San Jose Councilman Ken Yeager, San Jose Councilwoman Linda LeZotte and Santa Clara Mayor Patricia Mahan answered a range of questions at the Jan. 26 forum. The hot topics included questions about ethics and the county's budget. State Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn, the fourth candidate, was absent because the assembly was in session in Sacramento.

Given the recent NorCal scandal involving the mayor, ethics has been on the minds of many in San Jose, and questions reflected that issue. Mahan addressed the question of ethics by highlighting the changes Santa Clara has made over the past several years in addressing the issue.

"You may remember the days when Santa Clara made the headlines of the San Jose Mercury every day," Mahan said.

She pointed out that because of the ethics program they implemented--emphasizing accountability, transparency and responsibility--Santa Clara has become a model city.

Yeager tackled the ethics question first by acknowledging some of the recent problems in San Jose, but then pointed to the steps the city council has taken to alleviate those problems.

Yeager said voting to censure Mayor Ron Gonzales, and then subsequently pushing for his removal from the budget committee and other legislative committees, was a step he had taken to make ethics a high priority in City Hall.

"A slap on the wrist is not enough," he said.

Yeager also was appointed as chairman for the Blue Ribbon Task Force to review the city's lobbyist and ethics ordinances.

"We are revising and strengthening ethics laws and lobbyist laws," Yeager said. "San Jose is taking these issues of accountability and ethics very seriously. We want our government to be an example."

LeZotte took a different approach to the ethics questions, saying that creating a set of ethics standards by which to measure and judge someone was not enough.

"It's most important to elect and put people into power who are ethical and who are leaders to begin with," she said. "And I am the only one up here today who voted against the city's biggest ethical debacle--NorCal."

Second to ethics was the issue of the county budget and the county's $111 million deficit. The nonprofit audience was particularly concerned with this, since the majority of nonprofit funding comes out of the county budget.

LeZotte and Mahan both took a firm stance on supporting the need to fund nonprofits.

"Nonprofits often provide services more efficiently than the government because there is less bureaucracy," LeZotte said. "We have to recognize the roles you all play and deal with the money fairly."

Mahan added, "My view is that you look at the most efficient way to deliver services, and the answer is not always to hire another county worker."

While Yeager did not take such hard stance, he did point to his record of fairness in distributing funds and also spoke to the importance of nonprofits in the community.

"Your work provides the ears and the eyes of the community," Yeager said. "In an age of decreasing resources, the county needs to do a better job of determining your needs and working for you."

Santa Clara County District 4 includes the cities of Campbell and Santa Clara, the Rose Garden, portions of Willow Glen, Cambrian, Cory and Hamann parks, Burbank and the Sherman Oaks neighborhood.