Per our email yesterday, we have asked the candidates for the San Mateo City Council to tell our supporters what they plan on doing to save the San Mateo Ice Rink. Below is our first response - from Karen Schmidt. Ms. Schmidt is running for one of the two open 4-year Council seats. We have not edited her response: Hi Mike: In response to your query on the Bridgepointe Ice Rink as I mentioned I wrote a letter to the Editor in the Daily Journal in April with an idea on how to augment and save it: Letter to the Editor in response to "What's next for the Ice Rink" article April 18 Editor: In an effort to "de-ice" the gridlock between SPI Holdings, the Save the Bridgepointe Ice Rink Group, and the San Mateo City Council, perhaps a public/private partnership should be developed ("What's next for ice rink" in the April 18 edition of the Daily Journal). The redesign could mirror an intimate version of the HP (now SAP) Pavilion in San Jose, to offer ice sports be able to convert to an entertainment venue, and maybe even a roller rink with roller derbies. The City Could help organize and market hockey and ice skating classes through Parks and Recreation channels for the benefit of the community, and mission to keep things profitable. Contract a few big names in Hockey and Figure Skating to sponsor camps for kids, and they'd be sure to sell out like the popular Bay Area Warrior basketball camps. With the loss of the Circle Star Theatre and Bay Meadows race track, the Peninsula could certainly support a new entertainment facility, and surely parents would rather have their teens staying local for concerts. To offset parking, weekday shuttle busses could be used on weekends to ferry attendants over to Bridgepointe from an open lot, as is done for large golf tournaments. Throw in some retail, concessions, and a retractable roof and no doubt create a viable destination. Karen Schmidt San Mateo I am a business woman and realize that SPI Holdings has a certain threshold for profitability- so perhaps through a meeting of the minds a more profitable way to convert and run the Center is in everyone’s best interest as my reply suggests. Thank you for an opportunity to address your group of followers and if elected I will use my resources and creative where- with- all to transform and keep it open. Yours Kindly~ Karen Schmidt