Woodside and Portola Valley seem a long way from the fierce city politics that engulf North San Mateo County and San Francisco.
So it is no wonder that many residents are bemused by the challenge to select among three Democratic candidates engaged in a food fight to succeed Sen. Jackie Speier in the 8th state Senate District.
By some fluke, the district has been reshaped to include the two rural towns, along with north San Mateo County and half of San Francisco.
The race for the Democratic nomination pits three political heavyweights against each other in one of the hottest races in California:
• Former San Mateo County Supervisor Mike Nevin, a former San Francisco cop, and mayor of Daly City, who knows the county inside out and has been a major player in transportation.
• Former Assemblyman Lou Papan of Millbrae, who was known as “The Enforcer” during 20 years in the state Legislature between 1972 and 2002.
• Assemblyman Leland Yee, a Ph.D. child psychologist who has been a supervisor in San Francisco, and now serves as speaker pro tem in the Assembly.
The Democratic winner in June is likely to win in November in the strongly Democratic district. He will face the winner in the Republican race, which pits marketing manager Michael Skipakevich of South San Francisco against Coastside activist Oscar Alejandro Braun.
Termed out of the Senate, Sen. Speier is in a tight three-way race for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
Three Democrats
While all three Democrats share basic goals — they all favor education, universal health care, and development linked to transportation — they differ in experience, style, and approach. And they are all in attack mode.A blizzard of press releases, especially between Mr. Nevin and Mr. Yee, attack each other’s integrity and fundraising practices. They each count a growing list of endorsements.
Mr. Papan and Mr. Yee both have substantial legislative records, primarily on state issues, from their time in the Assembly. Mr. Nevin has 12 years of experience with issues facing San Mateo County.
Telephone interviews, attendance at a forum, and review of press releases and Web sites help distinguish the candidates from each other.
Mike Nevin
Mr. Nevin said his top priorities in the Legislature would be education, universal health care, and housing linked with transportation. “Education is such a mess,” he said.For education, and many other county services, Mr. Nevin wants to make sure that money allocated to local agencies doesn’t get diverted by the state for so-called emergencies.
Mr. Nevin almost used the t-word. “If you don’t have enough money, you have to be brave enough to raise revenues,” he said.
San Mateo County has “shown the way to universal health care by making it available to kids,” he said.
Mr. Nevin, who has served on or chaired most of the transportation boards in San Mateo County and the Bay Area, is a strong advocate of transit, and of housing tied to transit. “The answer to California sprawl is to stop building out; rather we should build housing in and around the existing transportation infrastructure,” he said. “This is an extremely important environmental issue.”
Mr. Nevin said that passing a state-wide bond for high-speed rail from Southern California provides the only way to fund important local transportation improvements, such as building a new TransBay Terminal in San Francisco, extending Caltrain to it, and electrifying Caltrain.
“High-speed rail is the funding impetus to fix our transportation system,” Mr. Nevin said. “I’ll be a champion.”
Mr. Nevin’s endorsements include many of California’s top Democrats, including U.S. senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, representatives Anna Eshoo and Tom Lantos; state Sen. Jackie Speier and Assemblyman Ira Ruskin; and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.
In San Mateo County, the entire Board of Supervisors backs Mr. Nevin, as does environmental activist Lennie Roberts.
Organizations backing Mr. Nevin include the San Mateo County Farm Bureau, Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, the San Mateo County Medical Association, the San Mateo County Association of Realtors, the San Mateo Central Labor Council, and several unions.
The San Francisco Chronicle and San Mateo County Times have endorsed Mr. Nevin.
Lou Papan
“Leadership and experience count. I have both,” says former Assemblyman Lou Papan, who was a leader in the Assembly for 20 years. He carried the legislation that made San Francisco accountable to the state to fix its deteriorating Hetch Hetchy water system.Mr. Papan’s top priorities are education, transportation and housing, and health care.
To pay for education, Mr. Papan suggests revisiting Proposition 13, to split property tax rolls so that commercial property can be taxed differently from residential property.
“I think business will be agreeable to paying more tax on commercial property,” he said. “Also think about year-round schools.
“I’m totally opposed to any new taxes. I support bond issues,” Mr. Papan added. He noted the $37 billion state-wide bond measures proposed for the November ballot will help the financial picture of the state.
On transportation, Mr. Papan showed his apparent grudge against Mr. Nevin. Asked about how to fund improvements to Caltrain, he replied: “Change management. The problems in transportation are due to bad management at BART and SamTrans. All they are doing is increasing fares and closing stations.”
Mr. Papan also supports housing near transportation.
He said he strongly supports universal health care. “It’s absolutely essential to each and every citizen of California and the country. Everybody needs to share costs” he said.
Mr. Papan’s endorsements include Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, the San Francisco Residential Builders Association, and a number of legislators and San Mateo city council members.
Leland Yee
Assemblyman Yee said his top priority is children. “I care deeply about kids; it’s my single driving force,” he said.Other top issues for Mr. Yee are universal health care, environment, and transportation and housing.
To get more money for education, Mr. Yee said he would look for additional revenue through closing corporate loopholes and working with local officials to identify pots of money.
Mr. Yee takes credit for legislation that returned jet fuel tax money that got diverted to Oakland to the coffers of San Mateo County and San Francisco. “I brought $3 million back to San Francisco and San Mateo,” he said.
On the environment, Mr. Yee promises to fight “the tremendous effort to allow offshore oil drilling.” He also worries about efforts to increase the density of development on the San Mateo County coast.
Mr. Yee warns that the drive toward in-fill development near transportation could get out of hand. “There is some room for growth,” he said. “But don’t roll over when someone says ‘transit hub,’ ‘transit-oriented development,’ or ‘smart growth.’ Support it with reason and forethought.”
Mr. Yee said he also supports high-speed rail and making the TransBay Terminal into a major transportation hub.
Mr. Yee’s endorsements include the Sierra Club, the California Teachers Association, the California Nurses Association, the California Federation of Labor, the San Mateo County Central Labor Council, and several unions.
Individuals endorsing Mr. Yee include Sen. Joe Simitian, Menlo Park Vice Mayor Kelly Fergusson, and former mayor Steve Schmidt.
CANDIDATE BIOS
Mike Nevin
Residence: Daly CityExperience: San Mateo County supervisor, 1992-2004; mayor and councilman, Daly City, 1982-92; San Francisco policeman for 22 years.
Education: Attended City College of San Francisco and University of San Francisco.
Age: 63
Information: 794-200; mikenevin.com.
Lou Papan
Residence: MillbraeExperience: Member, state Assembly 1972-86 and 1996-2002; chair, Assembly Rules Committee, 1976-86; broker, Papan Real Estate and Insurance; co-founder, Peninsula Bank of Commerce; special agent, FBI, Chicago and San Francisco; veteran, World War II and Korea.
Education: B.A. in economics from Syracuse University; FBI Academy; Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Age: 77
Information: 588-4568; loupapan.com
Leland Yee
Residence: San FranciscoExperience: California Assembly, 2002-present, speaker pro tem; San Francisco supervisor, 1996-2002; San Francisco school board, 1988-96.
Education: M.A., San Francisco State University; Ph.D., developmental psychology, University of Hawaii.
Age: 58
Information: 991-8968; lelandyee.com
