The following is a profile of one of the candidates for Santa Clara County Assessor. Longtime Assessor Larry Stone is retiring and four candidates have jumped into the race. Profiles of the other candidates are on the front page of padailypost.com.
BY DANIEL SCHRAGER
Daily Post Staff Writer
Bryan Do, president of a San Jose school board, hopes to make the Santa Clara County Assessor more transparent.
Do, president of the East Side Union High School District board, will compete with Neysa Fligor, Yan Zhao and Rishi Kumar to replace longtime assessor Larry Stone in November’s special election. If elected, Do said he plans to create a public dashboard with data on appeals and appraisal accuracy.
“[Stone] may do it internally – and he may, he may not. I don’t know, because it’s internally,” Do, 51, said. “But I’m willing to do that publicly.”
Do believes he’s the right person for the job because he’s worked in tech, real estate and has experience in public service.
Do has served on the board since being elected in 2020. His district has nearly 24,000 students across 27 schools, which includes comprehensive, charter and magnet schools. If elected, Do said he’d look for ways to cut costs while improving services.
One way he plans to do that is by modernizing the office’s technology. East Side Union recently moved the application for its free lunches onto school-issued laptops, which Do says is the kind of change he would make in the assessor’s office.
Do also plans to automate part of the office’s customer service operation, saving employees for more complicated questions while cutting down on wait times.
“Most people who call need the address (or) ‘Hey, I got this bill. Why is my bill higher?’” Do said.
He said he’s undecided on automating simpler appraisals but that the technology could be worth exploring down the road.
Do commended Stone for getting the assessment roll done on time every year and said he hopes to do the same.
“He’s always on time, every single year,” Do said. “You can debate whether it’s always correct, but it’s always on time.”
While he hasn’t served on a city council or held countywide office, Do said that voters shouldn’t be concerned about his lack of experience.
“The issue isn’t about the experience here,” Do said. “It’s about leadership. It’s about common sense. Whatever I lack in experience, I made up (for) in my approach in common sense.”
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