In December, San Mateo was deprived of mayoral representation — breaking a 128-year tradition of peaceful transfer of power.
First day on the job, my junior council colleagues Lisa Nash and Robert Newsom blocked my appointment to mayor and ignored the strong recommendations of our city manager and city attorney, the League of Women Voters, faith and labor leaders, elected representatives and more than 1,000 community members. They abandoned the directives of the voter-approved City Charter when they refused to do the first order of business first. This stain on our city’s history was entirely avoidable if the standard reorganization process was followed.
The norms were not respected and the door was open to the backroom. There was undue pressure on the selection process to fill the vacant council seat, which created the conditions for a potential conflict of interest. Sadly upstanding Democratic leaders and council candidates were caught in the crosshairs.
I was approached and received unsolicited communications including a text message, “Hey there, letting you know that I’ve confirmed with Cliff that he will vote for you for mayor and will not vote in favor of removing the 3 planning commissioners, if chosen.” It raised questions and concerns, not just from myself, but also our city manager and city attorney.
Should I have smiled and ignored it? My first duty is to my oath and defending the public trust and I believe that the public deserved to know. Our community should feel reassured I am unafraid to speak up and demand transparency, even when knowing it will be used against me — even when it puts my friendships and my reputation on the line.
As a lifelong advocate and elected leader, I have profound respect for our First Amendment right to petition our government. Remember that we were out of order and what should have been standard advocacy was convoluted. Conversations with my dear friends — dedicated community leaders, who I admire and respect — tested my values: the duty to my oath of office and my friendships. I am not a judge or jury, it’s not my job to investigate or determine criminality, my moral obligation was to protect the due process our community deserves. In real time, I told the public about these communications to guard the integrity of the council appointment process, triggering an investigation from the District Attorney’s Office, which, fortunately, concluded that no criminal actions occurred. There is a heavy price for standing on my principles, but one can only imagine the damage of staying silent.
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There’s a sickening absurdity in the fact that I’m now being attacked for speaking up, when these same attackers would have accused me of participating in or covering up a potential quid pro quo if I had said nothing. Now, fortunately the DA investigation puts to rest any question of impropriety. The public is assured that my first loyalty is to my oath of office and under close scrutiny we were all vindicated.
In San Mateo, a new generation of voters is changing the landscape of our representative government. The old guard is losing their grip on power. They undermine our new generation of leaders, waging baseless accusations of “puppeteering” corruption — the same small group and special interests that stood against my appointment to council, opposed my election, and attempted to block my mayoral appointment.
It’s shocking to see MAGA-style extremism here in our county, spewing hate speech and inciting violence, “Let’s use Ammo to get rid of Amo.” I will not cower or be silenced by relentless harassment and hate. We cannot allow a small group of people to hijack our progress. The cost to our community is immeasurable and a special election recall could waste more than $700,000, and that cost could rise depending on staff time. There’s a chilling effect because women, people of color, and my North Central neighbors are deterred from stepping into leadership.
I’m grateful for the county’s Democratic Party, San Mateo Police Officers’ Association, San Mateo Consolidated Firefighters’ Association, SMC API Caucus, numerous elected and civic leaders, and community members standing with me in the fire on the side of justice.
I have been tested and the public can see I will never hesitate to train the light of scrutiny on myself or any public official — friend or foe. As your mayor, I will always demand transparency to build a resilient democracy in service to every San Matean. For the sake of our beautiful city, I hope we can close this chapter and start anew. I call for unity — let’s choose to build a foundation for our future, so we can focus on doing the people’s work.
Amourence Lee is the mayor of San Mateo.
Notetoreaders: This perspective piece has been changed to reflect that the county’s Labor Council is not in support in the way originally expressed.
Correction: The San Mateo Labor Council does not “stand with (Mayor Lee) in the fire on the side of justice”. The Labor Council opposes the recall. This should not be inferred as support of Mayor Lee’s recent series of actions and allegations. - Julie Lind, SMCLC
Ms. Lind, if you haven’t already, you may want to submit a letter to the Daily Journal with your clarification. Although I hope the number of DJ subscribers is increasing and reads your comment, readers of the print edition will not see your response. Perhaps a call for a retraction from Ms. Lee’s claims is in order, too?
San Mateo didn't even have the position of Mayor until the 1920’s. There is no 128 year old tradition. Lee herself broke ranks when she change positions with Diane Papan, allowing Papan to take her place as Vice Mayor, so what is the complaint? Nash and Newsom stated from the beginning Lee would be mayor, Lee just didn't want to wait for a few days to have a full Council in place first. Sounds more like a tantrum than any alleged wrongdoing. Plus, we know how things end up when Lee starts making 'allegations.'
So let me get this straight – Ms. Lee calls for unity, yet infers “MAGA-style extremism” with hate speech and inciting violence? I didn’t realize Making America Great Again was a bad thing. As for hate speech and inciting violence, perhaps Ms. Lee has conveniently memory-holed MAGA conservative speakers being attacked or held hostage because rabid lefties were inciting violence and were triggered by free speech. It sounds like Ms. Lee has no clue what unity means to the rest of us. Now where are those pop-up recall locations? I’m sure others would like to respond to Ms. Lee’s hate and divisiveness with her example of “unity,” by voting for a recall.
'The City of San Mateo Guidelines', dated 10/17/22 (last amended date), that is THE critical point that Lee has made sure to omit from her many rants about the process:
In Chapter 5, 'Selection of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor', and referring to #3 A-H on page 10, #5 on page 11 reads:
'The process described above shall guide the council's selection of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, however, a majority of the City Council retains the authority to disregard this process and select any member of the City Council for these positions".
“The council holds the right to select any member of the City Council for these positions.” I guess the city attorney forgot to read Chapter 5.
Both from a mathematical standpoint and a parliamentary standpoint "majority" is defined as "more than half". Two out of four is exactly half and not a majority.
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Correction: The San Mateo Labor Council does not “stand with (Mayor Lee) in the fire on the side of justice”. The Labor Council opposes the recall. This should not be inferred as support of Mayor Lee’s recent series of actions and allegations. - Julie Lind, SMCLC
Ms. Lind, if you haven’t already, you may want to submit a letter to the Daily Journal with your clarification. Although I hope the number of DJ subscribers is increasing and reads your comment, readers of the print edition will not see your response. Perhaps a call for a retraction from Ms. Lee’s claims is in order, too?
San Mateo didn't even have the position of Mayor until the 1920’s. There is no 128 year old tradition. Lee herself broke ranks when she change positions with Diane Papan, allowing Papan to take her place as Vice Mayor, so what is the complaint? Nash and Newsom stated from the beginning Lee would be mayor, Lee just didn't want to wait for a few days to have a full Council in place first. Sounds more like a tantrum than any alleged wrongdoing. Plus, we know how things end up when Lee starts making 'allegations.'
So let me get this straight – Ms. Lee calls for unity, yet infers “MAGA-style extremism” with hate speech and inciting violence? I didn’t realize Making America Great Again was a bad thing. As for hate speech and inciting violence, perhaps Ms. Lee has conveniently memory-holed MAGA conservative speakers being attacked or held hostage because rabid lefties were inciting violence and were triggered by free speech. It sounds like Ms. Lee has no clue what unity means to the rest of us. Now where are those pop-up recall locations? I’m sure others would like to respond to Ms. Lee’s hate and divisiveness with her example of “unity,” by voting for a recall.
'The City of San Mateo Guidelines', dated 10/17/22 (last amended date), that is THE critical point that Lee has made sure to omit from her many rants about the process:
In Chapter 5, 'Selection of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor', and referring to #3 A-H on page 10, #5 on page 11 reads:
'The process described above shall guide the council's selection of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, however, a majority of the City Council retains the authority to disregard this process and select any member of the City Council for these positions".
“The council holds the right to select any member of the City Council for these positions.” I guess the city attorney forgot to read Chapter 5.
Both from a mathematical standpoint and a parliamentary standpoint "majority" is defined as "more than half". Two out of four is exactly half and not a majority.
How Ironic that Mayor Lee talks about honesty, integrity and scrutiny.
Yes, she takes her cue from Biden. All in the same company, they have twisted the true meaning of those words.
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Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.