Click this link to optimize Speak Up San Mateo! for screen readers Skip to Content
Speak Up San Mateo!
Opengov

San Mateo is preparing to hire a new City Manager. What characteristics do you want this new leader to have and what should be their top priorities for San Mateo?

Click Summary, then click on options below to form the filter, then click Apply Filter

65 registered responses


How important are these characteristics in a City Manager? (1=not important, 5=very important)?

A good communicator and facilitator
Response Percent Response Count
1 1.6% 1
3 3.1% 2
4 14.1% 9
5 81.3% 52
Visionary and forward thinking
Response Percent Response Count
1 1.6% 1
3 6.3% 4
4 21.9% 14
5 68.8% 44
Respectful of traditions
Response Percent Response Count
1 15.6% 10
2 9.4% 6
3 34.4% 22
4 10.9% 7
5 28.1% 18
Approachable and accessible
Response Percent Response Count
1 1.6% 1
3 9.4% 6
4 32.8% 21
5 56.3% 36
Deliberative
Response Percent Response Count
1 1.6% 1
2 7.8% 5
3 21.9% 14
4 42.2% 27
5 25.0% 16
Collaborative
Response Percent Response Count
1 1.6% 1
3 6.3% 4
4 31.3% 20
5 56.3% 36
Willing to take risks
Response Percent Response Count
1 3.1% 2
2 1.6% 1
3 31.3% 20
4 42.2% 27
5 21.9% 14
Measured and prudent
Response Percent Response Count
1 3.1% 2
2 7.8% 5
3 29.7% 19
4 34.4% 22
5 21.9% 14

What other characteristics do you think the Council should look for in our next City Manager?

Answered
48
Skipped
17

What type of experience do you think is most important for our next City Manager to have? Pick up to three.

Response Percent Response Count
Experience with economic development 23.4% 15
Experience with municipal finance and budgeting 62.5% 40
Experience with strategic/long-range planning 68.8% 44
Experience with managed growth in cities 56.3% 36
Experience with multi-modal transportation in cities 42.2% 27
Experience working in the Bay Area 37.5% 24

What are the most important priorities for the next City Manager to focus on during their first year?

Average priorities over 65 responses
  1. The City of San Mateo Public Works Department maintains 210 miles of City streets and 380 miles of sidewalk. Underground, we have about 260 miles of sanitary sewer lines and 75 miles of storm drains. San Mateo also has a wastewater treatment plant and works closely with partner agencies on a variety of infrastructure projects including highway and train grade crossing enhancements.

    Improving infrastructure
  2. San Mateo is an extremely desirable community to live, work or play in. The regional job growth has also led to a growing demand for housing. According to real estate experts, the average single family home costs about $1.67 million while the average asking rent for a new apartment is about $4,100.

    Housing affordability
  3. Like many Bay Area communities, San Mateo is experiencing the effects of the Bay Area prospering economy. Centrally located on the Peninsula, San Mateo experiences the effects of regional congestion. The City also has several major freeway interchanges, onramps to the popular San Mateo Bridge, and three stops along the Caltrain line. 

    Addressing traffic
  4. The City Council focused this year's adopted budget on fiscal sustainability. As General Fund expenditures are expected to outpace revenue in the coming years, the Council will consider various means to enhance revenue while preparing for a possible economic downturn. 

    City Budget
  5. The City of San Mateo works hard to maintain police and fire response times. Our officers and firefighters are there when we call. We have a main police station and six fire stations. 

    Public safety

Time and money are limited. You've got 10 dots to 'spend'. On what do you think the next City Manager should spend their time improving?

Response Percent Response Count
Fiscal sustainability 20.0% 128
Public Safety 12.5% 80
Infrastructure 21.9% 140
Relieving traffic 18.6% 119
Housing affordability 18.6% 119
Other 4.8% 31

What would you like potential candidates to know about our community that may not be apparent when researching or visiting San Mateo?

Answered
45
Skipped
20

Do you have any additional feedback for the City Council regarding an ideal City Manager candidate?

Answered
35
Skipped
30

Are you a San Mateo resident?

Response Percent Response Count
Yes 95.2% 60
No 4.8% 3

Do you work or own a business in San Mateo?

Response Percent Response Count
Yes 35.9% 23
No 64.1% 41
Name not shown inside City Boundary
July 14, 2018, 9:06 AM
  • How important are these characteristics in a City Manager? (1=not important, 5=very important)?
    • A good communicator and facilitator - 5
    • Visionary and forward thinking - 5
    • Respectful of traditions - 3
    • Approachable and accessible - 4
    • Deliberative - 4
    • Collaborative - 4
    • Willing to take risks - 3
    • Measured and prudent - 4
  • What other characteristics do you think the Council should look for in our next City Manager?

    Smart and appreciative of high tech. Knowledgeable of high tech industries. Able to work with police and fire and public service to ensure the community is getting good value for what we are paying.

  • What type of experience do you think is most important for our next City Manager to have? Pick up to three.
    • Experience with municipal finance and budgeting
    • Experience with strategic/long-range planning
    • Experience working in the Bay Area
  • What are the most important priorities for the next City Manager to focus on during their first year?
    1. San Mateo is an extremely desirable community to live, work or play in. The regional job growth has also led to a growing demand for housing. According to real estate experts, the average single family home costs about $1.67 million while the average asking rent for a new apartment is about $4,100.

      Housing affordability
    2. The City Council focused this year's adopted budget on fiscal sustainability. As General Fund expenditures are expected to outpace revenue in the coming years, the Council will consider various means to enhance revenue while preparing for a possible economic downturn. 

      City Budget
    3. The City of San Mateo Public Works Department maintains 210 miles of City streets and 380 miles of sidewalk. Underground, we have about 260 miles of sanitary sewer lines and 75 miles of storm drains. San Mateo also has a wastewater treatment plant and works closely with partner agencies on a variety of infrastructure projects including highway and train grade crossing enhancements.

      Improving infrastructure
  • Time and money are limited. You've got 10 dots to 'spend'. On what do you think the next City Manager should spend their time improving?
    • Fiscal sustainability (4)
    • Infrastructure (3)
    • Housing affordability (3)
  • What would you like potential candidates to know about our community that may not be apparent when researching or visiting San Mateo?

    We need a balance of high tech growing companies with affordable housing. Let’s consider building taller and larger residential buildings along El Camino and near Cal train stations. This is what smart and growing cities do. Please consider creating a beautiful pedestrian walkway such as Burlingame has. This is the kind of distinction which could make San Mateo really special. Be brave and make a great legacy

  • Do you have any additional feedback for the City Council regarding an ideal City Manager candidate?

    Spend well. But you get what you pay for

  • Are you a San Mateo resident?
    • Yes
  • Do you work or own a business in San Mateo?
    • Yes
Speak Up San Mateo! is not a certified voting system or ballot box. As with any public comment process, participation in Speak Up San Mateo! is voluntary. The responses in this record are not necessarily representative of the whole population, nor do they reflect the opinions of any government agency or elected officials.

Your answers will NOT be saved

This is the form that was used to collect responses. It's here so you can try it and see how it worked when the topic was open.

The topic is now closed, and anything you enter into this form will not be saved.

Sign in and be yourself

Sign in and let others know who you are and what you think. You can sign in now or after you submit your response. You'll be able to read your response on this website and change it if you change your mind.

Read more about privacy >

Sign in and be someone

Sign in and let others know what you think. Only OpenGov will know who you are. You can sign in now or after you submit your response. You'll be able to read your response on this website and change it if you change your mind.

Read more about privacy >
* required

Be anonymous

Even though your response will be shared with staff, it won’t be shown on this public website so other community members won’t have the opportunity to see it.

Concerned about sharing your contact information with OpenGov?

Read more about privacy >

Read more about privacy >

Speak Up San Mateo! has two participation channels:

  • The Registered Channel: Sign in before or just after you submit your response. Either way, Community Feedback will show your response on this website.
  • The Unregistered Channel: Don't sign in and remain anonymous. Community Feedback will just share your response with San Mateo staff.

Note: The first time you sign in, you'll need to register (establish an account on Speak Up San Mateo!). Registration is free.

The City of San Mateo has contracted with Community Feedback to monitor responses shown on this website.

  • To prevent any single user from dominating the forum, the City of San Mateo restricts the number of responses any one user can post on selected topics. Registration helps Community Feedback enforce this restriction.
  • Users, staff and government leaders often want to know the neighborhood from which a response is posted. Community Feedback uses registration to show the neighborhood next to each response (not the address).
  • If a user posts a response that does not meet the City of San Mateo guidelines for civility, Community Feedback uses the user's email address to invite the user to resolve the issue.

Community Feedback will get your contact information. The company is under contract with the City of San Mateo to hold it in strict confidence per their privacy policy.

  • Since you'll see your own response on Speak Up San Mateo!, you'll be able to confirm that your response was posted as you intended.
  • You'll be able to change and/or delete your response as long as the topic is open.

Yes. Sign out, then set your privacy preference to be "No - just show it without my name to staff". You won't need to register.

While no authentication procedure can perfectly detect every fraudulent registration, Community Feedback is able to secure the registered channel against systematic fraud: cases where users submit enough statements with fraudulent registrations to sway the overall interpretation of the feedback.

Community Feedback is unable to secure the unregistered channel against systematic fraud, because unregistered users are anonymous.

Neither the registered nor the unregistered channel represent a certified voting system or ballot box - and that caveat is footnoted on every page of feedback. Instead, both are additional channels for feedback to government.

Users can participate on the registered channel (by signing in) or on the unregistered channel (by remaining anonymous). The City of San Mateo offers both channels in order to broaden participation and maximize decision makers' insights.

The registered channel enables users to assure decision makers that their feedback comes from a real person in a specific neighborhood. It also enables users to participate in a public discussion on the website, as well as manage their own response after posting it.

The unregistered channel is for users who want to provide quick feedback without registering, and/or whose privacy concerns would prevent them from participating if required to register. Because many users with valuable insights will only share them anonymously, this channel gives decision makers the option to consider those insights in their deliberations.

OpenGov is a non-partisan company whose mission is to broaden civic engagement and build public trust in government. The City of San Mateo has contracted with OpenGov to administer Speak Up San Mateo!.

The job of a City Manager is demanding. What type of personaility characteristics and experience do you think are most important for our next leader?


1
2
3
4
5
A good communicator and facilitator
Visionary and forward thinking
Respectful of traditions
Approachable and accessible
Deliberative
Collaborative
Willing to take risks
Measured and prudent
Choose at most 3 options
Check out our guidelines for civility
Back to Intro  
  Page 1 of 3