Meet Alex Khojikian, San Mateo’s city manager

Croce. A wise move. Croce knew how to work with the council, manage the city, and be community-friendly and available. Khojikian has a history of doing just that in his various city jobs.

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He formerly served as the assistant city manager of Redwood City where he is well regarded. Here is a quick bio: Born in Anaheim in 1983. He attended public schools in Anaheim; then University of California, Berkeley, where he received a degree in political science in 2005. He minored in public policy. Khojikian was recruited for football and played freshman year but injured his right knee.

“I had to stop playing after my injury. At that point I focused on earning my degree and started to work part time in local government,” he said.

Prior to working in Redwood City, he served as the deputy city manager for the city of Half Moon Bay. He worked on the new Half Moon Bay Library project and took on leadership roles with a variety of capital improvement projects. He also led efforts to reorganize and establish city departments to maximize organizational, operational and servic efficiencies.

“I have a passion for building community through engaging and collaborating with residents and businesses. Each day is an opportunity to make incremental progress to better serve the needs of the community through proactive problem solving, innovation and sound public policy,” he said.

He will need those skills in the turbulent waters of new versus old in San Mateo. San Mateo differs from Redwood City in its tolerance for tall and dense buildings. Just a quick drive through and you will see the difference.

But and this is a big BUT, things are changing. Fourth and Fifth avenues no longer look the same. The KiKu Crossing affordable housing high-rise and parking garage across the street leave little room for the sun. There is a big empty block nearby but that will soon be filled with offices, retail and eventually housing. For us old-timers, these changes are a lot to swallow. But cities don’t sit still for us. They need to change.

And we need to change too. It’s not good for us to sit still all the time and reject the inevitable.

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I saw the movie “Oppenheimer” last weekend. We bought our tickets on Friday because I didn’t want to wait in line with the Barbie crowd and buying them online was a problem. What a surprise to stroll down Second and Third avenues and B street. I had neither walked the area nor seen a movie since COVID.

So many changes — new restaurants replacing the old. And sparkling new coffee shop, Blue Bottle Coffee, which will be a challenge for 3 Bees, Starbucks, Peet’s, Backhaus and Philz.

On B Street, I saw a familiar sign and stopped in to say hello to the store’s owner, Sarkis Panossian. He has run Victor’s Shoe Repair for 36 years. He is also the proud uncle of our new city manager.

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There are a few yellow signs popping up in the Baywood neighborhood of San Mateo, especially around the home of Jay and Anna Kuhre who ordered and designed them. They say “No to the formation of a historic district.”

Michael Nash, one of the organizers of the historic district alliance, has yet to put up competing signs but he and his group have been meeting with neighbors. Baywood is a special place because of its historic mission style homes and most homeowners probably want to keep it that way.

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