Santa Clara CountyCandidate for Supervisor, District 4

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Mike Alvarado

Business Owner

3,481 votes (5.09%)

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My Top 3 Priorities

Transparency in government, accountability, accessibility and auditability by the creation of a county GAO
Affordable housing initiatives and the creation of a regional housing commision
Traffic relief via additional mass transit expansion and freeway - expressway expansion

Experience

Profession:Local Businessman and IT consultant

Owner, Saratoga Pacific (1991–current)

IT specialist, Satellite Healthcare (2016–2018)

DXC Technolgy, DXC Technology (2013–2016)

IT Manager, ASJUSD Aromas San Juan School District (2010–2012)

IT Specialist, Chiquita - Fresh Express (2007–2009)

Education

San Jose State University — Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Radio TV Broadcasting (2006)

West Valley College — LAN admin certificate program, CIS - Computer Information Systems (1996)

Community Activities

Member, SCCA (1986–1988)

Biography

I have been a community activist for the past 30 years. I feel a most compelling personal need to seek out justice and do the right thing when people are being wronged. It has always been my goal to help serve the community and make our community a better place for everyone to live. We should all strive to do everything we can to help our fellow man and woman to succeed in life. We have a fiduciary responsibility to make certain that every man, woman and child within our county is healthy, safe, sheltered and has enough to eat.

When individuals or special interest groups aim to curtail our liberties and sacrifice social justice for their own selfish needs and wants we must all stand up to them. We cannot allow opposing political, business or social groups to dictate policies or propose laws that would limit our freedoms as Americans. We always need to stand up for our rights as a free people. Democracy demands constant vigilance lest we lose our freedoms entirely by those who choose to enslave us with their own private agendas.

Political Beliefs

Political Philosophy

It is my sincere belief that money needs to be kept out of all election campaigns. In light of this I will not accept one dollar of outside money. My campaign is 100 percent self-funded by myself alone. I am a local business owner and community activist who was born and raised in Santa Clara and San Jose. I believe in open government and in full transparency in government.

I believe in a common sense, no nonsense approach to local governance. Building consensus and doing the right thing for our community as a whole will always be my goal. We need to identify and address the most pressing issues in our county and work diligently to solve them in a straightforward manner.

I stand for affordable housing, traffic relief, better roads and mass transit, healthcare expansion, homeless relief, poverty reduction, public safety, jail reform, human rights and diversity. I think it is time to get some new faces into local politics. We need to build upon the great legacy left by the current board and make Santa Clara County an even better place to work and live.

Position Papers

Affordable Housing

Summary

Building more housing

This is the biggest issue facing our region today. The real cause is simply a case of supply and demand. There is too little supply and overwhelming demand. This simple economic principle has pushed housing costs into the sky where they have reached astronomic price levels. Actively identifying underutilized suburban properties and putting landowners in touch with development and financing partners is the key to building more affordable, high density housing close to mass transit and major traffic arteries. Building transit villages and infilling the urban landscape will be key. Building consensus and cooperation between municipalities aggregating unified support streamlining the planning process is a necessity. We desperately need a regional commision that spans the entire greater bay area to put planning commisioners and city council members together with county supervisors to make more housing happen. Santa Clara County needs an additional 50,000 hosuing units within the next 5 years.

Traffic relief and mass transit

Summary

Planning future transit for tomorrow

We need to start the planning process now in order to build new roads, freeways and mass transit. Highways connecting the central valley, the south county and the coast are desperately needed in several key locations. Express busses and vastly expanded VTA light rail will also be part of the solution. We also need to expand and extend Bart and Caltrain up the peninsula and out to Oakland. Bart needs to cross the Golden Gate to Marin/Solano and cross the bay to San Mateo/Hayward and East Palo Alto/Fremont. Planning and funding partners need to be identified now. Failure to act now will lead to a gridlocked future. The work we need to do is an immense and herculean task. Years of planning and organization will be needed. Funding such ambitious projects will be a huge challenge for all of us, no doubt. Realizing that this is something we must do now is just the first step amongst many we need to take in order to succeed in this ever so important endeavor.

Open Government , transparency and accountability

Summary

Audits and accountability in county governement

We need to establish a new county General Accounting Office. This office would make certain that all expenditures, projects run on time and on budget.

Videos (5)

Policy Positions

USA VS Norway prisons - Documentary

— May 19, 2018 Lockup Raw TV

The difference in the prison systems from Norway compared to the USA. Ending the punishment model of revenge and retribution. This can be used as a model to revamp our own troubled county jail system in Santa Clara County.

Policy Positions