San Mateo City Council focuses on economic development, traffic calming

“I think we do need to potentially bump this to a higher priority overall for us because there are so many changes coming to the city of San Mateo. I just feel like we have to discuss it a lot more,” Councilmember Danielle Cwirko-Godycki said of the economic development issues during the meeting. 

But unlike other departments, like Public Works or Parks and Recreation, there is only one full-time employee dedicated to economic development, with higher investment a likely prerequisite for future initiatives. 

“If we wanted to beef up our economic development staff … that might be essential to what we are doing,” Deputy Mayor Nicole Fernandez said. 

The topic is particularly salient, given the city faces a $14 million projected deficit this fiscal year, which ends in June, and a $5 million to $7 million annual shortfall over the next 10 years. 

Many cities are facing similar budgetary issues, as inflationary and other economic pressures continue elevating operating costs, among other issues. San Mateo also has a property transfer tax, and the slowdown in home sales has also negatively affected that revenue stream, with last year’s Marriott Hotel closure also impacting transient occupancy tax.

“We do need to look at economic development … that project alone is costing us several millions of dollars a year in transient occupancy tax,” Councilmember Rob Newsom said, adding that he’d like to see where the city could theoretically place new hotels in the future, given the Marriott closure. 

“Whatever we spend, we’ll make back four fold,” he said. 

In January, the council agreed to explore adding a sales tax measure to the ballot this November, to fund high-priority repairs and improvements to the city’s infrastructure, as well as other city services. If it were to pass, the revenue would likely be sufficient to maintain operations as is, not necessarily increase overall revenue.

The council also discussed streamlining traffic calming projects. The issue has come up in recent months, as the city has several bike lane and pedestrian improvement projects in the works. Public Works Director Matt Fabry said the department is working on ways to speed up the implementation process but would still need additional funding to do so.   

“Unless we expand the resources that are available to the program, making it easier doesn't necessarily speed up the pace of implementation so that's a real limitation,” Fabry said. 

Other priorities on the list include Marina Lagoon spot dredging, finalizing the initial studies for updates to several facilities, including the Shoreview Recreation Center and Beresford Park facilities.