A peaceful transition or transfer of power is a concept important to democratic governments in which the leadership of a government peacefully hands over control of government to a newly-elected leadership. This matters whether it is at the federal, state, and especially in our city councils. The City of San Mateo needs a mayor and deputy mayor now. Therefore:

We, the undersigned, defend the charter of San Mateo.

The San Mateo Charter and San Mateo City Guidelines are clear: the first order of business for a reorganizing Council is to elect the most senior councilmember as mayor and draw lots for rotation, with position two named deputy mayor.

Overriding the democratic process of electing a mayor and deputy is a breach of protocol and 128 years of precedent.

We support Amourence Lee’s rightful place as mayor.

Councilmember Lee was appointed and then elected at large by nearly 24,000 San Mateans—more than the number of votes electing all three other councilmembers combined. With the remaining three councilmembers only just taking the oath of office on Monday, December 5, 2022, Lee is the only councilmember with over three years of experience on the Council.

San Mateo needs the leadership of its only experienced mayor.

We insist on the peaceful transfer of power now.

The continued failure to appoint a mayor and deputy mayor puts undue burden on City staff, risking prolonged dysfunction and instability.

The time is now to heal the breaches of precedent and protocol and get down to the business of running the City in the best interest of the people of San Mateo.

We call on all San Mateo councilmembers to uphold the charter they were elected and swore an oath to defend.

The City Council must prioritize the peaceful transfer of power before all other business and elect its mayor and deputy now.

 

BACKGROUND:

The largest city in San Mateo County is currently without a mayor or deputy mayor. On Monday, December 5th, 2022, two new councilmembers, Lisa Diaz Nash and Robert Newsom Jr., prevented the election of a mayor and deputy mayor. 

Instead of a ceremonial and peaceful transfer of power, the council meeting adjourned at nearly 3:00 am on December 6th after hours of public comment, deliberation, and an impasse resulting in the continuance of the reorganization of the new council to December 7th at 7:00 pm. The city manager and city attorney strongly and repeatedly advised the council to elect a mayor and deputy mayor in line with City Charter Section 2.09.

Based on city council guidelines, Councilmember Amourence Lee is due for rotation into the mayor position. Councilmember Adam Loraine nominated Lee as mayor multiple times, but each motion failed when Councilmembers Nash and Newsom voted no. 

Councilmember Lee has served on the San Mateo City Council since 2019 and is the only experienced councilmember qualified to become mayor. She is the only councilmember elected at large and by nearly 24,000 voters—more than the number of votes electing all three other councilmembers combined. All of Lee’s new colleagues took their seats on the council that same night. Lee would be the city’s first Asian American Jewish woman mayor. 

Continued failure to appoint a mayor and deputy mayor puts undue burden on city staff, risking prolonged dysfunction and instability. Staff will have to chair meetings in place of a mayor and councilmembers will not be assigned to boards and commissions the mayor typically appoints. In addition, San Mateo remains without a mayor to handle communications during emergencies that may arise.

The peaceful transfer of power is a hallmark of our democracy and must be upheld. This departure from protocol and 128 years of precedent has earned the attention of faith leaders, officials, and organizations who have issued Statements of Support and signed the petition, including:

Faith Leaders
Rev. Penny Nixon (signed)
Rev. Dr. Marlyn Bussey (signed)
Rev. Ben Meyers (signed)
Rev. Lorrie Owens (signed)
Rev. Sun Hee Kim (comment) 

Officials
Congressman Kevin Mullin 
State Senator Josh Becker
David Chiu, Former Assemblymember (signed)
San Mateo County Supervisor-elect Noelia Corzo

San Mateo County Board of Education Trustee Chelsea Bonini (signed)
San Mateo County Board of Education Trustee Hector Camacho (signed)
San Mateo County Democratic Party Former Chair Nicole Fernandez (comment)
San Mateo Former Mayor Rick Bonilla (video)
San Mateo Former Mayor David Lim (video)
San Mateo Former Mayor Joe Goethals (public comment)
San Mateo Former City Councilmember Frederick Hansson (signed)
San Mateo-Foster City School Board President Alison Proctor (signed)
San Mateo-Foster City School Board Shara Watkins (signed)

Burlingame City Councilmember Emily Beach (signed)
Colma City Councilmember John Goodwin (tweet)
Daly City Councilmember Juslyn Manalo (signed)
East Palo Alto Councilmember Antonio López (tweet, video)
East Palo Alto City Councilmember Carlos Romero (signed)
Foster City Former Mayor Richa Awasthi (signed, comment)
Foster City City Councilmember Sam Hindi (signed)
Foster City Former City Councilmember Steve Okamoto (signed)
Hillsborough City Councilmember Marie Chuang (signed)
Healdsburg Mayor Ariel Kelley
Jefferson Elementary School District Trustee Clayton Koo (signed)
Jefferson Elementary School District Trustee Kalimah Salahuddin (signed)
Jefferson Elementary School District Manufou Liaiga Anoa’i (signed)
Los Gatos Councilmember Marico Sayoc (comment)
Milpitas City Councilmember Karina Dominguez (signed)
Menlo Park Fire District Board Member Rob Silano (tweet)
Menlo Park City Mayor Jen Wolosin (signed)
Millbrae City Councilmember Anders Fung (signed)
Millbrae City Councilmember Maurice Goodman (comment)
Mountain View Councilmember (and former Mayor) Lucas Ramirez (tweet)
Mountain View  Councilmember Ellen Kamei (tweet)
Pacifica Former Mayor Mary Bier (comment)
Palo Alto Councilmember-elect Julie Lythcott-Haims (tweet)
Redwood City Mayor Giselle Hale (video, tweet)
Redwood City Councilmember-elect Chris Sturken (video)
Redwood City Former Mayor Shelly Masur (signed)
Redwood City City Councilmember Jeff Gee (signed)
Sequoia Union High School District Trustee Amy Koo (signed)
South San Francisco Unified School District Trustee Patty Murray (signed)
South San Francisco City Councilmember Eddie Flores (signed)
South San Francisco City Councilmember James Coleman (signed)
South San Francisco City Councilmember Mark Nagales (signed)
Sunnyvale City Councilmember Richard Mehlinger (signed)

Organizations
California Democratic Party Asian Pacific Islander Caucus
California Young Democrats API Caucus
Carpenters Union Local 217
IBEW Local Union 617
Jewish Democratic Club of Silicon Valley
League of Women Voters North & Central San Mateo County
NAACP San Mateo
National Women’s Political Caucus Silicon Valley 
Peninsula for Everyone (signed)
Peninsula Young Democrats 
REACH Coalition Exec Board
San Mateo County Democratic Party Executive Board 
San Mateo County API Caucus
San Mateo County Latinx Democratic Executive Board
San Mateo County Stonewall Democrats Executive Board
Sanitary Truck Drivers and Helpers Local No. 350
Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter