BANG endorsement: Elect Eleni Kounalakis California’s next treasurer – Marin Independent Journal

California’s next treasurer should expect to inherit the most financially volatile environment since the Great Recession.

The state faces long-running structural shortfalls. Growing federal deficits will likely drive up the state’s borrowing costs. Counties are scrambling to fill gaps in once-federally funded services. And tax revenues are unnervingly dependent on the stock performance of AI companies whose business models are still evolving.

These are just a handful of the challenges termed-out Treasurer Fiona Ma’s successor must confront, to say nothing of hundreds of billions worth of unfunded state employee pension obligations and the endlessly escalating costs of wildfires, storms and droughts wrought by a changing climate.

Treasurers are not policymakers. But as the state’s chief bankers and asset managers, it falls on them to convert California’s capital into policy payoffs.

Of the two candidates on Californians’ Nov. 3 ballots — Eleni Kounalakis, a Democrat, and Jennifer Hawks, a Republican — we support the one whose résumé instills confidence, not the one who has repeatedly declined to share her résumé.

That is Kounalakis.

Kounalakis’ background, which spans state politics, international affairs and private industry, is well suited for the job.

As lieutenant governor since 2019, the 60-year-old San Franciscan — who placed first in the six-way June primary with 36.7% — has already been operating at the highest levels of state government, including as Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lead representative for California’s economic interests abroad.

Before that, Kounalakis was U.S. ambassador to Hungary in President Barack Obama’s administration.

During the prior two decades, she helped lead her family’s Sacramento-based land development firm. Given the state’s constant need for more housing, her experience planning, financing and building homes at scale might be the most persuasive part of her résumé.

In an interview with our editorial board, Kounalakis demonstrated a clear command of this office’s responsibilities — from bond issuances and housing tax credit programs to state employee pension governance and infrastructure finance.

As lieutenant governor, a role that entitled her to seats on key state lands and public universities committees, Kounalakis used her position to advance worthwhile environmental and education priorities, including banning offshore oil drilling and opposing tuition increases.

If elected treasurer, Kounalakis told us her agenda would include maintaining conservative debt ratios; streamlining bond financing and revising the state’s low-income housing tax credits; protecting the state’s employee pension systems — CalPERS and CalSTRS; and expanding state-run college-savings programs as well as low-income workers’ retirement programs.

Kounalakis, who is backed by the California Democratic Party, acknowledged that if an investment “poses clear long-term financial and systemic risk, it may be appropriate to reduce exposure or divest but only when grounded in rigorous financial analysis and aligned with our fiduciary duty. … I do not support sacrificing returns for purely symbolic purposes.”

We urge her to stick to her word.

While Kounalakis’ résumé over the last three decades leaves few gaps, the same cannot be said about her rival, Jennifer Hawks.

Hawks’ qualifications for this position are hard to discern.

That’s because her campaign declined our requests in May and September for her résumé.

Her campaign’s biography states that she “is a retired business executive” who has spent “her working life managing budgets.”

The details of her business background are not listed on her campaign website nor are they easily identifiable from media reports. One outlet reports that she most recently served on the “executive team at Sacred Heart Schools,” a Catholic school in Silicon Valley.

The job of treasurer is one of the most intellectually demanding statewide offices. Hawks’ black box of a résumé does not inspire confidence she can manage California’s $162 billion investment portfolio.

We cannot take a leap of faith on Jennifer Hawks, who is backed by the California Republican Party, when her career history is a mystery.

Fortunately, we don’t need to.

The current lieutenant governor’s record in business, politics and diplomacy is public and extensive. Her background is not a mystery. The challenges awaiting the next treasurer require a steady hand.

Bay Area voters should elect Eleni Kounalakis.

Written by the Bay Area News Group editorial board.