The Notorious Cindy Chavez

Just like any good story, this mayoral race has two sides. Though candidates Cindy Chavez and Chuck Reed seem like Dr. Pepper and Diet Dr. Pepper in their similarities, both Chavez and Reed have tried to emphasize their differences on the City Council. So now, in the spirit of invading the privacy of public figures, we would like to give you a deeper look into the personal and political life of Cindy Chavez.

Cindy Chavez was born in 1964 and attended Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward. After graduating from high school, Cindy Chavez went onto San Jose State University where she graduated with a B.A. in Political Science. After college Cindy and her husband Mike Potter, the District Director for State Assemblymember Joe Coto, bought their first house in Downtown San Jose and Cindy was getting ready to settle down. However, on July 4th 1997, a stray bullet hit Cindy’s bedroom window. Instead of releasing a hot rap album like so many others who have been shot at, Chavez discovered her passion for neighborhood safety.

Cindy got involved as the staff director for the South Bay Labor Council and was elected to the City Council as the representative for District 3 in 1998. On the council, Cindy fought for safer neighborhoods and established the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative. As a parent, Cindy felt compelled to organize a five-point education plan to improve schools and to provide access to health care insurance to every child in San Jose. And finally, Cindy championed the effort to bring BART to San Jose.

The Grand Prix that Chavez fought so hard for has been the biggest thing to put San Jose on the map since the hip lyrics of Dionne Warwick’s “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” As the tenth largest city in the country, San Jose is on the brink of a new horizon and Cindy Chavez has big ideas to continue to improve the city. So now that you know more about the woman the San Jose Mercury loves to hate, we hope that you feel a little bit more comfortable with the upcoming election.

-SJ Rookie