Willow Glen Resident
News
District 6 candidates Oliverio, Tedesco face runoff
By Alicia Upano
Two hometown candidates will face off for the San Jose District 6 seat in March, pitting innovation against experience.
Willow Glen residents Pierluigi Oliverio and Steve Tedesco received the most votes of the race's five candidates on Nov. 7, but not a majority, pushing the candidates into a March 6 runoff. The winner will fill the seat vacated by Ken Yeager, who was elected to Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in June.
Oliverio, a 36-year-old environmental software executive, earned numerous newspaper endorsements and touts technology as a way to improve efficiency at city hall.
Tedesco, 53-year-old executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Silicon Valley, has more than 30 years' experience working with the city.
Oliverio received the most votes--30.62 percent or 6,506 votes. Tedesco received 21.68 percent or 4,606 votes. North Willow Glen neighborhood leader Clark Williams trailed close behind Tedesco with 21.28 percent or 4,521 votes. Retired San Jose Police Sgt. Jim Spence received 20.31 percent or 4,315 votes. Art Maurice received 3.61 percent or 766 votes. Brad Imamura received 2.5 percent or 533 votes, even though he withdrew from the race in October. District 6 has 42,396 registered voters, but only 21,247 cast their ballots Nov. 7 for a District 6 candidate.
"I'm very excited that the district voters supported me," Oliverio said after the results were in. Oliverio thinks his background in education and high tech impressed residents.
"Voters felt that money in the system swayed people, and they liked the fact that I wasn't taking money from lobbyists," he said.
Oliverio grew up in Willow Glen and attended local schools. A Hoover science teacher inspired him to teach, which he did for three years in San Jose.
Then Oliverio switched to a career in the high-tech industry, first working at a semiconductor company and currently at Foster City-based Arena Solutions.
Tedesco, on the other hand, believes his years of service sold the voters on his candidacy.
"People did vote for me because I showed them some real, strong, deep experience in the district," Tedesco said.
Tedesco serves on the city's airport commission and is a past member of the Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission. He is co-founder of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, Christmas in the Park and the Silicon Valley Charity Ball Foundation. Before the Boys & Girls Club, Tedesco was president and CEO of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce for 12 years.
Tedesco said he looks forward to debating his opponent.
"I want to have voters compare my record of getting things done and Pier's record of talking about things," he said.
Oliverio, however, said, "I believe we should be all judged by our merits versus years."
Williams, who was endorsed by Yeager, failed to make the runoff by 118 votes. He said it was "yet another example that every vote counts."
While disappointed, Williams said the campaign was fulfilling.
"I met thousands of people I wouldn't have met," said Williams, who encourages others to get involved in public service. "It's given me a real knowledge and understanding of the problems in the city. I'm curious where that's going to lead me."
Williams plans to continue serving on multiple boards and is the vice president of the North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association.
For Spence, this is his second try at a council seat. He was unsuccessful in winning the District 6 seat in 2000 against Yeager.
Like Williams, Spence is a neighborhood leader who has served on the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association board since 2000.
Maurice had no political experience and raised only $1,025 for his campaign, but he had been heavily involved with his Cory Neighborhood Association. Under his leadership, the Cory Neighborhood Association received San Jose's Good Neighbor Award in 2004. Maurice is a technical recruiter and alternative energy advocate.
