Meanwhile, San Mateo is poised to have three new councilmembers in 2022. Lisa Nash, District 1, has no opponents to date. District 3, Beresford Hillsdale, will see Rod Linhares and Adam Loraine facing off. And in District 5 it will be anyone’s guess. Popular Joe Goethals has given up his council seat and to date Planning Commissioner Seema Patel; Parks and Recreation Commissioner Sarah Fields; and Personnel Board Member Robert Newsom are running or thinking about it. Incumbent Amourence Lee is safe until 2024. So is Diane Papan. Now that Giselle Hale has dropped out of the race for the District 21 Assembly seat, it’s a shoo-in for Papan.
Once it’s official, the council will declare a vacancy and will have 30 days to do an appointment process per the charter. Councilmembers making the decision will be Lee and three new councilmembers. Papan has two terms left on her now at-large seat. The appointee will fill the seat, at-large for two years until 2024. As a district 1 candidate will be elected in 2022 there will be no opening after the short-term appointment unless the appointee is from a district that is up for election in 2024 (Districts 2 and 4). Confusing. You bet. Only city clerk Pat Olds knows the details.
