East Bay Times - The knives come out in editorial meeting

By INSIDER | East Bay Times

PUBLISHED: May 16, 2008 at 11:28 p.m. | UPDATED: August 15, 2016 at 6:33 p.m.

The gloves came off early during the Times’ endorsement interview of the three Democrats vying for Gene Mullin’s soon-to-be vacated 19th District Assembly seat.

Richard Holober, Gina Papan and Jerry Hill were asked to explain why they were best suited to represent San Mateo County residents in Sacramento.

Hill seized the opportunity to speak first.

“Should I talk about the sheriff?” he asked.

That would be Greg Munks, the subject of a recent Times special report on his capture by Las Vegas police inside an illegal brothel a year ago as well as the subsequent lack of investigation or censure of Munks by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors.

Hill declared that the “sheriff issue” has developed into part of the campaign and he needed to address three things. 

First, he said the county charter doesn’t give the supervisors the right or legal authority to investigate another elected county official. Second, he and other supervisors told the sheriff his conduct in Las Vegas was unacceptable.

And finally, Hill said, he returned campaign contributions from Munks and his wife, who hosted a Hill fundraiser in their home several months after the Las Vegas fiasco. 

Holober, president of the San Mateo County Community College Board, then accused Hill of being part of a good ol’ boy network that protects anyone who is a member of their clubhouse. He said Munks’ Las Vegas misadventure was proof of the sheriff’s incompetence.

Hill retorted that the incident was out of character for the sheriff, who he said has done a good job in his year and a half on the job and has had success addressing issues such as prison overcrowding and gang violence.

Not to be left out, Millbrae Mayor Papan stepped in and said she has had great massages in Las Vegas and never had to leave the strip resort she was staying in to do so.

Holober jumped back in and said even if the supervisors couldn’t take legal action, they could have said something publicly condemning Munks.

“And I wouldn’t have taken money from Munks or held a fundraiser at his house,” Holober said.

To which Hill replied, “This is political opportunism at its finest.”

Papan countered, “As one of the leaders of the county you should have said something about the sheriff and you didn’t.”

Of course, Hill didn’t stay above the belt either.

He dismissed Papan’s political experience — “What, she’s been a council member for three years and a mayor for a few months?” — and then took a shot at Holober over the warning the College of San Mateo and Canada College received that they could lose their accreditation if they didn’t have a comprehensive master plan.

“I didn’t stand up and question your leadership of the college district,” Hill told his opponent.

The check’s in the mail

While we’re on the subject of the Assembly race, a mailer hit county mailboxes this week criticizing Papan for the nearly $200,000 she’s received in independent expenditures by state lobbyist groups.

Hill and Holober dinged Papan over the expenditures at the Times’ editorial meeting. Papan responded that she had nothing to do with the expenditures, which were made by the Cooperative of American Physicians, Californians Allied for Patient Protection and the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association and went toward funding pro-Papan mailers.

It’s ironic that the anti-Papan mailer criticized her for expenditures made on her behalf by shadowy lobbyists, since it was paid for by a political action committee called the California Alliance, which is run by the California League of Conservation Voters, the California Nurses Association and the Consumer Attorneys of California.

The conservation voters have endorsed Hill, the nurses are behind Holober and the consumer attorneys have given money to both their campaigns.

Holober said he first heard about the mailers Friday.

“I was actually pretty surprised,” he mused, “because the component organizations are not in agreement in this race.”

One thing the organizations do seem to agree on is scuttling Papan’s candidacy.

Fun with budgets

State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, will meet with local educators and members of the public this morning to discuss education issues and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s revised budget, which was delivered this week.

The forum will take place from 10 a.m. to noon at the Palo Alto Unified School District board chambers at 25 Churchill Ave. in Palo Alto.

Simitian said the good news about the revised budget is that it reduces cuts in education spending. The bad news is that it relies on a plan to borrow billions of dollars against future lottery proceeds and may be dead on arrival among state lawmakers.

Simitian said Schwarzenegger has found a new way to avoid confronting the state’s “real problem,” which is that its revenues and expenditures are out of whack. 

He said the best solution lies in his own oft-repeated, seven-word mantra: “Spend less. Collect more. Do it now.”

Can’t get enough of the Insider? Read more online at www.ibabuzz.com/insider.

Source: https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2008/05/16/the-knives-come-out-in-editorial-meeting/

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