2 running in San Mateo’s District 1 race

Diaz Nash touted her experience, knowledge and relationships with others in the city, pointing to expanding broadband access during the pandemic on the Library Board and being on the Measure S Committee.

“I am a voice of reason. I am a collaborator, and I am a listener,” Diaz Nash said.

Atkeson pointed to his business experience and capabilities in finance and operations. He wants to create a positive feeling and future for San Mateo around issues big and small.

“I want to make sure we have a very responsive government to people’s issues, even if they may seem small,” Atkeson said.

This is the first election San Mateo has had with district elections. District 1 includes the San Mateo Park, Baywood, Aragon and portions of Hayward Park neighborhoods.

Downtown

Both candidates called for more policies to revitalize downtown. Diaz Nash noted the area could be shabby, with too many vacancies. She suggested regular weekly power washes, partnering with businesses on monthly events funded by property owners and the city, and adding more city staff devoted to downtown issues.

Atkeson called for an overall strategic approach, including grade separations along the Third and Fourth avenues. He called for more responsive and quicker city feedback to provide timely feedback to residents and small businesses.

“We are competing with Redwood City, Palo Alto, San Carlos and Burlingame. I rarely run into people who say San Mateo is leading in this competition,” Atkeson said.

Housing and development

On the issue of transitioning building heights between non-residential and single-family homes, Diaz Nash said the city hadn’t focused on the issue enough, and the city couldn’t be just big buildings.

“If you have a five-story building, you don’t want a single-family home that’s living right next to it,” Diaz Nash said. “I think there need to be very specific objective guidelines in the General Plan, which we haven’t gotten to yet about how we step down.”

Atkeson suggested more affordable residential rather than office buildings when building upward. He suggested shifting away from office development and keeping heights down. Both candidates agreed the city’s General Plan should note and include the extra density housing bonuses allowed through Senate Bill 35 when discussing and approving developments rather than being tacked on afterward. The state law provides for additional density housing and floors in projects beyond what is allowed at the local levels and adds additional stories to development projects.

To help address housing needs, Atkeson said access to equitable, affordable capital for home ownership was critical. Diaz Nash suggested working with nonprofits, like the housing advocacy group HIP Housing. The group offers a home-sharing program matching people seeking housing with people who have a room or ADU. She also suggested infill development on underused lots.

City services and staffing

To ensure the city can continue projects and doesn’t face city service and staffing cuts, Diaz Nash suggested grant opportunities from the state and federal government and giving more responsibility to neighborhood associations and streamlining services, like when the Planning Department automated its permitting process. She supported giving money back to city staff from compensation cuts during the pandemic but needed to be fiscally responsible in identifying project funding. Atkeson suggested San Mateo emulate Redwood City in its public-private partnerships.

Reach codes

The city is looking at more stringent reach codes around new construction and home renovations to eliminate at-home natural gas use, prompting questions about costs and feasibility. Atkeson supported going all electric but was concerned about costs and people on fixed incomes getting hit.

“The city just has to be sensitive to the idea that there are going to be situations where people can’t afford it in the timeframe asked for,” Atkeson said.

Atkeson warned about natural gas price increases and relying on PG&E when it has grid issues. He suggested subsidizing solar panels.

Diaz Nash said the city had not done enough work in a cost and impact analysis of reach codes, noting PG&E could not handle the grid load yet. She wanted more incentives after hearing from people there isn’t enough incentive money to go around. She also wanted to look at microgrids, which can disconnect from the main grid and operate autonomously.

“My fear is if we don’t do that detailed planning upfront, we are going to wind up passing big goals and falling flat on our face, and then everyone will say this can’t work when it actually has to work,” she said.

Bike lanes

Following the neighborhood backlash over the North Central Bike Lanes Project that removed more than 200 parking spaces for bicycle infrastructure, many residents felt unheard and the city did not offer enough parking mitigation measures. Diaz Nash called for further big projects to include sufficient neighborhood discussion time to increase buy-in and idea suggestions.

“I think we dropped the ball as a city on that, and I think it happens too often with many different projects,” Diaz Nash said.

She suggested more bike and pedestrian infrastructure in the Bay Meadows neighborhood to help make the area safer and walkable. Atkeson said the city and contractor needed to improve, although no citywide implementation would be perfect.

“Maybe those higher ideals weren’t mated with reality as well as they could have been,” Atkeson said.

Other districts, other races

Other districts up for election this year are District 3, which includes the Central, Sunnybrae, 19th Avenue Park and Bay Meadows neighborhoods; and District 5, which includes the Beresford Hillsdale neighborhood. Deputy Mayor Diane Papan lives in District 1, and would have shifted to the at-large seat until 2024, when it shifts over to District 4, which includes Shoreview, Lakeshore, Mariners Island and Los Prados neighborhoods. District 2 covers the North Central and North Shoreview neighborhoods. It is currently represented by Councilmember Amourence Lee, whose seat is up for reelection in 2024. Current Mayor Rick Bonilla opted not to run for reelection in District 1 and Councilmember Joe Goethals opted not to run for reelection in District 3. The candidates for District 3 are Sarah Fields, Robert Newsom and Sergio Zygmunt. The candidates for District 5 are Rod Linhares and Adam Loraine.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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