Supporting the Arts in the City of San Mateo

Last Thursday I was pleased to attend and support a new non-profit group dedicated to supporting the arts in San Mateo,

"Common Brights", a 501(c)(3) non-profit organized by the Seevers' brothers, aims to create and sustain the arts in San Mateo for the overall well-being of our community.

Thursday's event at the San Mateo Main Library featured various works of art for sale. Future events will feature live music as well as showcasing local artists' work.

If you are interested in learning more about this wonderful group's efforts to bring art to San Mateo, check out their website here.

Here is an article from Thursdays's "Daily Journal" about "Common Brights".

See you at the next event!




With "Common Brights" founder James Seevers!

Welcoming Sister City Visitors from Toyonaka Japan

Last night I was proud to host a welcome dinner for four visitors from Toyonaka, Japan, which is San Mateo's sister city.

Toyonaka City official Shingo Maeda and Taketoshi Nagahara, along with students Yuma and Sayuka will be in town for a week to tour city facilities, speak to local school kids, and enjoy the culture of the greater Bay Area as part of their goodwill tour of San Mateo.

Yuma and Sayuka earned their trip to San Mateo by winning a speech contest in Toyonaka, Japan. They will present their winning speeches to the San Mateo City Council this Monday at 7:00 PM during the city council meeting. You will be able to see the speeches during the normal broadcast of the City Council meeting.

Yuma and Sayuka are spending their week as the guests of two San Mateo host families who have graciously opened up their homes for our visitors.

Last night's dinner (not hosted using City funds) was attended by over 30 people, and a great time was had by all. Our Japanese guests were treated to Chicago-style pizza, Texas bar-b-que ribs, and root beer floats at Windy City Pizza in San Mateo.

Please joining me in welcoming our international goodwill guests!

National Night Out - Celebrating Public Safety in San Mateo

Tonight over 50 Neighborhood Watch streets in San Mateo celebrated "National Night Out", the national event that pays tribute to the efforts of neighbors helping keep their communities safe.

Along with the police department, fire department, and City of San Mateo staff, I was happy to fan out around the City to celebrate at the 50+ block parties that took place this evening.

There were pot luck dinners on cul-de-sacs, wine and cheese in garages, and bar-b-ques in local parks. A great time was had by all!

All of these events highlight the participation of San Mateo residents in Neighborhood Watch. Working with our police and fire departments, all residents of Neighborhood Watch are helping to keep out communities safe!

To form a Neighborhood Watch group on your block, click HERE

Here are photos from around San Mateo tonight. Thanks to everyone for a great time!

Looking for San Mateo's Sister City Ambassador to Toyonaka, Japan!

All San Mateo residents between the ages of 16-20 are invited to apply for a free trip to Japan as a goodwill ambassador to the City of Toyonaka, Japan in July 2013.

For 49 years, the City of San Mateo has had a sister city relationship with the City of Toyonaka, Japan. The purpose of the sister city relationship is to establish goodwill and cultural understanding between the countries of Japan and the United States.

Next year, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the sister city relationship, the San Mateo Sister City Association, along with the City of San Mateo will send two students between the ages of 16-20 to Toyonaka, Japan as goodwill ambassadors.

The students will live with host families, learn about Japanese culture, and represent the City of San Mateo at official events in Toyonaka Japan.

Applications are available now by clicking HERE.

Applications are due to the City Clerk's office at San Mateo City Hall by Friday, September 14, 2012.

Slurry Sealing, Ferric Chloride, and Root Foaming: The Exciting World of the Consent Calendar

Many of you have probably looked at a City Council agenda and noticed that the large majority of items are located under "Consent Calendar".

And if you've watched a City Council meeting, you've also noticed that the "Consent Calendar" items are usually passed as one item with no discussion, no debate, and take less time to pass than it took me to type this paragraph.

However, rest assured that a lot of work goes into a "Consent Calendar" item by myself and City staff before a City Council meeting.

The History of the Consent Calendar

Under parliamentary rules governing City Council meetings, Consent Calendar items are reserved for items that are deemed to be non-controversial.  They allow a City Council to save the bulk of it's meeting time for issues in which there is a need for a serious public debate.

Thus, you'll see a lot of Consent Calendar items deal with the routine maintenance of our City infrastructure dealing with items necessary for the health and well-being of our City. 

The Public Works Department usually has several items on the Consent Calendar.  Items like "2011 Citywide Slurry Seal Project" (dealing with sealing and maintaining our streets).  Or "Supply of Ferric Chloride for Wastewater Treatment Plant" ("for sulvite control in the transfer of dewatered biosolids in order to minimize crystallization within the pipes" -- say that ten times fast!).  Or "Root Foaming for City Sewers" ( to control the growth of tree roots). 

All of these items are important to the City, and because they deal with the expenditure of over $100,000 or City funds, by law the contracts for these services must be approved by the City Council.  Thus, they make their way onto the Consent Calendar. 

Working Behind The Scenes to Ensure a Smooth Consent Calendar

While it appears that the City Council and City staff spend mere minutes passing the Consent Calendar at the formal meeting, rest assured that there is a lot more done behind the scenes with each item.

First, City staff spend days, weeks, and months negotiating, analyzing, and working on each contract or issue put up on the Consent Calendar.  If an item is not fully prepared and vetted, it does not make it to the Consent Calendar.

Second, each Consent Calendar item is presented to the City Council with a full staff report written by a City staff member who is an expert in their field.  Every fact and figure is summarized to the City Council, and more detailed information is often provided as attachments to the report.  City staff are also available to answer any questions raised by the Council up until the Consent Calendar is voted on. 

Finally, as your elected representative, I go through each and every Consent Calendar item before a City Council meeting.  Because I am responsible to represent each resident of San Mateo and need to ensure the wise use of your tax dollars, I do the following for each item:

1. Thoroughly read each staff report and attachments
2. Do an internet search of each company the City is contracting with to read about the company, check consumer reports, and check the license status of companies requiring contractor's licenses, business licenses, etc.
3. Where necessary, I follow up with an email or phone call to the City Manager or appropriate City staff member to get additional information.

Only after I have done all of the above steps am I willing to leave the item on the Consent Calendar and pass the item without discussion.

There have been times in the past where I have removed an item from the Consent Calendar.  Click HERE to see the minutes of a council meeting in 2010 where I pulled an item from the Consent Calendar. 

Anyone Can Pull An Item Off The Consent Calendar

If I am not satisfied at any point during my review of a Consent Calendar item, I will ask to pull that item off the Consent Calendar so that the item can be reviewed in a full public hearing. 

That is the key to remember:  An item on the Consent Calendar may be pulled by a Councilmember or anyone else at any time before it is voted on. 

Many times, my questions will lead to an item being pulled in advance of the City Council meeting.

However, in the majority of cases, our City staff is so professional, their reports need no questions or follow-up.

Thus, while Consent Calendar items may seem mundane, with little work done on them, now you know how much work is done by City staff and your City Council to review these items and ensure a healthy City for all of us! 

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Oversized Trucks in Our Neighborhoods? Come Be Heard On This Issue!

One of the growing complaints I've received from neighbors throughout San Mateo has been the parking of commercial trucks in residential neighborhoods.  Our current City ordinances unfortunately do not give our local police and code enforcement officers the necessary tools to enforce the parking of commercial vehicles in a fair and equitable manner. 

Thanks to the hard work of our City Staff, on August 1, the City of San Mateo Public Works Department will host a community workshop to discuss the issue and begin collect input to address this important topic. 

If you have been affected by this issue or want your opinions to be heard, I urge you to attend this community workshop on Wednesday, August 1, 2012 from 6-7:30 PM at the Main Library in downtown San Mateo. 


Click here to see a flyer, or contact me for more information. 

Come be part of the discussion on oversized trucks on residential streets

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Happy 4th of July

On the 236th birthday of our great nation, may everyone have a wonderful 4th of July!