Change, change and more changes are coming

Goethals was a progressive voice on the City Council. He wanted more affordable housing and even flirted with the idea of some kind of limited rent control. His views on crime were centered on restorative justice. He also was a sports advocate and fought to keep the Bridgepointe ice rink alive. But he also had the special brand of charisma he could use as a council member and trial attorney. He once contemplated running against Steve Wagstaffe, the county district attorney, but put that aside. My guess is when Wagstaffe retires, Goethals will be a very attractive candidate. Until then, the residents will miss his good nature on the City Council.

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His leaving opens up the gates to wannabes. And there will be more candidates before the November election. So far, the following have been rumored as possible successors — Planning Commissioner Seema Patel, and Park and Recreation Commissioner Sarah Fields — both progressives. Also, Robert Newsom, who unsuccessfully ran for council years ago, lives in Sunnybrae. Annie Tsai thought of running and may eventually decide to do so. She is chair of the San Mateo-Foster City Education Foundation, a wide and powerful network of support. I checked with San Mateo-Foster City School District Trustee Shara Watkins, who lives in Bay Meadows, but she is not interested.

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Rod Linhares, a member of the city’s library board, is planning to run for City Council from the Hillsdale-Beresford Park neighborhood. He is past president of the San Mateo Rotary Club. He works for the Catholic Archdiocese in San Francisco. He may be a bit more conservative than Goethals and more in line with outgoing Councilmember Eric Rodriguez and Nash, who is running for council. Linhares probably will have an opponent and it will likely be one of the progressive democrats, a new powerhouse coalition in the county. Adam Loraine, chair of the city’s Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission is expected to run.

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Meanwhile, Linhares will be succeeded by Dick Bennett as the Rotary’s new president. Bennett is the son-in-law of the late Lee Port, a revered figure in the county counsel’s office where she represented many school districts. And they were lucky to have her. She spoke directly, not in lawyer talk, and I would describe her talk as feisty. After all she came from Brooklyn where people tell you what they think, not what they are supposed to say. I was fortunate to serve on a school board where she was counsel.

Here’s a brief bio on Bennett: He grew up in Selma in the heart of the Central Valley raisin country. He and his cousin still own the ranch that their grandfather started over 100 years ago. Bennett majored in international relations at Stanford, and planned to go to law school first and then into the foreign service. Vietnam intervened and he decided to go into the Peace Corps, eventually serving two years in Ethiopia as the legal advisor to the nephew of Haile Selassie. The poverty there made a lasting impression.

He came back to practice law in San Mateo, and for the next 42 years practiced criminal defense, personal injury and mediation, his favorite. He and his wife (Port’s daughter) have three children and seven grandchildren. He joined the Rotary in 2012.

Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com