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County treasurer won't seek re-election

by Andrea Gemmet

Lee Buffington, San Mateo County's treasurer-tax collector, announced he will not seek re-election to a seventh term. Mr. Buffington has headed the treasurer's office and its 60 employees for nearly 25 years, and said that he is looking forward to retiring. His term expires in January 2011.

"It's about time, don't you think?" he said.

Despite last year's fiasco that saw a loss of $155 million in investments with Lehman Brothers, Mr. Buffington said he's enjoyed the challenges of the job, which includes collecting property taxes, managing the county investment pool, and acting as a bank for the county's 26 school districts.

"Lehman was a great big disappointment for us, but we weren't the only ones (who lost money)," he told The Almanac.

Mr. Buffington said he had no inkling that he'd remain in the job such a long time.

"The only reason I took the job initially was that I needed health insurance. My wife was terminally ill," he said. "I thought I'd get that and get out, but then I stuck around for a while."

In the past 25 years, the treasurer's office evolved from a completely manual operation to the most automated in the state, Mr. Buffington said. At its peak in December, the office processed $78 million in tax checks in a single day, he said.

"It's the variety that keeps you going. There are different kinds of problems every day," he said. "It's never boring, I'll tell you that."

Two prospective candidates for the office have already approached him, Mr. Buffington said. They are his deputy, Sandra Arnott, and former Burlingame councilman Joe Galligan. Mr. Buffington said he thinks they are both good candidates, but he'd throw his weight behind Ms. Arnott's candidacy.

"I've worked with (Ms. Arnott) for 20 years. She knows the place, and I know she can keep it running," he said. "Somebody else who comes in has to learn the business. People think you buy some securities and you sell some securities, and that's it, but it's not. There are three different parts to the business, all operating under different laws."

Mr. Buffington said that representatives from Standard & Poor's visited the county treasurer's office last month and gave the county investment pool its highest rating. His office plans out expenditures and revenues over a 15-month period, he said.

"You have to have the money in the right place at the right time," he said. "We're in the forecasting business. Four months ago, we took state funding out of our cash-flow forecast — and we were right."

Mr. Buffington said he plans to spend his retirement doing the things he hasn't had time to do — fishing, traveling and spending time at his daughter's place in Colorado.