CFTA endorses Ray Mueller for San Mateo County Board of Supervisor District 3
Here is a pdf of our endorsement statement or you can read it below.
CFTA Endorses Ray Mueller for San Mateo County District 3 Supervisor
Coastside Families Taking Action is a group of more than two hundred families living on the San Mateo Coast. We believe that Ray Mueller is exceptionally well qualified to represent District 3 on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and is committed to a progressive, equitable, and sustainable Coastside. Mr. Mueller has longstanding relationships with Coastside community organizations and a deep understanding of the unique issues that our community faces. He is solution-oriented, visionary, and committed to public service. We are heartened that he is willing to bring his policy focus and experience to represent the Coastside on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors.
Ray Mueller’s vision and priorities are closely aligned with CFTA’s and he is the progressive candidate most likely to be effective as a county Supervisor.
The CFTA Elections and Local Government Sub-Committee feels that Mr. Mueller’s positions are very well-aligned with CFTA’s mission. While the same can be said of his fellow progressive candidates, Laura Parmer-Lohan and Steven Booker, Mr. Mueller’s experience as a legislator, his concrete policy proposals to important issues facing the Coastside and the relationships he has built on the Coastside, make him the one most likely to succeed in effecting the meaningful change at the County level that the Coastside needs.
In determining whom to endorse in the election, we considered the following:
Vision: Ray Mueller’s vision of an equitable and sustainable San Mateo County coastal community, in partnership with community stakeholders is in alignment with CFTA’s vision. He is committed to creating a County/City capital improvement Strategic Plan for the Coast that stabilizes the agricultural/marine tourism economy, from roads to sewers to the seawall improvements, and at the same time protects the Coastal environment for the enjoyment of future generations.
Approach & Dedication: Mr. Mueller is a committed representative who prioritizes meaningful connections and relationships. Mr. Mueller is passionate about working on the Coast with Coastside residents and believes local representation requires building everyday relationships with the Community. He plans to hire a local staff member and also create a geographically accessible office on the Coast so that he can continue to build and maintain relationships with local community members and organizations.
Experience: Mr. Mueller was elected to the Menlo Park City Council in 2012. He served two terms as Mayor and has experience building and executing upon a strategic plan to achieve tangible results for the community and the region. His track record gives us confidence he will continue to do impactful work on behalf of San Mateo County District 3 that will make a difference to our quality of life, our safety, our economy, our environment and our future.
Education: Mr. Mueller has plans to help the County, and in particular the Coast, improve its public education including funding from the Board of Supervisors for teacher workforce housing sites and teacher training programs. Mr. Mueller has also presented a promising proposal to create an Equity in Education Joint Power Agency so that the county could assist the County Board of Education and provide funding.
Law Enforcement: Mr. Mueller endorses Fixin San Mateo, and believes in greater transparency from our law enforcement agencies. He wants to see more programs wherein sheriff’s deputies get to know community members, and increased police oversight from the local jurisdictions. He fully supports community oversight of our San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.
Environment: Mr. Mueller has a number of specific proposals to protect our community and our environment. He has pledged to bring Federal grants to mitigate wildfire danger, by creating fire breaks between tree groves and suburban areas, create evacuation centers in remote areas and ensure that the County has adequate equipment permanently stationed here in the County that will not be moved to other places in the State to protect our communities from wildfires. He will advocate for the County to be looking at the holistic ecosystem health of the Coast, keeping track of multiple elements of environmental health in response to climate change.
Public Health: The County Health and Hospital System operates up to a 53 million dollar deficit depending on the year. Mr Mueller believes the Board needs to focus on closing this gap through funding and actually expand the County system to underserved areas such as the Coast. He believes healthcare needs to be accessible to those in need and where they are located.
Development and Housing: Mr. Mueller has proposed that the County provide land, funding, and political support to Cities seeking assistance from the state and federal government to build additional low and very-low income housing. He will also push for the diversity of opportunity in affordable housing stock, to include community trust models of affordable housing that allow people to buy into their units, rather than just rent, so their families can enjoy some level of equity creation. He will support public agencies attempting to build affordable housing.
Racial Justice: Mr. Mueller is committed to taking legislative action on racial justice issues and believes racial justice touches all aspects of government, including but not limited to Public Health, Public Safety, Education and Housing. He agrees with us that racial justice needs to be integrated into all aspects of government. He is committed to hiring a diverse chief of staff.
Business: Mr. Mueller believes the County should do more to provide grants and training to small business owners and prospective BIPOC, women, and veteran small business owners. He proposes that this should be a metric of success the County tracks.
We want to acknowledge that this was a difficult decision because the County is lucky to have multiple candidates who are very well-aligned with CFTA’s mission and values. Indeed, Mr. Booker and Ms. Parmer-Lohan both have compelling experience and vision in addition to bringing much needed diversity to the BOS, which would doubtless help the BOS perform better for the entire County. The decision to endorse Mr. Mueller ultimately came down to Mr. Mueller’s numerous, well-considered and specific policy proposals and his demonstrated commitment to and understanding of the Coast, which gave the ELG sub-committee confidence that Mr. Mueller was best positioned to implement changes to actually achieve our shared vision.
We believe that Mr. Mueller’s personal values and principles, and his specific plans for his time in office, are extremely well aligned with the CFTA mission to make the Coastside more diverse, progressive, sustainable, and equitable, and a welcoming, supportive, active, and empowering place for children and families. CFTA looks forward to the great work we know he will continue to do for our community as a District 3 Supervisor. We look forward to supporting Mr. Mueller’s campaign.
CFTA Council gives explicit permission for Ray Mueller’s Campaign to re-use any or all of the above endorsement statement, or derivative text generated from it, in its own advertising.
