'Exciting Year' Ahead With San Mateo's New Mayor, City Says

The following was submitted for publication on behalf of the city of San Mateo:

San Mateo’s new mayor, Maureen Freschet, was enthusiastically voted into office by her City Council colleagues before a packed house of friends, family, and community supporters during the annual reorganization of the City Council on December 1.

“Maureen is a steadfast leader and has the ability to make the difficult seem simple,” former Mayor Ross said during his nomination of Freschet. “She has a keen vision for San Mateo, a quiet leadership style, and can quickly grasp the complicated, multi-layered issues facing the city. She will do an exceptional job as San Mateo’s next Mayor.”

It’s going to be an exciting year in San Mateo with Mayor Freschet at the helm. Preserving San Mateo’s character, maintaining its quality of life for future generations, and managing continuous change were common themes in Freschet’s first remarks as Mayor. She gave a heartfelt speech sharing her passion for the community and personal stories of her family’s history in San Mateo.

“It is important that today’s children and future generations inherit a community where they can enjoy the same quality of life as we do,” Freschet stated. “The decisions we make now will shape the future of the community and there is a need to balance smart growth against the strain on our infrastructure. The year ahead will be one of great opportunity and challenges as we begin conversations and engage the community in a dialogue to guide the future of San Mateo.”

Freschet, a San Mateo native, traces her family’s lineage back to her grandparents’ arrival in 1926. She delighted the audience by recalling family stories of old San Mateo when Alameda de las Pulgas was a dirt road, Highway 92 was 19th Avenue, and dairy farms populated Sunnybrae neighborhood. She outlined the changes of Downtown San Mateo as a major shopping district, to the birth of shopping malls, and the courage demonstrated by previous Councils’ to revitalize Downtown and create a link to transit oriented development.

Freschet is proud and extremely honored to represent SanMateo in the coming year as the 9th woman to serve as Mayor. She introduced her family in attendance and adjourned the meeting in memory of her father Leno Freschet.

Jack Matthews will serve as Deputy Mayor throughout 2015. Having fulfilled this role twice before, it is a position that he takes seriously and is looking forward to making his final year on Council a great one. Continuing on City Council includes Council members Joe Goethals, David Lim, and Robert Ross, who just completed his first year as Mayor.

“Maureen is a dynamic community leader and I look forward to an exciting and productive year working with her as our Mayor,” said Councilmember David Lim.

Mayor Freschet will share more of her vision for San Mateoduring the State of the City address on January 23rd during Good Morning San Mateo, hosted by the San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce. Tickets can be purchased online atwww.sanmateochamber.org or by calling the Chamber Office at (650) 401-2440.