A. in Political Science from San Jose State University.[citation needed]
[edit] Tenure on the City Council
As Vice Mayor, Cindy Chavez maintained a reputation as an advocate for improving the quality of life in neighborhoods throughout San Jose. She was a leader in developing innovative community based programs to address crime, education, small business development and neighborhood revitalization. Elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2002, her tenure was distinguished by implementing goals to make every neighborhood safe and enhancing opportunities for residents and providing guidance on improving city government's service to them. Recognizing the need for increased community-based improvements, Chavez continued to be a force behind allocating more Redevelopment Agency funds for enhancing neighborhoods.
Working with the Mayor and her City Council colleagues, Chavez established the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative, a program that uses Redevelopment Agency resources to improve neighborhood conditions, enhance community safety, strengthen local neighborhood associations, and expand community services.
As a former Downtown District Three Council Representative, Chavez served on numerous committees. She formally Chaired the Rules Committee and served on the Downtown Parking Board, Guadalupe River Park Task Force, Police and Fire Retirement Board, San Jose Beautiful, and the SJ/SC Treatment Plant Advisory Committee. Additionally, she served on many other local and regional bodies including the Valley Transportation Authority as Vice-Chair, VTA Policy Advisory Board, Nanotechnology Infrastructure and Assets Subcommittee, and many others.
Prior to her election as a City Councilmember, Chavez had served as the Staff Director of Working Partnerships USA and as the Director of Education and Outreach for the South Bay Labor Council. She also served for three years as budget and policy aide to then Supervisor Ron Gonzales. As Vice Mayor, Chavez's focus on quality-of-life concerns led to a greater emphasis on the delivery of basic services, from removing graffiti and slowing down traffic speeding through neighborhoods to creating more green space, protecting children's health, creating stronger partnerships between colleagues and after school programs for youth.
[edit] Campaign for Mayor
In 2006 Chavez ran for mayor in a field of ten candidates hoping to succeed termed-out Ron Gonzales. In the mayoral primary held on June 6, 2006, in a crowded field of ten candidates, Cindy qualified for the two person primary against Chuck Reed.
In the run-off voting held on November 7, 2006, Reed won a solid victory over Chavez who conceded the race just before midnight. Final tallies show Reed garnered 117,394 votes to Chavez's 80,720 (in percentage terms 59.26% to 40.74%).
During the early stages of the campaign Chavez out-raised her opponents and was the frontrunner in some polls. Chavez also secured many high profile endorsements, including the Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith, the Silicon Valley Young Democrats, Congressman Mike Honda and former San Jose mayor Susan Hammer,[1] former US Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta[citation needed] and former US President Bill Clinton[citation needed]. However, after she came in second place in the primary voting held on June 6, 2006; Ms. Chavez was never able to regain her early lead and her opponent, Chuck Reed, was leading in all the major polls going into the run-off election.
[edit] Issues in the Primary campaign
During the campaign, the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce was criticized by Chavez supporters for sending a mailer exposing the back room deals Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez made and the lack of public notice for the $4 million San Jose Grand Prix subsidy.[2] The Chamber was found to have violated city law in so doing.[3] Further court battles led to a federal court ruling that the city law violated free speech rights and the city was ordered to pay the Chamber's legal costs.[4]
[edit] Career After Politics
After her time on the City Council, Chavez founded and was principal of California Leadership Services, offering clients comprehensive and diversified consulting services issues such as government relations, organizational development and nonprofit management.
Chavez became the Executive Officer of the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council in March 2009. The South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council represents ninety unions and over 100,000 union members in Santa Clara and San Benito counties. For over 50 years the Labor Council has championed the cause of working families in the South Bay. The Labor Council's primary goal is to advance candidates, causes, and policies that benefit working families. It achieves this objective with a combination of activities, including community organizing, leadership training, campaigning, and issues advocacy. The Labor Council is proud to run the largest, most sophisticated, grassroots political campaign operation in the South San Francisco Bay area.
Chavez is also Executive Director of Working Partnerships USA, an independently funded social change organization founded by labor and community groups that develops and advocates for policies that benefit everyday people. Among its signature accomplishments are pioneering the Children’s Health Initiative, making Santa Clara County the first in the nation to provide health coverage to every child; winning a San Jose Living Wage ordinance and creating LeaderNet, the cornerstone of a range of leadership training programs that build the capacity and ability of working people to effectively represent their own interests in developing a fair and free society.
[edit] Family
She lives with her husband, Mike Potter, and their son Brennan Mateo (b. 2001) in San Jose.
[edit] References
- ^ Chavez Gets Nod from S.J. FilAms by Lance Cardozo Dwyer Philippine News May 17, 2006
- ^ Chamber mailer creating backlash by Timothy Roberts Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal May 26, 2006
- ^ Chamber rebuked over Anti-Chavez Mailers by John Woolfolk San Jose Mercury News
- ^ Vote on donor limits delayed by John Woolfolk Mercury News Oct 4, 2006
