We are fortunate to have competitive candidates for one of the most important Senate seats in California. Brownrigg has earned this endorsement and I wish him every success between now and November.

Shelly Masur approves of SB50, proposing to build tall, multistory towers, w little parking, next to our single family homes here in 'jobs rich' Palo Alto. She is also endorsed and supported by the teachers' union, which just put $225k behind her in an independent expenditure. She already had contributions to her campaign from the teachers'union. The teachers'union wants to protect teacher tenure, though statewide, only 50% or less of student test as academically proficient (which may not be a high level to start with and can be diluted by politically controlled functionaries). We need elected officials who will demand performance and accountability. And no thanks to talk towers w no parking next to single family homes.

This is the same editorial that appears today in the sister-paper to the south: the Mountain View Voice. I attended a small group "coffee" with state senate candidate Mike Brownrigg last summer in Mountain View. He was the only candidate holding such meetings across the state senate district. He was forthcoming, smart and reasonable. Rightly against the developers' plan (SB 50) for mid-rise condos (and next high-rise condos) in every single-family neighborhood, he was for more and more affordable housing in appropriate places.

I’ve had a crush on his sister since 1976, which was Mrs Creightons class, 6th grade. Happy Valentine’s Day to all the voters.

Please note in the SFC 02/12/20 - "Sacramento Bee Publisher files for bankruptcy." The Bee, SJM, and other papers - the Miami Herald and Baltimore Sun are currently owned by the McClatchy news organization. It has been propped by Hedge funds. Since I have relatives in Baltimore I note how the east cost is doing vs the west coast. The east cost is surrounded by US history with noted battles in every location. They wallow in their historical locations and battles. Not so the west coast which has a different outlook on history. Our history is relevant to the point at which we became a state and the gold miner history. Translate forward to being the Pacific theatre in WW2, and later the technology center for the US - on paper. However note that the technology gurus are positioning themselves with satellite centers in other states which have a more advantageous tax base.

That directly affects the people we vote into office in this state which are pushing an agenda that is "progressive" but is not selling the general public. And we are grading candidates on identity politics as portrayed in the papers which are failing to sell. The SJM pointed to Josh Becker who is selling world wide climate control. Note that the British Commonwealth and the European Union control their own member states so we should not be an ATM card for their programs which we do not control. They have their own money and own political crises. Nice places to visit and swap stories but reality says they will operate their locations under their own most advantageous positions.

This article is pushing Brownrigg based on his opposition to SB50 - but EVERYONE is opposed to SB50 who are voters. Concern here is that he is a venture capital type specific to Chinese investment in the US. Please note that China is the problem child at this point in time relative to the other Asian countries that have large populations in the US. And a problem child to the US regarding technology transfers which undermine our own technology companies.

This state has specific problems that have to be addressed within the state budget relative to infrastructure, water distribution rights - farmers vs home builders, education, and the specific industries which this state is know for.

I am not interested in the east cost interpretation of housing - SB50, or the world domination of climate change which is a talking point only. And I am not interested in supporting the Chinese invasion of CA/US technology interest.

Please consider that candidates that are looking to manage this state based on it's historical profile and current technology issues.

Do the "lone" Republican and Libertarian candidates have names? If this isn't bias, I don't know what is. Shameful.

Yet the award winning publication itself permits organized labor to continue corrupt conduct by turning a blind eye to its cover ups of misconduct and not reporting it.

So brownrigg bought more campaign ads in the weekly than the other candidates?

The Weekly has it right: Brownrigg will be an effective and independent representative of our district. He digs down to find root causes and solutions that will work, not just pseudo-solutions that make headlines. He has a track record of doing so. When I talked with him, it was clear he saw through the "promises" of SB 50 and identified why it was bad public policy. I wish him the best. He will be a great state senator.

P.S. to "Ha k" – you might check your assumption with local elected officials. It doesn't work that way with our local papers.

I can't speak for the Republican, Craig. But as for the Libertarian "candidate" -- the guy who wants to effectively decriminalize child pornography, and who said some rather *interesting* things to an undercover cop before being arrested in 1990 -- well, you can have him.

Wouldn't say much about you, though.

[Post removed; off-topic.]

IMO, Mike Brownrigg, Josh Becker, and Sally Lieber are all credible candidates. I have not made up my mind, but, I am concerned that three similar, strong candidates may split the vote and leave two of the other, much less capable candidates standing. I'm surprised that the Weekly rated Masur as one of the three "finalists" rather than Lieber. Masur's support of SB50 shows a huge lapse of judgement.

How stupid can the weekly be? Someone getting $460,000 from their mommy is coordinating with their son. How can they state that he didn’t know about it - no one believes that

[Post removed due to same poster using multiple names.]

Better he gets the money from mommy than from highly paid lobbyists like the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and the Chamber of Commerce since we know their role in life is to shift the tax burden of the explosive office growth from their clients to the residents.

Check out Alexander Glew - his engineering educational background and work experience is specific to the hard sciences specific to the technology business of SCV. He is not into fuzzy math or fuzzy science. We need people in the local politics and SAC that can understand the complexities of the technology changes we need to have and the math background to help manage budgets. We need people who can help channel growth to achievable end results.

As the under qualified and only Republican against five Democrats, Glew could make it to the Nov election, but he stands no chance in an overwhelmingly Democratic district in the general election.
Masur is a front runner to make it through the primary and she would win easily against the Republican in November, so a vote for Glew in March is essentially a vote for Masur to win the Senate seat for and SB50.

Facts and opinions are getting mixed up. Here are the latest voter registration data. More from Calif Secretary of State Web Link

California registration: Dems 45% Rep 24% No Party Preference 26% Other 5%
Palo Alto registration: Dems 54% Rep 11% No Party Preference 32% Other 3%

I will send Gennady tabulations and trends for nearby cities. Trends are interesting stuff over the last few years. Different towns have different profiles but GOP remains in solid minority status almost always.

It is much more difficult to predict how the SD13 Dem candidates will split their votes in the primary election. It could be possible that GOP candidate might slide into the general election. Improbable IMO but possible.

Looking at the candidates that have been noted in the papers one wonders if their day jobs are fizzling out or are a conflict of interest. Venture Capital regarding Chinese integration in the US economy? Sorry - that does not look promising. That is a no-go and would require State Department approval at this time. Venture capital usually works when the stock market is down - not up.

And Mr. Becker has great qualifications but is touting us being the environmental leader "in the world". That sounds good but is unrealistic as at this time. Other countries and other parts of the US are heavily damaged by fire, flood, drought, volcano, and internal conflicts. You cannot effect that at the state level - only at the federal level. And we are not going to throw money at other countries at this time as we need to resolve our own problems regarding those issues.

So why did some one say that Alexander Glew is underqualified? He has a great educational background through a SU PHD in Material Science and Engineering. And he is on the Los Altos Design Review Commission. He has a consulting business which means that he fully understands money management and project management. Since our current issues revolve around infrastructure issues we are now into the "hard science" area of public management. That requires a technical opinion on what will work and what is only a waste of time.

Unfortunately we have spent way to much time on chasing projects down the rabbit hole of late. Not good. And our current transportation issues are hard science.

And why is Masur the front runner? She is in the SB50 Weiner camp. Is she a front runner because she is a woman? Woman to woman I want hard science and good project management to control how this area launches into major projects.

Posted by Resident 1-Adobe Meadows, a resident of Adobe-Meadow

>>. And Mr. Becker has great qualifications

I'm only considering candidates from parties whose leadership supports the US Constitution, not the party that attacks the Constitution every single day.

Within the other parties, Mike Brownrigg, Josh Becker, and Sally Lieber are all possibilities. At this point, I'm favoring Becker, but, Brownrigg is credible, too.

Even though she is nominally opposed to SB50, I think Lieber is slightly soft on the "SB50 == "housing" " nonsense. Nobody is against "housing", but, some candidates think it is OK to punch big buildings into the middle of small-building neighborhoods. I think that is dumb. I think it usually makes sense to keep buildings in the same locale at the same scale as surrounding buildings. I also think we need -zero- new office buildings around here.

I also think that realistic parking has to be included. Most units with two adults are going to need 2-3 parking spaces, even if they are right next to a Caltrain station. I look all over the city and most neighborhoods are flooded with parked cars on the street. "Car-lite" is something off in the future; we are seeing lots of electric cars now, but, they are still cars. I'm looking for candidates who are realistic about the details of how to move forward, not fantasies like "car-lite".

Ultimately, whichever of Brownrigg or Becker that I choose, I plan to write in the other for the assembly seat in opposition to Marc Berman, who is far too developer-friendly for me.

Every one has an opinion. I do not see anyone in the CA government services who are supporting the constitution. The state AG is busy with law suits against other states. He has over 50 law suits. Who made him boss? The Governor is busy with unrealistic pronouncements that will require a huge amount of money - your money. They are making up the constitution as they go along. Does the Gov allow the AG to just issue law suits against other states - not such a good idea if he thinks he is going to run for higher office.

I do not see this state going any where good under the current management. And anyone who supports Mr. Weiner is heading way off what ever the constitution guarantees to us as citizens. As to Mr Berman - he is in the Weiner camp. That is going the wrong way.

Just like to note here that the candidates are making the choices as to how they depict their going-in positions. The reader is just responding to what choices they have made. Masur in her newspaper identity has teamed with Mr. Weiner and SB50. If she has been paying attention then she should have noted that Weiner's own SF region is not for SB 50. And at the state level it is not moving forward. So we could deduce that she is riding his coattails and benefiting from the same sources that are funding him. From where I am sitting that has not been a good choice but maybe the only one available to her. Follow the money.

Mr. Hill has thrown in his approval to Josh Becker. He has good credentials. Until he says that he wants to fix climate change at the world level. This is a state senator job. Projecting on to the "world' sounds like a big slice of state money - your money. I want my taxpayer money to solve specific problems in this state. And we have a lot of problems.

Mike Brownrigg - "venture capital" - many articles of late as to why that is not the place to be right now. Like hedge funds the market needs to be down for that all to work. So the market is up - much to the consternation to the venture capital and hedge funds types. Yes - they lost big when DT won - they thought the market would go down - but it went up. they lost that gamble. And the paper is following the money on him - thank you Mom.
So much for the "leaders". Lieber calls herself the most progressive. For those who like the Constitution the progressive wing is desperately trying to change the constitution. Not good.
So that is their choices as to how they depict themselves. Their choice determines our choice. I have no intention in projecting on to them more than they project onto themselves.

I have read Josh Becker's bio on the web. A listing of all of the accomplishments he has been involved in. It mentions CEO of a biotech company performing cancer research. My son is currently working for a company that is developing a medical approach which requires FDA approval. Getting FDA approval is a very lengthy, laborious process. It is exhausting to work through that whole process.
So what is the success rate of all of the very wide ranging activities that Josh is involved in. A lot of wide ranging activities in a short period of time. It all sounds good on paper. Like writing up a list of what everyone would like to see then making sure that you have covered the bases on each of the topics.

Posted by Resident 1-Adobe Meadows, a resident of Adobe-Meadow

>> I have read Josh Becker's bio on the web. A listing of all of the accomplishments [...] So what is the success rate of all of the very wide ranging activities that Josh is involved in.

Honestly, being a legislator is a policy job, requiring patience and persistence through lots and lots of meetings. Brownrigg has a real track record in that department. I'm having trouble making up my mind between Becker and Brownrigg.

I'd recommend Brownrigg. He has deeper local ties and wants to do what's best for the region. He is not in this for his career or to make a splash. He is in this because he cares and thinks he can do a good job. He is also very capable and very honest.

He wants to do away with Prop. 13....No Way

@senior blogger. You could be right, but the change to Prop. 13 that I believe has qualified for the ballot is to tax commercial property higher and not recommending a change to residential prop 13 protections.

When Prop 13 passed Palo Alto property taxes were split between residential and commercial about 50/50. However, with the ability for commercial property to change hands without triggering a new property tax assessment, the split between residential and commercial is now down to 75/25.

This is because when Prop 13 passed there were loopholes included for commercial property so that it is possible for commercial property to change hands in a way that it is not considered a sale and therefore does not trigger a new property tax assessment. Thus year over year the 25% share paid by commercial property owners will continue this downward trajectory.

I was astonished and delighted to answer my door yesterday afternoon to find Mike Brownrigg with his hand outstretched to introduce himself and share what he and his campaign are all about. Clearly, he is walking his talk and gets high marks for a hands-on, high touch style of communicating with potential constituents as opposed to only relying on endorsements from others.

Posted by senor blogger, a resident of Palo Verde

>> He wants to do away with Prop. 13....No Way

What aspects of Prop 13 do you like the most? Is there anything that you don't like about Prop 13?

For example, if you are a senior, perhaps you like the fact that seniors can stay in their houses, insulated from inflation-driven valuation increases, because, e.g., most pensions, and, Social Security, don't keep up with asset inflation.

What if the replacement tax system had adequate senior protection? Would you be OK with it then?

I'll tell you what I don't like, and, that is the increasing amount of property owned by the very-wealthy that is shielded, as well as all the commercial property that is shielded via acquisition/merger/divestment shell games.

For the current revenue, you can figure average assessed value could double and the tax rate would be about half. So, if you are currently at half the market value, a Prop 13 replacement could be revenue-neutral. I think some kind of senior exclusion would be fair, but, I'd like to set some kind of cap on it. e.g., If the first $2M of your $2M Palo Alto single-family-home was taxed at half-rate, OK, but, beyond that, I think you should pay full rate. How does that sound?

What would you propose that would be affordable for most seniors but generally a much more level playing field?

(BTW, I have no idea what Brownrigg has proposed on this, and, I don't see that online. Maybe someone has a link?)

Brownrigg is San Mateo County - Burlingame. San Mateo county has done a better job of managing growth than Santa Clara County. They need a bridge - they put one up. They need a tunnel under the tracks - they build one. Have to say though that the tracks in that county are in the middle of industrial type city scape. Our portion of the tracks are in residential areas - harder to manage. Palo Alto is unique in that we have residential housing next to the tracks - houses - not apartments for the most part. Now building apartments.
Burlingame has a lot of complications - the airport.

I'm considering Lieber again. Four different groups sent the household anti-Lieber hit pieces. In my experience, when this happens, it usually means something good about a candidate. Does anyone know why these groups hate Lieber so much?

Vote.

@Anon, I agree about the hit pieces. Consider this a preview for November.
I hope our beleaguered mail carriers get a cut of that postage.
USPS.com blizzard invitation -- Web Link

What is the candidate saying about her intentions on winning? Every candidate out there is at a starting point with their best foot forward and has established story lines of what they are going to do. Hopefully you ALL are voting on what the candidate is saying - not how many mailers you get. Any ties to SB50 is a clue. Lots of money being invested in candidates that are for SB50 - that is their funding source. And we all know who that is - the developers that are going to usurp city/regional control over housing. That is BIG BROTHER. Also - woman to woman - I do not vote by gender - any time I have done that I have seen the person change like a chameleon once they win.