Neysa Fligor made history this year, becoming the first Black woman to become a county assessor in California. Courtesy Brandon Pho/San José Spotlight.
Santa Clara County Assessor Neysa Fligor’s election at the end of last year was a moment of simultaneous breakthroughs.
Not only did Fligor become the first Black female county assessor in California, she did so in Silicon Valley — a region notorious for pushing Black people, who make up less than 3% of the county’s population, to the economic margins.
Fligor was sworn in as the county’s 23rd assessor last month after a landslide victory in a December runoff election with 65% of the vote, succeeding her former boss and 30-year predecessor Larry Stone, who retired in July. She’s entrusted with overseeing the valuation of more than 500,000 properties in Santa Clara County — from houses and office buildings to boats and aircraft — and submitting a $700 billion assessment roll that provides funding for public schools, community colleges and critical countywide services.
The significance is not lost on Fligor, who previously made history in Los Altos as the city’s first Black councilmember in 2018. Her new role as chief property taxer provides a front-row seat to the affordability issues that drive working-class people of color out of the valley. But she said her identity was never a focus of her campaign.
“My focus was on my actual experience,” Fligor told San José Spotlight. “I was already working at the Assessor’s Office and I was already doing the work.”
Before her election, Fligor was credited for helping lead an overhaul of the department’s outdated computer system as a high-ranking staffer. She was also a frequent source of input during high-level decision-making discussions under Stone’s tenure.
County assessors are limited in a political sense. Their primary mandate is not to create policy like the Board of Supervisors, but to fairly and accurately assess all taxable property in the county, with no preferential application of the law.
But Fligor can still differentiate herself from her predecessors.
“Some parts of the county aren’t taking advantage of our services and processes as much as other parts of the county,” Fligor said. “You’re going to see us lean into community outreach a little more.”
She said she also has new ideas for ways to use her platform.
“Whether it’s to make sure people are familiar with housing programs, or helping with outreach to identify causes of the community exodus from Silicon Valley and seeing if we can help support them staying locally and feeling welcome — that’s outside my assessor role, but is something I can still uplift through my presence as a leader,” Fligor said. “I am there and ready to go.”
San Jose Deputy City Manager Rosalynn Hughey, who also broke barriers as the only Black department head at City Hall, said Fligor’s election is especially profound due to the way her office affects development in Silicon Valley.
“Land, property and development shape opportunity and generational wealth,” Hughey told San José Spotlight. “Having inclusive leadership in these roles strengthens public trust and helps ensure our institutions reflect the full diversity of our community. Milestones like this expand what’s possible — both symbolically and structurally.”
Chuck Cantrell is a San Jose planning commissioner, San José Spotlight columnist and creator of “Dying to Stay Here,” a video and podcast series that explores economic and social barriers facing Black Silicon Valley residents. He said while Fligor was the only qualified contender, it isn’t unusual for Black candidates to be held to unreasonably high standards. He was critical of the Santa Clara County Democratic Party’s dual endorsement of Fligor and Saratoga Councilmember Yan Zhao in the race.
“Neysa was the most experienced and likely candidate to win, yet still faced the same false equivalency during those endorsement discussions that Black people face every day when we vie for jobs,” Cantrell told San José Spotlight. “Ultimately, it was her power and her strength that got her the election. She stood on her own and proved she was a viable candidate against significant odds.”
Santa Clara County Democratic Party Chair Bill James defended the dual endorsement and said candidates endorsed by the party are subject to the same interviews, questionnaires and voting process by the party’s Central Committee.
“In the race for county assessor, we were proud to endorse two well-qualified Democratic women of color, and we’re delighted one of them was elected,” James told San José Spotlight.
Milan Balinton, executive director of the African American Community Service Agency Family Resource Center in San Jose, said Fligor’s election highlights how the region’s Black community cannot be ignored.
“We’re still in a time of ‘firsts,’” Balinton told San José Spotlight. “Neysa was the first. She definitely won’t be the last.”
This story was written by Brandon Pho for San José Spotlight. The original version of this article can be viewed here.
Contact Brandon Pho at brandon@sanjosespotlight.com or @brandonphooo on X.
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