Santa Clara resident and small business owner Kirk Vartan has been a special advisor to Mayor Lisa Gillmor for the last three years, but now the city says it was never aware of the appointment — and few records between the two exist, sparking concerns about transparency, ethics and even legal complications.
In February 2020, Gillmor asked Vartan, who is the general manager at local pizza parlor A Slice of New York, to be her special advisor on small businesses and worker cooperative initiatives. Vartan had previously converted his business to a worker cooperative.
In an email, Gillmor said he has provided her with “information and insight on what