Here is another example of the tyranny of government. According to a San Jose city councilmember, if you want to own a single family home, you have the mentality of a toddler. Worse, you are not being considerate of the community or society. To him housing is an opportunity to have people live on top of one another, like the slums of Chicago or New York.
“The comment in question happened on July 6, when the Santa Clara City Council debated housing density on El Camino Real, the city’s commercial and transit corridor. Park voiced his support for a plan recommended by the city to build denser and higher.
“Just like you can’t ask toddlers to specify their own lunch, you can’t really have single-family homeowners design a city,” he said at the meeting, advocating for a plan to accommodate concerns from both homeowners and newcomers. “To homeowners out there, I hate to say it, (but) density is coming. But we need to manage the transition.”
The initial comment struck a nerve with Broughman, who spoke against the plan to build four-story buildings at the corridor.
Like in Havana, San Jose government will tell you how to live, you are a baby if you oppose it. Any wonder government has little trust of respect—they have NONE for us.
Santa Clara lawmaker faces censure for comparing homeowners to toddlers
by Tran Nguyen, San Jose Spotlight, 8/22/21
Resident Leonne Broughman, who serves on the city’s library commission, filed a petition July 12 seeking to censure or admonish Councilmember Kevin Park for his comments at a City Council meeting.
“This wasn’t the first time he has said offensive things about staff and others,” Broughman alleges in her petition, though she fails to provide examples of Park’s behavior toward city workers.
Park doesn’t think his comment was malicious. He said the analogy took inspiration from his four-year-old daughter and was meant to explain his thinking about housing in the city. But he said he isn’t surprised by the petition either.
“I didn’t try to offend people and I don’t know that many people would have been offended by this,” Park told San José Spotlight. “I think that people who are offended by this are more likely looking for a reason to be offended.”
The comment in question happened on July 6, when the Santa Clara City Council debated housing density on El Camino Real, the city’s commercial and transit corridor. Park voiced his support for a plan recommended by the city to build denser and higher.
“Just like you can’t ask toddlers to specify their own lunch, you can’t really have single-family homeowners design a city,” he said at the meeting, advocating for a plan to accommodate concerns from both homeowners and newcomers. “To homeowners out there, I hate to say it, (but) density is coming. But we need to manage the transition.”
The initial comment struck a nerve with Broughman, who spoke against the plan to build four-story buildings at the corridor.
“I hope that the City Council is going to censure or at least admonish Councilman Park for his offensive comment about myself and the rest of the single-family residents of Santa Clara,” the petition reads.
Broughman declined to answer questions about her petition.
“Tune in (to) the Tuesday meeting and you’ll see,” she told San José Spotlight.
The Santa Clara City Council will consider the petition at its upcoming meeting Tuesday, which was pushed back from last week’s meeting per Broughman’s request.
Tit-for-tat
Since being elected to the council in November, Park—the first Korean American to serve on the Santa Clara City Council—has found himself in at least one other contentious situation.
In April, Park joined the majority of the council in censuring Councilmember Kathy Watanabe and admonishing Mayor Lisa Gillmor after Watanabe refused to let him speak at a “Stop Asian Hate” rally.
The vote highlighted the deep rift in the City Council where Gillmor and her sole ally Watanabe struggle to maintain control against newcomers like Park, Councilmembers Suds Jain and Anthony Becker, who shook up the city’s political landscape in 2020 and stripped the mayor of her majority.
The two factions don’t see eye to eye on a number of issues, including the city’s contentious relationship with the San Francisco 49ers and the city’s six district election system.
Now, the petition to censure Park underscores the ongoing animosity not only from councilmembers but also their supporters, he said.
“It’s tit-for-tat,” Park said. “It’s like because you admonished this person… and you voted for censure, so we’re going to do this to you.”
None of the councilmembers, city workers or residents raised issues with Park’s analogy at the meeting. Broughman filed her petition six days after the meeting.
Park said he’s not too concerned with the petition, adding that he hasn’t discussed the issue with anyone else on the council. He’s interested to learn what his colleagues think about the complaint.
“I don’t know that there was good reason to actually follow through with the action that’s been requested,” he said.
The councilmember has not reached out to the petitioner either. Park is in South Korea for a conference and a family trip, he said.
“I would hope, and I would ask that if people have issues, tell me what the issues are,” he said. “Don’t tell me what the issues are by shooting me with an admonishment petition. Let’s just talk.”
