The San Mateo County Arts Commission, which views the arts as an essential part of a healthy and vibrant community, champions policies and practices that promote social and cultural equity. We strive to promote inclusive and diverse programming and to ensure equitable access to arts and culture for all, with consideration for race, ability, sexual orientation, age, gender, economic status, and cultural background. We also commit to partnering with artists and arts organizations that represent and celebrate the diversity of our county, through the fair and equitable distribution of programmatic and financial support. Through these actions, arts are a vehicle for social change.

Individuals who violate health orders, including refusing to wear a face covering in San Mateo County and commercial entities who allow these violations now risk incurring fines after the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors today adopted an urgency ordinance allowing the new penalties immediately.

The County of San Mateo continues to work to protect public health and safety in response to the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19.

Note: This is an archived version of an article that first appeared in 2016.

The County of San Mateo continues to work to protect public health and safety in response to the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19.

 This article was first published in July 2016. More than a century ago Rue Clifford rode a horse through the streets of South San Francisco to gather signatures to support building a library. Her work paid off: industrialist turned philanthropist Andrew Carnegie gave the young city $10,000 to build its first free public library on Grand Avenue.

The County of San Mateo has replaced a local call center number with a new service that will more than double the hours residents can get information about the coronavirus (also known as COVID-19) – 2-1-1.

Local emergencies announced to position resources for extended response

The 2020 Census gets underway soon and it’s critical that every person living in the county is counted to secure federal funding for medical services, including clinics and children’s health insurance, housing, emergency preparedness, nutrition programs, infrastructure and a host of other services.

First she lost her balance.

Whether you are an orphan, a prisoner, sick, a refugee, homeless or mentally ill, the Daughters of Charity for nearly 400 years provided charitable health care for the most vulnerable among us. They’ve been the heroes of the poor for centuries all around the world.