Dear Supervisor Kniss,
I am a constituent of yours in Santa Clara County District 5, and I attended yesterday's Board of Supervisors discussion of the resolution to support AB 1634. I was very disappointed by your lack of professionalism, punctuated by the apparent one-sidedness of your closing remarks on this issue.
First, you were not in the room during part of the discussion about the bill. The fact that you did not hear all the information presented--both in support and in opposition to the bill--suggests to me that either you had already made up your mind before the meeting began, or that you felt you didn't need to hear all the details of this important and controversial bill. Either way, I expect more from my elected representative on the Board. Supervisor Alvarado stated in her closing remarks that she was persuaded to vote yes based on information presented by two of the speakers. If you weren't in the room when these two people spoke, you missed valuable information to inform your decision.
Second, in your concluding remarks before the vote, you raised some concerns about local costs to administer AB 1634, and about the complexity of the bill. It would have been appropriate for you to seek input from the bill's co-sponsor, Judie Mancuso, who had flown up from LA to attend the meeting. I noticed during the discussion of menu labeling that Senator Padilla was given more than a minute at the microphone to present information to the Board. This seemed entirely appropriate to me, given his deep knowledge of the issues and his sponsorship position. At the very least, I would have expected you to avail yourself of Ms. Mancuso's expertise--or at least members of the County staff such as Greg Van Wassenhove. I have heard Ms. Mancuso address both the questions you raised, and I think her insights would have addressed your concerns.
Because of your lack of professionalism and objectivity during the AB 1634 discussion (and not because of your no vote), I did not vote for you in yesterday's election, and you have lost my vote for any future political offices you may seek. I will be sharing the story of my experience with my friends and co-workers.
Sincerely,
David Cortright
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