A Santa Clara councilmember is looking to shake up the status quo by running for mayor.
Anthony Becker, who represents District 6, will face off against six-year incumbent Mayor Lisa Gillmor in November. Becker, who says Gillmor has been in power for far too long, announced his candidacy on Monday.
“Current leadership has been in office since 1992, when I was six years old. Now I am 37 years old,” Becker told San José Spotlight. “I think that is a sign that there’s a major need for change in the city. There’s a lot of failed leadership and a lot of failed policies.”
Gillmor, a real estate broker, previously served as a councilmember from 1992-2000 and again from 2012-2016. In 2016, the City Council appointed her mayor after former Mayor Jamie Matthews resigned. Gillmor later won the mayoral election in 2018. She is running for her second mayoral term this year.
Gillmor did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Becker, who has served on the council since 2020, ran against Gillmor in 2018. They have had a contentious relationship during their time on the council. Gillmor allegedly even blocked him on Facebook.
“There’s been divisiveness on the City Council. We can’t get our work done,” Becker said. “I think it’s because there’s a lot of pushback because these individuals do not like the changes that are happening.”
He pointed to Gillmor’s attempts to stop Santa Clara from implementing six City Council districts in 2017-2018. When Santa Clara was hit with a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit for having an allegedly racist or unequal voting system about a decade ago, a judge ultimately decided the city should expand to six council districts. Gillmor and other councilmembers appealed the decision but eventually lost.
“She was basically fighting voting rights and that right there is kind of scary to think about,” Becker said, noting the city spent $6 million to appeal the judge’s decision. “When we six districts, we elected our first minority councilmember, Raj Chahal, in 2018.”
Another major concern for Becker is the city’s growing deficit, which is now at $27 million. He says his top three priorities are reversing the deficit, adding more affordable homes and combating homelessness. He is endorsed by Councilmembers Chahal, Karen Hardy, Suds Jain and Assemblymember Alex Lee.
“I have seen his leadership style and he believes in working together to find solutions. He will bring a voice of change and representation for our younger generation as mayor,” Chahal told San José Spotlight. “In a nutshell, Becker is running to provide efficient, transparent and collaborative leadership to Santa Clara.”
Contact Jana Kadah at [email protected] or @Jana_Kadah on Twitter.
This story will be updated.
