February 27, 2004

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Publication Date: Friday, February 27, 2004

Primary 2004

Pleasanton voters go to the polls Tuesday in California's state primary, one of 10 across the country where primaries are being held at the same time.

With few political contests to be decided locally, voters here will be focusing on billions of dollars in bond and tax hike measures that promise to affect the financial stability and expansion needs among school district, city, county and state governments.

In a rare spirit of bipartisanship, Democrats and Republicans, alike, have joined Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in urging voters to approve Propositions 57 and 58, two budget measures that both need to pass for either one to take effect. Prop. 57 is a $15 billion deficit bond measure that would be used to pay off short-term loans that come due in June as well as to help close next year's (Fiscal year 2004-05) budget gap. Proposition 58 would require politicians to balance the budget every year in the future and prohibit bond financing of any future deficits.

Also on the ballot for Pleasanton voters are statewide Proposition 55, a $12.3 billion school facilities bond, and Proposition 56, which would reduce from two-thirds to 55 percent the percent of votes in the State Senate and State Assembly to approve budget measures.

In addition, voters will be asked to consider: ¥ Measure 2 - A nine-county measure that includes Alameda County that would raise bridge tolls throughout the Bay Area to $3; ¥ Measure A - An Alameda County measure that would hike sales taxes within the county by one-half a cent, with the revenue to pay primarily for county health care services. ¥ Measure B - A $498 million bond measure that would provide funds to expand Chabot and Las Positas colleges.

Politically, as primaries go, most of the excitement is in the Democratic Party primary races for president and the 20th State Assembly District that serves a part of Pleasanton. In all other races, only one Democrat is running. U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer is alone in seeking re-election as the Democratic candidate, for example, with no Democrat on the ballot vying to unseat U.S. Congressman Richard Pombo (R., 11th) in the November election.

For Republicans, the key race is for the nomination as the party's candidate to unseat Boxer. Here, former Secretary of State Bill Jones is viewed as a front-runner against nine others, with the endorsements of Schwarzenegger and former governors Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian, as well as leading state and national Republicans.

With the Democratic nomination for president basically down to just two candidates - Sen. John Kerry (D., Massachusetts) and Sen. John Edwards (D., North Carolina) - the Super Tuesday primary contests are focusing on the two states where they are facing-off: Ohio and Georgia. Edwards has not spent any money on campaign ads in California, where Kerry is a projected winner. Even so, voters will find the original 10 candidates still on the ballot, including Carol Mosley Braun, Dick Gephardt, Al Sharpton, Lyndon Larouche, Joe Lieberman, Wesley Clark, Dennis Kucinich and Howard Dean. In fact, Kucinich made a campaign stop in Richmond this week, explaining that he expects to garner a large number of votes in Tuesday's primary.

Since only voters registered with specific political parties can vote in these primary contests, Independents or those who declined to state a party preference in registering will be able to vote only for the bond and tax measures although the declined to state can specifically request a ballot from one of the major parties. There is also one nonpartisan candidate in the primary: County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, who is seeking re-election. His name as a candidate for District 1, which includes Pleasanton, will appear on all ballots.

Other ballots that will be available to those who are specifically registered for those parties on March 2 will include the American Independent, Green, Libertarian, Natural Law and Peace & Freedom parties.
State Assembly races

Since 1982, Pleasanton has been split into three State Assembly districts, now represented by Guy Houston (R., Livermore) in the 15th, Ellen Corbett (D., San Leandro) in the 18th, and John Dutra (D., Fremont) in the 20th. Before 1982, the city was part of a single district that included Fremont, San Leandro and Hayward. When longtime Assemblyman Carlos Bee of Hayward died, Pleasanton City Councilman Floyd Mori was elected to fill his unexpired term. Then, with the rapid growth of cities within the district, including Pleasanton, as shown in the 1980 census, new districts were created and Pleasanton, with its largely Republican constituency, became part of others that had more Democrats in the mix.

Many voters in Pleasanton are unaware that their Assembly district is roughly only a third of the city, since they only vote in one. As confusing as the split can be for candidates seeking Pleasanton votes, Councilwoman Kay Ayala has said that she believes the three districts give Pleasanton added clout - not less - in Sacramento.

Even so, as this year's primary shows, registered Democrats in Pleasanton comprise just a fraction of the voters needed to elect an Assembly representative.
15th Assembly District

Former Dublin Mayor Guy Houston was elected to the 15th Assembly District in 2002, which had been redistricted again following population changes in the 2000 census and legislative interests. Dublin, where Houston had been re-elected mayor by large majorities, was taken out of the 15th District, which now includes most of north and east Pleasanton, Livermore and all or parts of cities from Alamo, Blackhawk and Brentwood to Discovery Bay and Elk Grove. To qualify as a candidate, Houston sold his home in Dublin and moved to Livermore.

He is unopposed in seeking the Republican nomination on the March 2 ballot.

Elaine Shaw, a Danville attorney, is unopposed on the Democratic ballot for nomination to the 15th Assembly seat to oppose Houston in the November election. She ran unsuccessfully against Congressman Pombo in November 2002.
18th Assembly District

Former San Leandro Mayor and current Assemblywoman Ellen Corbett is termed out this year after three terms of office. Elected in 1998, she has pioneered active e-mail and Internet communications with her constituents and has met on a regular basis with Pleasanton business and nonprofit organizations. In 2002, her district picked up a larger part of Pleasanton, extending east from the city limits to Bernal Avenue and the Fairgrounds and along I-580 to Hopyard Road.

Corbett and the 18th Assembly District Democratic Committee have endorsed Johan Klehs, who is the only candidate for the 18th District on the Democratic Primary slate. Klehs has served 24 years in elected office, including as Assemblyman before term limits and on the San Leandro City Council.

The only other candidate for the 18th Assembly District is Ronald Colfer, who is running on the Libertarian Party ticket. Colfer is an air quality and certified asbestos consultant who lives in Hayward.

No candidate has filed for the 18th Assembly District seat as a Republican.
20th Assembly District

By far the most exciting local primary race is in the 20th Assembly District, that includes heavily Democratic Fremont, Newark and Union City and parts of Sunol, Castro Valley and the Vintage Hills section of Pleasanton down to Main Street. Mayor Tom Pico has been campaigning vigorously for the Democratic nomination to the seat currently held by Assemblyman John Dutra (D., Fremont), who can't seek re-election in November because of term limits

What began as mostly a two-man race between Pico, considered the underdog in a district largely controlled by the Tri-Cities to the south, and Newark Vice Mayor Alberto Torrico, has now become a four-way race. Although Pico continues to lead in the polls and has raised $350,000, more than any of the other candidates, polls show that former Milpitas Mayor Henry Manayan and former State Department of Fair Employment and Housing Director Dennis Hayashi are moving up fast. Ash Bhatt, a member of the state Water Commission, trails with less support and fewer contributions.

Pico, who has been endorsed by business and civic leaders in Pleasanton and political leaders throughout Alameda County, has spent evenings and weekends campaigning door-to-door in Fremont, the largest city in the district and one that Pico considers critical to winning the nomination. His yard signs are highly visible, along with a large campaign bus that he rides through the city regularly to campaign among constituents.

Last week, however, trial lawyers kicked in $160,000 worth of television ads to support Hayashi, money that already is buying TV spots on CNN and other cable channels.

Dan Carl, Pico's campaign manager, said Hayashi has collected over $250,000 in direct and indirect contributions from trial lawyers and one of their associations, the Consumer Attorneys Independent Campaign Committee. Carl said Hayashi moved to Castro Valley in 2003 to be eligible to run in the 20th District race.

"Tom Pico has raised 95 percent of his money from businesses and residents in the district, not from Sacramento or other outside-district interests," he said. "We have a grassroots campaign, walking precincts and meeting voters one-on-one so that we can get Tom Pico, an accountant, to Sacramento instead of another lawyer."

Contributions to Manayan's campaign are also rising, with donors including Henry Tran of Lions Supermarket and Filipino interests in San Francisco, and from San Jose supporters.

Torrico, who has been endorsed by the Democratic Central Committee and Assemblyman Dutra, has strong support from Tri-City leaders, including contributions from 10 unions from throughout California.

Cliff Williams, a former Milpitas planning commissioner, is running unopposed for the Republican nomination to the 20th District seat.

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