Meet the Candidates Forum 2024

The Redwood Shores Community Association cordially invites you to join us for our annual Meet the Candidates Forum on Wednesday, October 9, from 6:30 – 7:30 PM at the Redwood Shores Library, 399 Marine Pkwy, Redwood City, CA 94065.

Meet the Candidates Forum
Wednesday, October 9th, 6:30 – 7:30pm
Redwood Shores Branch Library

The Candidate Forum provides candidates for City Council, Belmont Redwood Shores School District, and Board of Supervisors an opportunity to introduce themselves to Redwood Shores voters and discuss issues of concern to the Redwood Shores community. Each candidate will spend a few minutes introducing themselves, along with their priorities and goals. Each candidate will be provided a table where they can set out information and community members can come over to speak with them one-on-one.

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Meet the Candidates for City Council of Redwood City

Wednesday, September 30th, 7:00 – 8:30pm
(Virtual Event)

 

(*Video of this event is now available to stream in its entirety. Thank you to all those who participated in this forum, as well as everybody who has watched this event online. Election Day is November 3, so be sure to read up on local issues and candidates before you go out and vote!)


Please join us on Wednesday, September 30th at 7:00pm to meet the candidates for the City Council of Redwood City.  The 2020 election is the first where voters will select a district representative.  So Shores residents will vote for a council member for District 1: Redwood Shores.  All council candidates are invited to introduce themselves and listen in as we discuss issues facing the City and of concern to our Redwood Shores community. Continue reading

Belmont-Redwood Shores School District Board Candidate Event

On Wednesday, September 16th, from 7:00 – 8:30PM, Redwood Shores Community Association (RSCA) and BRSSD PTA Council members will host a virtual School Board Candidate Forum.

Please register for the event to receive virtual login information sent in advance.

Two board of trustee seats are open for the 2020 election. Meet incumbent candidates Jim Howard and Sam Leinbach to discuss issues facing our schools and and of concern to our community. For more information about the school board, please visit: https://www.brssd.org/board-of-trustees.

For more information on the upcoming elections in San Mateo County, visit smcacre.org .

Meet the Candidates for City Council of Redwood City

Thursday, October 4th, 6:30 – 8:00pm
at the Sandpiper School

Please join us on Thursday, October 4th at 6:30pm in the multi-use room at the Sandpiper School to meet the candidates for your City Council of Redwood City. Come out to talk about issues facing the City and of concern to our Redwood Shores community.

There are seven (7) candidates vying for the three (3) open city council seats. In alphabetical order, they are:

  • Jason Galisatus
  • Giselle Hale
  • Diane Howard (Incumbent)
  • Rick Hunter
  • Diana Reddy
  • Ernie Schmidt
  • Christina Umhofer

Candidate Information can be found here: https://www.redwoodcity.org/departments/city-clerk/voter-and-election-information/2018-municipal-election-information/candidate-information

This candidate event is intended to provide time for you to meet and greet the candidates one-on-one. And don’t forget:

REGISTER, then VOTE

If you’re not already a registered voter, simply go to the
San Mateo County Assessor Clerk Recorder of Elections’ website at https://www.smcacre.org where you can register AND get information about this November’s election, candidates, ballot measures, and how to vote.

Video from the Belmont-Redwood Shores School Board Candidate Forum

Hosted on Monday, September 23, 2013, this public forum was held by RSCA and the Belmont-Redwood Shores PTA in order to allow the community to get to know the candidates running for BRS School Board positions this November.

RSCA has posted a video of the event for residents who were not able to attend as well as those who were in attendance and would like a second look at this year’s seven candidates. The forum video runs through the opening statements and all questions asked to the candidates; due to technical difficulties, certain candidates’ closing statements were not available for this video and so all closing statements have been omitted from this posting to be fair to all the participants.

All candidates on the ballot were able to participate in this event. Candidates were seated according to randomized numbers; the names of those candidates are listed in the same order below (from left to right) to help you identify who is speaking throughout the presentation.

* Naomi Nishimoto
* Kelly Redmon
* Rakesh Hegde
* Chuck Velschow
* Amy Koo
* Survarna Bhopale
* Herb Neuman M.D.

Our moderator for the evening was Jim Hartnett a former mayor and city council member of Redwood City.

Thank you to all of the candidates for attending, thank you Mr. Hartnett for moderating the panel, and thank you for your interest in this important Belmont & Redwood Shores event.

School Board Candidate Forum

The Redwood Shores Community Association together with the Belmont Redwood Shores PTA council are sponsoring a public forum with the prospective school board candidates that are up for election in November.

Come and meet the candidates to hear their plans for the future of our school district. The candidates running for election are:

Survarna Bhopale
Rakesh Hegde
Amy Koo
Herb Neuman M.D.
Naomi Nishimoto
Kelly Redmon
Chuck Velschow

The forum will be held at Nesbit Elementary at 500 Biddulph Way in Belmont Ca 94002. It will start at 7 P.M on Monday, September 23rd.

Superintendent Search in the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District

The Belmont-Redwood Shores School District is searching for a new Superintendent, and is inviting residents to participate in the process to identify the characteristics needed for our neighborhood schools. The Board of Trustees would greatly appreciate your input and assistance with this important task, and encourages you to participate in the process by:

  • Attending an Open Forum* on either:
  1. Wednesday, March 20 at 7:30PM — Nesbit, Multi-Use room
  2. Thursday, March 21 at 10:30AM — District Office, Board Room
  • Completing an online survey located at www.brssd.org by March 24, 2013

(*The Open Forums will be facilitated by a member of the Board’s consultant firm.)

Redwood City Council to Consider Advisory Vote on Saltworks Proposal

The Redwood City Council will consider placing an advisory vote on the November ballot, to gain the voters’ perspective on the proposed Saltworks development. At its April 9th meeting, under “Matters of Council Interests” the Mayor and City Council directed the City Manager to place the item on a future agenda for further discussion. The date for that discussion has not yet been scheduled.

The 1,400-acre site, located just off Highway 101 along Seaport Boulevard, has previously been used for salt production. The project applicant, DMB Associates, had previously submitted a proposal to the City. On November 4, 2011, the applicant informed the City that it intends to conduct internal review and evaluation of its submitted proposal. A revised proposal is expected to be submitted to the City and it will require further analysis and environmental review.

“This is an opportune time to explore various options in moving forward on this unprecedented project for the community of Redwood City,” said Mayor Alicia Aguirre “Prior to re-engaging in that process, the City Council may want to consider whether the revised project is of interest to the community and worthy of further exploration and analysis.”

More information on the Saltworks proposal is available on the City’s Web site at www.redwoodcity.org/saltworks .

Redwood City Considering Ban on Polystyrene Food Service Containers

The City of Redwood City is considering a ban on polystyrene food service containers, to correspond with a similar prohibition implemented by San Mateo County last summer. On the City Council’s April 9th agenda is the introduction of an ordinance which would prohibit the use of polystyrene-based food containers. If approved by the Council, the item would then be subject to a public hearing, tentatively scheduled for May 7th. The City’s action would adopt the County’s ordinance, by reference.

The proposed ban would not be implemented until January 1, 2013, allowing plenty of time for businesses to learn about their options, and transition to non-polystyrene containers. However, businesses will be encouraged to voluntarily implement the ban prior to 2013, and those that do so would be recognized by the City Council as “early adopters” and leaders in helping to reduce the volume of this pollutant in our environment. Adopting an ordinance banning the use of polystyrene will also help the City meet certain conditions of its Municipal Regional (storm water) Permit, related to reductions in trash loading in the City’s storm drain system.

Banned items are single-use disposable products used in restaurants and the food service industry for serving and transporting prepared, ready-to-consume food and beverages including plates, bowls, trays, and hinged or lidded containers (“clamshells”), but excluding disposable packaging for unprepared food.

Polystyrene is often referred to by its Dow Chemical trademark “Styrofoam.” It is a petroleum-based, lightweight plastic material commonly used by retail food vendors for disposable take-out purposes. Polystyrene has been identified as an environmental pollutant in part because it is non-biodegradable and generally non-recyclable and non-reusable. Various state and federal agencies indicate that polystyrene persists in the environment indefinitely without breaking down and consequently is showing up on roads, waterways, and the ocean. In addition to San Mateo County, a number of other cities on the peninsula, including Burlingame, Half Moon Bay, Foster City, San Bruno, Pacifica, South San Francisco, and Millbrae, have implanted similar ordinances.

If approved by the City Council, San Mateo County would work with Redwood City to publicize the impending implementation, and assist in outreach and education to the affected businesses. While every opportunity will be provided for businesses to comply, San Mateo County’s Environmental Health Division would enforce the ordinance and may issue fines for violations, which would be earmarked for use to supplement outreach and education around polystyrene.