By Khalida Sarwari
The San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the identification and conviction of the perpetrators behind the campaign mailers aimed at City Council candidate Magdalena Carrasco.
Two types of mailers have been sent to residents in District 5, the most recent one linking Carrasco to Los Angeles street gangs. The flier states it was sent by the Committee to Keep San Jose Safe and reads, “Just Say No to L.A. Traffic, Gangs, and Smog. Just Say No to L.A. Politicians. Just Say No to Magdalena Carrasco.”
The first mailer features a photo of Carrasco alongside the Vietnamese flag with the statement, “Vote for Magdalena Carrasco. City Council District 5.” The mailer, postmarked on May 14, states it was sent by Neighbors for Magdalena Carrasco for Council 2010.
At a news conference this morning, Mayor Chuck Reed said the message in the flier has had an emotional impact on the city’s Vietnamese-American community, because most of them are opposed to the communist government.
“There are still a few weeks left until Election Day. I expect we’ll see more of this,” Reed said.
Punishment for the distribution of falsified campaign mailers is imprisonment in state prison or in a county jail and or a fine of up to $50,000, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
“Our democratic process is sacred. Tampering with it is very serious,” District Attorney Dolores Carr said in a statement. “It is especially troubling when our Vietnamese community is targeted with this malicious tactic, since for them, the communist flag symbolizes the loss of freedom and democracy. My office will make every effort to identify the suspect(s) in this case and bring them to justice.”
Pat Dando, president and CEO of the chamber, said the reward is being offered to promote good government.
“This is not about one candidate, it’s not about politics,” Dando said. “This is about good government in the city of San Jose. This isn’t tolerable in our city.”
Dando added, “What’s happened in the past few weeks is deplorable. I’m ashamed of it.”
Carrasco’s campaign page features a photo of her surrounded by her husband and four children. She graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a degree in Chicano Studies and received a Master’s degree in social work at San Jose State University. Carrasco now serves as a family and child advocate with First 5 Santa Clara and prior to that she worked for the Santa Clara County Department of Family and Children Services.
The district attorney’s office encourages anyone with information regarding the mailers to call (408) 299-7400.