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San Mateo County Supervisor and Assessor-Clerk-Recorder-elect David Canepa joins Mark Simon and Bob Marks for a wide-ranging conversation about his upcoming transition to a new countywide office.
Canepa explains why he wanted the job, what he hopes to change in the assessor, elections and clerk-recorder offices, and how he plans to communicate more directly with voters. He discusses election security, cybersecurity, ballot counting, voter education and the challenges of maintaining public confidence in elections.
The conversation also covers Canepa's long political career, his early concerns about artificial intelligence, AI's potential impact on jobs, divisions within the Democratic Party, regional transit funding, local tax and bond measures, and the lessons he learned from running for Congress.
Mark and Bob also examine the San Mateo County District 5 supervisor's race, the lengthy vote-counting process and the national political landscape heading into the 2026 election.
Chapters
- (00:00) - Welcome to The Game & David Canepa
- (01:17) - From Supervisor to Assessor-Clerk-Recorder
- (03:20) - Can an elected elections official remain nonpartisan?
- (05:35) - The District 5 supervisor race and the power of geography
- (08:08) - Why Canepa wanted the assessor's office
- (10:19) - His plans for the assessor, elections and clerk-recorder offices
- (13:19) - Canepa's early concerns about AI
- (14:36) - AI, jobs and the need for guardrails
- (16:05) - Protecting elections and restoring public confidence
- (16:44) - Educating voters about how ballots are counted
- (18:52) - Why does San Mateo County take so long to count votes?
- (21:19) - What happens if elections face outside threats?
- (22:33) - Using media and social media to engage voters
- (24:11) - Voting machines and election cybersecurity
- (26:26) - How Canepa has changed over 18 years in public life
- (28:20) - Running for Congress and lessons from the campaign
- (30:43) - Is the Democratic Party changing?
- (33:29) - Will local tax and bond measures pass?
- (33:54) - Canepa makes his case for regional transit funding
- (38:07) - Inflation, gas prices and voter attitudes
- (40:36) - Canepa reflects on The Game and political journalism
- (43:20) - Looking ahead to the 2026 election
- (43:58) - Mark and Bob discuss the interview
- (45:47) - The national political landscape
- (48:40) - Back to San Mateo County's District 5 race
- (50:20) - Why vote counting takes weeks
- (51:09) - Looking ahead to Election Night on The Game
The Game is hosted by Mark Simon and Bob Marks and produced by Frank Bravo, BravoITC.com and YourTechMakeover.com. Watch or listen to every episode at TheGamePeninsula.com.
Creators and Guests
BM
Host
Bob Marks
Bob Marks is a longtime Peninsula television producer and executive. He led Peninsula TV (Pen-TV), San Mateo County's public affairs cable channel, and was executive producer of its high school quiz show, Quiz Kids. He has co-hosted public affairs programs with Mark Simon since at least 1999, and the two revived The Game as a podcast and video show in 2024.
Host
Mark Simon
Mark Simon is a veteran Peninsula journalist who writes a weekly column on local news and politics for the San Mateo Daily Journal. He was a political reporter and columnist for the Redwood City Tribune and the Peninsula Times Tribune, then a daily columnist and political writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. He later spent about 15 years at SamTrans and Caltrain, retiring in 2017 as chief of staff. He lives in San Carlos.
Producer
What is The Game?
Mark Simon and Bob Marks revive their long-running cable TV show The Game, where they interview local leaders and talk widely about politics, business and sports.
Produced by Frank Bravo, BravoITC.com
00;00;24;25 - 00;00;56;19
Speaker 1
Hello. Welcome to the game. I'm Mark Simon, and I'm Bob Marks. And we are happy to be joined by San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa and Assessor Clerk Recorder elect the longest title in county government. David is a member of the. Was a member of the Daly City Council from 2008 to 2 and 16. Was elected in 2016 to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, and was elected this June to the office of Assessor Clerk Recorder, having won 56% of the vote.
00;00;56;22 - 00;01;00;21
Speaker 1
David, thank you for being here and welcome. Hey. Thank you. It feels good.
00;01;00;21 - 00;01;03;10
Speaker 2
To be a winner, Mark.
00;01;03;13 - 00;01;06;03
Speaker 1
So I've been told I've never had I.
00;01;06;06 - 00;01;17;02
Speaker 2
Lost two. Losing is never good. But but winning in the way we won. Really I think said to send a message countywide. So I'm I'm delighted to be here.
00;01;17;04 - 00;01;37;06
Speaker 1
Dave. When I first of all, welcome to the show. Good to have you. I look at your situation and it's kind of like an aggressive young defense attorney who becomes a judge. Are you comfortable? Taking on a nonpolitical role in this stage of your career?
00;01;37;08 - 00;02;10;04
Speaker 2
Well, Mark, I think you say nonpolitical. We're probably living in one of the most political times ever. I mean, we have our elections being threatened by their federal government. And so I think the way you're you're casting it is you're casting about about assessor, election clerks of the past and, respectfully. And so I think when we look at the elections department, I think in that particular department, there's a lot of challenges by the federal government.
00;02;10;04 - 00;02;34;24
Speaker 2
And so, I think I view it as an opportunity, I view as an opportunity to protect our vote by mail. I've used it as an opportunity to make sure that all voices are heard and remember with preregistration, we have even really touched it with the within the office of making sure that people can register it at 16.
00;02;34;26 - 00;02;59;13
Speaker 2
Lots of opportunity I see in the elections office and making sure that we get young people engaged, involved. And I'll be quite frank with you. You know, one of my personal goals is to make sure, this office is is run better than Warren Slocum, who I have deep reverence and respect for. I think Warren had done an incredible job.
00;02;59;15 - 00;03;20;25
Speaker 2
Set the bar high. And so what my my vision is, is within those three departments is that, within 3 to 4 years, we can lead the state and show how we're going to be able to deliver effective services across those different departments, whether it's the clerk recorder's office, the elections office or the assessor's office.
00;03;20;27 - 00;03;39;25
Speaker 1
Well, I think maybe the maybe the way to cast the question that Bob was proposing is, is this a nonpartisan office? And you have a history of being heavily involved in Partizan politics? Not many as a criticism. It's just the job you had before was a different role. Are you prepared to assume a nonpartisan role? Let me ask you this.
00;03;39;28 - 00;03;56;20
Speaker 1
You've endorsed in the race to replace you with Jessalyn Manolo, who's been a long time friend, ally and mentee. Is this your last endorsement, or do you see yourself engaging in political campaigns in the future, or do you think the nature of your office says, maybe I shouldn't be doing that?
00;03;56;22 - 00;04;07;26
Speaker 2
Yeah. And and I want to kind of bounce the question back to you. In my race, when I ran against Jim Irizarry, what did Mark church do?
00;04;07;29 - 00;04;11;24
Speaker 1
He endorsed his longtime chief assistant.
00;04;11;26 - 00;04;48;28
Speaker 2
That's correct. And so my understanding of the elections office was, there are no endorsements because you're administering, the elections. I understand deeply that sort of role. And I have no plans on endorsing for the elections department. I am county supervisor until January 3rd. But I, to be quite frank with you, was a little bit disheartened because I was always told that is elections officer, that really it was poor form to endorse.
00;04;48;29 - 00;04;50;07
Speaker 2
Right.
00;04;50;10 - 00;04;51;06
Speaker 1
Yeah.
00;04;51;08 - 00;05;13;06
Speaker 2
So I think I think what I'm trying to trying to say to you be more direct is that, you know, I have no intention of endorsing, as election officer because I know, and make no mistake about it, I didn't I didn't think that the person who was in the elections, in my particular race, should have endorsed.
00;05;13;06 - 00;05;15;07
Speaker 2
And I don't see myself doing that.
00;05;15;13 - 00;05;35;15
Speaker 1
Okay. And we understand the exception that exists right now. You're not the elections chief yet, and you have this particular relationship with the person who's seeking to replace you. And it's your district. It's your seat. So I can understand why. Before you assume a nonpartizan role, you may feel inclined to do something about that. Let me, let me.
00;05;35;16 - 00;06;03;17
Speaker 2
Let me say something quickly to about this race, you know, and you've covered in your column, Daly city is a lot different than San Mateo County. And I know everyone says that about their certain region. This race. Mark. And I'm going to say it, they'll probably be a 15% to 25% spread. And let me contrast this and kind of give you let me speak mid County, South County language.
00;06;03;19 - 00;06;13;21
Speaker 2
Okay. They call it Cody. When Charles Stone ran against Noelia Corso, Charles Stone had everyone. Okay. Why did.
00;06;13;21 - 00;06;15;28
Speaker 1
You do all the endorsements, all.
00;06;15;28 - 00;06;44;05
Speaker 2
The endorsements, everything. Why did Charles Stone lose? Was he a bad candidate? No, I don't think Charles Stone was a bad candidate whatsoever. The reason Charles Stone lost was solely based on geography. She had been the Foster City, same Mateo school board. So she represented these two huge, large swaths. Okay. In this particular race, the district is and rightfully so.
00;06;44;05 - 00;06;55;13
Speaker 2
It's a very diverse and and ethnic group and there's so many ethnic groups. Right. And so it's 65 to 70%. And what people say.
00;06;55;21 - 00;06;57;25
Speaker 1
You mean.
00;06;57;28 - 00;07;22;23
Speaker 2
65 and what people don't understand the portion where Mark, I have a I love Mark have a great relationship. Mark is a is a sliver. And his last race, he had 3400 votes. Now the bottom line is, and even Stevie Wonder can see this. Okay, that is the math. And and by the way, my my father, he's he's legally blind if he was legally blind at 39.
00;07;22;23 - 00;07;46;00
Speaker 2
But I say it, I say this, it just doesn't add up. And so I, I, I don't care if it's Obama. I don't care if it's Donald Trump, I don't care who endorses, you know, Mark or whoever is in that race. And we'll see. And I'm not Nostradamus, but I think we'll have a strong indication on this, election.
00;07;46;00 - 00;07;48;13
Speaker 2
So I say 15 to 25. Mark.
00;07;48;15 - 00;08;08;09
Speaker 1
Okay. Let's just make sure we know we're talking about the race to replace. She was district five, which is Daly City. South city, a portion. South city, some Bruno. And it's through. The data shows right now about 65% of the the voting population of the district is from Daly City. Justin who's running is a Daly City Council member.
00;08;08;09 - 00;08;36;14
Speaker 1
Mark, who is also running. This is South city council member. Let's let's go back to the job you're being sworn into on January 4th. Why this job you've had? Supervisor. Why not? Well, because you've run for Congress before. There was never any indication that this was a particularly appealing job. You had other interests and again, no criticism implied or express, but you had more interest in Partizan politics.
00;08;36;14 - 00;08;39;28
Speaker 1
You've taken a different job. Why did you want this job?
00;08;40;00 - 00;09;07;04
Speaker 2
No. You keep using the word partizan. Mark, you know, the first time, that I was endorsed by the the Democratic Party, in a competitive race, was this race. So when you say Partizan and it needs to be corrected, it's not true. So I've endorsed everyone across the spectrum. I've endorsed Republicans independence, I've served everyone.
00;09;07;04 - 00;09;18;20
Speaker 2
I just got the the Democratic endorsement. So you say Partizan. There's only one person who lives in my head. Okay. It's not Mark Simon. Okay?
00;09;18;22 - 00;09;19;08
Speaker 1
It's not.
00;09;19;13 - 00;09;23;15
Speaker 2
It's so, you know, you're trying to. I love your mark. I, I.
00;09;23;21 - 00;09;25;19
Speaker 1
I don't listen, don't misunderstand.
00;09;25;20 - 00;09;29;11
Speaker 2
No, no no no, but I like it. But you're you're trying to create.
00;09;29;14 - 00;09;48;17
Speaker 1
David. David, let me let me rephrase the question, because I'm not trying to put you in that hole this time. And I'm sorry if I'm glad I'm not in your head on even, like, being in my own head. So. And and there are many voices in my head, I have to tell you. What I'm trying to say is it's a real straightforward question without any hint of anything else.
00;09;48;20 - 00;09;52;18
Speaker 1
What was it about this job that makes you want to have it?
00;09;52;20 - 00;10;19;24
Speaker 2
I mean, I think clearly the administration of elections, right? I mean, that's protecting our democracy. You call it a Partizan issue. I call it an issue that we've been the first one of the first counties to do vote by mail to me. And we've seen the growth in terms of voter participation. That's one. Right. I think the second thing we talked about, assessed value, okay.
00;10;19;27 - 00;10;48;28
Speaker 2
Such value right now, is it about $317 billion. And so this administration, has some challenges. I mean, the voters have spoke, right? The voters have said, which is very difficult to do. I was basically running a running against an incumbent with many, many huge endorsements. And, we were able to, to, to be, you know, successful.
00;10;48;29 - 00;11;18;29
Speaker 2
Look, I bring a perspective. I'm not Mark church, okay. And Mark church isn't me. I'm not Warren. I have a certain style. Some like, some don't like. But when it comes to the administration of these elections and it comes to the, the, the functioning of the office, I'm in a good, great position to lead. You look at my staff, their staff members in multiple legislative offices for decades, for decades with their in for six months.
00;11;19;02 - 00;11;45;14
Speaker 2
They're out. All my staff members have been with me for ten years, the exception of an Keegan who went to, age friendly cities. So it's, it's an opportunity to build a culture. It's an opportunity to do some great things with a staff there that is talented. I think the staff, you know, obviously, as you know, there were multiple issues within the office.
00;11;45;14 - 00;12;11;20
Speaker 2
Right. And so to unleash the, unleash what's currently there, I think is an opportunity having, you know, a solid, solid number two with years of experience and operational experience is going to be critical, in running that office. And I think I know what my skill set is.
00;12;11;22 - 00;12;20;24
Speaker 1
Whoops. Oh, we lost his audio. Yeah. Frank. Not good.
00;12;20;27 - 00;12;25;28
Speaker 3
Yeah, it looks like the audio is gone. David, can you hear us?
00;12;26;00 - 00;12;29;15
Speaker 2
In San Mateo County? Bottom line. So,
00;12;29;17 - 00;12;37;17
Speaker 1
David. David. David. David. We lost the audio for a little bit there. Would you mind going back and saying what you just the last.
00;12;37;19 - 00;13;02;02
Speaker 2
How about this? Are you ready? I would put I would put my record against anyone in San Mateo County and I would. I will tell you this, Mark, you know, better than anyone. I like to, to get things done. And by getting things done, we have to do it in such a way we're able to deliver for the residents, and I'm committed to, to doing that.
00;13;02;02 - 00;13;19;06
Speaker 2
But if anyone is expecting, Mark church, to sort of resurrect himself in this office January 4th, I don't think that's the case. Dave. Or any of the other assessors. Right.
00;13;19;08 - 00;13;46;19
Speaker 1
I remember ten years ago when you were first on the board and at a board meeting, you raised concerns about artificial intelligence, which I thought was interesting at the time. Now, ten years later, that issue was front and center. Give us a sense of how you see AI today and, what concerns you may have about it creating havoc in the election.
00;13;46;22 - 00;13;50;14
Speaker 2
I like Mark Simon's questions a lot better than yours. Mark.
00;13;50;17 - 00;13;51;23
Speaker 1
But.
00;13;51;25 - 00;14;15;21
Speaker 2
Bob, I like them better because they're cutting edge. But I was kidding. I I'm just kidding, Bob. That's. Look, I mean, you're right. Ten years ago, and I laugh about this. I was talking to probably one of the best staffers to ever live, Bill Silver Farm. And Bill said to me, David, do you remember when we tried to pass a resolution on robots and everyone was laughing at us?
00;14;15;29 - 00;14;36;10
Speaker 2
And I think we went down at the time for one. So you're right. You're good. Good research there, Bob. Good research. And, you know, at the time I had, you know, I had colleagues there. Like what? David, this is just so out there and, you know, the bottom line is there has to be some guardrails in AI.
00;14;36;14 - 00;15;09;00
Speaker 2
But let me say this. I think the AI world is so competitive right now, that we have to be I'm not talking domestically. I'm talking throughout the world. Right. And so we're constantly competing with, with China and, and other nations. And so we need to make sure that there is a balance. Now, if we stymie the technology and we cripple the technology, we fail generations, you know, we fail future generations.
00;15;09;03 - 00;15;33;08
Speaker 2
There's this notion and that AI is a job killer. Okay. I don't know if I'm there yet. And let me tell you why. What did they say about the internet? They said the internet was a job killer. The internet's had been a job multiplier in terms of people who are able to have businesses that are able to to do different things.
00;15;33;08 - 00;16;01;03
Speaker 2
Who would have thought we'd be talking about influencers. So we're, we're, we're on this tightrope of and if we stymie the, you know, the creativity and we stymie AI and we put in these rules and regs that really doesn't allow us to grow, that's not good. But I can understand the the protections. But to say AI is just something we should not even do whatsoever.
00;16;01;05 - 00;16;05;02
Speaker 2
First of all, if we don't do it, someone else will do it.
00;16;05;04 - 00;16;32;24
Speaker 1
You know, being in charge of elections, this is a a critical time in terms of elections. We're coming through almost ten years of of President Trump constantly saying elections are rigged, that they're they're not run properly, that people are voting illegally. There's a tax on Mail-In voting. There's threats of troops. You wrote an op ed that ran this week in the Daily Journal addressing some of these issues.
00;16;32;26 - 00;16;44;17
Speaker 1
As the chief elections officer, what's your role in assuring people that elections are run effectively and that everybody who should vote gets to vote and that every vote gets counted?
00;16;44;25 - 00;17;07;25
Speaker 2
So let me tell you what I want to do. And it's going to take a little time. What other, some counties, very few counties, but a couple counties have done effective, particularly in, in Santa Clara County. In Orange County is really this issue of informing and educating. What does that mean and what does that look like?
00;17;07;27 - 00;17;47;14
Speaker 2
What it means is, they have dedicated staff, perhaps 1 or 2 staff members that are taking calls from the public specifically and addressing and emails and social media addressing concerns. Here's my concern. How is my ballot being counted? And so this isn't sort of an antagonistic conversation with, you know, our staff, our staff is good to inform them of how the process takes place, because a lot of people may think, you know what?
00;17;47;16 - 00;18;21;27
Speaker 2
How do we know that the ballots are being counted fairly? You have to teach them how it is. One of the things that I want to do with this office, everything now is predicated on social media, right. And so what do you do? You find someone who's able to tell a story about in social media. So I give an example when I go to a community meeting, Mark, I'm able to speak to ten people right?
00;18;21;29 - 00;18;52;22
Speaker 2
When I do social media, I can speak to thousands of people. That's the game changer. And that's what we need to do is to make sure through social media, through various workshops to we, that we inform and educate people on how their vote is counted. And I think using social media as a tool will really elevate the office in terms of their communication.
00;18;52;25 - 00;19;12;26
Speaker 1
Along those lines in the primary. San Mateo County was one of the slowest counties in the state counting votes. Yeah. Obviously you want to get the count right, but, do you place importance on finding ways to speed up the process of counting votes?
00;19;12;29 - 00;19;39;29
Speaker 2
Now you remember, this shows you how old we are together. I was elected. Mark, don't, you know, don't turn over here. I was elected in 2008 when we got the election. We literally new either that night or the next day. You won. Give me an example. In my race, I was thinking, I think I was officially declared.
00;19;40;01 - 00;20;08;14
Speaker 2
There's a difference. A winner two and a half, three weeks later. Right. And so we need to work with, election officials throughout the state to address this, this issue. And I understand my understanding. There's a state bill, that encourages, you know, election officials to do it within a certain time frame. I want to say, I don't know if it's ten days or or something.
00;20;08;16 - 00;20;30;14
Speaker 2
There's a there's a, there's legislation that takes effect. So we need to figure out a way to make sure that the votes are counted correctly, but then that people know, here's what I hear from other elected officials and what I experienced. Right. People may know that they've won, but they really don't know because no one from the office is, you know, communicating with them.
00;20;30;14 - 00;20;57;11
Speaker 2
Right. We got the, you know, post-marketing of ballots. You hear that? That's a that's a delay. Right? So I think we live in a, in a state in a, in a county that is highly tech, technological. And I think it's something that we can figure out how to do. And I know that there are election officers throughout the state that feel very, passionate about this issue or trying to solve this problem.
00;20;57;13 - 00;21;19;12
Speaker 1
Yeah. Have you thought at all about, I mean, you referenced in your op ed piece the threats, the send troops to either prevent people from voting under the guise of protecting the election. Have you thought about what you might do in that position as election chief elections officer? If somebody does something you think threatens the ability of people to vote?
00;21;19;15 - 00;21;43;09
Speaker 2
Yeah. And I this is what I would do. Okay. And, I'm not the person in the driver's seat right now or I'm not the, the captain. Okay. I think what you do, you know, I, I sat on the as a year ago, I sat on the, you know, health plan of San Mateo board. I think what you do is you establish the protocols of notification.
00;21;43;10 - 00;22;06;03
Speaker 2
Right. And so there's someone there on site that says, hey, look, we have, the National Guard, we work through the protocols of our county attorney. We work through, you know, making sure that we're able to to do that. Now, you might be saying, well, does the sheriff's office come out there and is there some sort of, you know, confrontation?
00;22;06;03 - 00;22;33;12
Speaker 2
I don't think, you know, that's the case. I don't think that's the the most prudent manner because I think it puts both agencies in a very difficult spot. But I think we need to establish protocols through, you know, the county attorney's office and others, the governor's office, attorney General Bonta, to make sure that our elections are are safe responding to quickly.
00;22;33;15 - 00;22;58;01
Speaker 1
You you're you're suggesting that one of the things you want to do is essentially raise the profile of the office through more, more assertive communication, more effective communication. You are known as, very effective. And I don't mean this in an aggressive way that you're known is very effective at getting media attention. Is that you think a skill that you're going to bring to the office?
00;22;58;02 - 00;22;59;29
Speaker 1
I mean, I look, I think, I think.
00;23;00;04 - 00;23;26;17
Speaker 2
I think effective is an understatement. Okay, I think, I think I think you're I really think you're, you know, you're not giving me the credit. I do, look, look, I know there are elected officials and pundits, that turn on, you know, they stream and they say, hey, there's David Canepa again. Why is he he, you know, why is he doing that?
00;23;26;17 - 00;23;50;11
Speaker 2
And, you know, I don't see that in the assessor's office. I don't see that in the clerk recorder's office. But I do think in terms of voter engagement and outreach. You know, I saw Jim Irizarry not like I'm counting Mark, but I saw him 14 times in the election. Talk about, our voting process in, in San Mateo County.
00;23;50;12 - 00;24;01;19
Speaker 2
So people need to be informed and educated. That's the part of the job. I plan to, I plan to do that.
00;24;01;22 - 00;24;08;18
Speaker 1
You know, you mentioned. Go ahead. Mom, I was just going to say,
00;24;08;20 - 00;24;11;23
Speaker 1
Now. Okay, let me go ahead. No, I know what I want to say.
00;24;11;28 - 00;24;14;20
Speaker 2
Oh, come on, Bob. All right, go ahead.
00;24;14;26 - 00;24;29;29
Speaker 1
Come on. Bob. Okay, so this is another one of those questions you're you're not going to like and probably is isn't really fair at this point. But remember, I'm not what you know, from what you know about the voting machines we have.
00;24;30;01 - 00;24;32;19
Speaker 2
Marty. Mark, did you ask the question or was it Bob?
00;24;32;21 - 00;24;34;02
Speaker 1
Bob was asking this question.
00;24;34;04 - 00;24;35;19
Speaker 2
No, that's I'm just joking with you guys.
00;24;35;20 - 00;24;58;18
Speaker 1
Go ahead. From what you know about the voting machines we have in the cybersecurity that exists in the office, or. And I know you haven't gotten there yet, but, is that something you need to look at? Is that something you, once you get there that, you constantly need to kind of keep an eye on that as we move forward?
00;24;58;20 - 00;25;31;28
Speaker 2
Yeah. I mean, you have to I mean, you think about issues around, ransomware, right? You think about, what, you know, and I hate to say it, what potentially, other organizations or governments do. So I think you really have to make sure, that it's extraordinarily safe. I mean, today, I can tell you, I feel confident with our election system, I, I feel, what we have is working.
00;25;31;28 - 00;26;04;11
Speaker 2
Well. It's secure. I received, you know, presentations on it. I think it's, I think we're we're good, but you have to keep an eye on it. And I think even as a county, you have to keep focus on these cyber threats. They are really, really serious. And, the actors who are involved, and actresses, you know, they essentially they will say, and we've seen it, I need $20 million or I will take down your system.
00;26;04;11 - 00;26;24;00
Speaker 2
So I think that is something that is, it's got to be top of mind and having the experts in place to make sure that, you know, we're safe. And so. Yeah, that's something. Mark's going to laugh. Nothing keeps me up at night anymore. But I'm sure it'll keep my number two up at night. Mark.
00;26;24;07 - 00;26;26;04
Speaker 2
So, Yeah.
00;26;26;06 - 00;26;48;14
Speaker 1
Well, let me ask you this. We talked about how you first ran for the city council in Daly City in 2008. You were involved in government and politics before that for for quite some time. You basically been in the public eye for 18 years. How are you different than you were those years ago? You're married. You got a son that who clearly is is very central to you and to your life.
00;26;48;16 - 00;26;54;08
Speaker 1
How are you a different guy? You're in your 50s now. How are you? You sort of grown up in public. How are you? I like.
00;26;54;08 - 00;27;19;21
Speaker 2
The old. I like the old Mark Simon. He's trying to doctor fill me. I'm not going to. I'm not going to cry. So, Wow. Yeah. Look, I feel just very, very lucky to have a, you know, my son. You know, I've really been able to both your parents. Mark. But I just feel lucky to be in his life.
00;27;19;23 - 00;27;50;05
Speaker 2
That is really, really important to me. Tomorrow we have an 830, soccer game. You know, I think of my career mark, and you'll laugh. You remember? You know, I come from the mean streets of Pacifica and Daly City. I'm a North County boy. Okay? And when I first got elected, I beat an incumbent, Judith Christiansen. And really, just again, had some support.
00;27;50;10 - 00;28;20;03
Speaker 2
And then in 2016, no one is really. I really never had the establishment support. Okay. But I will tell you this, and I forgot to say this earlier, I'm grateful to for people in my race, my last race, Kevin Mullin, I'm grateful for Diane Papin, Becker, Liccardo. They stayed out of my race. And I really at the time, I appreciate that.
00;28;20;03 - 00;28;44;20
Speaker 2
But every race I run, one outside run outside of that, it's always been an uphill battle. It's always been a fight. And so when people say, hey, you're in the media or hey, you're going to every event. First of all, I love it. But that's what got me elected here running against Mullin. And I thank God every day.
00;28;44;24 - 00;28;49;24
Speaker 2
I thank God every day I didn't win. And, because I got.
00;28;49;24 - 00;28;51;14
Speaker 1
To spend way, you.
00;28;51;14 - 00;29;14;19
Speaker 2
Know, why I got to spend time with my kid, man? I mean, I remember I to me, this job is so perfect for me because I'm going to be home every night. And as naive as this might sound, when I ran for Congress, I did not know how much time it was going to take away from my family.
00;29;14;19 - 00;29;45;19
Speaker 2
I heard later. And so for me, that race was critical for my career, and it was critical and twofold. One, the right guy should have been, should, should, should be there. That was Kevin. Kevin, you realize when I ran against Kevin, I was really not very good. Okay. You real? You know, I was debating him. I just he knew the issues a lot better than I did, in retrospect, much more suited for the job.
00;29;45;22 - 00;30;14;21
Speaker 2
Two, what you realized very quickly is, you know, we call North County, the Paris of the West. Okay. And so you realize outside of San Bruno, the home of, prior works, that, hey, there's actually a place called Millbrae. Burlingame. It has sun in it. Maybe not. No. Braver Burlingame. And so I think that race put me in a position.
00;30;14;21 - 00;30;39;07
Speaker 2
If I didn't want one for that race, I don't think I beat Irizarry. That gave me, countywide, profile. Get me on it. Got me on the ballot. But in retrospect, that race was, it was a good race for me. Hard race, hard fought race. But the right person won in that race. And, just happy I'm here, happy with where I'm at now.
00;30;39;08 - 00;30;40;22
Speaker 2
The future is.
00;30;40;25 - 00;30;43;20
Speaker 1
Let me ask you a larger political question.
00;30;43;22 - 00;30;44;19
Speaker 2
Yes.
00;30;44;21 - 00;31;13;04
Speaker 1
A supervisor. Are you. How do you view the fact that we've seen progressives, democratic socialists really emerge? This year? In terms of the Democratic Party. Do you sense that there's a changing of the guard that may be taking place? And that the old leadership of the party. It's time for them to go.
00;31;13;07 - 00;31;42;27
Speaker 2
Look, I think within the Democratic Party, we can't go far left and we can't go far right. I think what we need to do is to kind of find our way. One of my favorite presidents, very partizan, is Obama. I loved Obama. Person who doesn't get much credit, is Bill Clinton. And Bill Clinton recognized something about the United States.
00;31;43;00 - 00;32;14;12
Speaker 2
We live in the bubble called the Bay area, right? But there are other parts of the country that swing either way. I think if the Democratic Party is going to be successful, we have to find, a balance, you know? And right now it's just, there's disharmony within the, within our own party. And I think that disharmony, is not suiting the party well.
00;32;14;16 - 00;32;37;24
Speaker 2
And so when you have, candidates saying, hey, you're not Democratic enough and we're going to knock you off, I always remember, you know, I think about one of probably the best speakers of the house. Okay. Tip O'Neill. Right. Tip O'Neill was able to negotiate with with everyone. But if we're in all these corners, it's hard to hard to.
00;32;37;24 - 00;33;07;16
Speaker 2
It's hard to come together. So I just some of it, to be quite frank with you, some of it could be scary. Mark and Bob. It could be. It could be scary. What I'm hoping for is that we realize that our tent is huge and that all voices should be heard, not just we shouldn't. When it comes to progressive voice, we shouldn't say, oh, no, when it comes to the census, shouldn't say, oh no, but where is the sort of work can we land?
00;33;07;16 - 00;33;29;15
Speaker 2
And if you think about it on a national level, we got the election, the election in 2028. And that to me, what middle America and all these other places are going to look, look at is the far right and the far left. And I think people I think people are craving central centrist leadership or I know I am.
00;33;29;17 - 00;33;51;21
Speaker 1
You referenced the race for supervisor gave us your assessment of that one. There are a number of tax measures and bond measures on the ballot up and down the county. We've talked on this show before about whether or not there's growing dissatisfaction with the state of the economy, with gas prices, with prices and grocery store. Do you think some of these tax measures may be in serious trouble?
00;33;51;23 - 00;33;54;05
Speaker 2
No.
00;33;54;07 - 00;34;16;18
Speaker 2
Not at all. I think, I, I think the regional transit measure, I mean, you saw the you saw the polling. Incredible. I mean, I'm not saying it's, you know, it's 58% in San Mateo County. 50%. I mean, I never understood Mark and I have a fundamental issue with this, okay. Caltrain. And not because I'm on the board.
00;34;16;20 - 00;34;36;29
Speaker 2
I take Caltrain all the time. It's like a a luxury limousine, right? You got the you got the tables on the top. You can eat off the floor. It's clean. You got soccer moms, you got soccer. I mean, you got everyone taking Caltrain. Structural deficit of that of us losing is $75 million over a period of ten years.
00;34;37;04 - 00;35;09;25
Speaker 2
It's $750 million. Who in their right mind would be opposed to a measure that basically is the heart of San Mateo County? Are there governance issues? Certainly there's governance issues. Are there there are challenges. But to say and I'm going to use this word and it's probably going to get clipped to have the audacity to not support this measure.
00;35;09;28 - 00;35;37;03
Speaker 2
To me, it makes no sense. We've always historically supported Caltrain. Now then some people say, oh, David, you know, it's park. Oh my goodness. It's it's it's muni. Oh it's well wait a minute here. We have a $75 million, deficit and we don't want to fund it. And what people don't want to say, Mark, is they don't what they people don't look at.
00;35;37;04 - 00;36;07;17
Speaker 2
Okay. We look at, highway 101, look at 101. It's the technology biotechnology basket of the world, the center of innovation. Adam and Eve said, you know, creativity. Okay. I mean, look, that's where everything's happening now, if people want to say, and I love my transit advocate friends, they're wonderful, right? They they're taking. We're not talking to them.
00;36;07;25 - 00;36;32;12
Speaker 2
We are talking. Thank you for what you do. But we're not talking to the solo driver on one on one. And if this measure isn't approved, you're going to have gridlock like you can't believe. And so I think it's incumbent on us. And that's why I feel so, passionate about this regional transit measure that we need to think for the future and generations.
00;36;32;17 - 00;36;55;22
Speaker 2
Everyone thinks transit is. So, you know, it's so it's an inexpensive proposition. It's it doesn't cost anything. Oh, my God, that the trains just run. No, these are capital investments. These are investments that need to to happen. So, this ballot measure will pass. Mark, I'm going to tell you this. I'm going to go for might want to clip this.
00;36;55;22 - 00;37;13;05
Speaker 2
Bob. We're going to go for the three for you know what we're going to do. We're going to we won the election. Right. That was one. We're going to be the Triple Crown here on my last day of endorsements. We're going to win the we're going to we're going to go for the triple, triple, triple crown. We're going to win.
00;37;13;08 - 00;37;32;17
Speaker 2
We won the election already. That's the first just is going to win. Okay. And then third, you know what's going to happen. We're going to read. We're going to win the regional measure. You know, the fourth thing that's going to happen, Mark Simon is going to write the column on the third week in November and said, David, canapés.
00;37;32;19 - 00;37;38;25
Speaker 2
Right. And I'm going to frame it and put it in my room. Bob. Mark's.
00;37;38;27 - 00;38;07;18
Speaker 1
Dave. I think what Mark has is broken. Yes. You have the regional transit measure, but you also have sales taxes in three cities. You have bond measures. Do you think given the economy and giving how much people are struggling, even in San Mateo County, that there may be, as they go down the ballot, less of a desire to approve some of these other measures.
00;38;07;20 - 00;38;21;15
Speaker 2
Bob, you have an amazing historical knowledge and your time over the 30 to 50 years. And and, Mark, can you tell me, a ballot measures that have failed taxes in Sandwich County?
00;38;21;22 - 00;38;36;06
Speaker 1
There's not if there is, it's a handful. I mean, it's a very small number and it's usually the parcel taxes which require two thirds. And as you know, in a two thirds election, every no vote cancels out to yes. So that's a steep hill for ballot measure to climb.
00;38;36;08 - 00;39;06;19
Speaker 2
Yeah. And so, there's the answer to your question. I don't see it. I don't see it happening. But I will tell you this. And, I was thinking about gas prices. Okay. And Mark's going to give me an A plus because he was a former transit, czar. If I took from the Paris to the west, the great city of Daly City, Bart, to, Redwood City, which I've done on occasion, I do it on a yearly basis.
00;39;06;22 - 00;39;37;01
Speaker 2
That would cost me with gas prices now $50,800 a year around there. Okay, 56,050 806,000 a year. If I was to buy a car, it just multiplies not just by the purchase of the car, but it multiplies because of the gas. It's just it is just nonsensical right now. And and I got called Partizan earlier. I am a little I mean, the Strait of Hormuz.
00;39;37;04 - 00;40;00;21
Speaker 2
I mean, what is going on where all these, the gas, all these prices, I mean, the American public can only take so much. And now you look at what happens with fuel costs, then it compounds and then you have food. I don't know, Bob or Mark, if you've been to Jose Westlake lately. One of my favorite places.
00;40;00;24 - 00;40;03;08
Speaker 1
Me too. Wow. Oh, wow.
00;40;03;10 - 00;40;28;04
Speaker 2
I go and, you know, I, I don't want to get shot here, but, I, I frequent it a lot. Okay. And it's amazing the food prices right now. And so you ask about it, maybe, you know, you guys come back to me. I don't think any of the measures, fail. I could be wrong because South County in some areas, a little bit more conservative.
00;40;28;06 - 00;40;36;10
Speaker 2
But, I just these voters continue to vote for things that that make sense.
00;40;36;13 - 00;40;58;07
Speaker 1
Well, I think we're going to wrap it up. It has taken us a while to get you on here, and I understand why we've had, shall we call it an interesting relationship? And, with that as a background. I know personally I appreciate your willingness to come on our show. I know Bob does as well. Any final thoughts you want to.
00;40;58;13 - 00;41;00;02
Speaker 1
You know, I have.
00;41;00;05 - 00;41;24;05
Speaker 2
I have, I have, I have I have a question for you. Yeah. Now, when the views hit a certain amount and, this becomes the talk of San Mateo County. You know, I hope you guys are getting paid on views, because I might just need a little percentage. I'm joking. No, no, no one gets my humor. No one gets it.
00;41;24;05 - 00;41;26;18
Speaker 2
I know I get.
00;41;26;21 - 00;41;31;16
Speaker 1
The problem is that the show is free and is probably worth everything. People were paying for it. Yeah.
00;41;31;18 - 00;41;57;08
Speaker 2
Well, you know what? You guys have been, consistent. I mark, you know, to me, you. I always say Bob, I say Mark is my my film tier. You know what I mean? My I call him the film a tier of San Mateo County. County. You know, it's like, you know, Mark, I'm not going to talk to you this week that, you know, Mark, you know, I'm going to talk to you.
00;41;57;10 - 00;42;23;14
Speaker 2
This week. And. Mark. David, are you mad at me again? Yeah, Mark, I'm mad at you. But you know what? It's a it's a blessing because it really, truly is a good time. And it's Bill silver for one of my favorite journalists says to me, and this is important, this is important. He says to me, David, they're doing their job and they're educating people.
00;42;23;16 - 00;42;51;26
Speaker 2
And sometimes very good lesson, right? You may not want to they may not present the story that you want or say or maybe. But the bottom line is, you know, it is this is America. And journalism is important. And censorship against any journalists or journalists that just runs contrary. To to the government. So, yes. Do I pout?
00;42;51;28 - 00;43;16;00
Speaker 2
Do I do I God, God God. There goes that Simon again. Oh my god. But you know what then I read, read, read the column and I say, God, it's not just it's not me. It's it's actually, you know, it's it's everywhere. I said, God, I, I like them even better now. So, So anyways, no, Bob, I appreciate it.
00;43;16;02 - 00;43;19;28
Speaker 2
Good times. And, we'll see what happens.
00;43;20;01 - 00;43;44;08
Speaker 1
Okay. Well, hopefully we'll get your back on very soon, especially as elections get closer 2020. Gets closer. We'd love to have you on to talk about how you've gotten ready for for this. This is going to be a landmark election on convincing 28. Oh. See, change, I think, is going to take place in this country. So it'll be a fascinating time and it'll be more focused than ever on the job you're about to take on.
00;43;44;10 - 00;43;52;23
Speaker 1
David, thank you for coming on. Good luck in your new job, Bob. I have a few roundup remarks we're going to make, but we appreciate you coming on. Thanks so much.
00;43;52;24 - 00;43;55;02
Speaker 2
All right, guys, be good. Thanks for the opportunity. All right.
00;43;55;05 - 00;43;58;07
Speaker 1
All right.
00;43;58;09 - 00;44;19;17
Speaker 1
Well, Bob, you know, we waited a long time to have him on, but I think it was worth the wait. Yeah. You know, I don't know him that well, I, I kind of, when I was working with the board for a brief period of time, talk to him a little bit, but he's he's a character. He's got a lot of energy and enthusiasm.
00;44;19;19 - 00;44;41;20
Speaker 1
And I don't think there's any reason to believe that, he's he's not going to meet the moment. With his new job that he has and the as as things are changing so much. Yeah. You know, what is what is evident from what is evident from our interview is that he takes this job seriously. Yeah. And that's that's the right thing to do.
00;44;41;21 - 00;45;05;10
Speaker 1
I mean, he he is in charge of what? How people's property is assessed and what taxes are going to pay. And in this area, there are few things. Few things people regard more seriously than that. And then elections and it. You know, I have written this in my column before. Yeah. You can be critical of his ability to seek attention from the media.
00;45;05;17 - 00;45;27;29
Speaker 1
And as far as I'm concerned, that's water under the bridge. It's it's but it's a skill that he's going to bring to an office where that may be hugely valuable to help people understand how the office works, to raise, voter registration. I mean, I can't imagine anybody in this county who would be better at promoting voting and promoting registering to vote.
00;45;28;01 - 00;45;47;24
Speaker 1
And I wouldn't be surprised if turnout numbers and registration numbers go up under his watch, just because he will make the effort to do that. And you could tell from the interview that is important to him. So let's let's take a quick look at the national scene. I saw Charlie Cook, who is about as credible as any analyst I know.
00;45;47;26 - 00;46;07;04
Speaker 1
And in these things predicted projecting maybe a 2020 seat margin for the Democrats by the time this is all said and done in the House and maybe as many as five seats in the Senate. That's now, you know, October 2nd, a lot of things can change between then and now. You you would like to monitor the polling.
00;46;07;04 - 00;46;09;01
Speaker 1
What do you think, Bob? Yeah.
00;46;09;02 - 00;46;11;29
Speaker 2
You know.
00;46;12;02 - 00;46;16;21
Speaker 4
I think the best way to look at some of these races.
00;46;16;23 - 00;46;20;16
Speaker 1
All choked up about this, don't you?
00;46;20;18 - 00;46;58;27
Speaker 4
Is to look at some of these congressional districts. The 27th congressional district in Florida, the incumbent, Maria Salazar, over the summer was viewed as a safe Republican seat. In September, it moved to likely Republican. And last week, it moves to lean Republican. She's the congresswoman that, filmed a commercial in front of the white House saying to Trump, with your immigration efforts, you've gone too far.
00;46;58;29 - 00;47;31;10
Speaker 4
And of course, Trump, you know, think would be concerned about retaining Republican seats, said she's weak and we should primary her next time around. You know, it's those kinds of seats that are going to determine whether this is, as Charlie Cook says, 15 to 20 or whether it just goes beyond the imagination. And they start losing a lot of these seats that nobody thought was possible.
00;47;31;12 - 00;47;37;21
Speaker 4
It's been a bad September for the Republicans. Yeah. We have a lot of money.
00;47;37;24 - 00;47;39;09
Speaker 1
The phrase that he used was.
00;47;39;09 - 00;47;44;19
Speaker 4
A point where money. Doesn't necessarily solve the problem.
00;47;44;20 - 00;47;52;19
Speaker 1
Well, in fact, it's got me wondering. I'm sure, like you, I'm getting inundated with texts and emails.
00;47;52;25 - 00;47;53;16
Speaker 4
Yeah.
00;47;53;19 - 00;48;20;11
Speaker 1
And everywhere you go on, on any social media sites, you watch your peppered with commercials. And I wonder if at some point social media begins to negate because, you know, if you study campaigns, buying something on social media is infinitely less expensive than anything you might buy on TV and has the potential to reach at least as many, if not more people as it gets passed around and as it gets replicated through algorithms.
00;48;20;15 - 00;48;40;11
Speaker 1
So I wonder if if to some degree, social media has reduced the impact of TV ads, because at the same time, you're getting these things online where you maybe have a chance to read them, you know, you're flipping on TV and you're just getting inundated and people are silencing those or stuff like that. I think that's a topic for another day.
00;48;40;13 - 00;49;07;23
Speaker 1
I do want to talk a little bit about San Mateo County. His assessment of what happens in the supervisors race is interesting because, you know, the conventional wisdom, which often is neither is that it's a close race. And certainly it very much mirrors the kind of races that that David Canepa ran, which is that all of the establishment has lined up behind Mark Nogales.
00;49;07;25 - 00;49;38;18
Speaker 1
And she's relying on a different network of sort of San Francisco based people. And to the extent that she's been able to meet people, those folks as well. No, nobody does this as well as David does. I wrote once, somewhat facetiously, that he's like God wherever two or more are gathered. He is there. If you have not met David Canepa in person, it's because you chose not to walk across a room and say hello to him because he is literally everywhere.
00;49;38;21 - 00;49;47;11
Speaker 1
And that's not a criticism. It's just reality. He's he campaigns. He politics like nobody else in this county.
00;49;47;13 - 00;50;03;05
Speaker 4
Yeah. I you know, I think that seat in particular go back in history. So from Bill Schumacher, Adrian to a on and on. It's always. Yeah. Always. Daly city. Yeah. And so.
00;50;03;08 - 00;50;05;25
Speaker 1
And that was the fact he was the county seat. Yeah.
00;50;05;26 - 00;50;20;16
Speaker 4
Yeah. They do have a big advantage, I think, in this race. But as serious candidate, he's gotten some very serious endorsements. And, you know, we'll see what happens on election night.
00;50;20;18 - 00;50;41;04
Speaker 1
Yeah. And for weeks afterwards, apparently. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm glad you asked that question, because it is frustrating. I'm sure it's even worse for the candidates. I mean, candidates who think they're winning on election night and then three weeks later, find out they lost. And it's hard to see this for what it really is, which is that the decision has been made.
00;50;41;07 - 00;51;09;25
Speaker 1
It's temptation is to see the count as like the score of a ball game where it keeps changing. And that's not what's happening, is the way it's turned out is just being slowly revealed. And I worry, as I suspect you do, it undercuts the credibility of the count when it takes that long, because there's always the suspicion that some shenanigans are going on, especially when the outcome changes somewhat dramatically from election night to the 2 or 3 weeks later.
00;51;09;27 - 00;51;29;26
Speaker 1
Well, hopefully our new elections chief will fix that. Yeah. And that's about it for now. We're going to be nothing but politics and election from now until election night. We're also going to do a live election night podcast. We've already lined up some guests. Kevin Mullin is confirmed to come on Diane Papin. So we're going to have a lot of fun.
00;51;30;00 - 00;51;40;03
Speaker 1
We're going to talk about the results, such as they are, and we'll be here for a couple of hours on election night, so we'll hope you'll join us live when we do that. In the meantime. I'm Mark Simon.
00;51;40;08 - 00;51;41;14
Speaker 4
And I'm Bob Marks.
00;51;41;15 - 00;51;47;16
Speaker 1
On behalf of our friend and producer, Frank Bravo, thanks for being with us on the game, and we'll be around again.