John PimentelJohn Pimentel

We recommend voting for John Pimentel for the State Board of Equalization, District 2.

The Board of Equalization has a fairly narrow role, after most of its powers were stripped in 2017 following an audit that revealed missing funds and signs of nepotism. Governor Brown signed legislation stripping the Board of most of its duties (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Board_of_Equalization#Programs), and the real work went to two new agencies the governor controls. What's left is setting the taxable value of railroad and utility property, overseeing statewide property tax assessment practices for consistency across county assessors, and hearing certain tax appeals. In fact, the office should probably be abolished. Legislators have proposed exactly that (https://seesalt.pillsburylaw.com/california-lawmakers-propose-constitutional-amendment-to-abolish-the-state-board-of-equalization/), and former board member and State Controller Betty Yee questions how the board "continues to have relevance" (https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/05/board-of-equalization-election/).

Pimentel is the rare candidate who agrees that this elected office shouldn't exist. He campaigns on folding the board's remaining work into the state's other tax agencies (https://www.almanacnews.com/election/2026/05/14/should-the-states-tax-commission-even-exist/), which would end the practice of paying four elected board members $184,000 a year to oversee a technical, administrative function. The San Francisco Chronicle endorsed him (https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/john-pimentel-board-equalization-california-22204357.php) "for his willingness to eliminate his own job."

"California does not suffer from a lack of good intentions. We suffer from a lack of follow-through, accountability, practical execution, and the discipline to say 'NO'."

John Pimentel, Member, Board of Trustees, San Mateo County Community College District

Why vote for John Pimentel?

But until the board is abolished, it needs someone who can run it well. The board has been plagued by scandal and mismanagement, and the Legislature has stripped it of most of its powers. The remaining duties are technical and administrative, and the board deserves someone who has actually run large, complicated things.

His platform is practical: modernize the board's oversight of county assessors with shared data tools, speed up assessment appeals and refunds, and use the office to push for ending the sales tax on groceries and prepared food.

Pimentel's record is heavy on execution. As California's Deputy Secretary for Transportation, he oversaw the emergency rebuild of Los Angeles freeways (https://growsf.org/voter-guide/questionnaires/november-2026/john-pimentel/) after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, using incentive-based contracts that finished the work in record time, and led the merger of the California State Police into the Highway Patrol. In the private sector, he built more than $1.5B of clean energy and water infrastructure.

As a San Mateo County Community College District trustee, he led the effort that made community college tuition-free for county residents (https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/free-college-program-for-san-mateo-county-residents-solidified/article_6ba178a2-da77-11ed-aa3f-aff9ffd13b8d.html), and enrollment rose 24%. When the district's former chancellor was fired amid a corruption investigation (https://padailypost.com/2021/02/08/chancellor-emeritus-galatolo-fired-by-college-district-board/), Pimentel pushed to cancel his do-nothing emeritus contract, create an internal auditor position and a whistleblower hotline, and sue the contractors accused of paying him off. Both efforts landed. The chancellor was convicted in January on eight felony counts (https://www.almanacnews.com/courts/2026/02/04/ex-san-mateo-community-college-district-chancellor-found-guilty-of-tax-fraud/) of perjury and tax fraud, and in June the contractors settled with the district for $20M (https://padailypost.com/2026/06/27/college-district-to-get-20-million-from-firms-who-allegedly-bribed-former-chancellor-ron-galatolo/), money that goes back to taxpayers. That anti-corruption record will serve Pimentel well on the Board.

Why we changed our endorsement

We endorsed Sally Lieber in the June primary, but we've decided to change our endorsement to John Pimentel for the general election.

Before the primary, Lieber was the only candidate who answered our questionnaire. We definitely didn't agree with all of her positions, but she had a scandal-free and competent record on the board.

But after the primary, Pimentel returned our questionnaire (https://growsf.org/voter-guide/questionnaires/november-2026/john-pimentel/), and we found his answers very compelling. More compelling, in fact, than Lieber's.

Ultimately, this general election is a choice between two Democrats with opposite views of the office itself. Lieber defends keeping the board (https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/05/board-of-equalization-election/), describing it as a lean and effective forum for taxpayers. We think the 2017 scandal, the Legislature's own abolition proposals, and the doubts of the board's former members tell a different story. Pimentel's positions are more in line with ours and more aligned with good government.

When the central question in a race is whether the office should exist at all, we side with the candidate who wants to wind it down and has the record to run what remains well in the meantime. That's why John Pimentel has our endorsement.

Source (https://growsf.org/voter-guide/san-francisco-voter-guide-november-2026-election#board-of-equalization)

We recommend John Pimentel for the State Board of Equalization, California's elected tax oversight body. Taxpayers deserve a watchdog, not a rubber stamp.

Source (https://sfgop.org/nov-2026-endorsements)

HB Recommends since no other choice for conservatives.

HJTA-PAC Endorsed

John Pimentel is the only candidate willing to say the obvious: this board shouldn't exist — California already moved its real tax work to other agencies in 2017, leaving the Board of Equalization a costly relic that mostly serves as a launching pad for political careers. Pimentel wants to reform or wind it down, which is why the SF Chronicle endorsed him.

He brings real credentials beyond the reform pitch — a former state deputy secretary of transportation, current San Mateo County Community College District trustee, with private-sector experience in clean energy. He's also drawn backing from Bay Area Democratic leaders including Treasurer Fiona Ma and San José Mayor Matt Mahan.

The honest limits are worth naming — he can't single-handedly abolish a constitutionally created board, and he lacks deep tax-administration experience, which is the strongest case for the incumbent. But for an office whose own value is in question, a member committed to restraint and reform beats one committed to preserving the status quo. A vote for Pimentel is a vote to stop treating this board as a career steppingstone.

Let’s end on a high note. The California Board of Equalization is a unique government agency in America, being the only elected tax appeals board – that is, a government agency that you can appeal your tax bill to, run by people who have to run for reelection. This is so obvious a corruption opportunity that the board was nearly dissolved in 2017. There remain 4 elected seats on the board; almost all of coastal California is in District 2. The incumbent claims to have the longest surviving marriage to have come out of Burning Man; her progressive challenger is interested in closing loopholes in state tax policy so that there is more money available to spend on progressive policy. In his last statewide role he abolished a police agency; in his current role in Menlo Park, he worked to abolish a parking lot (and turn it into subsidized affordable housing); and if he wins election to this seat, he claims he will try to abolish his own job. He has my vote.