Public Ethics Now exists to strengthen public trust by providing Santa Clara stakeholders with ethics news, resources, and strategies to advance ethical leadership, fair campaigns, and accountable governance in the city organization, in the Stadium Authority, and on the part of every city official and staff person.
We are also building something that doesn't exist right now: a safe and respectful community space where Santa Clara stakeholders can use their verified Pen names to talk with one another about city ethics, public trust, and core values without fear of reprisals, insults, or personal attacks by newspapers or online news outlets who are aligned with one side or another.
This is a place to counter misinformation with facts, to engage in democratic dialogue rather than "gotcha" debate, and, hopefully, to reach some consensus about the kind of city the public wants, how to partner with city officials, and how to move us from the current divisiveness that is not productive.
This is a public ethics education site, not a political campaign site, a partisan brainwashing strategy, or a social media platform. We are non-partisan and passionate advocates for ethical leadership, good governance, citizen engagement, and public trust.
The work here is careful, deliberate, urgent, and grounded in shared civic values, the core values city residents identified during the Ethics Code Development Process from 1998-2000 and then verified again in the city surveys from 2006-2008. These values are so fundamental to public trust that the city council made it a moral obligation for every elected and appointed city official to understand them and apply them to their work.
Former City Manager Jennifer Sparacino also made the Code of Ethics & Values, and the core values embedded in it, a moral obligation for all members of the City staff, city contractors, and others involved in delivering city services.
A California Public Records Request in October 2025 revealed that the current City Manager has issued no City Manager Directives to city staff about the ethics expectations for the current staff, about building an ethical city staff culture, or about what to do if the city's current approach to ethics conflicts with the staff person's personal moral code.
Even after three Santa Clara Civil Grand Jury reports that documented epic ethics failures, the City Manager said nothing in writing or publicly about the importance of ethical behavior or about the City staff requirements to follow the current Code of Ethics & Values, which has applied to all staff for 26 years, no matter how the Council ignores ethics.
It may be that the person responding to public record requests misunderstood the request, but, from other evidence, it is now clear that ethics is not only ignored by the City Council, but also by the City Manager and the City Attorney.
You were asked to choose a pen name when you signed up. That pen name is the only name that will ever be visible publicly on this site.
Your real identity — if and when it is requested later — is kept private and confidential. It is never published, never shared, and never displayed.
Verification exists for one reason only: to ensure that participation comes from real people, not bots, sock puppets, or bad-faith actors.
Anonymity protects individuals.
Verification protects the community.
Both matter.
As a registered user, you can:
- Access protected information and resources on this site
- Receive email updates and notices
- Read all public content
- Observe discussions and civic issues as they unfold;
You cannot comment or participate in discussions yet—and that is intentional.
Public discourse works best when participation is a careful choice, not impulsive, and when expectations are clear from the start.
