Candidate for
Council Member; City of San Mateo; 4 Year Term

Dear Residents,

I am running for San Mateo City Council because I am concerned about the challenges facing San Mateo (Growth, infrastructure repair, and demands on public services), and the impacts they are having on the quality of life in our city. Equally concerning are residents, choosing not to vote, and others feeling their voices are not being heard. My wife and I have two small children and we intend for San Mateo to be our long-term home. We want this City to be the best it can be.

I am a certified public accountant, with financial statement audit and government experience. I currently work for the City of San Jose and previously worked for Ernst and Young. If elected I would be the only member on council (current or running) with a finance or accounting background and I believe the skillset I have can provide an important perspective and balance to the Council and their oversight.

If elected I would seek to accomplish the following:
1. Balance growth, infrastructure needs, and affordability

2. Increase transparency and improving communication with the community

People choose to live and visit San Mateo for its suburban environment, modest building heights, open spaces, and recreational amenities. While San Mateo is a great location the citizens are what allow our city to realize its full potential. Recent developments in our city and the region have been crippling to San Mateo in terms of traffic congestion, shortage of parking, overcrowding of schools, demands on public safety, and increases in utility costs for already strained resources. I would like to implement a gate way moratorium on new development similar to Foster City's, until our infrastructure is in position to handle additional growth, and we have had time to build out all the existing projects. It does not need to be identical, but needs to involve significant public outreach. Council also needs to be vigilant regarding infrastructure repairs. All projects need proper oversight so they are completed on time and within budget. I am particularly concerned with how sewer rate are set under prop 218, and the limited recourse available to the community. Especially considering we are about start a $700 million rebuild of our waste treatment plant. It is projected we will face 12% annual increases in sewer rate for the next decade. Lastly we need to have enough recreational amenities for our community, especially our youth, in terms of type and quantity, including the reopening of the Bridgepointe ice rink.

To this point I have not accepted any money from any groups. So I can truthfully say I am not beholden to lobbyist or special interest. This will provide me the ability and freedom to pursue the interest of all the people in San Mateo. I would be honored to have you vote in the upcoming election. Please vote for Thomas Morgan.

Thank you,

Thomas Morgan