The gift of time

Cities want their residents to participate in the work of improving their communities, yet, historically, those who remain under-represented like multi-income homes or families with young children continue to participate at lower levels than those who are retired or not working. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been grateful that so many public meetings have continued to be hybrid — for many, this option is more than simply a convenience.

I was able to make it to San Mateo’s City Council reorganization last Monday where Rich Hedges and Amourence Lee stepped down from their terms, Lisa Diaz Nash wrapped up her year as mayor, Rob Newsom Jr. wrapped up his year as deputy mayor and was voted in as mayor and Adam Loraine was voted in as deputy mayor by their peers, and Danielle Cwirko-Godycki and Nicole Fernandez were sworn in as members of the City Council. It was a long, wonderful evening with many people in our community giving thanks to outgoing and incoming councilmembers and staff. 

To most residents, these reorganization meetings on the surface can very much look to be simply checkbox items that need to occur to ensure our city charters are followed. In reality, they are a moment of pause to consider and appreciate the magnitude of the work that needs to be done to listen to, support and advance our communities, understanding that at the helm are our neighbors and friends who have raised their hand to pitch in and lead.

Of course, a huge congratulations is in order to all. Up and down the Peninsula, seats were won and lost with incredibly close margins — Brisbane, Colma, Foster City, Redwood City and Granada Community Services District for example — in part from districting to smaller voter bases but mostly it seemed to be the product of passionate people pounding the streets and getting out the vote. Suffice it to say, every single vote matters. 

We too often ignore that our elected representatives are very much also our neighbors and friends, almost entirely volunteering to represent and guide our communities in an increasingly complex regional system or solve the problems that we bring forward. Important here to also add the hundreds of commissioners appointed to volunteer across the county on anything from guiding the conversation around art to recommending the approval of public funding or construction. Most of us in the community have only been exposed to a tiny fraction of the time these people put into the work of representing our cities and counties.

For many in our elected bodies, it’s often their families who have to sit on the sidelines or pick up the slack at home and in life so that appropriate levels of attention can be placed on their elected duties. This message was ever-apparent at the San Mateo reorganization, and came up time and time again with public comments and councilmember statements for both Hedges and Lee. 

In a world where the fixed asset of time is the most valuable thing we have to give, over-indexing in one place means under-indexing somewhere else. And the role that our loved ones play in reminding us of our own North Stars is equally as critical, as Linda Hedges said so well in her own public comment on Monday evening. When we are deep in the trenches with no end in sight, our loved ones are usually the ones there to remind us for what we are working long hours for as well as perhaps what the alternative time investment could have been with those same hours. Yes, games will be missed and they may be absent from some photos. With our loved ones, maybe it’s best that instead of keeping score, they help us all keep better time. 

We had five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Because of this, perhaps you’re feeling a little frazzled like I am when it comes to gift giving. In this moment, consider a gift of time — a date, an activity, a puzzle, something slow, a new memory to hold on to. Not just to our elected officials and community volunteers, but perhaps to all — is this the  opportunity to give some of that time back to those who are doing the silent work of enabling our success and passions?  

Annie Tsai is chief operating officer at Interact (tryinteract.com), early stage investor and advisor with The House Fund (thehouse.fund), and a member of the San Mateo County Housing and Community Development Committee. Find Annie on Twitter @meannie.