[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 188 (Monday, December 5, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1214-E1215]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING THE SERVICE OF THE HONORABLE ERIC RODRIGUEZ, COUNCILMEMBER, 
      CITY OF SAN MATEO, UPON THE CONCLUSION OF HIS PUBLIC SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, December 5, 2022

  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Eric Rodriguez as he 
steps down from the San Mateo City Council after serving for five years 
and ten months, with one year as Mayor.
  Eric grew up in neighboring Belmont. Upon moving to San Mateo, he 
eventually served as his neighborhood's representative to the San Mateo 
United Homeowners Association and as a member of the Aragon 
Neighborhood Association Board of Directors from 2013 through 2016. In 
2015, he was appointed to the planning commission, serving until 2017.
  In that year, he was elected to the San Mateo City Council. In his 
candidate's statement he argued for effective traffic planning to 
reduce gridlock, preservation of the neighborhood character of San 
Mateo, quality public safety and parks and recreation services, 
affordable housing and fiscal accountability. He received 6,266 votes.
  Nowhere in his candidate statement did the word ``COVID'' appear.
  Eric led San Mateo as Mayor from December 2020 to December 2021. 
These harsh times of pandemic required city services to be largely 
delivered remotely, city workers to support public health by arranging 
for testing and then early public vaccination sites, and an all-hands-
on-deck approach to preserving public health. This included the 
difficult decision to enforce shut-down orders for public places. As 
the vital restaurant industry began to be devastated by the disease, 
Eric and his colleagues swiftly approved outside dining and offered 
financial support. When racial tensions rose because of actions in 
other cities that sparked nationwide outrage, Mayor Rodriguez spoke out 
on YouTube and stated that San Mateo stood united against hatred and 
all forms of racism. He also spoke in favor of the Police Athletic 
League (PAL), stating that building relationships between young people 
and the police was part of the solution to keeping fairness in the 
community.
  During his time in office, Eric was a strong advocate for affordable 
housing developments to reduce income inequality in San Mateo. To his 
credit and that of his colleagues, a city parking lot near Caltrain is 
now under construction. Kiku Crossing is a 7-story apartment building 
that will offer 225 homes for those earning low incomes, and a new 
publicly accessible parking garage. This development could have been 
contentious, but Eric and his colleagues spent many hours educating the 
public about the benefits of this project.
  Also begun during his term of office was a billion dollar+ upgrade to 
the city's wastewater treatment plant. It takes quite a bit of time to 
bring this kind of project to the stage of construction, but Eric and 
his colleagues supported an upgrade that is a credit to the objectives 
of the Clean Water Act and that will be a vital piece of public 
infrastructure for decades to come.
  In his private life, Eric is presently the CEO of a health 
information website that he co-founded. He serves on the Board of 
Directors of the Police Activities League and the Rotary Club of San 
Mateo. He is a graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business 
where he received his M.B.A., and the University of California at 
Berkeley where he received his Bachelor of Science degree. He and his 
wife Shirley have one child, son Tyler. Now that he is leaving public 
life, there will be more personal time to enjoy with his family.
  When the call of elective public service is made, most people turn a 
deaf ear. It then falls to a few to assume the reigns of authority, 
pursuant to endorsement via elections, and to bear the full commitment 
of time, energy and emotion on behalf of creating a better community 
for all. Eric Rodriguez answered the call, and the people of San Mateo 
are better because of his service. I wish Eric and his

[[Page E1215]]

family wonderful times in the years ahead. In the coming years, as he 
leads Tyler through the community, he will be able to point and to say, 
``Dad helped make that possible.'' I am certain that his son will be 
impressed, and perhaps another generation of public service will be 
born because of those moments. This is one of the chief ways in which 
American democracy sustains itself. From parent to child. From 
generation to generation. From local government to national. The 
accomplishments of all of us add up, and Eric Rodriguez's service is 
illustrative of this remarkable reality of democracy.

                          ____________________