Today, San Mateo County’s veteran Elections Chief Warren Slocum announced that he would not seek reelection this year for what would have been a seventh four-year term.Slocum announced his retirement in a brief and undramatic press release emblematic of his understated style.
I am announcing today that I will not seek re-election as San Mateo County’s Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder. It has been an honor, a privilege, and a pleasure to serve the people of this great county.
I was first elected in 1986 and have served in government since 1976 – over thirty years. I am ready to consider doing other things – making other contributions to our community.
During my terms of office, I have had the good fortune to work with some of the best and brightest elected officials and the finest men and woman in government.
The residents of San Mateo County are blessed with a stable, well-run county government.
My father always taught me that one person can make a difference. I believe this to be true. This belief is shared among the people that have worked for me and together we have created a legacy of excellence and innovation. While I will miss these outstanding men and women, I will find new opportunities and continue to make a difference in the community.
My current term of office will end in January 2011. I will use the remaining months of my term to complete some of my initiatives. I have talked with the County Manager and the President of the Board of Supervisors and made my plans known.
The election for all elected county positions will be on June 8; the filing period for these offices will open on February 16 and close on March 12. However, as in my case, if an incumbent does not file by March 12, the filing period is extended to March 17.
Slocum has been the elected Assessor-Clerk-Recorder of San Mateo County since 1987 and is known in the State and nation as a dynamic elections chief and recorder. Slocum is known to have pushed the frontiers of technology in all aspects of the services he provides through the various offices he oversees. Slocum is also known for delivering a consistently good and customer friendly product particularly on the elections front. While many counties in California have struggled with technological changes and a myriad of challenges, San Mateo County elections were almost always smooth.
Slocum is only the second Elections Chief and Recorder for San Mateo County since 1967 having taken the reigns from the former Clerk Marvin Church, father of current San Mateo County Supervisor Mark Church.
Marvin Church served as the San Mateo County Clerk - Recorder and Registrar of Voters from 1967-1987 and had previously served as a councilmember and Mayor of Millbrae for a decade.
That history is important as Mark Church, now a sitting supervisor, who will term out of office in 2012, is rumored to be mulling a run for Dad’s old seat.
And thus another round of musical chairs.
If Church exits his post early, his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors will be again forced to either call a special election or appoint someone to fill out the term for two years.
In 2008, following former Supervisor Jerry Hill’s ascendance to the State Assembly, the remaining four members of the Board appointed former San Mateo City Councilmember Carole Groom to Hill’s seat. The appointment process – in lieu of a special election where people actually get to vote - drew howls of protest from many corners of the county including many local newspapers, the San Mateo County Democratic Party, The Republican Party, the League of Women Voters and the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club to name a few. Groom was appointed anyway and is at present running unopposed for election this June.
One of the most outspoken advocates for holding an election over an appointment for the open seat was Dave Pine, a San Mateo Union High School District Trustee.
Pine organized much of the opposition and argued the case for an election before the Board of Supervisors which voted 3-1 with only Rich Gordon dissenting to give voters the chance to choose their representative.
Pine is also a likely candidate for Supervisor should Church run for Slocum’s seat. Other local pols who have made their interest in the seat known include Burlingame councilmember Ann Keighran, Millbrae council members Gina Papan and Nadia Holober among several possibilities.
Of course, if any of those incumbent elected officials win the coveted Supervisor seat, then a few more chairs get shuffled.
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