Supervisor Corzo shares strategic plan for San Mateo County's District 2

Representing the cities of San Mateo, Foster City and Belmont, Corzo said the mission of the district is interrupting inequity, promoting representation and creating lasting change. 

Corzo’s staff took an intentional approach to their community survey process, making it clear that they “trust the community to know what it needs.” Elle Tumbuan, head of strategy and culture at The Justice Collective, and others from the consulting firm presented the survey findings and identified priority areas and actionable items. 

“We were here to learn and listen to the community, not put our words in other’s mouths or presume, but literally take verbatim what people have to say about what they need, what they want and what they value,” Tumbuan said 

Affordable housing was the most popular topic identified as a concern from surveyed residents. The strategic plan goals outline actionable items to ultimately increase the number of affordable housing units in District 2 and establish robust services for renters subject to displacement or unsafe conditions. 

Support for the unhoused population in the district and county was also noted as an area of concern. Corzo said she hopes to establish community consensus on a regional affordable housing bond measure that could bring in an estimated $2 billion to the county directly for housing and infrastructure. 

“Let me be clear and say that a big area of focus also has to be prevention because if we are only looking at one end of the problem, we are just being reactive and we’re not stopping the flow of people that are becoming unhoused,” Corzo said. 

Tumbuan said housing was established as the number one priority because of how intertwined it is with other areas of concern raised by residents. 

“I feel like if I have housing, I will feel safe living in the city, and also my mental health will be better,” one San Mateo resident who participated in the survey said. “It’s all related.”

Safety and community wellness were established as the second priority of Corzo and her team. However, Corzo noted that there was contradiction in gauging the feeling around safety in the community from survey respondents — it was strongly identified both when asked what residents liked about living in their district, and when asked what was a concern.

Corzo suggested this could be due to many varying factors, and will have her team conduct further specified research to find any noteworthy trends in who feels unsafe. In the meantime, resources for domestic violence survivors and those struggling with their mental health were presented in the Strategic Plan. 

A new countywide unarmed mental health response service, backed by San Mateo County Behavioral and Recovery Services, will be piloted later this month and is looking to be functional 24/7 by July. 

Additionally, Corzo is looking to establish a Family Justice Center, a one-stop shop providing survivor-centric resources and support for those affected by domestic violence. She said she also hopes to dedicate some of the housing efforts to establishing domestic violence shelters.

The community survey was offered in English, Spanish and simplified Chinese in an effort to get as many representative voices considered in the data. A common priority raised by survey respondents demonstrated an interest in increased accessibility for emergency communication — such as targeting the senior community and those who speak languages other than English and Spanish. 

Increasing equitable access to public positions of power, in addition to information, is both a goal of Corzo, and an already established facet of the District 2 team.

“We are here to honor your lived experiences,” Tumbuan said. “Supervisor Corzo and her team are the walking picture of that in leadership and so we know how much can be gleaned from learning from lived experience.” 

Corzo said she hopes to maintain this relationship with her district by affirming that this Strategic Plan is a “living document” and can be edited and updated as differing needs are brought to light. 

“We hear you,” Corzo said. “And we’re here to serve you.”