Kudos to CalTrain and SamTrans for providing safe and free transportation on New Years Eve to revelers who get caught up celebrating the New Year! Your open invitation to drivers and party goers alike to use mass transit, to give up the car keys, to be safe and worry free AND to travel for FREE on New Years Eve was magnanimous and smart.

On December 18, at the last regular meeting of 2014, our Board of Supervisors presented outgoing San Mateo County Controller Bob Adler, an excellent Controller, a longtime public servant in the finest sense of the word, and an all around great guy, with a resolution acknowledging his 19 years of outstanding service to the County as he will retire at the beginning of January. We will miss him!

On December 17th, Kaiser Permanente opened its newest hospital in the HMO chain right here in Redwood City. While we've been watching the progress of construction for a couple of years, the building is now ready to serve patients in the area. It's a major investment of time, money and expertise to open a new hospital - congratulations to all at Kaiser who helped achieve this accomplishment! As a patient, I am grateful for myself, my family, and the greater community...

San Mateo Credit Union, under the leadership of President/CEO Barry Jolette has been providing generous support to the community of North Fair Oaks since 1999. The credit union provides not only monetary contributions but staff resources to the Sheriff’s Office Community Alliance to Revitalize Our Neighborhood (CARON) program, The NFO Community Festival, Art Contest, and the NFO Be Seen Keepin' it Clean event. They are ever present in the community's programs and festivities, giving freely of time, energy, ideas and financial support.

The White House Drug Policy Office awards up to $125,000 per year for five years to the One East Palo Alto Community Based Partnership for the Prevention of Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs (also known as the East Palo Alto Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (EPASAPC). Coalitions are comprised of community leaders, parents, youth, teachers, religious and fraternal organizations, health care and business professionals, law enforcement, and media.

Energy-saving LED streetlights were recently installed in North Fair Oaks as part of the first phase of the PG&E Turnkey program in the Menlo Park Highway Lighting District. PG&E and the County’s Department of Public Works replaced the sodium vapor fixtures with more efficient LED streetlight fixtures that have important benefits, including saving money.

We as a nation are still grappling with curtailing gun violence and understanding mental health disorders. Whatever your stance on gun control, we can all agree that it is critical to invest in mental health awareness. San Mateo County has done just that.

Thanks to PG&E and our County's Public Works Department, energy-saving LED streetlights were recently installed in North Fair Oaks as part of the first phase of the PG&E Turnkey program in the Menlo Park Highway Lighting District...

A panel of veterans told their stories of life after service to 140 attendees at the County of San Mateo 2014 Veterans Summit, a gathering of veterans' stakeholders held at the Crowne Plaza Foster City to learn about the needs of veterans in our county.

San Mateo County Library (SMCL) has begun implementing a model intergenerational learning program for families in the community with a three-year, $175,000 grant from Toyota and the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL). Only six organizations in the country were awarded Toyota Family Learning program grants this year.

By Margaret Lavin San Mateo County Times     Through Operation Recognition, the San Mateo County Office of Education will award diplomas to San Mateo County veterans whose high school education was interrupted because of wartime circumstances. Five San Mateo County residents who served in the U.S. Armed Forces in World War II and the Korean War will be recognized at a ceremony held at 1 p.m. Nov. 12 at the San Mateo County Office of Education, 101 Twin Dolphin Drive, Redwood City.

Josh Koehn of the San Jose Metro takes an in-depth look at the reasons for the slow vote count in Santa Clara County (the same conditions apply in other counties) and what it will take to make the process more efficient without sacrificing accuracy. He notes that election workers have been working 12 hour shifts every day last week to sort and count the 140,000 ballots on hand; meanwhile the Mayor's race continues to tighten.