More than 150 community members attended San Mateo County’s inaugural Veteran of the Year Luncheon Thursday, an event that not only honored the more than 33,000 veterans in the county, but also highlighted the hard work put forth by a few individuals dedicated to making life easier for all veterans.

The San Mateo County Veterans Commission will honor three individuals and a Peninsula church at its first annual Veteran of the Year luncheon held in appreciation of their notable commitment and significant effort to improve the quality of life for those who served our country.

As a tribute to our county veterans and their families, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted to approve the waiver of park entrance fees beginning on November 11, 2016 going forward. I asked our Board to consider this request and to honor our veterans and their families by welcoming them to the most beautiful and wild places in our County - our parks! The proposal was unaninously approved by the Board and supported by the San Mateo County Parks Commission and the San Mateo County Parks Department.

Kudos to SamTrans and the City of East Palo Alto! Together you've solved an important community problem by the rerouting of 280 and 81. High schoolers headed to Menlo-Atherton High School found themselves with a 2-3 hour commute...Not anymore! According to a Management Analyst for the City of East Palo Alto, " the 81 daily nearly filled to bursting with students heading over to the high school." Thank you, Samtrans!

Congratulations to all of the poets who attended the "Poetry is Nature" celebration at the Woodside Library especially those who shared their poetry at this very enjoyable afternoon. Thanks also to San Mateo County Poet Laureate Caroline Goodwin and our incoming Poet Laureate Lisa Rosenberg for reading their poetry, too. Three submissions by poets from Camp Glenwood were amazing. Such talent!

Her role as Poet Laureate will be to elevate poetry among San Mateo County residents and to celebrate the literary arts.

Congratulations to Lupe Oropeza and Monica Castillo, the 2016 Barbara Hammerman honorees! Thank you for your leadership and your effective advocacy of domestic violence victims in San Mateo County. You are public servants of the highest order, selected by your peers, and recognized for your outstanding work. We owe you a debt of gratitude for all that you do.

The South County Park Shuttle Program will launch in two weeks on Saturday, September 10th providing free weekend transportation to Edgewood and Wunderlich Parks! The south county weekend shuttles will collect people from stops in East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, North Fair Oaks and Redwood City.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously supported the placement of a measure on the November ballot that, if approved by a majority of voters, would extend the current Measure A half-cent sales tax for an additional 20 years. That ballot assignment for this measure is Measure K. The 75-word ballot question reads:

Meet Carlos Garcia and Nereyda Guzman, the very first young people to be awarded the American Medical Response (AMR) "Save a Life" Scholarship" in District 4. They are enthusiastic, determined and hard-working. This scholarship will make a real and immediate difference in the lives of these two deserving young people and ultimately in the lives of people in our communities.

Do you know a San Mateo County veteran who is deserving of the first annual Veteran of the Year award – a resident veteran who has distinguished him or herself through outstanding service to the County’s veteran community during the period of 2015-2016? We are also looking for nominations the Patriot of the Year (a resident who has demonstrated exceptional service to the County’s veterans and veteran community) and the Enterprise Support Partner of the Year (a for-profit or non-for-profit corporation that has demonstrated exemplary service to the County’s veteran community)?