Internal Affairs in the San Jose Mercury News picked up a piece about Caserta.  It relates to him not stepping down around a tax break he sought on his home in down town Santa Clara.  Under the Williamson act a number of homes in the down town area have applied for tax concessions to maintain their homes.  The idea is that the money saved on taxes can be put back into maintaining their homes given they are older homes and need to be maintained in the spirit of the original house – no pun intended.

It has been alleged that Caserta took money from various developers and in the case of Barec he took the money after he promised to support those who were against the project.  There are other projects and other developers that have allegedly given Caserta monies and it would be interesting to see if he excused himself from those votes as well?  I wonder if the Fair Political Practices Commission is looking into other projects Caserta voted on?

In any case it begs the question – how is it that Dominic Caserta and Kevin Moore who both have real estate licenses vote on a number of building issues when they are realtors?  Not that I’m against realtorsbeing on council, for I am sure they are valued members of society but it’s a fine line for them voting on anything that involves real estate and I would think their consciouses would draw the same conclusion as mine – far better to abstain than to vote on an issue related to any type of real estate deal especially if you work in the industry.

Jamie McLeod has been criticized for continuously dismissing herself for not voting on certain agenda items because her partner has ties to certain projects and communities.  I hope that others see the value of stepping down when voting on an issue that they are too close to.   

I guess this is an example of why I am so apposed to endorsements.  Endorsements and financial funding come with ties it seems.