The San Mateo City Council named Rich Hedges to its vacant council seat, clearing the way to the naming of Amourence Lee mayor and Lisa Diaz Nash deputy mayor, and ending a chaotic crisis but bringing new allegations about quid pro quo offers.
The Dec. 12 decision capped off an impasse lasting more than a week about the order of appointing Lee as mayor and filling the council vacancy, with the issue garnering regional attention over the delay. The Monday council meeting saw progress made with Hedges, a longtime resident who lives in the newly created District 4, appointed to fill a two-year term.
Lee voted for Hedges to ensure no further distractions to staff or the public amid a turbulent week.
“I do not believe, on principle, that it is correct for our council to operate out of order,” Lee said at the meeting. “However, I feel the people’s time has been wasted.”
Councilmember Robert Newsom originally wanted someone in a caretaker role for the two-year term not from District 4 but was swayed the other way after hearing the public comment supporting Hedges. District 4 is in the Shoreview neighborhood and does not have a representative on the council. Loraine favored Hedges because of the number of boards, committees and commissions he has been a part of and the public support he received.
“When it comes to civic experience, I believe his record is unmatched given the applicants we have heard from tonight,” Loraine said.
Hedges has served on the Measure S Oversight Committee and the San Mateo Personnel Board, which advises the city manager regarding personnel matters and hears appeals from city employees. He has also been on several San Mateo County boards and an advisor to Skyline Community College Department of Cosmetology. The vote was 3-1, with Diaz Nash voting against it.
The night saw another twist when Lee alleged there were multiple attempts to persuade her to vote trade for a candidate in exchange for becoming mayor. Lee said she was approached on Dec. 7 and Dec. 11 by individuals about her becoming mayor if she voted for Cliff Robbins, a Sustainability and Infrastructure commissioner. In a tense and surprising moment, Lee announced Robbins as the person the individuals proposed by pulling out a manila envelope and opening it to reveal a piece of paper with his name on it. The envelope had been sitting in front of her computer during the meeting.
The alleged attempt to contact a councilmember could violate state laws. Lee did not name the individuals who approached her, and she said she hoped Robbins was not involved with the situation. Given the circumstances, she asked that his application be set aside. The three finalists for the council seat were Pablo Quintanilla from District 3, Robbins living in District 1 and Hedges.
“The integrity of our selection process has been poisoned by attempts at vote trading,” Lee said.
When given a chance to speak, Robbins denied ever engaging in any vote exchange or authorizing anybody to do so. Robbins said the unsupported accusation could subject the city to a defamation suit.
“I have a reputation I have built up for 60-plus years,” Robbins said. “If you have facts, lay them out there, but they are untrue. I have done nothing that anybody is talking about. I’m not aware of anybody who has done anything like that on my behalf.”
City Attorney Prasanna Rasiah said he was aware of the incident but did not know who made the proposition after Lee declined to provide further details. In a press release, the city of San Mateo said the City Attorney’s Office referred the matter to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office, which is responsible for these investigations.
At the meeting, Rasiah also encouraged the council to focus on the agenda item at hand, which was to name the fifth member. Following the council appointment, the council voted unanimously to name Lee mayor. Lee is the city’s first Asian American woman mayor. She was appointed to the council in 2019 and elected to a four-year, at-large term in 2020.
“My fellow councilmembers, it is a profound privilege to serve, and we are so fortunate to be part of this team,” Lee said.
The impasse to fill the mayor position and council seat began when the new four-person council declined to make Lee the mayor on Dec. 5, which is usually a ceremonial decision. The mayoral system calls for the councilmembers to rotate annually amongst themselves for the mayor position, and the city charter calls for the council to appoint a member to fill the mayor vacancy. Lee is the senior councilmember with previous legislative experience and is in line to become mayor by precedent under the rotating mayor system and city charter. Diaz Nash and Councilmember Robert Newsom were against it. Both cited a desire to see the absent council seat filled first on Dec. 12 so all five people could appoint the mayor. The reordering would also ensure the future mayor would not have a tiebreaking vote for the vacant seat decision, which concerned both. Lee and Councilmember Adam Loraine argued the council should pick the mayor before it fills the council seat and respect over 100 years of precedent and tradition.
The fifth council seat was empty after Deputy Mayor Diane Papan was elected to the state Assembly and resigned. The 2-2 divide led to an eight-hour Dec. 5 meeting filled with unsettled debate. The council continued the decision on the mayor to Dec. 7 and again until after a special meeting to name the fifth councilmember Dec. 12, when Hedges was appointed.
Public comment at the Dec. 12 meeting showed many people supported making Hedges the councilmember and making Lee mayor, with many in District 4 calling for the experience of Hedges to represent their interests.
Public speaker Ed Taylor noted Hedges did not have a political agenda and would do the best job for San Mateo.
“I know he is a man of integrity, and what you see is he doesn’t pull any punches,” Taylor said.
The five other applicants interviewed and considered for a spot on the council were Chris Conway from District 1, Planning Commissioner John Ebneter from District 2, Mason Fong from District 1, Max Mautner from District 1, and Michael Ragan from District 5.
(10) comments
Wise up, San Mateo. Lee is dangerous. She used Joe McCarthy tactics against Rod Linares when she dealt in guilt by association. Now she is waving around a manila envelope the way McCarthy did. He said the envelope contained the names of know Communists.
What a load of bunkum. Linares lost fair and square--and voters did deserve to know that he works against basic human rights for pregnant people before they cast their vote. Quit trying to smear Lee, she has been put through enough with the antics of Nash and Newsom, who broke their oath of office the very same day that they took it.
"pregnant people?" Seems odd. Whatever happened to "women"?
Woke Westy is bent on setting the women's movement back about 50 years. Liberals are without a compass. I feel for the citizens of San Mateo for having this mentality in their midst. Imagine having an interloper like Lee as mayor who refuses to admit/allow that there are still citizens left who do not agree with her abortion opinions?
I know you are just dying to go off on a hate screed about trans people, so I will just mention that girls can become pregnant. Your friends are still harassing the doctor who had to send the 10-year old to a different state in order that she could access treatment for her pregnancy.
willallen – haven’t you heard? The AP is continuing their attempt to control the narrative and influence how journalists report stories with their style guide. I believe the “pregnant people” term was recently included in one of their updates. (Perhaps the AP doesn’t have anyone who passed their high school biology class.) The latest AP push is to not use “pro-life,” “pro-choice,” or “pro-abortion” and to instead use “anti-abortion” or “abortion-rights” in an attempt to paint the pro-life community in a negative light.
I believe the AP also pushed for no longer calling women who are in a relationship with a married man as a “mistress” but now as a “lover,” “friend” or “companion.” No word on whether love is actually part of the equation. And I guess for all the men who claim those of the opposite gender are “friends” they’ll now have to walk a minefield. No word on whether any words describing men who are in a relationship with a married woman has been changed (mister-ess, anyone?).
Throughout the years, the AP has updated their stylebook, some for the better, some for the worse, and some for the “woke.” One AP update of note for the better was when, earlier this year, the AP advised journalists to stop using “assault rifle” or “assault weapon” because even the AP realized these are only politicized terms which don’t reflect a weapon’s function. I haven’t paid much attention to AP writing to see whether they’re following or ignoring their own style guide. Many of us in the know usually toss out the credibility of anyone using the term “assault” plus anything related to weapons. If you’re bored or your Christmas holiday takes a turn for the worse, take a gander at the AP style guide and reflect on how their words have changed, if at all, your outlook or viewpoint of certain issues. Do a search and take a gander at some of the articles written about AP style guide changes – and responses. Perhaps the Christmas holiday can take a turn for the better…
So in this continuing soap opera, someone contends “The integrity of our selection process has been poisoned by attempts at vote trading,” yet the selection process continues? If anything, it sounds like an investigation needs to be performed before anybody is selected. Or do “alleged” attempts at violating state laws mean nothing? I hope Mr. Robbins does file a defamation suit, if only to reveal the unknown individuals and their hidden agenda. Perhaps it was this bluff that allowed Ms. Lee to be successful in her chess game to be appointed as mayor? Is there another episode in “The Days of Our Lives in San Mateo” saga?
I sat through the entire meeting and can say with certainty that no one ever accused Mr Robbins of having any knowledge of the Brown act violation in question. And the new council member was among those affirming that Cliff Robbins is a man of integrity. His positions would more naturally align with Nash and Newsom and he very likely knew nothing about any illegal dealings to get him appointed.
Seems Newsom and Nash wanted a fair process and Lee found a way to give herself the tie breaker vote without being Mayor in the end. Hearsay is the lowest possible level evidence. Lee did say Robins consideration should be set aside.Public Comment was so off topic the issue was selecting a council member, yet most of the comments were about preference over mayor.
Hearsay is "evidence that is not within the personal knowledge of a witness". Two direct witnesses stated what they experienced. A terrific council member was selected, and the attempts to hijack the process were defeated. Success all around.
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