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San Mateo County’s Board of Supervisors will have a new supervisor representing District 4 this November. The race between the five candidates raises issues concerning affordable housing, police oversight, engaging with underserved communities and climate change.
Thrive Alliance and the Leadership Council San Mateo County hosted a candidate forum on Tuesday, Jan. 30, at the city of Menlo Park’s council chambers, where the five candidates vying for Supervisor Warren Slocum’s seat, discussed issues of the district and their ideas toward solutions.
The forum was comprised of Paul Bocanegra, a juvenile justice advocate and Redwood City resident; Lisa Gauthier, East Palo Alto council member and two-time mayor; Celeste Brevard, Stanford University project manager; Maggie Cornejo, former legislative aide for Supervisor Warren Slocum; and Antonio López, East Palo Alto council member and current mayor.
The residents in attendance wrote questions for the candidates.
Climate justice priorities
One resident asked the candidates how they plan to address climate justice issues impacting underserved communities and how they would engage those plans with community stakeholders if they become supervisors.
Cornejo said that during the summer, many families and senior citizens live in overcrowded apartments with no cooling systems, which she knows firsthand because she’s experienced it. She said she would like to use Measure K funding to create cooling stations for the community. She has also focused her campaign on the mobile home areas along East Bayshore Road that are impacted by flooding.
Gauthier is a founding member of OneShoreline, an independent government agency, and she said she is committed to protecting the Bayfront cities from rising sea levels. She added that the Gardens area in East Palo Alto flooded in 1998 and 2012, and as a council member, she helped work with regional agencies and cities to construct a flood wall that protected the city from a 100-year flood.
Brevard said the county needs to work on flooding and rising sea levels, but creating more green spaces for community members can mitigate the urban heat island effect. She said the county needs to increase transportation systems and electrify them. She added that the county’s policies need to include all the solutions.
Bocanegra said the number one polluter in the Bay Area is emissions, and 30% of that comes from vehicles. He said the county needs to get creative in its solutions to incentivize residents to take alternative modes of transportation.
López said the county must partner with nonprofits to address various issues ranging from rising sea levels to canopy coverage. He echoed Bocanegra’s point and added that residents should be incentivized to be more sustainable by buying hybrid cars.
“East Palo Alto only has 14% canopy coverage. Palo Alto has about 40 plus (%),” López said. “It’s going to (take) a multitude of resources to get us across the finish line.”
Engaging with underserved communities
Gauthier highlighted the significance of inclusive representation.
“Part of it is having people see themselves in the process,” Gauthier said. “How do we talk to residents? It’s getting into the community and making sure we are having dialogues with all communities, not just one community.”
Brevard said many of the voices won’t be heard because many people in the community can’t legally vote. She said she believes the county should promote Civic Bell, a phone app that lets residents directly communicate with officials. She said it is similar to NextDoor. She imagines having language salons in the county where people could come and practice different languages. She said it’s also important to provide equitable access to information, meaning there needs to be access to information in languages that people in the community speak.
Bocanegra said the decision makers in the county are disconnected from its residents. Last week, the county approved an ordinance, Hopeful Horizons, that will criminalize transients who refuse housing.
“The underserved here continue to be impacted by these policies and resolutions that are passed by people who are disconnected,” Bocanegra said. “We have over 30 kids attending Kennedy Middle School from vehicles.”
He added those kids are at a disadvantage to their classmates living in a $2 million home.
López said that to move people forward and engage with them, they need to have better conversations and be in the places where people are. He said representation doesn’t mean much if it isn’t backed by a conversation, and he plans on having those difficult conversations to understand what the community needs are.
Cornejo said she has gained support from the community because she has been at residents’ doors talking with them and educating them on what the District 4 supervisor does to impact daily life.
She wants to offer citizenship classes in North Fair Oaks and the neighboring cities.
“There are residents out there that are perhaps undocumented, but there is a pathway and they don’t know that because they are too afraid. So having that education,” Cornejo said.
Housing policies to prevent eviction
Brevard said if she were the supervisor, she would focus on policies limiting rent increases and giving tenants the right to move back into their homes after renovations are completed.
Bocanegra said he believes the county needs to implement a rental oversight program to protect tenants, and he is against the eviction of youth and senior citizens.
“Seniors can’t continue to be bled out by taxes,” Bocanegra said. “If you are exposing the community to living conditions like those in Half Moon Bay, you will be criminalized.”
López said the county must work with state and regional agencies to prioritize housing over developer’s profits. While he said there isn’t a silver bullet to fix the issue, he believes it will take multiple approaches to ensure everyone in the county is housed affordably, and that will involve passing policies that can move the needle.
“I believe housing is the civil rights of our time,” López said.
Cornejo said passing a tenant protection ordinance is important to protect the most vulnerable community members.
Gauthier said East Palo Alto has a rent stabilization program, displacement ordinances, and policies to protect the community. It also has rent assistance.
“Things are just too expensive, so we have to continue to build housing first of all, and we need to build housing for all,” Gauthier said.
She added that creating jobs that will allow people to stay in the county is important.
Independent Civilian Oversight
The candidates were asked what they think of Independent Sheriff’s Office Oversight. While some of the candidates are taking a wait-and-see approach, others feel like the county’s decision needs to be reevaluated.
Bocanegra said it means partnering and trusting in the community and public. He claims what the supervisors previously passed earlier this month was an advisory committee, he said.
“If you trust your community, you will partner with your public and give the public the trust that they can uphold accountability in the Sheriff’s Department (Office),” Bocanegra said.
López said he echoed Bocanegra’s comments and added that the building blocks of the nation were built on checks and balances, and the community needs the power to hold those institutions accountable.
“So no more Black and brown people are suffering in this community when it comes to police deaths,” López said.
Cornejo said she supports the county’s version of the civilian oversight commission and that she also supports the Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Christina Corpus who she believes is engaging with the community.
Gauthier said every organization needs transparency. She supports the Board of Supervisors’ decision to engage with the civilian oversight committee as needed. She said it needs to be allowed to see how it goes. But she is glad that there is an opportunity to review the committee after a year to reevaluate.
Brevard said she believes oversight and establishing trust within the community and police is important. She thinks creating partnerships with safety alliance committees is equally important to empower citizens.
‘Hopeful Horizons’ ordinance and alternative
North Fair Oaks Community Council member Ever Rodriguez asked the candidates to take a stance on the county’s decision to issue misdemeanor violations to homeless individuals who refuse to take an available bed in a county shelter. Rodriguez asked the candidates to offer their solutions to the homeless issue.
Brevard said she disagrees with the ordinance. She said it creates another barrier and makes it more difficult for people to receive the help they need. She said in Austin, Texas, the community has created a tiny house community for the formerly unhoused and she thinks it’s a model that she would like to see recreated in the county.
Bocanegra said the community needs home buyer programs and tenant protections, not the criminalization of the poor.
López said it’s not only morally wrong, he also believes it will be ineffective.
“Racking up misdemeanors doesn’t seem like it’s going to prove effective, and if anything it’s going to be a barrier to the resources they desperately need,” López said.
Cornejo said the Board of Supervisors was trying to be innovative in coming up with its solutions, but she disagrees with its decision. She thinks it would be better for the county to invest its time in more interim housing, such as the Navigation Center in Redwood City.
Gauthier said the way East Palo Alto provided wrap-around services to people who were living in the park. Figuring out what services they need, providing them, and then giving them opportunities to find housing.
The primary election is set for March 5, with a possible general election on Nov. 5 if no candidate secures more than 50% of the primary vote.
Watch a video of the event here: