Canciamilla Chosen as County’s Next Clerk-Recorder

No surprises here as the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors have appointed former Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla of Pittsburg as the next clerk-recorder in a 5-0 vote. He will take office April 1 and will stand election in 2014 for the $150,000 a year position.

Canciamilla will replace Steve Weir who had been the clerk-recorder for nearly 24-years. He was appointed in 1989 after then-clerk-recorder James Olsson died. Weir ran for the office and won in 1990 and was re-elected five times without opposition.

Of the 18-applicants, only Canciamilla and Jack Weir (Steve Weirs brother) deserved to be the two who the Board of Supervisors chose when they narrowed it down to two for public interviews—they were the only two who were really even qualified.

Prior to serving in the State Assembly, Canciamilla served on the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, the Pittsburg City Council (including two years as Mayor), and the Pittsburg Board of Education (first elected at age 17).

This was an easy, yet solid choice given Canciamilla’s behavior in the past. In a seat which should be consider “a-political”, while in Sacramento, Canciamilla founded the “Mod Squad,” a group made up of moderates from both the Democrat and Republican Party who fought for solutions, not partisan politics.

The only thing left to make this appointment official is a completed criminal-background check before the Board of Supervisors officially appoints him.