Races for the school board and city council are supposed to be nonpartisan. The issues facing schools and cities are not partisan. It’s unfortunate when political parties make endorsements in these races. Ever since I was elected to the San Mateo Foster City Elementary School District Board in 1973, I have served with many Republicans and many Democrats. And in most instances their decisions were similar to those of their colleagues despite party affiliation.
Take the late John Lee, San Mateo mayor and councilman, who made no secret of his Republican credentials, but was always supported by labor. Former mayor and councilwoman Jan Epstein, a member of the San Mateo Democratic Central Committee and prominent in party affairs, went all out to endorse Lee over Karen Herrel (one of original Measure H supporters) in a very close race for the council in 1999. Lee won and was subsequently re-elected every time he ran. Jerry Fuchs, former publisher of a number of Peninsula newspapers, and a good friend of Lee, once told me, “you have no idea how conservative Lee is.” But I was fond of Lee as were his council colleagues and Fuchs’ warning made no difference in our relationship. Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, a Democrat, spoke at his memorial.
***
That would not be possible today. I suspect Lee would have been a Trump supporter and if he proclaimed this publicly or even to just close friends and council colleagues it would have been different. There would be no labor or Democrat endorsements. No collegial feelings. Instead, a deep chill and suspicion. These are the times we live in and it is unfortunate. This is what the Trump reign has brought us.
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The Democratic Party now makes endorsements in local school board and city council races. And though it’s not as active, the local GOP does endorse in some local council races at times. Maybe these partisan endorsements encourage fringe elements to intrude in local elections. There are nasty things being said on social media, in online comments and in Daily Journal letters to the editor, about some candidates being endorsed by the Democratic Party. These are coming from self-identified Trump supporters. The latter are also involved in support of Measure Y, saying falsely that it echoes Trump’s call that the Democrats want to invade and destroy the suburbs. I don’t think these candidates or the Measure Y organization welcomes this support, but who knows.
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We can’t bring the past back. But we must keep our local offices nonpartisan where we have in many cases both Republicans and Democrats serving in a collegial manner. This is becoming more of a challenge, even in Sacramento when Democratic legislators who are in a majority, still need to reach across the aisle to get a bill passed. Right now, if you are a Trump supporter, I try to understand why, but my gut feeling is that you are an opponent and I need to walk away. This is what Trump’s reign has brought.
***
If you watched the hearings for a new Supreme Court justice, you know how pervasive the partisan divide is. U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-South Carolina, and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee opened the hearings with this true, but unsettling comment. We know how everyone is going to vote. All Democrats will be voting against the nominee. All Republicans will be voting for her. Later in the hearings, the nominee wouldn’t even commit to believing in the science that there is climate change. Isn’t that a nonpartisan issue? In these days of Donald Trump, there is hardly anything on which Americans of both parties can agree. Motherhood? Apple pie? That rattling you hear are the Founding Fathers not only turning over in their graves but pounding their fists. After all we went through, they moan, this is what Trump, a wannabe King George, has done to our Constitution.
Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.
Sue goes on to lecture us about how bi-partisan things were in the times she was an elected official, then she goes on to criticize the citizens who have a different opinion than hers. I don't think she realizes how ignorant she looks when calling for bi-partisanship and then criticizing those she wants to have a bi-partisanship relationship with. Sue, we would like to have a conversation with you but I am afraid your attitude and the fact that you are just an opponent makes it better to just walk away. I guess that is the environment we live in today with the Democrats strong pull to the far left, socialism and the redistribution of wealth. Sad you can point the finger at others and ignore your own insults. Sue, you have been used to people fawning over your words, but today we recognize you as a partisan Democrat just like all those running our cities, counties and state.
Another denigrating, Trump like attack at a weekly columnist and former mayor of San Mateo. The great thing about reading the hard copy of the SMDJ is readers don’t have to ‘see’ your replies because there aren’t any.
Pumpkin Pie > Apple Pie!!!! The issue is we don't have a Nimby party. Both parties house haters of new neibhors. But considering the Democrat party says No on Y... they at least believe in free market economics.
Another river of SUEWAJE (SUE Writing Another Junk Editorial). As usual, Sue has tunnel vision, only writing about patriots attacking Democrats. Yet a quick read of the comments will easily destroy her narrative. Seems like the ones starting the nastiness are the ones who hate Trump more than they love America. Maybe it’s time Sue started trying to write non-partisan columns instead of promoting divisiveness - but I won’t hold my breath.
Just wondering what happened to your comments about mopping the floor the past couple of days. Are you being censored or did you pull them down yourself when you realized how ridiculous they were?
Good morning, Taffy. Thanks for the concern. I'm being censored or somebody is reporting them. I'm aware of one word and one two word phrase, so far, that have been censored in the past, so I no longer use them. For the posts in question, I've tried several iterations to see if I can narrow down the offending word/phrase. As you've read, there isn't anything offensive so I'm a bit at sea. And I never pull down my comments - i didn't even know that was possible.
Tommy Tee, if that were true, you and your fellow lemmings like Grandpa Taffy and Jorg the JUNC man wouldn’t be published. As for name calling, I’ve repeated many times that if somebody starts it, I’ll happily return the favor. I don’t follow your Democrat “good for thee, but not for me” nonsense.
''This is what the Trump reign has brought us." The Democrats brought us Trump by appealing to identity politics along with a lapdog media that replaced the watchdog media. Just look at today's AP story on Trump and Biden going to church. Trump makes a "rare" appearance while Biden is a "practicing Catholic." There is no mention of Biden being under fire for his stand on abortion and gay marriage. . How did the media get this biased? I just read 'Philip's Code: No News is Good News - to a Killer." Opened my eyes.
Sue, is so right! I would hope both parties understand it is best for all to leave the local elections nonpartisan. Local government seems to be the only level where understanding and compromising still happens.
Unfortunately all politics are partisan. Elected officials of both parties are more loyal to their party and special interests that fund their campaigns than to the people they represent. San Mateo County is a one party county. The result is a lack of checks and balances. Not a good thing. Political parties normally only consider candidates that want an endorsement. The SMCDEMs endorsed a lot of candidates. The SMGOP endorsed just a few.
Yes, he is a repetitive, childish name caller, just like Trump. Nothing of value to contribute, but then again, what can we expect from someone so obviously uneducated and unsuccessful? Trump thrives on people like that, who are still fooled by him, even after 4 years of embarrassing exposure.
Dear readers, I present two proven Democrat lemmings, Tommy immaturi-Tee and Jorg the JUNC (Jorg’s Usual Nitwit Comment) man. It would be nice if they could keep the hate out of their comments and become family friendly. Unfortunately due to their insecurities they need to insult and attack people yet are unable to defend or list any non-corrupt accomplishments of the Biden crime family. Please pray for the families of these two - the toxici-Tee and JUNC their families put up with must be unbearable.
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(17) comments
Sue goes on to lecture us about how bi-partisan things were in the times she was an elected official, then she goes on to criticize the citizens who have a different opinion than hers. I don't think she realizes how ignorant she looks when calling for bi-partisanship and then criticizing those she wants to have a bi-partisanship relationship with. Sue, we would like to have a conversation with you but I am afraid your attitude and the fact that you are just an opponent makes it better to just walk away. I guess that is the environment we live in today with the Democrats strong pull to the far left, socialism and the redistribution of wealth. Sad you can point the finger at others and ignore your own insults. Sue, you have been used to people fawning over your words, but today we recognize you as a partisan Democrat just like all those running our cities, counties and state.
Chris: What do you actually mean by "socialism and the redistribution of wealth"?
Just as I thought, - empty words tossed out, without understanding the meaning of them, or the historical perspective. How shallow, how Republican!
Another denigrating, Trump like attack at a weekly columnist and former mayor of San Mateo. The great thing about reading the hard copy of the SMDJ is readers don’t have to ‘see’ your replies because there aren’t any.
Still having trouble finding that mirror?
Pumpkin Pie > Apple Pie!!!! The issue is we don't have a Nimby party. Both parties house haters of new neibhors. But considering the Democrat party says No on Y... they at least believe in free market economics.
Another river of SUEWAJE (SUE Writing Another Junk Editorial). As usual, Sue has tunnel vision, only writing about patriots attacking Democrats. Yet a quick read of the comments will easily destroy her narrative. Seems like the ones starting the nastiness are the ones who hate Trump more than they love America. Maybe it’s time Sue started trying to write non-partisan columns instead of promoting divisiveness - but I won’t hold my breath.
Terence,
Just wondering what happened to your comments about mopping the floor the past couple of days. Are you being censored or did you pull them down yourself when you realized how ridiculous they were?
Good morning, Taffy. Thanks for the concern. I'm being censored or somebody is reporting them. I'm aware of one word and one two word phrase, so far, that have been censored in the past, so I no longer use them. For the posts in question, I've tried several iterations to see if I can narrow down the offending word/phrase. As you've read, there isn't anything offensive so I'm a bit at sea. And I never pull down my comments - i didn't even know that was possible.
You should be censored until you can contribute something beneficial. Name calling and stupid acronyms don't count.
Tommy Tee, if that were true, you and your fellow lemmings like Grandpa Taffy and Jorg the JUNC man wouldn’t be published. As for name calling, I’ve repeated many times that if somebody starts it, I’ll happily return the favor. I don’t follow your Democrat “good for thee, but not for me” nonsense.
''This is what the Trump reign has brought us." The Democrats brought us Trump by appealing to identity politics along with a lapdog media that replaced the watchdog media. Just look at today's AP story on Trump and Biden going to church. Trump makes a "rare" appearance while Biden is a "practicing Catholic." There is no mention of Biden being under fire for his stand on abortion and gay marriage. . How did the media get this biased? I just read 'Philip's Code: No News is Good News - to a Killer." Opened my eyes.
Sue, is so right! I would hope both parties understand it is best for all to leave the local elections nonpartisan. Local government seems to be the only level where understanding and compromising still happens.
Unfortunately all politics are partisan. Elected officials of both parties are more loyal to their party and special interests that fund their campaigns than to the people they represent. San Mateo County is a one party county. The result is a lack of checks and balances. Not a good thing. Political parties normally only consider candidates that want an endorsement. The SMCDEMs endorsed a lot of candidates. The SMGOP endorsed just a few.
Terence--you're a whiny, immature broken record. Take your ball and go home...LOL
Yes, he is a repetitive, childish name caller, just like Trump. Nothing of value to contribute, but then again, what can we expect from someone so obviously uneducated and unsuccessful? Trump thrives on people like that, who are still fooled by him, even after 4 years of embarrassing exposure.
Dear readers, I present two proven Democrat lemmings, Tommy immaturi-Tee and Jorg the JUNC (Jorg’s Usual Nitwit Comment) man. It would be nice if they could keep the hate out of their comments and become family friendly. Unfortunately due to their insecurities they need to insult and attack people yet are unable to defend or list any non-corrupt accomplishments of the Biden crime family. Please pray for the families of these two - the toxici-Tee and JUNC their families put up with must be unbearable.
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