Find Those Perpetrators
By Hilbert Morales

It is essential that our community do all that is possible to find those involved with mailers that violated current election codes and practices. The Fair Political Practices Commission, the City of San Jose, the District Attorney, County of Santa Clara Registrar of Voters, as well as the federal agencies (the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Justice Department and Postal Service) must diligently pursue the resolution of this despicable action.
As a witness to the gradual evolution and engagement of Mexican-American communities in their local political process, this second mailer, directed at besmirching Magdalena Carrasco's candidacy to become the elected representative for City Council District Five, strikes at the very heart of democratic governance. What is required to fairly elect a representative is equal access, fairness, facts, and truthfulness. This process becomes unreliable when such mailers are directed at a particular candidate. Magdalena Carrasco is a very able, competent, and capable individual who would, in my opinion, ably represent District 5 if elected. Her personal story, heritage, experiences, and current employment by First Five Santa Clara County speak to her commitment to community and public service.
During the 2008 election process to elect the Supervisor District 2 representative, the first such mailer was directed to the Vietnamese-American registered voters. That mailer was directed at Richard Hobbs, Esq., who is an immigration rights attorney, currently employed by SIREN. Hobbs has correctly and appropriately provided that original mailer to the authorities. This first mailer and the second mailer are very much alike which could assist authorities to identify and prosecute the perpetrator(s) of these fraudulent political mailers.
Why is this so important? Representative democracy requires an informed electorate that participates in the selection of those elected officials who make public policy decisions that impact all of us who have consented to be governed in this manner. The quality of information received by voters (the electorate) must be of the highest quality in terms of truthfulness, accurate about facts and prior history, and fully transparent about the several public policy issues of concern. The character and integrity of the candidates must be established and revealed for all to evaluate.
Acts which are intended to harm the personal character; question the honesty and integrity; and which untruthfully taint the personhood of a candidate are not appropriate in any election process. These two mailers strike at the heart of the democratic principles that underlie the establishment of governance of the people, by the people and for the people.
With the people's engagement, it may be possible to locate and prosecute to the fullest extent of current law those who devised, assembled and mailed these two political hit pieces. Those who did this despicable act have to be well informed about the voting process; have access to the registered voter listings; have the ability to identify and target the Vietnamese-American registered voter; have some ability with the Vietnamese language; and have a purpose which benefits their cause. There are more features that apply to this profile analysis.
Also, today exists the capability to recover DNA samples from those 'tongue-licked' postage stamps. Forensic science and technology has reached down to molecular minutiae that at the minimum will characterize those responsible. Members of the community need to commit themselves to report information that inevitably slips from the mouths of the guilty persons. What investigative authorities require is all those bits of information which, when assembled and verified, identify the parties involved.
Meanwhile the community must focus on selection and election of the individuals who will most ably represent District 5, San Jose City Council. We must all do our part to locate, identify, and prosecute those perpetrators who seek to impede our democracy.

The Candidates: Primary Election, Tuesday June 8, 2010
Hilbert Morales
El Observador
The entire listing of candidates may be viewed online at ‘sccvote.gov’. Citizens may register to vote in this Primary Election up to May 24, 2010. Registered voters are advised to learn about the issues in order to make an informed choice when voting in your own personal best interests. The polls will be open from 7:00 AM until 8:00 PM. Since 67% of all registered voters have elected to vote by mail, those ballots have been mailed out as of Monday, May 10th. Mail in ballots may be delivered to an official polling location up to 8:00 PM on Tuesday, June 8th.
For many elected offices both the Democratic and Republican candidates are presented because each registered voter will receive a ballot listing either Democratic Party candidates or Republican Party candidates. The following are the candidates that in my personal independent judgment would best serve the interests of the entire community:

For Governor: Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown (Dem)
 Meg Whitman (Rep)
For Lieutenant Governor: Gavin Newsom (Dem)
      Abel Maldonado (Rep)
For Secretary of State: Debra Bowen (Dem)
Damon Donn (Rep)
For Controller:  John Chiang (Dem)
David Evans (Rep)
For Treasurer:   Bill Lockyear (Dem)
 Mimi Walters (Rep)
For Attorney General: Alberto Torrico (Dem) Or Pedro Nava (Dem)
For Insurance Commissioner: Hector de la Torre (Dem)
(Rep)No Recommendation
Dina Josephine Padilla (P&F)
State Board of Equalization: Betty Yee (Dem)
U.S. Senate: Barbara Boxer (Dem)
         Brian Quintana (Dem)
Tom Campbell (Rep)
11th Congressional District: Jerry McNerney (Dem)
Antonio C. “Tony” Amador (Rep)
14th Congressional District: Anna G. Eshoo (Dem)
        Ronny Santana (Rep)
15th Congressional District: Mike Honda (Dem)
16th Congressional District: Zoe Lofgren (Dem)
10th State Senate District: Ellen M. Cortate (Dem)
Rob Moffit (Rep)
20th Assembly District: Garrett Yee (Dem)
   Adnan Shahb (Rep)
21st Assembly District: Yoriko Kishimoto (Dem)
 Greg Conlon (Rep)
22nd Assembly District: Paul Fong (Dem)
 T.J. Campbell (Lib)
23rd Assembly District: Nora Campos (Dem)
Atul Saini (Rep)
24th Assembly District: Jim Beall (Dem)
Robert Chandler (Rep)
27th Assembly District: Bill Munning (Dem)
Linda “Ellie” Black (Rep)
28th Assembly District: Francisco Dominguez (Dem)
Robert Branasky (Rep)

The various County Central Committee candidates are not presented.
For Judge, Superior Court: Office #1….Joyce Allegro
                                    Office #2…..Jacqueline M. Arroyo
                                    Office #3……Thang Nguyen
                                    Office #4…….Griffin Bonini
                                    Office #5…….A. Michael Clark
                                    Office #6…….W. J. Elfving
                                    Office #7……..Thomas Spielbauer
                                    Office #8……..Teresa Guerrero-Daly
                                    Office #9……… James P. Kleinberg
                                    Office #10………Lucy Koh
                                    Office #11………Vanessa A. Zucher
                                    Office #20……….Carrie A. Zepeda
For State Superintendent of Public Instruction: Larry Aceves
   Or  Gloria Romero
County Supervisor, District One: Peter Arrelllano
     Or  Teresa Alvarado        
County Supervisor, District Four: Ken Yeager
Assesor: Larry Stone
District Attorney: Jeff Rosen
Sheriff: Richard Calderon
City of San Jose, Mayor: Chuck Reed
City of San Jose, Council member #1……Pete Constant
                            Council member #3……Sam Liccardo
                            Council member #5……Magdalena Carrasco or J.Manuel Herrera
                            Council member #7……Madison Nguyen
                            Council member #9 ……Donald Rocha