Supervisor Jackie...Again?

I know well the exact sentiment of working a job I love but having to deal with the need to be on the East Coast 10, 15 times a year.  2500 miles out, 2500 miles back, rinse and repeat.  SFO-JFK..gag me with a plastic United Airlines spoon.  U.S. Reps must do that 30+ times a year-- or more.  So the Mark Simon bombshell column in today's DJ struck me differently than most people.  Here's the nub from the column:

Sources close to former U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier confirm she is on the brink of entering the race for San Mateo County Supervisor in District 1.

That would be our district where the Papan-Beach catfight has barely started.

Close associates of Speier, who agreed to speak about her plans if they remained unidentified, said she has decided she will enter the race. This comes less than three scant years after she announced she was leaving Congress, opting out of certain reelection to an eighth term representing the bulk of San Mateo County in Congress.

Speier has been urged to run by longtime friends and allies, who have become alarmed by the seemingly leftward direction of the Board of Supervisors and a loss of civility and decorum among the supervisors, particularly Supervisor David Canepa, according to sources.

How left is too left has to be the question of the year?  If you were paying attention at the time, this bit from Simon's column was not news, but it bears repeating

In the same ICE debate (that is linked above), Canepa also sharply criticized ABC-7 investigative reporter Stephanie Sierra, who had conducted interviews with Canepa in which he seemed under-informed on the issue. Sierra is Speier’s daughter.

The drive down to Redwood City takes about as long as clearing TSA at SFO.  Let's see wait one minute to see if Mark Simon's sources are pseudo-authorized, but the political theater demands a ticket.

Update: Sept. 21   Rather than start a new post or just put this in the comments, I'll add it here.  It's important.  Speier has joined the race and effectively ended the race since Papan and Beach have dropped out.  Mark Simon at the DJ has a column today noting this about Supe collegiality:

Speier clearly was referencing a board debate in April over county cooperation with ICE and an outburst by Supervisor David Canepa in which he attacked Supervisor Ray Mueller as racist. She declined to single out a board member. “We don’t move forward if we start pointing fingers. I worry that’s diminishing,” Speier said.

Speier also said if Mueller were to reintroduce his amendment to the ICE ordinance, which prompted the Canepa comments and which was defeated 4-1, she would support it, and seek to add additional amendments allowing the county to cooperate further with ICE.

And, asked if she thought the board was shifting too far to the left, Speier said, “If I’m basing it on that one decision, I’d say yes. When you’re more left than San Francisco, you’re too left. I think we’ve just got to use a little more common sense.”

Bingo.  I wish I had heard that from either Beach or Papan.  I did not.  If I missed it let me know.  I would rather not wait a year for movement on this, but at least there is hope. 

Comments

[hollyroller@ gmail.com]

Who do you believe would be a better Rep?
Why?

[Hillbilly Millionaire]

I like Jackie Speier but please, Jackie, it’s time for somebody from the next generation! Not you IMHO

You climbed from the San Mateo County board of supervisors almost 40 years ago to the heights of Congress in Washington, DC.

This is why people are getting sick and tired of political dinosaurs holding onto power for years and years. I guess they find it impossible to give up. There can be so much Jackie Spear can do. Didn’t I just recently read that she started some kind of nonprofit for children. Or how about sharing all that political knowledge with students at the college of San Mateo or one of the universities nearby.

But, what do I know. All the wheeling and dealing behind closed doors must make you dizzy. Personally, I find it very selfish of her if she decides to do this.

[The Silent Citizen]

Jackie has always been pelosi’s lap dog. She palls around with the gettys and ignored the decline and fall of her own district. As did nervous Nancy did in SF. Time for a change and more middle-class minded candidates.

[MBGA]

That's very bad news for Califonia if true. While Jackie Speier on the ticket will push off the progressives that are even more to the left of her, she is a party line Democrat. Her voting record and stances in the US congress are pretty aligned with AOC, Maxine Watters, and all the rest of them. Use any political scorecard web site you want to compare her record. Her positions on everything go to the left, not the right, and that is the exact opposite of what California critically needs to fix itself. I assume she plans to instantly become California's version of Nancy Pelosi.

California's only hope was to get conservatives and/or MAGA people in power to try to reverse the democrat failures from incompetence and corruption in everything and everywhere. If it was near impossible to get conservative representation on the peninsula before, it will be completely impossible when she gets on the ballot and stays in power like Pelosi and Feinstein. This is horrible news for California.

[MBGA]

My bad.....how embarrassing. I was wrongly thinking this is about her running for a state senatorial office in Sacramento.

[Phinancier]

Sue Lempert thinks Jackie Speier should not run. She thinks it is time for her to step aside. I have to chuckle at the lack of self-awareness.

Maybe if Sue could actually do more legwork than regurgitating that Papan is the other Papan's sister and Beach was once in the Army ages ago, then she would earn her column.

[Joe]

That didn't take long.

With former Congresswoman Speier officially announcing her candidacy for District 1 San Mateo County Supervisor, I wanted you to be among the first to read our official press release about my decision to withdraw from the race.

I am so grateful to you and all my supporters, and I’m proud of the campaign we built together. You were there for me just one year after another tough race, and I'm sorry this wasn't the time and opportunity we hoped for. Rest assured my commitment to public service doesn't stop here!

I can't thank you enough for your friendship and support.

Onward with gratitude,
Emily

[Russ]

Is there something in the air in San Mateo? Something that prevents people from staying retired? First it was San Mateo’s own Tom Brady, now it’s Jackie Speier. Obviously, they both thought they still have something to bring to the table. That may be true, but in Jackie Speier’s case, she has advocated during her 40 year long career for woman to consider local leadership roles and now she is clearly preventing a qualified woman to compete for local office. She is also preventing a new generation of leadership to step forward and serve when the talk about our national leadership staying far too long is continuing to be debated. I applauded Jackie’s decision to step aside and let new ideas from new leaders emerge and launch her foundation that will help address child poverty, ( a noble cause to focus on in her retirement). Her announcement to run for a seat on the SMC Board of Supervisors decades after she originally served is baffling to say the least, especially when she has said publicly that she promised her husband she would step away at age 72 and that it was time to pass the baton.” She spoke these words on a podcast called “Burlingame, it’s a small town” just five months ago. It all begs the question, what was so wrong with the two candidates running for the seat that she needed to enter the race which has resulted in both candidates dropping out of the race? So much for passing the baton.

[Constance Quirk]

So....both Emily Beach and Gina Papan immediately drop out because Jackie Speier decided to run for office.
Speier is not running; she is walking into office.

Thanks Jackie for not giving us, the voters, a choice.
Jackie Speier should be encouraging people to run rather than discouraging them.

Another political dinosaur who refuses to move over for the younger generation.

What kind of back room deal went on this week?
Papan and Beach immediately drop out and support Speier.

Is it any wonder many people don't trust politicians.

[Just Visiting]

Either a back room deal or Papan and Beach did the same math, which shows there's no beating Jackie Speier in San Mateo County.

What's the campaign against a beloved representative who has routinly won 75%+ of the vote? She's too old? That will play well with the home-owning, older voters who make up most of the reliable voters in the County and have enthusiastically supported Speier for 40 years.

[Paloma Ave]

Jackie is bored staying at home. Aww.

Now we need to find out who dropped out first, Beach or Papan?

Will the first one out be getting Jackie's endorsement, next time?

[The Nose]

On July 24th Beach boasted of raising more than $168,000 for her campaign. What happens to that money now? Same with Papan’s haul.

[Spurinna]

Paint for the bike lanes?

[Hillbilly Millionaire]

I want my $ returned.
Emily, please, please don’t turn over your campaign donations to Jackie Speier. She has enough wealthy friends all across the US. We don’t want the money earmarked for you to go to her.

I used to admire Jackie Speier. That is, up until yesterday.

[Constance Quirk]

So, both Emily Beach and Gina Papan immediately drop out of running for Board of Supervisor in District 1 because Jackie Speier decided to run for office the other day. Never mind that Beach and Papan have had their campaigns up and running for at least a year.

Jackie Speier should be encouraging younger people to run rather than discouraging them.

I hope Mark Simon asks the hard questions of Jackie Speier the next time he interviews her. Like Why? Why do you think you are the best person for the job when the other two candidates have plenty of political experience.

I understand why they dropped out. Who can compete with a Jackie Speier? I’d like to ask Jackie to think back to when she ran for Board of Supervisors 40 years ago. How would you like it if somebody came back from Washington DC after a long, long political career and put a full stop to your political ambitions.

[Mom]

Maybe Newsom will appoint Jackie to the senate seat!!! :-0

[Cassandra]

Kamala to senate.
VP Newsom.

[Spurrina]

Jackie’s not qualified per Newsom’s racist criterion.

[Phinancier]

Just what we needed in the Senate. A Maryland resident who is a former SEIU activist that no one has ever heard of and has never held any office including dogcatcher. Nice work Gavin.

[Joe]

At the end of Mark Simon's column about the District 4 supe race is this blurb about our district:

DISTRICT 1: As reported here last week, Millbrae Councilmember Ann Schneider confirmed that she will run for the District 1 seat being vacated by Dave Pine due to term limits. Also running are Speier, who said she would participate in the routine array of public campaign events, and community activist Jorge Quezada Flores.

But she indicated, via text: “Yes, I am running.” And that the campaign could be an occasion for airing some grievances.

She texted that the county gives little or no meaningful attention or resources to the North County, specifically, Millbrae and San Bruno. We can infer that the county’s decision to buy the La Quinta Inn and turn it into long-term housing for seniors and families is not the kind of attention she has in mind.

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/opinion/columnists/district-4-sees-lots-of-action/article_818d3c2c-6e1b-11ee-8ff6-ab84f1c8f4a3.html

[Peter Garrison]

Speaking of Millbrae: One of her last televised statements when last in office was made at SFO where she hoped “they” would do something about the airport noise.

She might be elected “they” again and I hope she does something about airport noise.

[Joe]

This news just came in via the Merc:

Former U.S. Rep Jackie Speier announces she has breast cancer

“I just became one of the 300,000 women per year who are diagnosed with breast cancer,” Speier posted.

[Peter Garrison]

Prayers ascending