Columnist Bill Paul Issues Warning Over Supervisor Appointment

San Mateo Daily News Columnist Bill Paul has issued a missive warning that lack of elections for the five-member county board of supervisors has lead to a government body that is becoming “a self­-perpetuating group that could potentially suffer from inbreeding.”

Paul attacked the notion of filling a vacancy on the board via an appointment process that has been favored by the four remaining supervisors. Supervisor Jerry Hill was recently elected to the State Assembly and will vacate his seat at the end of the month. Despite public demand for the supervisors to fill the vacancy by calling a special election, the board has moved forward on an appointment plan that will bypass the voters.

The articulated rationale for making an appointment is the cost of conducting a special election – estimated to be approximately $1.6 million.

To that, Paul states: When the argument for making an ap­pointment is that the person selected could well be the same person who’d be elected, or that supervisors will definitely pick the most qualified, experienced, and smartest person, then we need to ask, why have a representative, republic form of govern­ment anyway? The fact is that politicking and battling things out from the trenches is the American way, for better or for worse.

In calling on the Supervisors to undertake a democratic process to replace Hill, Paul joins the San Mateo County Democratic Party, the Daily Journal, Millbrae Mayor Gina Papan and San Mateo Union High School District Trustee Dave Pine.

In addition, the Insider Blog at the San Mateo County Times has also opined against an appointment process, stating sarcastically that San Mateo County's government in no way has a reputation "...for being clubby and nontransparent — cough, cough."

As the pressure mounts on the board, an appointment process may be looking more like a political hot potato. Voters may yet have a voice in who their representatives may be.