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Gillmor’s intervention in the wage matter, along with the financial support from the company, raises ethical questions.

“The perception of this looks bad for Mayor Gillmor,” John Pelissero, a senior scholar at The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, told San José Spotlight. “It’s never a good idea for public officials to accept campaign contributions at a time in which they are also trying to help the provider of those campaign funds with some sort of special consideration from government.”

“It wouldn’t be unusual for the public to ask questions about, was there some sort of a deal made here between the mayor and the developer?” Pelissero said. “What the mayor may be doing could be entirely above board with the best interest of the public at heart, but the public may look at this situation and say, this just doesn’t look right.”

John Pelissero, senior scholar in government ethics, quoted by San Jose Spotlight.