4/26/25 9:38PM
Very sadly, Council Member Mark Eldridge has announced his resignation, after apparently being hounded by a small number of very vocal folks about what I understand is an upcoming civil (not criminal!) court case he is appearing in. I did not see criticisms of Mark raised until he spoke up about the cricket fields and park delays. While Mark & I may not agree on whether Mayor George was holding up the parks so he could fund a massive pet project, bringing up Mark’s court case only after he spoke up looks like retaliation.
Correction: this issue was not directly related to Mark’s comments about cricket fields. It has been raised publicly by a member of the community at a Town meeting in August 2024 (see the 6:20 minute mark). This person shared concerns about a Council member continuing to serve while facing such a serious case, and they noted that the Town has been asked but declined to investigate despite being aware of the issue. Some community members also write that they have been trying to raise this issue online repeatedly for a long time, but whenever they bring it up it is deleted by moderators. As I have learned more about the history of this case, it seems justified to have raised concerns when the allegations were first filed, which people did, but they never received a response, which is why they kept raising it.
For the record, I have always discouraged these attacks both publicly (here and on Facebook) and in private to individuals who reached out to me. The first time I saw this brought up, I replied publicly that the information seemed like a private matter and I didn’t support discussing it, and both their comment and mine were deleted by a moderator. But I have screenshots that back up my private conversations. Friday night, I was so bothered by the issue that I put off looking into cricket fields to write my previous post “Focusing on Issues, not People“, and I think I published it around 3AM. That’s how much I don’t like what’s happened to Mark.
Folks on the Council spend hours every week dealing with the stuff most citizens don’t want to even think about. Who among us wants to spend their evening away from their families, discussing drainage issues around an oddly-shaped lot on the other side of town? Or meeting with grocery store operators again, and again, and again, to convince them to put in a Tom Thumb? Now who wants to do all of that when they also get unmerciful public attacks surrounding events in their personal life?
Would it be the public’s business if a Council Member was going through divorce? Or what if they were involved in a car accident? Absolutely not.
Our Town Council and Board members are unpaid volunteers. They are not “influencer” celebrities who give up their privacy in exchange for financial gain or other personal benefit. It was wrong when someone brought up rumors about permitting issues around a candidate’s house, but it seems even more wrong when these similar types of personal issues are brought up and the Council Member is not even currently up for re-election. Mark didn’t deserve this, and I personally feel terrible for him and his family.
I admit I still don’t know the rules in cricket. But in soccer, the most severe penalty is a “red card,” where a player is immediately removed from the game and can’t return, and the team must play with one less player for the remainder of the match. It feels like we as a town have given ourselves a red card. We are going to have to spend some time now short one very capable and active Council Member.
For example, the town of Sunnyvale is currently facing a lawsuit for a million dollars from a land developer on Collins & I-80, I’m maybe oversimplifying but it seems to be because the Town doesn’t want to approve putting another drive-thru restaurant in between the Chik-fil-A and Starbucks–they’re rather have the developer put in a nicer options, since we already have so many fast food options there. Wouldn’t it be great to still have Mark’s legal expertise on the Council, to help navigate the issue? Who among those that kept bringing up this private, civil court dispute are now going to step up and shoulder the load he was carrying for us?
This whole thing has made me wary of Facebook. The algorithm drives engagement, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative. After going back and looking up what was said on there about Mark, I’m tempted to go back to having a private account and just sharing photos with immediate family members.
We need to do better.
To that end, I am going to take a slower approach in allowing comments and interactions on this site. I’ve already said I am going to first verify residency in Sunnyvale before anyone can comment. Given what’s happened to Mark, I am going to also only approve comments on an article when they are materially constructive to the conversation. No reactions of “great” or “you’re wrong” are going to get posted. No off-topic points about someone mentioned in the article are going to get posted. Only comments that are civil, and offer relevant additional information or a reasoned, alternative viewpoint will be approved.
It’s too easy to tear someone down. It’s up to each of us to focus on the issues, and build up the people in our community. I really hope we can make something positive come out of this. Today has made me question that.
