A watershed election

Liccardo said he would continue to meet with Republican colleagues and, as he put it, “prod and probe.” Bypassing the fun that could be made with this phrase, we all know how much of nothing this is likely to be.

I have never seen a president more immune to expressions of concern and strongly worded letters and angry rhetoric that includes the pugnacious “come and get me” from Newsom.

In my lifetime, there have been numerous episodes in which troops have been injected into a local dispute. During the Civil Rights Movement, troops were sent to states to enforce federal desegregation orders and to protect protesters who were being attacked by local law enforcement. The complaints then by state officials in Alabama, for example, bear remarkable similarity to what has been said this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom. During the Vietnam War, anti-war protesters at Kent State University were shot and killed by National Guard soldiers.

We blunder our way through these generational crises hoping we will come out in one piece (or so). Honestly, the riots and assassinations we boomers lived through in the 1960s and 1970s felt worse than what we are going through now, in part because today’s circumstances can be changed substantially in the 510 days between now and Nov. 3, 2026.

Meanwhile, there are 220 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives and 212 Democrats (five Democratic members of Congress died in office this year). A swing of five seats or even three could be transformative and maybe invigorating for a Democratic caucus that will need to do more than express outrage.

Like, connecting to voters on the same fundamental issues – jobs, the economy, safety and security.

To that end, it would have been instructive if that same cluster of leaders had condemned the destruction and violence in Los Angeles. Yes, it is being blown up by the White House for a dozen reasons, but adding this to the conversation changes the debate and suggests these leaders understand that freewheeling vandalism also makes voters uncomfortable.

THE CORPUS CRISIS: The circle continues to tighten around San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus. A last-minute filing by her attorneys forestalled Corpus being forced to testify under oath in the proceeding launched by the county to oust her. But it was only a delay.

At some point, she will have to answer questions somewhere other than a news conference or on social media. Although she has stated that she wants to tell her side of the story, she has had ample opportunities to do so and repeatedly ducks them. So, the county’s procedure goes forward and there is an air of desperation about the latest legal filings on her behalf.

The latest amounted to an assertion that District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe is not allowed to have friends. The filing said there was an “unprecedented consolidation of authority” in which Wagstaffe was acting as prosecutor, civil grand jury administrator and de facto county counsel (at the request of the actual county counsel, by the way) — combined with multiple personal and professional conflicts.”

Heck, Wagstaffe is a friend of mine and I wish I had known I could exploit that. I have a long list of people I would like to send over to him. You know who you are.

As we continue to grope in the dark as to how much this mess is costing county taxpayers, another sliver of the puzzle falls into place. The filing this week from the San Francisco firm of Murphy, Pearson, Bradley and Feeney listed six attorneys as having worked on this masterpiece. If they are billing at a fairly standard rate of $800-$1,200 an hour, that is some expensive legal work. Insiders tell me that at nearly every meeting county officials have with Corpus’ attorneys, a minimum of three or four participate. Perhaps they see this as a cash cow or, perhaps, they are trying to make this so expensive that the county will surrender.

Note to Readers: This column has been changed to correct a quote that was misattributed.

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He co-hosts a podcast/videocast that can be found at TheGamePeninsula.com, and he can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.