Campaign mailers, promises and more

Consider these slogans in the board race: From East Palo Alto Councilmember Lisa Gauthier, “A supervisor for all of us”; from youth nonprofit director Maggie Cornejo, “From our community, with our community”; from project manager Celeste Brevard, “Create the future you want to see”; from nonprofit manager Paul Bocanegra, “Putting people first”; and from East Palo Alto Councilmember Antonio Lopez, “The promise of tomorrow.”

So, the question arises whether it is possible to fulfill the promise of tomorrow by creating a future we want to see, putting people first for all of us and our community. Maybe we can sort that out in the inevitable November runoff election.

The race for Congress is no better and may even be worse. Tech executive Peter Dixon has produced a piece that looks like a word cloud with the fine texture of Jell-O. The two most prominent words are democracy and family. This clears things up.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian’s newest mail piece carries this: “Helping people. Solving Problems. Getting things done.” Apparently, no more exclamation points were necessary after his pithy, if vague, slogan, “Go Joe!” Assemblymember Evan Low promises to “usher in a new era of courageous leadership for Silicon Valley.” As compared, I suppose, to the old era of callow and feckless leadership.

But former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s mail looks like he is getting paid by the word.

On occasion, Simitian, whom I have known for decades, has good-naturedly quoted a teasing description I conjured one day: “Ask him the time and he will tell you the history of the wristwatch.” Liccardo appears to have embraced the verbosity battle. Liccardo’s mailing hit the coastside this week and is one-third larger than the typical piece. The headline: “Let’s get it done.” Who could object to that? Inside is so much text that you could have a drawing among voters who actually could claim to have read it all. First prize, no more mailers.

The piece also says, “Better ideas on the biggest issues.” And then there is this: “Sam Liccardo won’t stop fighting until we have the housing to bring every homeless resident indoors — and we require them to use it.” We will save for another day the question of whether federal involvement in homelessness will improve the problem.

QUO VADIS: It is clear San Mateo County got hosed in the creation of the 16th CD, which meanders from Pacifica to East San Jose. The proof is in the Mercury News’ unfortunately uninformed endorsement of Liccardo, which argued that his election “would ensure that San Jose, which is split between four districts, has a champion in Congress …who understands the unique challenges of the nation’s 12th largest city.”

First, having four members represent a single city is a political bonanza. Second, this just fuels my concern that San Mateo County will be underserved and overlooked by a member of Congress whose ties are entirely elsewhere.

THE OTHER SUPES RACE: Too late for last week’s dispatch, the campaign funding reports turned up from Millbrae Councilmember Ann Schneider, who is running against former Rep. Jackie Speier in the District 1 race to replace Dave Pine.

The reports show Schneider raised $257 in 2023 and an additional $25 through mid-January of this year. She loaned her campaign $5,600. Most of the money was spent on the candidates’ filing fee and having her statement published in the voter pamphlet. During the same period, Speier raised $99,293.

If this was a Little League game, the 10-run rule would be invoked.

HIGH AND INSIDE: Elections to the local political party central committees are the ultimate inside baseball, but it does prove revealing about intramural squabbles. The county Democratic Central Committee races are, again, a display of infighting between pragmatics and progressives. Interestingly, the progressives in District 2 — represented by Noelia Corzo on the Board of Supervisors — have put out a campaign piece titled “The Good Democrat Slate.”

Who controls the central committee matters to more than just the people running. The local party endorses in most contests, which means inclusion in local and state party slate mailings.

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.