As candidates race to replace former Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone, one of Stone’s trusted assistants is temporarily helming the office.
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved Greg Monteverde, an assistant assessor under Stone for seven years, as acting assessor until the Nov. 4 special election determines a successor to fill the remainder of Stone’s term. Monteverde will lead the office’s work on next year’s $700 billion assessment roll — a critical source of school and government funding — through a county budget crisis, stalled development and economic uncertainty.
“I have dedicated my entire 35-year professional career to the Santa Clara County Assessor’s Office,” Monteverde told San José Spotlight. “We are at a pivotal period marked by the pending implementation of a new assessment management system, a softening commercial real estate market and significant county budget deficits due to drastic federal cuts.”
He said his focus will be on a seamless handover of authority.
“My expertise and experience will support operational continuity, mitigating any risk to the timely and accurate production of the assessment roll and ensuring a smooth transition to new leadership,” he said.
Monteverde’s appointment comes after Stone, 84, published his last assessment roll this year before resigning in July. The roll showed Santa Clara County property values at their lowest growth in more than a decade. Yet the total net assessed value of all real estate and personal property reached a new height of nearly $726 billion.
Three candidates are running for the seat and have raised hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars. Candidates include Saratoga Councilmember Yan Zhao, Neysa Fligor, an assistant assessor and Los Altos vice mayor, Rishi Kumar, a tech executive and former Saratoga councilmember, and Bryan Do, an East Side Union High School District board member.
Several significant commercial development projects have stalled due to high interest rates, surging construction costs and sinking demand for office space. Google’s Downtown West project in San Jose was slated to begin in 2023, but remains in limbo. The Rise mixed-use development at the former Vallco Mall in Cupertino has required redesign and cutbacks. The 240-acre mixed-use development known as Related Santa Clara is another significant project facing construction delays.
Surging vacancies, dropping rental rates, a shortage of big leasing deals and the continuation of hybrid and remote work have kept the office vacancy rate in Silicon Valley at roughly 20% for the past two years, according to the assessor’s office.
The assessor’s office credits Monteverde with driving its modernization through upgrading document management systems, developing mass appraisal tools and other initiatives that increased the assessor’s capacity for growing workloads. The office credits Monteverde with saving $3.2 million through these efforts.
“I am honored by the board of supervisors’ unanimous vote of confidence appointing me to the role of interim assessor,” Monteverde told San José Spotlight. “I appreciate the opportunity to serve in this capacity until the election and qualification of a successor.”
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.
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