November election season kicking off in San Mateo County

The election filing deadline has passed and races for open seats on city councils, school boards and special bodies have taken shape in San Mateo County.

Candidates had until 5 p.m. Friday to file paperwork with the county’s Elections Office. The candidate roster, updated through Thursday evening, Aug. 11, will be amended by 12:30 p.m. Saturday to reflect late Friday candidate filings. The filing deadline for any race where an incumbent did not file for reelection by Friday’s deadline will be extended until 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Three seats on the San Mateo City Council are up for grabs with no incumbents running. Business founder Nick Atkeson and neighborhood safety leader Lisa Diaz Nash are running in District 1. Business owner Sergio Zygmunt, nonprofit director Sarah Fields and Rob Newsom Jr. are running in District 3. And Rod Linhares is running against Adam Loraine, a health care services professional, in District 5.

San Carlos councilmembers Sara McDowell and Adam Rak are running for re-election for two of three open seats on the council. A third candidate, Pranita Venkatesh, a business woman, educator and parent, is also running.

Half Moon Bay will have three council elections in November. Councilmember Robert Brownstone is running unopposed in District 1 and Councilmember Deborah Penrose is running unopposed District 5. Councilmember Debbie Ruddock is running for re-election against David Eblovi and engineer Bill Balson in District 4.

In Burlingame, three council seats will be on the ballot. Councilmember Ricardo Ortiz is running unopposed in District 1 while Councilmember Michael Brownrigg is running unopposed in District 3. Rachel Cyr, a mother and businesswoman, is running against businessperson Peter Stevenson and John Martos in District 5.

Belmont will host three races, two for council and one for its new city-wide elected mayor position. Small business owner Gina Latimerlo is running unopposed in District 1 and school principal Robin Pang-Maganaris is running unopposed in District 3. Councilmembers Julia Mates and Warren Lieberman are running for mayor.

Vying for Millbrae’s District 2 council seat is nonprofit program director Angelina Cahalan and former councilmember Wayne Lee. No one has filed for an open seat in District 4.

San Bruno Mayor Rico Medina is running for reelection unopposed while District 4 Councilmember Marty Medina is running for reelection against Planning Commissioner Auros Harman. Retiree John Strazzarino is running for an open District 1 seat against businesswoman and consultant Sandy Alvarez.

In Foster City, four are vying for two seats on the council, Mayor Richa Awasthi, attorney Stacy Jimenez, business owner David Melchner and Planning Commissioner Evan Adams.

South San Francisco City Council candidates include Councilmember Mark Addiego, running unopposed in District 1; Councilmember Buenaflor Nicolas, running unopposed in District 3; and Councilmember Eddie Flores, running against community volunteer Brittany Burgo in District 5.

South San Francisco City Treasure Rosa Acosta and Treasure Frank Risso are both also running for reelection unopposed.

In Redwood City, Councilmember Diane Howard is running for reelection in District 6 against Jerome Madigan, a Housing and Human Concerns Committee member. Kaia Eakin, a development specialist for the San Mateo County Historical Association, is currently the lone candidate running for the District 5 seat.

Running for a seat in District 2 is Margaret Becker, chair of the city’s Housing and Human Concerns Committee, Chris Sturkens who sits on the county’s LGBTQ Commission and was recently named to the Redwood City Planning Commission, and Alison Madden, a housing attorney.

Mayor Giselle Hale announced Friday that she will not be running for re-election in District 2 after recently announcing she was pulling out of the race for state Assembly in the 21st District. Her name will still appear on the ballot with San Mateo Deputy Mayor Diane Papen who is now the lone candidate in the state Assembly race.

State, county, special elections

Other key races include the race between Assembly Speaker pro Tem Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco and Supervisor David Canepa to replace U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, in congress.

U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, is running for re-election to her congressional seat against fellow Democrat and Saratoga Councilmember Rishi Kumar. State Assemblymember Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, is also running for reelection against Tim Dec, a Republican small business owner, in the state's District 23.

Four local officials are vying for two open seats on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. Looking to replace Supervisor Carole Groom in District 2 is Noelia Corzo, a San Mateo-Foster City School District trustee, and Belmont Councilmember Charles Stone. San Carlos Councilmember Laura Parmer-Lohan is running against Menlo Park Councilmember Ray Mueller for outgoing Supervisor Don Horsley’s seat in District 3.

Three candidates have thrown their names into the face for three seats on the Peninsula Health Care District Board of Directors — Dr. David Jay Caro and incumbents Dennis Zell and Lawrence Cappel.

Two seats on the Sequoia Healthcare District Board of Directors are also open. Incumbent Aaron Nayfack is running unopposed in Zone C while the appointed incumbent Michael Garb is running against pharmacist and attorney William Fong in Zone A.

The San Mateo County Harbor District has two seats up for grabs. George Domurat, a retired harbor planner, is running unopposed in District 2 while Kathryn Slater-Carter, a businesswoman, and Cameron Rolfe, a helicopter pilot, will be competing for the District 3 seat.

Education and school board

Three seats are open for the South San Francisco Unified School District Board of Trustees. Incumbents Chialin Hsieh and Mina Richardson are running unopposed, Hsieh in Area C and Richardson in Area E. Steven Kassel, a tax consultant, and Amanda Anthony, a nonprofit program manager, are running for the Area D seat.

San Mateo Union High School District elections include three uncontested races with incumbent Robert Griffin running in Area 5, photographer and mother Jennifer Jacobson running in Area 3 and Teri Chavez, a San Bruno Park School District trustee, running in Area 1.

Two seats on the Sequoia Union High School District Board of Trustees will be on the ballot. Suvarna Bhopale, a Belmont-Redwood Shores School District trustee, is running against fellow BRSSD trustee Amy Koo in Area A while Juvenile Justice Commissioner Sathvik Nori is running against nonprofit consultant Jo-Ann Byrne Sockolov in Area D.

Four are running for three seats on the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District Board of Trustees, educator David Koss, mom and teacher April Northrup, technology executive and parent Gopal Ratnam and educator and parent Jackee Bruno.

The Burlingame School District has two full-term seats open on its board with two candidates, Doug Brown and Daniel Devoy, both recently appointed trustees. Current Trustee Florence Wong is running unopposed for a short-term seat.

Three seats are open on the Millbrae School District Board of Trustees with two candidates in the race, incumbents Karen Chin and Lynne Ferrario.

Three full-term seats are also open on the San Carlos School District Board of Trustees with four in the race, appointed trustees Ben Kornell and Sarah Cassanego, teacher Kit Waffle and Trustee Neil Layton. Five are vying for two short-term seats, educator and nonprofit advisor David Pollack, insurance account manager Rachel Lassman, community volunteer Tracy Park, early education professional Sarah Johnson Kinahan and mom and attorney Jessica Lynn Rowe.

In the San Mateo-Foster City School District, Trustee Kenneth Chin is running for re-election against Randi Paynter for a short-term districtwide seat. Trustee Alison Proctor is running unopposed for a full-term seat in Area 1 and Latisa Brooks, a mother and businesswoman, is running unopposed for the Area 2 seat.

Two races for seats on the Redwood City School District Board of Trustees will be on the ballot. Business owner and dad, David Weekly, is running unopposed in Area 2 and incumbent Cecilia Marquez is running unopposed in Area 5.

Three races for San Bruno Park School District Board of Trustees are taking place with parent and engineer Alvin Tang running unopposed in Area 2, parent and executive assistant Amanda Blanchette running unopposed in Area 3 and parent Raymond Giusti running unopposed in Area 5.

Three seats are also open for the County Board of Education with three lone incumbents running for re-election in each area — Trustee Susan Alvaro in Area 1, Trustee Beverly Gerard in Area 2 and Trustee Hector Camacho Jr. in area 3.

For seats on the San Mateo County Community College District, President Richard Holober is running for reelection unopposed in Area 4. Michael Makstman, a cybersecurity executive, is running for the Area 2 seat, currently held by Trustee Tom Nuris who did not file for re-election as of Thursday.

School and city measures

School district bond measures, used to fund infrastructure improvements, will also be on the November ballot and need needing at least 55% of the vote to pass. The Sequoia Union High School District is seeking a $591.5 million bond measure which would tax homeowners $14 per 100,000 of assessed property value.

Redwood City School District’s bond measure asks residents to support a $298 million bond at a tax rate of $24 per $100,000 of assessed property value. And the South San Francisco Unified School District is seeking a $430 million bond measure with a tax rate of $60 for every $100,000 of assessed property value.

Residents in Belmont, Burlingame, Millbrae, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Mateo and South San Francisco will also vote on a number of measures in their respective cities.

In San Mateo, officials are looking for majority approval to increase its transfer tax on property sales of $10 million or more from 0.5% to 1.5%, bringing in about $4.8 million annually to fund general city services.

Millbrae officials are also looking to increase its transient occupancy tax charged to hotels by 2%, providing the city with an additional $1.5 million to spend on city services if approved by 50% of voters. Belmont residents will also decide whether the city’s transient occupancy tax should be increased to 14%, pulling in an additional $600,000 to the city budget.

Burlingame’s measure asks residents to increase and modernize its business tax by changing it from a flat rate for all businesses to a tiered structure with fees ranging from $200 to $750 depending on the sales of each business. The measure would also impose a 5% tax on sales from non-storefront cannabis businesses.

Redwood City is looking to make changes to its charter including removing language that limits board and commission participation to U.S. citizens who reside in Redwood City and are of legal voting age. Language prohibiting compensation for board and commission members could also be removed, opening the door for the city to provide small stipends to those who dedicate their time to city policy making. Additional changes being recommended include a reduction of years a mayor serves from two to one and codifying into its charter a change from at-large elections to a seven-district voting system.

San Bruno is also looking to adjust its mayor and city council term limits to allow officials to serve no more than 12 consecutive years. The measure would need a majority vote of 50% to pass.

South San Francisco residents will decide whether the city will be allowed to develop or acquire affordable, low-rent housing units that would be used to house seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, low-income earners and families.

Visit the county’s Elections Office website at smcacre.org/elections for more information.