Mayor prepped to serve hometown: San Mateo’s Joe Goethals: father, attorney, community advocate

As mayor of San Mateo, an assistant district attorney for San Mateo County, board member of the City/County Association of Governments and proud father of three young daughters, Goethals is deeply rooted in his community.

“My dad passed away in 1994 when I was 17 and we were still living in San Mateo and my mom had the five of us, I’m the oldest of five kids. She had all of us to raise and she raised us all here in San Mateo. So when I talk about how San Mateo has given me so much and I have so much to give back, that’s what I’m talking about,” Goethals said.

With much on the City Council’s agenda, Goethals has a long list of priorities to focus on — preserving recreational opportunities, promoting workforce housing, bolstering sustainability issues, addressing traffic impacts and supporting social services for those in need.

Prior to his 2013 election, Goethals served on the Peninsula Health Care District board and also the San Mateo Public Works Commission where he said he got a taste for effective governance.

“I really love what we do at the local level. In terms of government, the city is where we actually get things done,” Goethals said. “Nationally and statewide, we sometimes get pretty cynical about government and how wasteful it can be and how bureaucratic it can be and how it takes forever and we don’t get things done. My experience at the city level was the opposite of that.”

Reducing the number of failed streets, undertaking flood control improvements to alleviate those burdened by federally-mandated insurance and diverting waste by increasing recycling amongst residents are some significant achievements, Goethals said.

But there are challenges and opportunities ahead as Goethals enters his first term as mayor.

“Housing affordability and traffic are things that affect people on a daily basis,” Goethals said. “I think that people are aware and sensitive to the fact that the San Mateo population has grown and those growing pains are felt in our schools and in the amount of recreation that we have. And so the city this year, I think will really look at the number of recreational opportunities and the type of recreation that is available to kids in San Mateo and not only maintain those recreational opportunities, but expand them.”

From updating the Central Park Master Plan to considering the Bridgepointe ice rink and renovating the Beresford Park playground to improving the trail system at Sugarloaf Mountain; San Mateo has and will continue to consider the value of recreation, Goethals said.

Other than throwing out the first pitch at a local Little League game, the new mayor also is excited to talk about water and conservation. The city recently broke ground on a digester at its wastewater treatment plant that will convert biogas into compressed natural gas, which can be used to fuel city vehicles. With that project now underway, Goethals said he’s excited for plans to recycle a large amount of water at the plant.

“We’re really ahead from a lot of cities when it comes to recycling. We’re going to have water clean enough to drink,” Goethals said, noting the project that should come online in about 10 years will produce a significant amount. “It’s 13 million gallons that won’t go back into the Bay, it’s 13 million gallons that can be used to water our plants and wash our cars and do just about anything.”

In the coming years as the city considers what to do with its two prime downtown parcels purchased through its former redevelopment agency, Goethals said he’d like to advocate for workforce housing and providing local employees more affordable opportunities to live near where they work.

Another option to ease traffic woes could be to consider using technology like an app to promote a shuttle service that functions similar to Uber but is offered to residents of transit-oriented developments or seniors, Goethals said.

Working with regional transit officials to achieve grade separations along the Caltrain line at 25th, 28th and 31st avenues is another key initiative to ease traffic flow, Goethals added.

Like most, Goethals said he hopped at a recent opportunity to shorten his own commute. A former Alameda County deputy district attorney who prosecuted murders, he recently took a job as a prosecutor within San Mateo County’s sexual assault unit.

“I loved being in a courtroom in law school and the District Attorney’s Office is what I was drawn to the most. I think it gives you the most discretion. It allows you to sleep easy at night. You get to help victims, you get to make sure that really bad, dangerous people don’t hurt anybody else, which can be very rewarding,” he said, noting he just convicted a serial child molester — his first case as a deputy district attorney in San Mateo County.

Although he enjoys his job, it wasn’t what he originally planned. He focused on microbiology as an undergrad then received a master’s degree in public health. While in law school, he worked in public health where he managed grants aimed at signing people up for health insurance and reducing people’s exposure to unwanted cigarette smoke.

“The success of our movement to reduce people’s exposure to secondhand smoke has been tremendous and I think it’s honestly saving lives,” Goethals said.

But ultimately he returned to Santa Clara University for a life in law that in many ways landed him on the council — his former coworker in Alameda County was San Mateo’s Deputy Mayor David Lim, another deputy district attorney who encouraged Goethals to get involved in his hometown.

Married to his college girlfriend Sharon with whom he shares three daughters ages 11 months, 5 and 7; Goethals said he’s proud to be a San Mateo resident.

“I came back to be close to family and friends,” Goethals said. “And to hopefully give my kids the same experience growing up that I had.”

samantha@smdailyjournal.com

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