Controller Battle: Joe v. Juan

Six months ago I bet very few people could name the SM County controller, but the race to replace old what's-his-name is heating up.  The endorsements are splitting down the middle, the DJ has gone for Galligan and the rhetoric is racheting up.  This piece in the Mercury Times gets some great on-the-scene quotes on the record including

"Didn't you have a property and you went to San Bruno and said 'We shouldn't have to pay property taxes'"? Raigoza asked. "Maybe I should do more research on you, Joe."

I don't mean to take that out of context--and the context is extensive-- so you should click through and read the whole thing.  It's just a great quote.  I had another kismet moment today when I picked up the DJ on B'way.  I opened the newspaper box to get my copy and someone had carefully ripped off the Joe Galligan banner at the top of the edition and left it in the box when they took their copy.  That's a gut reaction.  Here is the banner on my copy--still intact.

I did notice some Juan Raigoza signs popping up in places here in B'game today.  But if Juan plans on "doing more research" on Joe he better get on it because it looks like he is behind on that score--he has three weeks not counting the absentees/mail voters.

Comments

[holyroller]

Mr. Galligan's time at The City of Burlingame was "in my opinion" a difficult financial period for City Governments all over the State.
He seemed to do a good job of understanding the issues and responding with solutions.
However, his ability to create relationships with co workers was horrible.
Mr. Galligan, in my opinion, clearly presents a "Class based solution" vs. what is best for all.
I find it hard to comprehend why anyone running for an "obscure" political "appointment" an ego-maniacal individual attempting to fill a void in their lives that love or money will never attain...
Generally speaking of course.
Take a moment to look at the photos of Mr. Galligan.
Holy Cow!

[holyroller]

It just dawned on me.
Mr. Galligan reminds me of, and looks like Major Frank Burns from the TV program M.A.S.H.

[hillsider]

What photos are you referring to?

[holyroller]

I am referring to Mr. Galligan's photos that from the Bulingame local newspapers.
I would never recommend voting for anyone, anytime regarding their photos.
Nevertheless, Mr.Galligan brings so much political baggage, and a "I know what is better for you, than you do."
Look at his photo...
Creepy, Angry, Ego Maniac, Massive amount of "Bowling Ball Black#1" hair coloring.
I apologize if this seems like an observation based on Mr. Gallegan's appearance.
It is much more than that.
In my opinion, based on Mr. Galligan's past political experience with the City of Burlingame, Mr. Galliigan should not run for any political position ever.

[Russ]

OK, another, "I can't resist" post. The Daily Post, which is not available on line, ran a story on the controller race with the headline, " Shot fired in controller race a dud." This refers to Galligan suing his opponent in attempt to eliminate Raigoza from appearing on the ballot.

In the article, Lawsuit Joe now claims Raigoza had his property tax lowered. County Clerk/Assessor Mark Church explained that under 1978's Proposition 8, properties can receive a temporary reduction if properties lose value as it did during the recent economic downturn.

The best quote from the article was from Raigoza's campaign manager, Alex Tourk. "I have worked in politics for 20 years, and I have never seen such egregious mudslinging by Joe Galligan…the voters are educated and will see through Galligan's pitiful, slanderous attacks."

[What to do]

We know he's a hack. The question is....is he our hack?

[Frances Jones]

Joe Galligan's latest attack against Assistant Controller Juan Raigoza reveals Mr. Galligan's ignorance of the basic functions of the office. How can Mr. Galligan claim, as he does on his Facebook campaign page, that "there is no one who would understand the source of our tax revenue better than me (sic)," when this attack on Mr. Raigoza shows a complete lack of understanding of the property tax assessment system?

Moreover, Mr. Galligan suggesting that Raigoza should have questioned the reassessment to ensure he was paying his fair share of taxes is odd, given that Mr. Galligan lives in a home worth over $2 million assessed at less than half that. Has Mr. Galligan questioned his own tax assessment? Is he even aware of Propositions 8 and 13 from 1978? Having someone this ignorant as controller could negatively affect San Mateo County's credit rating, resulting in higher bond interest rates for county taxpayers.

The lawsuit mentioned in the article to get the taxes lowered on Mr. Galligan's business cost the taxpayers of San Bruno $360,000 in legal costs http://www.sanbrunobart.com/news/2003/08/20/skypark-seeks-city-favor Add the cost to taxpayers of his frivolous lawsuit against San Mateo County to disqualify Mr. Raigzoa from the ballot, and it's clear that the only taxpayer the litigious Mr. Galligan cares about is himself.

The taxpayers of San Mateo County can't afford a loose cannon like Mr. Galligan. Juan Raigoza, who is professional, experienced and knowledgeable, is the better choice.

[[email protected]]

All things being equal, I would like to see both candidates answer a simple question in two paragraphs.

-What do you believe a Controller is supposed to do?
-Why do you want to be a Controller?

That would really clear things up without the innuendo.
Possibly, a "Scoop" for The Burlingame Voice!

[Joe]

Far be it from me to defend Mr. Galligan, but aren't the assessed values of everyone's properties way below (i.e. less than half) of the market values? I don't know Frances Jones but I am pretty familiar with Prop 13 and I think my estimate is true for anyone who has owned their property for a long time.

Thanks, holyroller (or is it hollyroller?). The comment page is open for the next scoop. All we need is the scooper!

[Frances Jones]

Joe

That is true for people who bought their properties a long time ago. Proposition 13 limits assessed value increases to 2% per year. The point is that Mr. Galligan accused San Mateo County Assistant Controller, Juan Raigoza and San Mateo County Assessor Mark Church of improper conduct, implying that because Mr. Raigoza works for the county he somehow got a sweetheart deal on his property tax.

The reality is that proposition 8, passed in 1978, requires reductions in assessed value to reflect market declines in real estate value if the market value drops below the current assesed value of the property: http://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/faqs/prop8.htm

Accordingly, Mark Church as San Mateo County assessor has issued thousands of property tax reductions for properties bought in the 2006 to 2009 period. Apparently Mr. Galligan is completely ignorant of this and thus his accusation of impropriety is baseless. More seriously, Mr. Galligan's ignorance of such a longstanding fiscal reality in the fundamental revenue source for counties and local governments casts doubt on Mr. Galligan's fitness for a fiscal office such as Controller.

[Jill Marshall]

Mr. Galligan's a loose cannon. He's cost the taxpayers of San Mateo
County a fortune. First he sued San Bruno to get his Skypark business
exempted from paying a parking tax

http://www.sanbrunobart.com/news/2003/08/20/skypark-seeks-city-favor

and then he sued the County to get
his only opponent in the June 3rd election, San Mateo County Assistant
Controller, Juan Raigoza, removed from the ballot. We can't afford this
Galligan bozo!

Holyroller was talking about photos of Mr. Galligan well here's one that
tell you all you need to know. It's photo of Tea Partier Joe Galligan
at a Sarah Palin rally.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Palin-swings-through-state-and-at-Obama-3266635.php#photo-2416235

Is this wing nut for real?

[Bruce Dickinson]

Listen, fellas, I gotta tell ya I must chuckle sometimes whenever I see local politicians trying to be the big fish in the small pond. There is a whole big deep ocean out there to explore and quite frankly, that any of these tiny local minnows would get eaten up in 30 seconds in a real sea of talent. But no, in fishbowl Burlingame or San Mateo County, the "world" as these politicians see it is just a tiny island and defined by only what they see everyday that they have this warped sense of importance and entitlement. It's one thing to run for office as a public servant but another where you have to sue in order to discredit your opponent in an election !?! The only thing that this Gilligan character seems to know is how to spell frivolous lawsuit with a capital "F". Well Bruce Dickinson asks the question, how do you spell pathetic? Here's the answer: also with a capital "F".

Is your life really such a dead end that this is how you're gonna spend your sunset years, defining your existence by suing a bunch of people so that you can be San Mateo County's premier bean counter? Ironic that this guy running for controller apparently has some self-control issues and especially in the accounting profession, the last thing you want is the fox guarding the henhouse. Sorry, but let Galligan stay on Galligan's Island with his warped sense of reality, where he can be his own Lawyer, Skipper, Ginger and Thursten Howell the 4th with his whopping $2 million dollar net worth from the house he bought half a century ago, only achieved by being at the right place/time and just sitting around, watching the palm trees grow. I would be remises if I didn't say that I bet 3 of Bruce Dickinson's vehicles are worth more than his entire SFO parking garage. Quite frankly, whatever the case may be, just keep him away from the public's finances.

[Frances Jones]

Bruce, you da man! Joe Gilligan! Hahahaha.

Here he is on his island wearing his favorite tie: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Palin-swings-through-state-and-at-Obama-3266635.php#photo-2416235

[[email protected]]

Dear Mr. Dickinson,
I have noticed that @90% of your comments always start out sharing with The Voice:
Money
Power
Wisdom
Assets
Name Dropping

It is interesting.
Nevertheless, don't you see that without those comments, your insight is just as good?
Mr. Dickenson, you have become a major DB.
I believe in Great Britain the term representing you is Boorish.
Your opinions and observations are "spot on."
The other things have nothing to do with problem solving...
Other than to salve whatever lack of confidence you may be experiencing at the moment.
It sounds like there may be something that has created an emptiness within you.
Obviously, the only cure is
MORE COWBELL!

[Jaspar Aloysius]

And MORE Joe Tea Partier Necktie!
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Palin-swings-through-state-and-at-Obama-3266635.php#photo-2416235

[Bruce Dickinson]

Listen guys, and holy-baby, I typically don't respond to comments but Bruce Dickinson believes that there is a teaching lesson here, to be clear, thus I will opine on some of Holy-baby's statements, and I know his thoughts are really there generate some controversy and elicit a response (also a very ego-centric tactic, but more on that later, if I may).

What Bruce Dickinson is about to say may surprise you: Holyroller is 100% correct. Listen, when you are a multi-platinum producer in the recording biz for 50 years, not only are you a survivor, but highly successful thriver! As a producer, you are tasked with bringing out the very best talent from the top 0.0001% of bands that try to make it to the big leagues. Not only are you encouraging them to make music and explore the creative space, but you also have to understand their psyche and their inner drives, desires, weaknesses. In effect, you are similar to a psychotherapist as great music is about getting the artists feelings about themselves and the world around them into the music. And the audience identifies with those feelings and knows what is genuine and what isn't. Think about your favorite artists/bands. What is the best thing you like about their music? It's not just the sound, but the earnestness and geniune-ness of delivery.

In 50 years in dealing with these bands and highly successful producers, record execs, recording engineers, and other smart professionals (lawyers, financiers, rainmakers, deal guys, as it were), you know success when you see it. And guess what?!? successful people are egotistical SOBs! They MUST believe in themselves and are either driven by megalomanic visions, by paranoia, insecurity, the need to "prove" themselves, obsession, and they measure their success with things such as wealth, power, and influences (e.g. I can get 100,000 people in a stadium to sway to my music and make hundreds of millions of dollars while I'm at it). Yes, I would be remiss if I didn't say that all the people you look up to are highly dysfunctional/ have significant flaws in many regards, but harness that dysfunction into unrelenting and undulating effort and ultimate success. So those CEOs, internet heroes, thought leaders, artists, bands, all exhibit these "negative" traits that actually need to be there in order to achieve top-echelon performance. Outside of a very few examples (probably Saints, actually) highly driven and successful people have some if not all of these traits to one degree or another.

Now, to be fair, some of these people are great at hiding them and are not so "in your face" but trust me, these traits are all there! When I was much younger, I would be in the same camp, repressing some of these words, but as I grew older and got into the heads of many artists, I figured out, why hide it?!? It's only being disingenuous and stokes hard feelings and resentment and people accusing you of hypocrisy. So why not just tell everyone, "Hey, fellas, what you see is what you get and THIS is the real me." Yes, some people may be somewhat repulsed, but at least they're not being lied to. So when Bruce Dickinson says he is the *cock of the walk* yes, he believes it, repeats it, and proves it, and knows it strikes nerves, because guess what? it elicits responses and responses = validation. There you go, Holy baby, maybe you learned something about me, but more importantly, did you learn something about yourself?

[longwong]

Hai Guyz :-) Whoooooaaaa.. Brucey D bustin' out the philOsophiz'in & mental acrobatix!!! deep Mr D real deep! hollyrollerz prob learnin hes got validation issuez but no success..hahhahahahha didnt someone say hollyrollerz was b-game's hack...yea riiiiiight ok hacka, translate this: 110011100 1110000 10001010 110000100 111 100001 001 101000 100001 hahahhaa!!

& guyz on this hoover thing rememba this: two wongs don't make a wight! hhahahaha theres ur longwongs philosophy for da day! :-P

TTFN ;-)

[Doe]

Joe Galligan
CPA
CERTIFIED
PUBLIC
(edited to comply with the terms of use, please don't do this again or your comment will be deleted)

[Frances Jones]

The Daily Post just endorsed Assistant Controller Juan Raigoza for Controller. Here are some salient points from their endorsement:

"The Post is pleased to recommend Juan Raigoza for San Mateo County Controller."

"We feel the assistant controller, Juan Raigoza, is ready to move up to the top job."

"Looking at the backgrounds of these two candidates, Raigoza has the edge when it comes to daily experience. Before he joined the controller's office, he was employed by Deloitte and Touche, Ernst and Young, and the California Franchise Tax Board."

"He's (Raigoza's) been doing many of the tasks of controller for years, while Galligan, as the head of an accounting practice, has engaged largely in work for the private sector. Raigoza, on the other hand, has more experience in government accounting."

"Raigoza's goals are to protect taxpayer dollars, improve transparency and reduce costs through more efficiency - a more focused set of goals."

"The court challenge put Galligan in a bad light..."

"Galligan sounded more like a politician than an accountant, when we interviewed him..."

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Palin-swings-through-state-and-at-Obama-3266635.php#photo-2416235

[hillsider]

Thanks, that seals the deal. If the Chronicle is going for Raigoza then I am voting for Galligan.

[Frances Jones]

Hillsider, Chronicle? The Daily Post has nothing to do with the Chronicle.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Palin-swings-through-state-and-at-Obama-3266635.php#photo-2416235

[hillsider]

Your incessant posting of the same useless Chronicle link was enough for me. You have yet to explain any Juan qualifications other than the guy has worked in the office. You sound like a party hack who probably doesn't even understand the controller job yourself. Enough said. My vote is in.

[[email protected]]

Sorry DB.
This post has little to do with our previous exchange.
Thank you for the comment. It will give me an opportunity to figure it out.
I post back here at Voice.

[[email protected]]

Hillsider, here are some things to consider regarding Juan Raigoza:

1. He is the current Assistant Controller of San Mateo County. This is the same position that the current San Mateo County Controller, Bob Adler, held before he became Controller.

2. Juan Raigoza has been endorsed by both the current Controller, Bob Adler and the former Controller, Tom Heuning. I believe that Tom Heuning is a Republican while Bob Adler is a Democrat so your comment about party hack is off the mark. Also, I assume that Contoller Bob Adler and former Controller Tom Heuning understand the Controller job even better than you do.

3. Juan Raigoza's opponent has a history of suing San Mateo County government entities to gain personal advantage. These lawsuits cost the taxpayers a lot of money and serve no public good. I am referring to his opponent's suit against San Bruno to remove the parking tax on his Skypark business and his recent failed lawsuit and failed appeal against San Mateo County assessor/elections officer Mark Church to have Juan Raigoza removed from the ballot.

4. Mr. Raigoza's opponent made a false accusation against both Mr. Raigoza and Assessor Mark Church regarding Mr. Raigoza's property tax assessment. This false accusation not only reveals his opponent's poor character, but it also shows his ignorance of one of the basic revenue sources for the County. I feel this by itself disqualifies Mr. Raigoza's opponent for the Controller office.

5. Mr Raigoza's opponent is a tax preparer. How does that qualify him to be Controller?

6. Mr. Raigoza's opponent is a Sarah Palin supporter. I don't believe that Tea Party values are consistent with San Mateo County values:

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Palin-swings-through-state-and-at-Obama-3266635.php#photo-2416235

[hillsider]

He's the current understudy
The good ole boys endorse him.
You don't like the other guy.

Some recommendation.