Members of Save the San Mateo Ice Rink,

I hope that everyone is well.  It's been ten years (!) since we started this petition to save the rink.  Thanks to your support, our community continues to be blessed with the only surviving ice rink in San Mateo County.  It continues to be busy 18+ hours per day, enabling the dreams of local kids (and adults!) who play ice hockey, figure skate, or just like to skate and get out of the heat : )

As you likely remember, we never would have been successful in our fight to keep the rink open without thoughtful and aggressive assistance from San Mateo's elected officials.  Current Councilmember Joe Goethals led the charge and was ultimately a key negotiator with our billionaire opponents.  Current Mayor Rick Bonilla provided vociferous support while on the Planning Commission.  Unfortunately, Joe and Rick are not running for reelection this fall and we will need to identify new leaders to fight for us.  There are no guarantees that the rink will remain open and we need to be ready if necessary.

We encourage you to attend tonight's City Council Candidates Forum, put on by the League of Women Voters, either via Zoom or in person.  You can submit a question for the candidates by emailing the organizers at questions@lwvncsmc.org (put San Mateo in the subject line).  We are most curious:  1)  What each candidate did to save the rink last time?  (Sign the petition?  Attend rallies or Council meetings?  Support pro-rink candidates like Joe Goethals and Rick Bonilla?); and 2) What they promise to do to protect the rink given economic pressures?  Here is more info on the candidates for the various Council districts.  

We will follow up with a summary after the event.  We hope that you will join the Forum and make your voice heard.  This is our best opportunity to ensure that the City Council will stand up for the kids and keep the rink open next time . . . 

Thanks for your support and keep on skating!

Mike Swire & the Save the SM Rink Committee