The Loma Prietan
December 2001/January 2002
2001 Local Election Results
by Rafael Reyes
The results are in! The November elections brought the election of a majority of the candidates we endorsed. Of the 14 candidates we supported, most of them challengers, nine won. The importance of your vote was clearly in evidence, possibly having provided the margin of victory for more than one candidate.
The highlights include Half Moon Bay, where Council members Toni Taylor, Jim Grady, and Mike Ferreira will check irresponsible development. The coast includes key riparian habitats and much of the remaining open space in our counties, both of which will benefit from their election. Similarly, Palo Alto will benefit from the election of long-time activist Yoriko Kishimoto and the re-election of Jim Burch, a life-long environmental leader in the community. And while we did not endorse Hillary Freeman or Jack Morton, they show promising signs of forward-thinking policies. Together, along with incumbents such as Dena Mossar and Nancy Lytle, we can look forward to an environmental majority on the council who should further transit and pedestrian friendly planning among other things.
The election was not without some disappointments. In the Coastside Community Water District, two of our key candidates, Jack McCarthy and Max Gunkel, lost. This may result in accelerated unsustainable development. Also on the coastside, Measure U, which would have allowed a public vote on capacity increases to the water infrastructure, lost (the measure would have allowed an indirect constraint on unrestricted growth).
One surprise was the defeat in Gilroy of incumbent Council member Lupe Arellano. This has left us concerned that the Gilroy Council will annex and develop 660 acres of prime agricultural land as some have advocated. Geoff Patnoe, a promising figure, was unsuccessful in Cupertino and Pria Graves lost in Palo Alto despite our support. Pria’s loss was terribly unfortunate as she is deeply committed and has been engaged in the community for many years. We hope she will continue to stay engaged and consider running again. Finally, turnout was very disappointing averaging under 25% in San Mateo County and between 25% and 30% in Santa Clara County.
Aside from the successes in regions where the Chapter has traditionally had a good presence at election time, we successfully sought to extend our reach by reviewing candidates in other cities in San Mateo County, namely San Mateo, Burlingame, and Foster City.
Sue Lempert in San Mateo garnered the most votes and her election was expected but nevertheless greatly welcomed, given her long-standing leadership. We did not support any candidate in Foster City, finding among other things that the serious candidates had all accepted or even supported the SFO expansion plans. (Unfortunately, despite the drop in travel demand due to the September 11th tragedy and recessionary economy, SFO and Mayor Willie Brown continue to push to fill the Bay).
In Burlingame however, we had a great victory with the election of Cathy Baylock whom we actively supported. This was Cathy’s third run for City Council and she has vocally fought for “smart growth” and against the airport’s expansion plan. Her election hopefully signals increasing awareness on these key issues.
There were other victories including Dolly Sandoval in Cupertino, whom we had supported for in an unsuccessful run for County Supervisor in 2000, and Jim Marsh for Coastside County Water District.
Outside our area, Measure D in San Francisco to offer a public vote on the Airport runways won overwhelmingly. This may be the crucial vehicle for stopping the increasingly irrational plan.
Also, the bond measures to enable San Francisco to make a major move toward
solar and renewable energy won decisively.
Finally, Dan Kalb, our Loma Prieta Chapter director, won his race for the proposed municipal utility seat with the highest vote count; however the measure to make this a reality unfortunately did not pass.
All in all, it was a good election. In most cases, the successful races should move forward key local issues such as improved public transit, mixed-use infill development,
riparian habitat protection, and Bay protection. Thank you for voting!
Rafael Reyes is Chair of the Loma Prieta Chapter’s Political Committee.