SMC Superior Court Names New Court Executive Officer

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — The San Mateo County Superior Court judges voted on Friday to appoint Deputy Court Executive Officer Neal Taniguchi to the position of court executive officer, succeeding current CEO Rodina Catalano who retires in October.

Taniguchi has served in executive level positions with the San Mateo Superior Court for nearly eight years, first as the Court’s finance director and currently as the Court’s deputy court executive officer.

Prior to that, Taniguchi worked for the City and County of San Francisco in both the Department of Emergency Management and Department of Building Inspection. He also served as Chief Fiscal Officer for the San Francisco Superior Court for nearly 10 years.

The bench is both “proud and fortunate to have such an exemplary candidate to fill the position,” Presiding Judge Susan Irene Etezadi said. “He has over 28 years of government experience working at various management levels, including 18 years working at senior and executive levels in court administration. He brings a wealth of knowledge, skills and abilities to the Court Executive Officer position. I am confident that Mr. Taniguchi will be an excellent leader for the San Mateo Superior Court.”

The choice of Taniguchi “ensures a continuity of strong leadership and creates a seamless administrative transition for our court,” Etezadi added.

Taniguchi stated that he is “delighted and honored to be selected as the Court’s next Court Executive Officer. I truly appreciate the confidence the Judges have bestowed in me, and look forward to leading the effort to provide the highest level of services to the bench and the public.”

Taniguchi will work together with Catalano through her October departure, which Etezadi said will “ensure stability of operations through this transition, continue to improve access to justice and provide the best trial court services possible for our community.”

Catalano has served over 32 years with the San Mateo County court system and was named the San Mateo Court Executive Officer in February 2015, after serving as the Court’s Deputy Court Executive Officer for almost 17 years. She began her role as the Court’s CEO in August 2015 after former CEO John Fitton retired.

“She has done an outstanding job for our court and we wish her the very best in her retirement,” Etezadi said. Taniguchi’s official start date is Oct. 22, 2018.

— SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION BY: The County of San Mateo / Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone