Councilmembers across San Mateo County last week established a monthly forum for exchanging information about how their city is responding to the COVID-19 crisis.
The brief 10- to 15-minute forum will take place at the end of every City/County Association of Governments meeting for the next couple of months or until the crisis blows over. C/CAG is a joint powers authority comprised of councilmembers from each city in the county that works on quality of life issues such as air quality and transportation, among others.
“It’s about coming together and hopefully by sharing our stories of what we’re doing well or what we’re frustrated with that will help us to be better public servants for our constituents and maybe event perhaps save someone’s life,” Board Member Cliff Lentz, also a Brisbane councilman, said during a remote meeting April 6. “There really isn’t that forum for City Council members to talk amongst themselves.”
Lentz added County Manager Mike Callagy is supportive of the idea.
Offering examples of the types of stories that might be shared during such a forum, Lentz cited recent conversations with Burlingame Mayor Emily Beach, who spoke about the success of a recent virtual town hall in her city that inspired Lentz to do the same in his city. He also cited a recent conversation with East Palo Alto Councilman Carlos Romero about what that city is doing to help its undocumented immigrant population amid the ongoing crisis.
C/CAG Chair Maryann Moise Derwin, also a Portola Valley vice mayor, during the meeting mentioned that her city’s mayor, Jeff Aalfs, writes daily letters to the community with updates and observations that many residents have found comforting, she said.
The insights shared during the new forum may also be posted on C/CAG’s website.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.