Jackie Speier

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize my good friend and colleague Carole Groom as she departs the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors after 13 years of service. The people of San Mateo County are losing a champion of children, healthcare, economic justice, and the environment.

Carole began her public service career on the City of San Mateo's public works and planning commissions. She was appointed to the city council in 2000 and won election to a full four-year term in 2001. She twice served as Mayor. Carole and her colleagues skillfully guided the Bay Meadows development through public reviews and controversy, and the result is a spectacular 83 acres of mixed-use development adjacent to a major rail station. It hosts 1,250 residential units and 1.25 million square feet of office space. She also supported the overlapping Rail Corridor Specific Plan that covered the area from Hillsdale Boulevard to the old Kmart site. That plan produced hundreds of new housing units, retail and office buildings at the old Kmart shopping center, serving as a regional example to emulate. As an avid booster of downtown San Mateo, she coined the saying, ``If you can't find it in San Mateo, you don't need it.'' This remains an unofficial slogan of the city.

Carole was appointed to the Board of Supervisors in 2009 and formed the first board with women in the majority. She won a full four-year term in 2010. These were the darkest days of the housing recession. In her first comments as a member, she noted that she wanted to continue her work on the county's budget deficit and universal health coverage. Carole's priorities also included protecting parks and open space.

In 2009, she launched ``Active San Mateo County'' which convened an annual Fall conference exploring health and wellbeing, and that planned an annual countywide event, ``Streets Alive! Parks Alive!'' The county's parks and recreation directors recognized her with their ``Champion of the Community'' award in 2012.

Perhaps Carole's signature effort to boost economic justice in San Mateo County came through an innovative program known as ``The Big Lift.'' It was a big lift to consider a countywide program to increase the percentage of third graders reading at grade level from 58 percent to 80 percent, but Carole, her board colleagues and the county's superintendent of education took on the task. Key interventions included access to preschool, inspiring summer experiences, reducing chronic absenteeism, and increasing family engagement from preschool to third grade. The pandemic struck a blow to this noble effort, but it continues and undoubtedly paid off for thousands of children from 2013 to 2020 when classes were greatly disrupted.

Peninsula Clean Energy was the brainchild of Supervisors Pine and Groom. This countywide energy aggregator buys clean, renewable energy on the market and sells it to most businesses and households at 5 percent below the rates of our local utility. We all search for ways to reduce the cost of living and to improve the environment. The two Supervisors found a remarkable way to do both, and today the agency has expanded its offerings to include grants for purchases of energy efficient appliances.

Carole has deep roots in the health care system, having served as Vice President of Mills Peninsula Hospital for 18 years. She presently serves on the Board of Directors of the San Mateo County Hospital Board, the governing body for the San Mateo Medical Center. The hospital is a gem, and Carole Groom, as a skillful board member, is one of the finest jewelers in our community.

In addition to her work on the Board of Supervisors, she serves as a member of the California Coastal Commission, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and on the board of our local transit agency, Samtrans. If it thrives on our coast, Carole protects it. If it pollutes the air, Carole opposes it. If it glides on big axels down the El Camino Real and gives essential mobility to the disabled, our working poor and the elderly, Carole celebrates it.

Madam Speaker, we now say goodbye to a woman who everyone welcomes with joy when she walks into a room. We know that her heart was focused on policies that were fair and that protected the most vulnerable. It is said that on a clear day you can see forever. Carole saw the good in people, and her vision built a better life for millions over more than twenty years that she served our community and state. The woman who promoted reading to promote justice is now retiring. San Mateo County owes Supervisor Carole Groom its eternal appreciation. While she will be out of the limelight, Carole will remain in the hearts of all of us.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize my friend and colleague San Mateo County Board President Don Horsley as he departs the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors after 12 years in this phase of his service to the public. His is a remarkable career.

Don graduated with honors from San Francisco State University in 1969. He worked as a juvenile counselor with the San Mateo County Probation Department and as a classroom teacher in middle school. When he decided to become a police officer, one of his earliest jobs was in the City of Pacifica. He subsequently joined the San Mateo County Sheriffs Office and began his patrol work in what would eventually become the City of East Palo Alto.

While in the early phase of his career at the Sheriff's office, Don helped plan and oversee the construction of a new county correctional facility. The new building transformed incarceration in the county, featuring mental health and medical facilities onsite. In the jail, he promoted direct supervision, a practice in which deputies and correctional officers worked directly with detainees. Don's innovative work resulted in a substantial reduction in violence.

Don was elected Sheriff in 1993 in a hard-fought campaign against the status quo. After

his election, he got to work reducing violence in our most vulnerable communities. The new Sheriff pledged a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement taskforce that helped the City of East Palo Alto to dramatically reduce the number of homicides. This support for East Palo Alto continued throughout Don's nearly 14 years as Sheriff.

He later established the Sheriffs Activities League to help kids become successful in school and to keep kids out of gangs. He recruited qualified women and diverse officers into the department and put them into neighborhoods through both patrols and community events.

When Don retired from the Sheriffs office, he ran for the Sequoia Hospital District Board of Trustees. During his service, he advocated for increased funding for the North Fair Oaks Clinic and a community grant program that supported improved healthcare outcomes, particularly for children, throughout the district.

In 2010, Don ran for the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and won. He served three times as Board President. His work has been extraordinary, focused in part on coastal agricultural issues and healthcare.

He is a staunch advocate of thoughtful public safety. He supported the construction of a new county jail facility that allows even more space for mental health and vocational services for detainees.

While all board members support affordable housing, Don and his colleague Warren Slocum were assigned to the Jobs Housing Task force. Thanks to millions in county funding and an influx of federal and state funds during the pandemic, Don and his colleagues purchased five hotels and are presently in construction on a 240 bed navigation center. The objective is to reach functional zero homelessness by the end of 2022. San Mateo County is well on its way to meeting this objective. For example, in October 2022, there were 262 more homeless persons contacted when compared to October 2021. By 2023, the number of interim shelter beds will have increased by 91 percent when compared to 2019. Since October of 2021, 733 formerly homeless persons have been moved into permanent housing. Starting in 2023, $4 million in county funds will be devoted to paying the rent of those facing evictions.

Don Horsley also serves on the Board of Directors of the Health Plan of San Mateo, a Medi-Cal managed health plan. 150,000+ San Mateo residents have coverage through this locally managed organization. Don's dedication to human dignity is rooted in the basics: health and housing. He is also a staunch advocate for sensible gun violence prevention and recently led the effort to fund county positions to remove guns from the homes of those otherwise prohibited by law from owning weapons.

Madam Speaker, Don Horsley is wise. He is gracious. He is sensible. He cares. As he leaves public service for what will likely be the last time, we wish him well. The teacher turned lawman turned community steward has devoted his life to the people he served. Lives have been saved and enriched by Don Horsley. Futures were created because he took a moment to offer a thought. We won't find his face chiseled onto a mountainside but Don Horsley's impact upon us all will last for decades. An overall quiet man, he roared on the field of public policy. Now his wife Elaine, his children Matt, David, and Christine, and their families will have time of their own with Don. We relinquish him to their care with our thanks for a job exceedingly well done.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize my friend and colleague Belmont City Councilman Warren Lieberman upon the occasion of his departure from the Belmont City Council after 22 years of remarkable service to Belmont, including three terms as Mayor. He served for 17 years on the council and for 5 years on the city's Finance Commission. He has lived in Belmont for over 20 years. He and his wife, Gracie, raised two children in Belmont, Vanessa and Max.

Warren graduated from Yale University with a Ph.D. in Operations Research and from SUNY Binghamton with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science. He is President of Veritec Solutions, and helps companies improve pricing and revenue management practices.

When first elected to the city council in 2005, Warren focused on improving opportunities for youth sports and recreation. He was a coach in AYSO Soccer and Little League and realized that Belmont needed improved facilities. Substantial improvements were made to the city's sports complex.

Given its steep, wooded canyons and grassy areas, Belmont is at risk of a catastrophic wildfire. As a councilmember, Warren worked hard to ensure that residents were always served by a fire department with adequate personnel and equipment. He joined the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department Board and negotiated to restructure the obligations of his city so that they were fairer to Belmont residents. He was later selected by his colleagues on the city council to negotiate entry of Belmont into the San Mateo Consolidated Fire Department. He serves on its governing board.

As a councilmember, Warren Lieberman also supported numerous efforts to stabilize and then grow Belmont's tax base. Business development was his central focus, but he also supported increasing the hotel occupancy tax and a local sales tax measure, both of which were approved by voters. As COVID ravaged the community, then acting-Mayor Lieberman led virtual meetings of the council and helped direct student energies in a positive manner during protests originating at Carlmont High School.

Affordable housing is a challenge for all communities in my district. Warren voted to approve developments and made the case to the community that Belmont's success hinged on families of all income groups being able to feel secure in their housing. When residents objected to placing cannabis businesses near their homes and schools, Warren listened patiently. The council eventually voted to ban these businesses from school routes and neighborhoods.

At the time that Warren joined the city council, its meetings were often fractious. He has worked hard to build relationships with other councilmembers so that the city's governance is more sure-footed. In 2014, he led the Council's effort to develop and implement a Code of Ethics and Conduct for Elected and Appointed Officials. The public appreciates his focus, and that of his colleagues, on policymaking rather than disputes. In part due to this focus, the city's infrastructure is being upgraded, affordable housing was constructed and is in the pipeline, and the city's budget has weathered the challenges of COVID and recessions. Growing families now may also utilize city rules that are more friendly to remodeling.

Other council accomplishments during his time in office include: creation of a construction time ordinance; development of a better relationship with Notre Dame de Namur University; creation of the Beautify Belmont Awards; and, conversion of Davey Glen Park from a passive park into an active park.

Madam Speaker, I note that this longtime civic leader will now return to private life so that he may concentrate on personal and business affairs. City Council work is a volunteer job, and it takes quite a bit of time away from one's family. I know that Gracie, Vanessa and Max will appreciate having more time to hear from Warren, and time for him to participate in family events. I wish Warren a wonderful life in the many years ahead. He made a difference, and as he travels around Belmont his accomplishments will stand before his eyes everywhere that he goes.