Coming your way

So, it is unhelpful for a fight to break out over the future management of Caltrain.

For years, Caltrain Joint Powers Board directors from San Francisco and Santa Clara counties have been chafing under the management of the rail system by SamTrans. Representatives from San Francisco and San Jose think a flyover backwater like San Mateo County should not be running the railroad.

San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton, a Caltrain director, apparently thinks now is the time to push this matter. In a letter last week to the Caltrain board, Walton called on his colleagues to begin in earnest separating Caltrain from SamTrans’ management, under which the railroad has thrived and modernized. In the letter, he also said San Francisco would withhold its share of funding for a bridge replacement project in San Jose — a hostage for moving forward.

There are a number of things wrong with this. We are told the regional measure is necessary to help Caltrain with its annual deficit of $75 million. But creating a separate agency will increase the direct costs to run Caltrain and add to the deficit. SamTrans’ management has been a tremendous bargain.

The question arises: Why should the region bailout Caltrain while it engages in a costly drain on the budget?

And it could be even more costly once there is a full accounting of the funds SamTrans put up, on behalf of the other two counties, to buy Caltrain. Walton says in his letter the payback to SamTrans is a settled matter, but that may be much less accurate than he thinks.

The initiative only has to pass in the five-county jurisdiction created for this measure — it does not have to pass in each county. So, it could fail in San Mateo County, and we could still be saddled with a half-cent sales tax increase.

ON THE CIRCUIT: It has been a busy several days for the county’s political class as they attended a rapid-fire series of annual holiday events that included the SAMCEDA party and the Central Labor Council luncheon.

These are must-attend events for current and would-be officeholders, particularly the labor event. The CLC, by virtue of its money, campaign workers and its leadership, is the single most impactful political organization in the county.

Still, by the fourth day of events, attendees were running out of things to say to one another.

Wedged in the middle of all this was Supervisor Ray Mueller’s reelection kick-off at Molly O’s in San Carlos, which I gave short shrift last week as the event occurred outside my deadline. Mueller appears to be running unopposed, which provides solace to the customarily anxious supervisor. He has been endorsed by the CLC, and three of his colleagues — Lisa Gauthier, Jackie Speier and Noelia Corzo.

Mueller took an early, outspoken position calling for the ouster of Sheriff Christina Corpus. He gained political currency as the originator of Measure A, the ballot measure that authorized the Board of Supervisors to fire Corpus.

With this many political insiders bundled together, there was plenty of talk about the 2026 elections.

There are rumblings of a potential opponent for District 2 (eastern Redwood City) incumbent Redwood City Councilmember Chris Sturken, particularly from the powerful California Apartment Association, which is unhappy about his early support for a rent control ballot measure. Sturken is one of the more progressive councilmembers and his opponents would like to label him as out of step with voters. But the circumstances have yet to produce an actual challenger.

In San Mateo, Dana Sahae is gearing up to run against District 5 first-term incumbent Councilmember Adam Loraine. Sahae is a leader in Checkpoint Hillsdale, the grassroots group challenging the massive Hillsdale Shopping Center redevelopment project. Sahae also is the daughter of the late Councilman Gary Yates, who served on the council from 1993 until his death from heart disease in 2000. She is a former staff writer for the Daily Journal. Loraine is the current mayor and came to the council as a close ally of then-Councilmember Amourence Lee.