The California state treasurer serves as the state’s top asset manager, banker, and financier. It isn’t the most glamorous job, but it demands the most qualified candidate available.
In this race, that person is Eleni Kounalakis.
Eleni Kounalakis sees the office as a logical next step after two terms as lieutenant governor, through which she served on various state boards and so has a varied perspective on the needs of state government. She brings applicable political experience as a state elected official and former U.S. ambassador and two decades of private experience from her time working for AKT Development, which was founded by her real estate magnate father. She also holds a master’s in business administration from UC Berkeley, so she has solid conceptual foundations useful to someone overseeing the state treasurer’s office.
If elected, she should stand behind her vow to “use the office as a bully pulpit” to “speak out clearly and often for fiscal discipline and responsible budgeting. The specific indicators that I will monitor include the structural budget gap, debt-service-to-revenue ratio, reserve levels, revenue volatility, and credit rating outlooks. Together, these metrics provide a clear view of the state’s fiscal health and whether we are maintaining the confidence of investors and taxpayers.”
Given her development background, she could also be helpful in her capacity overseeing the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee and the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, which work to finance affordable housing developments. “I believe the [state treasurer’s office] can go one step further and partner directly with local governments to move projects from approval to construction faster — because nothing drives up the cost of housing construction more than red tape and time delays,” she told this newspaper.
To be sure, we have our disagreements with her. Serving on the University of California Board of Regents, she supported the well-intended but foolish decision to scrap consideration of SAT and ACT tests in admissions. On the other hand, as treasurer she’d be overseeing some financial aspects of education systems, not education policies, so it’s not directly relevant.
More pertinent to her position given that the treasurer serves on the state’s pension boards, this year, she supported Assembly Bill 1383, legislation that would’ve allowed cities to boost pensions for public safety employees. AB 1383 was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last month. In her interview with our editorial board, though, she was reasonable, and emphasized that on the pension front she didn’t favor mandating what cities couldn’t afford.
We also considered her challenger, Republican Jennifer Hawks, who served the state well by preventing David Serpa from making it to the general election. To be sure Serpa, an admirer of Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, would’ve made this an even easier call to make, so credit to Hawks for giving reasonable Republicans an option to vote for.
Hawks, now retired, had an admirable career working for various businesses before spending the last 21 years of her working life at Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton, a private Bay Area Catholic school, where she worked as an executive assistant. Hawks conceded she needed to study up more on bonds, but emphasized her ability to work with people. She told us she would make a good team with Herb Morgan if he’s elected controller and would get to know everyone in the treasurer’s office.
That’s probably all true and we certainly align more on her conservative instincts. But Kounalakis is the best suited for the role. She has the mix of business, political and governance experience this role demands. Given her private sector background, she also has just enough grounding in the real world that not many statewide Democratic officials seem to have.
If one wishes to cast a protest vote against the Democrats, sure, vote for Hawks. If you want to vote for the person best qualified for the job, it’s Kounalakis.