Holober Lands Major Endorsement

In the race for endorsements, candidates for the 19th Assembly District Democratic Primary are racking up support at a furious pace. Earlier this month, San Mateo County Supervisor Jerry Hill announced endorsements from the California League of Conservation Voters and the current Assemblyman for the 19th District, Gene Mullin.

Millbrae Mayor Gina Papan has announced the support of numerous members of the State Legislature, outpacing her opponents among potential future colleagues.

Not to be outdone, San Mateo County Community College District Trustee Richard Holober has claimed the endorsement of California’s largest union in that of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) State Council, the umbrella for the many SEIU locals.

The powerful union represents health care workers, librarians, custodians, social workers, homecare workers and other public employees and claim approximately 6,000 members in the area of the 19th Assembly District.

The endorsement places Holober firmly in the lead in the chase for organized labor support that will translate into both funding and feet on the ground.

Hill, who only recently changed his party registration Republican to Democrat, has gained some ground on the environmental front but the California League of Conservation Voters is very much a second cousin to the arguably more significant Sierra Club. If Hill fails to obtain the exclusive endorsement of the Sierra Club that would badly undermine his attempt to position himself as the environmental candidate.

Papan, in order to keep her campaign in the forefront needs to add to her list of endorsements in the coming weeks.

Among all of the candidates, Holober now looks to be in a position of strength that, like Barack Obama, if it continues could derail even what was a presumptive candidate.

Heads Won't Roll in Juvenile Hall Escape

On Thursday, February 14, a 17-year-old murder suspect escaped from the San Mateo County juvenile facility, stunning county officials and neighbors of the facility.

The escape of Josue Raul Orozco, the youngest person ever charged as an adult with murder in the county and a known gang member, incarcerated for shooting a rival gang member in the back of the head, exposed some major security weaknesses in the two year old facility and a stunning lack of procedural protocols among the County’s Probation and Sheriff’s Department in responding to such an event.

According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Probation officials said Orozco was last seen Thursday evening playing basketball with two other youths in a courtyard that is surrounded by a 10-foot, concrete block wall. Authorities believe he scaled the wall, pulled back a net that covers the area, then dropped down to the other side. Once there, Orozco is thought to have slipped through a 3-foot-long slit in a chain link fence that had been cut by accomplices on the outside.

Orozco was apparently hoisted up by two other inmates to reach a lamppost on the wall at a height of 10ft and then used the lamp to scale the last five feet of the concrete wall. That is the structural weakness that offered Orozco his out. But what happened afterward is what has left county leaders with egg on their faces.

Apparently, Orozco's escape went unnoticed by the two security staffers who monitor the facility's more than 120 cameras from a control room. Worse yet, according to the county’s chief probation officer Loren Buddress who oversees the facility and commented on the issues in a Daily News article, a probation officer is supposed to be able to see juvenile offenders at all times but an internal investigation has yet to reveal whether a probation officer was in the recreation yard when the escape happened. It is likely that whatever internal security protocols that were supposed to be in place, were not.

Orozco escaped the juvenile detention center between 7 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. Thursday. It is not clear from news reports how long it took facility staff to notice Orozco’s absence but the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office did not alert authorities of Orozco’s escape until after 9 p.m. that night. It is at this point that county public safety officials may have blown their chance to capture Orozco.

Sheriff’s officials issued only what is termed a “statewide alert,” essentially a teletype alerting law enforcement throughout the state of the esacpe. But, according to San Mateo County Judge Marta Diaz who excoriated publiuc sfaet officials in a Daily News article, an arrest warrant should have been issued immediateltly. By issuing an arrest warrant, law enforcement agencies throughout the state would have received a photo of Orozco with an immediate order to make an arrest.

A warrant was not issued until 2 a.m. when Sheriff’s Deputies knocked on Diaz’ door for her signature on the warrant.

Diaz, in a Daily News article stated: "I noticed while I was reading the affidavit that the escape had occurred (6 1/2 hours earlier) - and I was shocked." If (an inmate) is making for the Mexican or Canadian border, you want that arrest warrant in your hot little hands," she said.
Instead, the escaped murderer was given a 7-hour head start in a likely run for Mexico.

Predictably, officials such as members of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors have called for an investigation and have used strong language in the local press about preventing future escapes and condemning the county’s failures.

But San Mateo County residents should expect little in terms of real accountability.

San Mateo County residents may recall the revelations last April that San Mateo County Sheriff Greg Munks, and his Undersheriff Carlos Bolanos, were caught up in a brothel bust when the two top cops in San Mateo County were in Las Vegas for a relay race for law enforcement.

Both lawmen were “detained” and released along with numerous other patrons of the Las Vegas neighborhood brothel but many women were taken into custody as well as cash and approximately 3,500 tabs of the drug Ecstasy.

San Mateo County officialdom was largely silent on the event. In fact, some even defended Munks in lieu of condemning the visit of the two top cops to a house of ill repute. San Mateo County Supervisor and State Assembly aspirant Jerry Hill was particularly vociferous in his defense of Munks.

In a Daily News story at the time, Hill stated that "He's an excellent sheriff with a long history and an excellent reputation. I don't see this affecting his ability to act as sheriff in any way."

A year earlier, County Coroner Robert Foucrault was slammed for inappropriate actions within his department including allegations that he exposed his backside at the workplace and fostered a “hostile and sexual” environment that included repeated remarks about employees’ sexual orientation and a life-sized skeleton decoration with breasts, according to a discrimination complaint filed on June 2, 2006 and detailed in a Daily Journal article.

A year later, following another “internal investigation” of the Coroner’s office by the county counsel’s office, the Board of Supervisors resolved to simply “monitor” the situation.

That is why, following this latest scandal, it is unlikely that leaders of the probation or sheriff’s departments will ever be held accountable.

It may or may not be a coincidence that some of the same folks who have been given a pass by the County Board of Supervisors are also endorsers and financial backers of the Supervisors’ political careers.

For example, Sheriff Greg Munks, his wife Brenda Munks, his father-in-law Bill Lane and mother-in-law have all donated a combined $11,373 to Supervisor Jerry Hill’s campaign in his bid to succeed termed out Assemblyman Gene Mullin. Munks also held a fundraisrer for Hill at his Portola Valley home on Nov. 11, 2007. Munks is also a listed endorser on Hill’s campaign web site, as is Loren Buddress, the county’s Chief Probation Officer.

For his part, Buddress has donated $575 to Hill’s campaign in four installments, according to the Secretary of State’s Web site.

In short, no heads will roll in San Mateo County.

A Bad Valentine's Day for Peninsula Politicians

Valentines Day held little love for now former Colma Mayor Larry Formalejo who resigned his position of mayor which he has held since November of 2007 following allegations of ethical breaches by his colleagues, according to reports in the Examiner newspaper and the Chronicle.

Formalejo will retain his council seat but will no longer serve as Mayor as the gavel has passed, for the time being, to vice Mayor Helen Fisicairo.

But more trouble may be ahead for Formalejo, the first Filipino Mayor of Colma, as, according to the Examiner, more allegations of “inappropriate” conduct have surfaced. According to Colma’s town attorney, Roger Peters, an internal investigation will be completed by March 12.

According to the Examiner, Formalejo admitted in a letter to Town Manager Diane McGrath that he did seek “assistance from an officer” when his 21-year-old son was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Colma in 2006.

Formalejo's troubles come on the heels of rceent corruption charges and subsequent indictments of two former Colma council members. In 2006, council members Ron Maldonado and Phil Lum admitted to accepting unreported gifts from the owner of Colma Casino Luck Chances, primarily in the form of airline tickets to the Philippines. Both men were indicted and agreed to plea deals that did not include any jail time.

Senator Joe Simitian Stripped of Committee Chair

According to reports in the San Jose Mercury News State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, was removed as chairman of the state Senate Environmental Quality Committee following Simitian’s attempt to buck his colleagues’ approach to cutting education funding.

In a budget committee hearing on Wednesday Simitian Challenged Committee Chair Denise Ducheny over the approach to making mid-year budget cuts for public education. The approach Simitian advocated would have cut less at the moment but would have required greater cuts in the budget later in the year.

Simitian, following a half-hour debate with Ducheny, finally relented but the exchange was not appreciated by Senate President pro Tempore Don Perata, D-Oakland. On the following day, Simitian was removed from the Environmental Quality committee, a committee with oversight of Bills relating to environmental quality, air quality, water quality, integrated waste management, toxics, and hazardous waste.

Neither Simitian nor Perata has publicly commented on Simitian’s removal.

Colma Mayor Imbroglio

According to the Examiner Newspaper, Colma Mayor Larry Formalejo is currently under investigation for as of yet undefined misconduct and may be forced out of his council position.

Last Thursday, the Colma Town Council held a special meeting specifically to discuss Formalejo’s conduct but no details of that discussion have been released to the public.

Formalejo, elected to a four year term in 2004 is serving his first rotation as mayor in 2008 and is the first Filipino Mayor in the town’s history.

The news of Formalejo’s troubles is rocking the small necropolis which has seen two former councilmembers plead to federal charges related to taking unreported gifts from the owner of the local casino, Luck Chances.

Rumors are flying over the specific allegations against Formalejo but Colma officials are remaining tight-lipped.

It appears likely, however, that Colma will lose another member of its council before the end of the month.

Parks Tax to be on June 3, 2008 Ballot

It appears that boosters of a new 1/8-cent sales tax have convinced members of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to place a measure on the June 3, 2008 Primary Election ballot.

The Board will hold a hearing to place the measure on the ballot at its Tuesday, February 12 regular meeting at 10 am. No background material is yet available for public review on the ballot measure on the Board’s Web site.

Parks boosters are soliciting supporters to attend the meeting and urge to board to place the measure on the ballot, although the hearing is very likely a pro forma exercise.

According to information circulated by the Parks for the Future campaign leaders, the “factors leading to the decision to go for June 08 include strong and enthusiastic support from the community combined with positive results from the recent tracking poll showing that 70% of voters surveyed support the measure.”

A 4/5 vote of the Board is required to place the measure on the ballot.

Under the proposed design of the sales tax, which mirrors the failed Measure A of 2006, the tax would generate approximately $16 million a year to be shared by the 20 cities in San Mateo County, the county government itself and three special parks or recreation districts. Of the $16 million, 52 percent would be divided among the 20 county cities, 42 percent would go to the county government and the remaining 6 percent would be shared among three local parks districts.Cities would divide the share of the sales tax windfall on a per capita basis – which will benefit the larger cities in the county – with a minimum distribution equal to 1.357 percent of total net tax revenues and the remaining City allocations will be adjusted accordingly. For example, Daly City, the county's biggest city, would get $1.1 million annually, followed by San Mateo, which would receive about $987,000. Smaller cities such as Brisbane and Half Moon Bay would be guaranteed a minimum of $205,000 a year.

To contact the Supervisors in support or opposition to this measure use the following e-mails:

• Supervisor Adrienne Tissier: atissier@co.sanmateo.ca.us
• Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson: RoseJG@co.sanmateo.ca.us
• Supervisor Jerry Hill: jhill@co.sanmateo.ca.us
• Supervisor Mark Church: mchurch@co.sanmateo.ca.us
• Supervisor Rich Gordon: rgordon@co.sanmateo.ca.us

New Elections on the Horizon

With the close of the February 5, 2008 Presidential Primary Election, local voters will have little respite as the June 3, 2008 legislative and county primary is fast approaching and local candidates are already lining up.

On the ballot in June, according to the San Mateo County Elections Office Web site, will be a series of legislative and county races. Of particular note will be the race to replace Assemblyman Gene Mullin who is terming out of his 19th Assembly District seat.

Vying to replace Mullin is San Mateo County Supervisor Jerry Hill, Millbrae Mayor Gina Papan and San Mateo County Community College Trustee Richard Holober.

All candidates are already running hard and raising campaign cash. Hill holds the edge in the money race but Papan is gaining fast, having only been raising money for two months. Holober is between the two in the second spot but the vast majority of the funds Holober has raised are from his own bank account. Hill, who changed party registration from Republican to Democrat to run for the seat, has been in campaign mode for more than two years.

Former State Senator Jackie Speier is running to replace retiring Congressman Tom Lantos with no real opposition. That election will be a non-race.

Three San Mateo County Supervisors will also be on the ballot but these Supervisors rarely, if ever, face any real challenge. The Supervisors run countywide and without major backing no candidate has a chance against an incumbent. Supervisors Adrienne Tissier, Mark Church and Rose Jacobs Gibson are assured of reelection. Tissier, who is running for her second term, did not even have a challenger the first time she ran for the board and none has emerged as of yet the second time around.

The only other race that will be contested is a rare election for a seat on the San Mateo County Superior Court Bench. Members of the county’s legal community are lining up behind one of two potential candidates hoping to replace retiring Judge John Winfield Runde, an appointee of former California Governor George Deukmejian, who has served on the county bench since 1987.

The candidates hoping to replace Runde are San Mateo attorney Don Franchi and Millbrae attorney Jerry E. Nastari, a partner in the powerful firm of Corey, Luzaich, Pliska, de Ghetaldi & Nastari, LLP.

Franchi already has a campaign Web sit and is gathering some endorsements, drawing support from the North County from which he hails, garnering endorsements from former San Mateo County Supervisor Mike Nevin, former county assessor Roland Gianini, Redwood City Councilmember Alicia Aguirre, Millbrae Councilmember Daniel Quigg and two former South San Francisco councilmembers in that of Joe Fernekes and Ray Green. San Mateo County Board if Education Trustee Memo Morantes has also lent his name to Franchi’s cause.

Jerry Nastari has yet to make public any endorsements but is rumored to be favored by the county’s legal establishment.

The rare judicial race may provide some interest in an election that will likely attract little attention.