Last night, William Lam was sworn in as a new councilmember, and both Mayor Carmen Montano and Councilmember Evelyn Chua were also sworn in to their new terms.
“As your mayor, my mandate is to ensure our city is safe, well-maintained, where people can thrive…The people have trusted us to do that,” said Mayor Montano, who was thrilled to be re-elected to her second mayoral term. Her new term will last for two years.
Montano was sworn in by her granddaughter, Dominique Walker.
Councilmember Chua was also sworn in by her granddaughter, Annalyn Bui.
“As my commitment to you during the campaign, I will strengthen public safety, reinforce a fiscally conservative city, and initiate a community engagement group to bring together the city toward the people,” said Chua. “That’s my goal for the next four years.”
Lam, a newcomer to the political scene, was sworn in by his wife. “This is really an amazing journey for me. Since I am not a well-known person, I had no volunteers to help me with campaigning,” said Lam. “But I have the will and determination.”
Anthony Phan, whose councilmember term came to an end last night, was also recognized for having served on the Milpitas City Council. City Manager Ned Thomas mentioned that Phan had been a “voice of progress on the council and a strong advocate for our residents, City staff, and community as a whole.”
Phan was presented with a U.S. flag that had been flown over the Civic Center in recognition of his service on the council. He also received recognition from Assemblymember Alex Lee and the offices of Congressman Ro Khanna and Santa Clara County Supervisor Otto Lee, along with the other County supervisors.
Phan thanked the voters for having passed Measure J, a quarter-cent sales tax toward public services. Measure J was passed with 80.1% of the vote.
“As I leave, I reflect back on a lot of the amazing things that we’ve accomplished together,” said Phan. “We’ve accomplished so much, we’ve overcome so much. And I think it speaks volumes to the strength of our city as a community.”
Later that evening, Mayor Montano appointed Garry Barbadillo as the new Vice Mayor of Milpitas.
Councilmember Chua said “I will strengthen public safety, reinforce a fiscally conservative city, and initiate a community engagement group to bring together the city toward the people.” Unless she plans to raise taxes/fees, I don’t understand how she’ll strengthen public safety while also reinforcing a fiscally-conservative city. A rule of thumb about the City’s budget is that 80% goes to personnel. So strengthening public safety requires more people, which requires more money. So-called “conservative” fiscal policies are all about reducing costs, without raising taxes on the wealthy. So, where is the money coming from?
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Let me suggest that we raise the money from those corporations that are polluting our environment, and freeloaders and leeches sucking money out of our community’s local economy. At the top of the list is carbon-fuel companies, but outside investors buying up our housing stock and renting it back to us comes in a close second. Find the longer list at https://meansfordemocracy.org/budget.html