San Mateo City Council Welcomes New Mayor

SAN MATEO, CA — San Mateo’s City Council introduced its new mayor and backed a resolution commending the city’s outgoing top elected official in a virtual meeting Monday.

Eric Rodriguez, who served as deputy mayor before moving into his new role, made a statement acknowledging the challenges this Peninsula city faces amid the coronavirus crisis.

“This past year our city has been tested like no other time in our history, but even though things look pretty grim this winter, we can finally begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Rodriguez said, referring to the promise of vaccines that public health officials say have shown remarkable promise.

Rodriguez also acknowledged the stiff economic headwinds the city faces as a result of the pandemic’s economic devastation on families and small business, and the tough choices that lie ahead for the council.

“When this pandemic first hit us we were fortunate to be on solid financial footing, but we will no doubt face some very difficult fiscal decisions in the months ahead as the impacts of the pandemic becomes more clear,” Rodriguez said.

“As we enter 2021 and the challenges ahead our inner resilience will become more important than ever. Not everyone and not every neighborhood in San Mateo has been impacted the same way. The most vulnerable have been hit especially hard and we must ensure that nobody gets left behind as we start on the path to recovery.

“Our small businesses have displayed remarkable resilience, but they are still barely hanging in there, we must find more ways to support them any way we can, and we will.”

The five-member council unanimously approved a resolution commending outgoing Mayor Joe Goethals for his service to the city.

The entire council meeting can be viewed on the city's YouTube page.

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