termed-out Treasurer Fiona Ma\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0successor 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.<\/p>\nTreasurers are not policymakers. But as the state\u2019s chief bankers and asset managers, it falls on them to convert California\u2019s capital into policy payoffs.<\/p>\n
Of the two candidates on Californians\u2019 Nov. 3 ballots \u2014 Eleni Kounalakis, a Democrat, and Jennifer Hawks, a Republican \u2014 we support the one whose r\u00e9sum\u00e9 instills confidence, not the one who has repeatedly declined to share her r\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/p>\n
That is Kounalakis.<\/p>\n
Kounalakis\u2019 background, which spans state politics, international affairs and private industry, is well suited for the job.<\/p>\n
As lieutenant governor since 2019, the 60-year-old San Franciscan \u2014 who placed first in the six-way June primary with 36.7% \u2014 has already been operating at the highest levels of state government, including as Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s lead representative for California\u2019s economic interests abroad.<\/p>\n
Before that,\u00a0Kounalakis\u00a0was U.S. ambassador to Hungary in President Barack Obama\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n
During the prior two decades, she helped lead her family\u2019s Sacramento-based land development firm. Given the state\u2019s constant need for more housing, her experience planning, financing and building homes at scale might be the most persuasive part of her r\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/p>\n
In an interview with our editorial board, Kounalakis demonstrated a clear command of this office\u2019s responsibilities \u2014 from bond issuances and housing tax credit programs to state employee pension governance and infrastructure finance.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
If elected treasurer, Kounalakis told us her agenda would include maintaining conservative debt ratios; streamlining bond financing and revising the state\u2019s low-income housing tax credits; protecting the state\u2019s employee pension\u00a0systems \u2014 CalPERS and CalSTRS; and expanding state-run college-savings programs as well as low-income workers\u2019 retirement programs.<\/p>\n
Kounalakis, who is backed by the California Democratic Party, acknowledged that if an investment \u201cposes 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. \u2026 I do not support sacrificing returns for purely symbolic purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n
We urge her to stick to her word.<\/p>\n
While Kounalakis\u2019 r\u00e9sum\u00e9 over the last three decades leaves few gaps, the same cannot be said about her rival, Jennifer Hawks.<\/p>\n
Hawks\u2019 qualifications for this position are hard to discern.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because her campaign declined our requests in May and September for her r\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/p>\n
Her campaign\u2019s biography states that she \u201cis a retired business executive\u201d who has spent \u201cher working life managing budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 \u201cexecutive team at Sacred Heart Schools,\u201d a Catholic school in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n
The job of treasurer is one of the most intellectually demanding statewide offices. Hawks\u2019 black box of a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 does not inspire confidence she can manage California\u2019s $162 billion investment portfolio.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, we don\u2019t need to.<\/p>\n
The current lieutenant governor\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Bay Area voters should elect Eleni Kounalakis.<\/p>\n
Written by the Bay Area News Group editorial board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California\u2019s next treasurer should expect to inherit the most financially volatile environment since the Great Recession. The state…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1400,7,5307,1843,14079,9198,189156,181,131,133,132,992,180,993,266,975],"class_list":["post-482745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-2026-elections","tag-california","tag-california-ballot-measures","tag-california-legislature","tag-eleni-kounalakis","tag-endorsements","tag-jennifer-hawks","tag-latest-headlines","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-marin-county","tag-newsletter","tag-north-bay","tag-northern-california","tag-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}