[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 193 (Tuesday, December 13, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1267]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING THE HONORABLE CHARLES STONE UPON COMPLETION OF HIS TERM OF 
                   OFFICE ON THE BELMONT CITY COUNCIL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 13, 2022

  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize my friend and 
colleague Belmont City Councilmember and former Mayor Charles Stone as 
he concludes his term of office on the city council. The city is losing 
a truly conscientious and forward-looking leader.
  Charles Stone is a lifelong resident of San Mateo County and a 
resident of Belmont since 2004. He was first elected to the city 
council in 2013 and then was re-elected in 2017. He is a graduate of 
Hillsdale High School, the University of California at San Diego, where 
he received his degree in political science, and Santa Clara University 
School of Law. He practices law at the Law Office of Katherine R. Moore 
in Redwood City.
  Prior to joining the city council, he served on the Board of 
Directors of School-Force!, a nonprofit raising funds for Belmont and 
Redwood Shores schools. His interest in city policy began as he noticed 
a lack of cooperation between the city and school district. As he put 
it, ``It was more like two fists pounding together than two hands being 
aligned and I didn't like that.'' In 2013, he threw his hat into the 
ring to create more family-friendly policies and those more amendable 
to working families.
  Throughout his time on the city council, Charles Stone has been 
focused on housing, transportation and economic development. After two 
terms on the council, and after many long nights discussing housing and 
the city's general plan, Belmont is one of the few cities in San Mateo 
County that is on track to meet its state-mandated goals to produce 
affordable units. The most recent development, Firehouse Square, is 100 
percent affordable and has 66 units adjacent to the Belmont Caltrain 
Station. There are 331 units of affordable housing built in recent 
years or in the pipeline, along the El Camino Real transit corridor. 
Charles has been a leader in making this new housing a reality.
  As a councilmember, he serves as the council's representative to 
seven intergovernmental agencies and to multiple nonprofits. He has six 
council committee assignments.
  However, his most time-consuming assignment outside of the council 
chambers is his role as a member of the board of our local transit 
agency, Samtrans, and as a board member of the Peninsula Corridor Joint 
Powers Board (Caltrain). He is an undisputed regional leader in 
transportation. He successfully negotiated, along with two other local 
leaders, for the payment of $35 million to Samtrans for its 1991 
purchase of the Caltrain right of way on behalf of three counties. For 
more than a year, and in the midst of confusion and finger pointing by 
leaders in other counties, Charles repeatedly and publicly read the 
terms of the longstanding contract and demanded that the terms not be 
changed without appropriate repayment of the outstanding debt. The 
money and new terms were approved this year, marking a rare moment when 
San Mateo County and its transportation interests were treated equally 
by the other two counties.
  Charles fought successfully to raise the minimum wage in Belmont. He 
twice served as Mayor. He worked with a neighboring community to end 
traffic gridlock near a high school. He supported his police department 
while embracing the need for change to ensure equity. He also supported 
the arrival of Stanford University to the campus of a small liberal 
arts university long located in Belmont. During his time on the 
council, bioscience discovered Belmont. Councilman Stone supported 
conversion of office space to lab space and the construction of new 
labs. During the darkest days of the pandemic, Charles and his 
colleagues created a $100,000 fund for local businesses, adding to 
state and federal small business funds. He also appropriately chastised 
the federal government's business pandemic relief programs for leaving 
too many behind and for operating with insufficient controls. ``Had 
[the federal government] dug in a little more and spent more time on 
this I think we'd be in better shape today,'' he noted in April 2020. I 
think the GAO auditors tracing fraud would agree with Councilman Stone.
  It is now time for Charles Stone to step down from the city council 
and to regain time to hike with his daughters, Sophia and Sara, around 
Waterdog Lake. I want to thank him for putting his astute mind to use 
on behalf of working and middle-class families in San Mateo County for 
over 10 years. He can honestly state that the difference he made is 
cast in concrete, framed in steel, and sits within a beautiful city 
blessed with green hills and oak trees that he cherishes. He improved 
the lives of tens of thousands. This ex-rugby player is temporarily 
leaving the field, but the score on the board shows that, despite 
occasional injuries and perhaps a few involuntary blood donations, he 
was key to delivering a win for the people of Belmont.

                          ____________________