ARTICLE
News reports hit the Santa Cruz County community early this week as Bruce McPherson announced that he is not running for another term as the 5th District Supervisor for Santa Cruz County. The announcement was rumored for several months and now it is official. The announcement opens the election door for the race to represent the 5th district which includes the San Lorenzo Valley, Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond, Felton, Scotts Valley and the eastern edge of the City of Santa Cruz. McPherson has served the region for the past thirty years — first as a State Assemblymember, State Senator, Secretary of State and for the last 11 years as a County Supervisor. McPherson was quoted in a Lookout Santa Cruz article stating, “I’m stepping back completely, I’m not going to run for another office or anything like that. This is retirement, You’re not going to do it forever. There are some things on my plate that I want to give more attention to now.” As most long-time Santa Cruz residents know Bruce McPherson, was the longtime editor of the Santa Cruz Sentinel which was owned and operated by the McPherson family for decades. He is leaving public service office in a time of great change for the county, including an increasingly diverse board of supervisors, unprecedented pressure for the state to produce more housing and an increasing impact of Silicon Valley on the economy and housing market. I first met Bruce when he was the editor of the Sentinel at a casual meeting between him and my boss, Congressman Tom Campbell in 1989 several months before the Loma Prieta Earthquake. That established a long working relationship and friendship including a short stint working with him during his first year as California’s 28th Secretary of State in 1995 after being appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The secretary of state is California's chief elections officer, overseeing all federal and state elections in the state and maintaining a database of registered voters. The officeholder is also responsible for disclosure of campaign and lobbyist financial information, under the California Political Reform Act of 1974. The Office of the Secretary of State has a number of responsibilities related to corporations; the largest portion of the office is the Business Programs Division, which handles corporate filings. The Business Entities Section processes, files and maintains records related to corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and other business entities conducting or planning to conduct business in California. During that one year — I was afforded the opportunity to help him chart the course of repairing the Secretary of State's image with local county election officials and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) where the previous Secretary resigned because of the misuse of federal dollars dedicated to improving the election system nationwide. According to news reports and from various sources in Washington DC, Secretary Kevin Shelley left office amid a swirl of allegations that his office misspent federal voter funds on partisan consultants and allies, abused staff and received donations to his campaign fund that were laundered from a taxpayer-funded grant. He denied any knowledge of wrongdoing but resigned nonetheless. Secretary McPherson’s first policy action was to return the misused funds to the FEC which were accepted without further investigation or penalty. But the allegations placed a long shadow over the office that is responsible for running and certifying elections. McPherson needed to quickly repair the Secretary of State’s image and re-establish a better working relationship with county election officers. McPherson and his small staff embarked on a statewide strategy by visiting with every county election officer in the State in that first year. I fondly recall visiting the Placer County election officer, who stated that was the first time that the Secretary of State visited the Placer County election office since the 1880s! As McPherson toured the state you could see the relationship change where initial greetings were stern frowns that eventually turned to smiles between the Secretary of State office and the local county election offices. He also visited with local business leaders in each county working with various Chambers of Commerce. In a short span of nine months, McPherson had established a strong reputation as a consensus builder and received kudos from other Secretary of States across the country. Regrettably. in the run up to the 1996 election, McPherson lost to another State legislator. The benefit was Bruce’s return to Santa Cruz County and eventually running and winning a seat on the County Board of Supervisors. Another building block in our long relationship occurred when I was on the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) board from 2009-2021. The TRPA is responsible for all land use development and environmental programs in the Lake Tahoe Basin. There was an ongoing dispute between lakeside property owners and the TRPA over the definition of a littoral parcel within the shore zone and a littoral parcel within the upland area. Not to go into gritty technical details, residents in the upland area were in conflict with shore zone property owners. Bruce and Mary McPherson who had a family home at Lake Tahoe were subject to this discussion. They asked me to convene a meeting with the property owners to find a workable solution. As a board member, my role was to have a common sense conversation and ask the TRPA staff to find a consensus. The details worked themself out. Bruce McPherson has been a great statesman representing Santa Cruz County in a variety of capacities over the decades. He has also been a friend to the Santa Cruz County Chamber during his tenure at the Santa Cruz Sentinel and while in elected office. Bruce was recognized by the Chamber as Man of the Year in 1997 joining his father, Fred McPherson Jr. who was the Chamber’s Man of the Year in 1959. In the political circles of Santa Cruz County and at the State level in Sacramento there is always a fraction of indifference between political parties, but one thing is a constant, Bruce McPherson was a public sector servant and well respected regardless of political leanings. In the year ahead, we are certain to hear accolades and congratulations bestowed on him, and when the time comes for him to finally hang up the political shingle one last time he will be remembered for his dedication to family, friends and his love of Santa Cruz County.
News reports hit the Santa Cruz County community early this week as Bruce McPherson announced that he is not running for another term as the 5th District Supervisor for Santa Cruz County. The announcement was rumored for several months and now it is official.
The announcement opens the election door for the race to represent the 5th district which includes the San Lorenzo Valley, Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond, Felton, Scotts Valley and the eastern edge of the City of Santa Cruz. McPherson has served the region for the past thirty years — first as a State Assemblymember, State Senator, Secretary of State and for the last 11 years as a County Supervisor. McPherson was quoted in a Lookout Santa Cruz article stating, “I’m stepping back completely, I’m not going to run for another office or anything like that. This is retirement, You’re not going to do it forever. There are some things on my plate that I want to give more attention to now.”
As most long-time Santa Cruz residents know Bruce McPherson, was the longtime editor of the Santa Cruz Sentinel which was owned and operated by the McPherson family for decades. He is leaving public service office in a time of great change for the county, including an increasingly diverse board of supervisors, unprecedented pressure for the state to produce more housing and an increasing impact of Silicon Valley on the economy and housing market.
I first met Bruce when he was the editor of the Sentinel at a casual meeting between him and my boss, Congressman Tom Campbell in 1989 several months before the Loma Prieta Earthquake. That established a long working relationship and friendship including a short stint working with him during his first year as California’s 28th Secretary of State in 1995 after being appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The secretary of state is California's chief elections officer, overseeing all federal and state elections in the state and maintaining a database of registered voters. The officeholder is also responsible for disclosure of campaign and lobbyist financial information, under the California Political Reform Act of 1974.
The Office of the Secretary of State has a number of responsibilities related to corporations; the largest portion of the office is the Business Programs Division, which handles corporate filings. The Business Entities Section processes, files and maintains records related to corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and other business entities conducting or planning to conduct business in California.
During that one year — I was afforded the opportunity to help him chart the course of repairing the Secretary of State's image with local county election officials and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) where the previous Secretary resigned because of the misuse of federal dollars dedicated to improving the election system nationwide. According to news reports and from various sources in Washington DC, Secretary Kevin Shelley left office amid a swirl of allegations that his office misspent federal voter funds on partisan consultants and allies, abused staff and received donations to his campaign fund that were laundered from a taxpayer-funded grant. He denied any knowledge of wrongdoing but resigned nonetheless.
Secretary McPherson’s first policy action was to return the misused funds to the FEC which were accepted without further investigation or penalty.
But the allegations placed a long shadow over the office that is responsible for running and certifying elections. McPherson needed to quickly repair the Secretary of State’s image and re-establish a better working relationship with county election officers. McPherson and his small staff embarked on a statewide strategy by visiting with every county election officer in the State in that first year. I fondly recall visiting the Placer County election officer, who stated that was the first time that the Secretary of State visited the Placer County election office since the 1880s!
As McPherson toured the state you could see the relationship change where initial greetings were stern frowns that eventually turned to smiles between the Secretary of State office and the local county election offices. He also visited with local business leaders in each county working with various Chambers of Commerce. In a short span of nine months, McPherson had established a strong reputation as a consensus builder and received kudos from other Secretary of States across the country. Regrettably. in the run up to the 1996 election, McPherson lost to another State legislator. The benefit was Bruce’s return to Santa Cruz County and eventually running and winning a seat on the County Board of Supervisors.
Another building block in our long relationship occurred when I was on the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) board from 2009-2021. The TRPA is responsible for all land use development and environmental programs in the Lake Tahoe Basin. There was an ongoing dispute between lakeside property owners and the TRPA over the definition of a littoral parcel within the shore zone and a littoral parcel within the upland area. Not to go into gritty technical details, residents in the upland area were in conflict with shore zone property owners. Bruce and Mary McPherson who had a family home at Lake Tahoe were subject to this discussion. They asked me to convene a meeting with the property owners to find a workable solution. As a board member, my role was to have a common sense conversation and ask the TRPA staff to find a consensus. The details worked themself out.
Bruce McPherson has been a great statesman representing Santa Cruz County in a variety of capacities over the decades. He has also been a friend to the Santa Cruz County Chamber during his tenure at the Santa Cruz Sentinel and while in elected office. Bruce was recognized by the Chamber as Man of the Year in 1997 joining his father, Fred McPherson Jr. who was the Chamber’s Man of the Year in 1959.
In the political circles of Santa Cruz County and at the State level in Sacramento there is always a fraction of indifference between political parties, but one thing is a constant, Bruce McPherson was a public sector servant and well respected regardless of political leanings. In the year ahead, we are certain to hear accolades and congratulations bestowed on him, and when the time comes for him to finally hang up the political shingle one last time he will be remembered for his dedication to family, friends and his love of Santa Cruz County.