Supervisor McHugh seeks county assessor post
HE’S CHALLENGING THREE-TERM INCUMBENT
Pete McHugh, a Santa Clara County supervisor since 1997, will run for county assessor, challenging threeterm incumbent Larry Stone.
McHugh will announce his candidacy Sunday at a county firefighters’ Toys for Tots barbecue.
Stone had July that he fourth term.
McHugh, whose district covers the northeast corner of the county, can run for assessor without surrendering his supervisor’s job. Term limits will force him out in 2008.
‘‘I am running for the office because I understand how important it is to local government,’’ said McHugh. The assessor’s office sets the tax value for properties in the county, which determine property tax revenue. ‘‘My education and my private and public experience has prepared me for that,’’ he added.
McHugh holds a business degree from UCLA and was an accountant and auditor for IBM for 30 years.
Although he has said in the past that he thinks Stone is doing a good job as an administrator of the assessor’s office, Stone’s occasional participation in real estate development deals in Santa Clara County troubles McHugh.
‘‘People who are elected countywide should not be involved in land development,’’ announced in would seek a said McHugh, ‘‘directly or indirectly in partnerships with other folks.’’
Stone said he was ‘‘delighted’’ to have a challenger. Hearing rumors earlier this year that McHugh might run, Stone said, he had notified McHugh of his re-election plans before announcing them publicly.
Running without opposition, said Stone, is ‘‘like going to school without getting a report card.’’ As for his role as a developer, Stone said he is involved in only one deal in Santa Clara County, a 245unit affordable housing project. He said he never personally does appraisals or rules on appeals of them.
The assessor’s office oversees property values in the county, which currently total $241 billion, generating almost $3 billion in tax revenues a year. The job pays $155,000 annually.