The trio of Democratic Assembly candidates vying for the 19th district seat appear to have striking similarities in views about issues as wide-reaching as traffic, affordable housing, reforming the bloated state prison system and the future of the Cow Palace.

When the topic shifts to affordable housing — at least in the framework of the Bay Meadows racetrack overhaul plans — and the three show variations that may help voters decide who to send to the November general election.

Rich Holober, president of the San Mateo County Community College District, and Millbrae Mayor Gina Papan both conceded they are not the candidates who’ve taken money from developers — a swipe at opponent Jerry Hill, a county supervisor, who has received funds from the backers of projects like Cargill Saltworks in Redwood City. Both also pointed out their respective district and city are building affordable units.

One issue, Hill said, is deciding whether to provide such housing in the county’s 76 percent of open space or infill in appropriate places like the transit corridor.

Papan used transit as another hit at Hill, arguing that public transportation is key to making affordable housing attractive and establishing a good quality of life. Papan said that the BART extension backed by the supervisor “set us back years” with money flowing out of the county, money that could have been used for housing and other resident needs.

In his closing remarks, Hill suggested Papan get her facts right. He did not back the extension but instead signed the deal divorcing Samtrans from the BART district.

General consensus with small differences and asides set the tone of last night’s Assembly candidate forum, set before approximately 50 members of the Beresford/Hillsdale Neighborhood Association and including a mix of pre-submitted questions and inquiries from the audience.

While previous forums have raised some debate standards — health care, the environment, education, housing, the economy — last night’s event raised some relatively new or unexpected topics: the Cow Palace in Daly City, housing for the underserved mentally ill and the use of photo radar to augment local traffic enforcement.

For the last, all three candidates agreed with bill introduced by state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, which will establish a pilot program in Beverly Hills to try out the enforcement.

Holober noted traffic is not his area of expertise but suggested San Mateo County could also be a model — an idea both Hill and Papan echoed.

The enforcement acts as a “technological speed bump” which doesn’t adversely affect the neighborhood or emergency vehicles, Hill said.

The trio also overlapped in the opinion the state’s current incarceration system needs an overhaul .

Dollars spent on prison are dollars not used on education, parks or any other need, Holober said.

Papan, a former state deputy attorney general, pointed out the federal government took over when the state failed and suggested prison is a sign of failing people at an early age. She maintained society shouldn’t similarly leave inmates hanging when released, instead giving them the tools to assimilate and be productive.

Fixing the corrections system could also have ramifications in housing for the mentally ill, the candidates concurred.

Likewise, plans to turn the Cow Palace over to Daly City plus a last-minute compromise to develop only the overflow parking lot drew childhood memories and thoughts that the structure is antiquated and may due for renovation or demolition.

Papan said a main goal is to “look to community desires” and ensure safety while Hill said the discussion needs to involve the city, the state and the neighborhood.

The similarities were lost on the candidates themselves.

“We don’t have much variation on the issues,” Papan said in her closing remarks.

Instead, she added, voters should consider other aspects, such as experience.

She told the audience she can hit the ground running because of her state and local experience.

Telling the audience a a six-year cap in the Assembly isn’t much time to get one’s feet wet, Hill highlighted his experience on the Board of Supervisors as the local arm of the state.

Holober, with 14 years in elected office, promised to put the interests of working families first.

Whoever wins the Democratic nomination in June  will face off with other party nominees in November. Libertarian Brian Perry, and Republicans Catherine Brinkman, a business consultant, and Elsie Hernandez-Gufler, a Realtor and businesswoman in Millbrae, are qualified for the ballot.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.