There are now two petitions circulating in San Mateo. One to recall Mayor Amourence Lee and one to stop the recall. Her term is up in 2024 but she can run for re-election. Lee lives in North Central and is very popular in her neighborhood except for one prominent member, former Mayor Claire Mack who is backing the recall and signed a letter with four past San Mateo mayors to urge voters to end Lee’s reign.
To make the ballot, needed are 15% of registered voters, about 8,550 are minimum required for the recall. The petition circulators have 160 days to submit them, technically due on June 9, but the date will probably be adjusted. The election will be citywide. Her seat does not become a district seat until 2024.
Some heavy hitters are supporting Lee and not the recall including U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, and state Sen. Josh Becker, D-San Mateo. Becker’s district director, Nicole Fernandez, the Papa Joe of local Democratic politics, is a close friend of Lee.
If there is an election, it could be close with older homeowners supporting the recall and progressives supporting Lee. The current City Council is staying out of it. According to its newest member, Richard Hedges, the once divided council is working well together and the recall does not help.
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Joe Cotchett has come to the rescue of the San Mateo County Community College or at least its reputation by going after its former Chancellor Ron Galatolo.
Galatolo was fired — belatedly — by a board which had looked the other way over his many transgressions. The only member who challenged Galatolo was Richard Holober who is still a trustee. Here is some of the juicy evidence from the chancellor’s emails while he was at work:
“Dearest Pig Nuts, since we no longer date I thought I would see if you wanted to play hooky on Wed may 17th in San Francisco. There is a Grand Portfolio tasting at the Generals Residence Fort Mason from 1 to 5 and I am thinking of attending. Let me know if there is interest. It’s a VIP event so you will have to use another name.”
According to Cotchett, it involves over $1 billion in bonds or almost $2,000 for each homeowner on the Peninsula — it could be the biggest pay-to-play on school buildings in the state.
I remember first seeing Galatolo at a San Mateo Rotary meeting. He was warmly welcomed. But I thought he was sleazy and not a worthy replacement for Glen Smith or previous chancellors.
Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.
Sue - enough of the ageism and divisive language when identifying the recall constituencies. And incorrect language at that. San Mateo voters have taken on the entrenched power players in San Mateo, especially the construction industry, and Lee is the vote they are counting on to overturn Measure Y. But progressive Measure Y was more a vote about democracy and voter rights than regulations. Just watch how hard Lee and Fernandez will be working to make sure that the State takes over all land use regulations.
You also know Sue that I have been raising alarms about the previous Boards at the College District for over 10 years. I informed every elected official at the local, state and federal levels about the fraud that had been perpetrated on the voters in 3 bond measures totaling over $1.5B. Yet they continued to endorse these measures in glossy voter pamphlets filled with lies and misleading information. It's time for the elected officials in SMC to spend less time scratching each others backs and more time protecting the voters and taxpayers. Kudos to the new College Board, especially the leadership of Trustees Pimentel and Petrides, who clawed back Galatolo's Golden Parachute and spearheaded the hiring of the Cotchett firm.
I've been to the recall events and talked with the people there. It is predominantly an older population of San Mateo. Of course, Sue didn't mean everyone supporting the recall is older or that no young people support it. However, it is a battle between the progressives and the old guard. It isn't divisive to state that the recall isn't a progressive movement or that the people pushing it are those who supported Rob, Rod, and Lisa. These are simply the facts. I honestly cannot see how it is ageist to name the predominant demographic behind the recall.
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(2) comments
Sue - enough of the ageism and divisive language when identifying the recall constituencies. And incorrect language at that. San Mateo voters have taken on the entrenched power players in San Mateo, especially the construction industry, and Lee is the vote they are counting on to overturn Measure Y. But progressive Measure Y was more a vote about democracy and voter rights than regulations. Just watch how hard Lee and Fernandez will be working to make sure that the State takes over all land use regulations.
You also know Sue that I have been raising alarms about the previous Boards at the College District for over 10 years. I informed every elected official at the local, state and federal levels about the fraud that had been perpetrated on the voters in 3 bond measures totaling over $1.5B. Yet they continued to endorse these measures in glossy voter pamphlets filled with lies and misleading information. It's time for the elected officials in SMC to spend less time scratching each others backs and more time protecting the voters and taxpayers. Kudos to the new College Board, especially the leadership of Trustees Pimentel and Petrides, who clawed back Galatolo's Golden Parachute and spearheaded the hiring of the Cotchett firm.
I've been to the recall events and talked with the people there. It is predominantly an older population of San Mateo. Of course, Sue didn't mean everyone supporting the recall is older or that no young people support it. However, it is a battle between the progressives and the old guard. It isn't divisive to state that the recall isn't a progressive movement or that the people pushing it are those who supported Rob, Rod, and Lisa. These are simply the facts. I honestly cannot see how it is ageist to name the predominant demographic behind the recall.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.