Your 2026 Election Guide: Why Santosh Sahoo Should Be Milpitas' Next Mayor

End the Dysfunction at City Hall

Milpitas has cycled through six different people leading the city staff since 2019—a staggering level of turnover that has delayed key projects and eroded public trust. The first to resign was City Manager Julie Edmonds-Mares, who left with little explanation after less than two years in the position. Her successor Steve McHarris left in 2023 and later accused city leadership of unethical behavior in a failed lawsuit. More recently, interim city manager Deanna Santana resigned following an incident involving a councilmember accused of nearly violating the Brown Act—California's open meeting law. After a brief stint by Milpitas Police Chief Jared Hernandez, the city council appointed Willie Hopkins Jr. as the sixth city manager in seven years this May.

Santosh Sahoo is the only candidate willing to name this problem directly. He has called the turnover a symptom of “very significant dysfunctional leadership” and has said plainly:

“The people who are running (the city) right now, they have been part of the problem”

Career politicians have had years to address this. They haven't. Santosh Sahoo will bring a new approach.

Bring Fiscal Responsibility and Transparency

Milpitas faces a projected budget deficit of over $19 million by 2031, driven primarily by the rising costs of labor and benefits. That prediction followed an even gloomier financial outlook the year before, when the city forecasted a $28.5 million shortfall by 2030. The city has since cut costs and brought in new revenue—including a deal with electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian expected to bring $19 million to city coffers over the next eight years—but the structural deficit remains. A proposed business tax measure, Measure K, would add an estimated $3 million annually to the city's general fund if passed.

Sahoo has been straightforward about the city's financial picture. As the Mercury News reported, candidates for mayor and city council “disagreed over the nature of the city's fiscal troubles and how to best resolve them,” with Sahoo going further in his critiques than other candidates.

What he will do:

• Conduct a full review of the city budget to identify waste and inefficiency
• Increase transparency regarding how taxpayer money is spent
• Pursue grants to bring outside funding into Milpitas

This is the approach of a businessman who understands how to manage an organization—not a politician who only knows how to talk about one.

He Is Not a Career Politician

Milpitas' mayoral race includes two sitting councilmembers and a perennial candidate who has run for mayor six times. These are the same people who have been in and around city government during the very period of dysfunction that now plagues Milpitas. As the Mercury News reported, “For those challenging the incumbent mayor and city council, the turnover in city staff was proof of the need for fresh leaders”.

Santosh Sahoo is different. He is a political outsider with real-world experience in technology and business. He has not spent years in city council chambers; he has spent his career building and leading organizations. That independence is exactly what Milpitas needs.

He Represents a New Generation of Leadership

Sahoo has brought “wild card” energy to the race. When he needed to gather 30 signatures from Milpitas voters to complete the nomination process, he didn't just rely on friends and political allies—he went directly to the people of Milpitas and did things differently. That grassroots approach reflects how he intends to govern: with energy, openness, and a willingness to challenge the status quo.