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District 3 January 2025 Newsletter |
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Happy New Year!
I hope 2025 brings you joy, health, and happiness. I am deeply honored to continue serve as your County Supervisor, and I remain committed to protecting and improving the quality of life for all residents of San Mateo County.
As we begin the new year, our hearts go out to all those effected by the fires in Southern California. Thank you to all the brave San Mateo County firefighters who have gone to fight the wildfire and thank you to everyone who has sent support to those in need.
The Southern California Fires have renewed our resolve to prepare for natural disasters here in San Mateo County. Supervisor Jackie Speier and I will be leading a County Ad-Hoc Committee to examine the lessons learned from the Southern California Fires to better prepare San Mateo County.
Additionally in the area of emergency response and resilience, our office has worked to highlight two critical issues: the rising costs and cancellations of home insurance, particularly for those living in rural, forested areas, and our County’s response to the Tsunami warning alert late last year.
You can read more about this work below.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out. Your feedback and insights help guide our work and make our community stronger. If you’d like to contact me or my team, simply email us at SMC_SupMueller@smcgov.org.
Looking forward to a great year ahead.
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 Supervisor Ray Mueller
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Pictured Above: Firefighters from the Coastside Fire Protection District assist crews battling blazes across Southern California.
During this past Board of Supervisor’s meeting, Supervisor Ray Mueller joined by Supervisor Jackie Speier said that the time is now to learn from the fires raging through Los Angeles and to examine ways to improve local preparedness.
“In San Mateo County, the lessons from devastating fires in Southern California weigh heavily on our hearts,” said District 3 Supervisor Ray Mueller. “As we hear the concerns of elected officials and residents, especially in our rural unincorporated communities, it’s clear: we must act now to strengthen our readiness for disasters of this scale. That’s why I am urging the Board to create an ad hoc committee to study the lessons from Southern California and assess our preparedness."
“Our collective responsibility is to ensure that when disaster strikes, we are ready—not just to respond— but to safeguard our communities, lessen the impact, and emerge more resilient than before,” Mueller said.
Click below to read more about how the County plans to prepare for future wildfires.
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Pictured Above: Supervisor Mueller with Chief Sampson and CalFire viewing two local prescribed burns, coordinated with SFPUC, Filoli Gardens, PG&E and other stakeholders.
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 to adopt a resolution calling for Governor Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency over the home insurance crisis. District 3 Supervisor Ray Mueller has been leading the effort, saying his constituents -- some of whom live in unincorporated areas -- are impacted by the soaring costs or outright cancellations of home insurance policies.
"At this point, it is not an exaggeration to say that the state is facing an insurance crisis in affordability and accessibility as it affects those in rural forested parts of the state the hardest, all in response to increasing wildfires and natural disasters," Mueller said. "I see it throughout my district. People are having their insurance canceled on them or they're having their rates go sky high, and it is an incredible problem."
That's why Supervisor Mueller and the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors joined the growing list of California counties urging Governor Newsom declare a state of emergency for California's insurance crisis. This would allow the state to actually bypass the rulemaking process and start implementing actions right now and requirements on the insurance market.
Click below to read more about home insurance crisis solutions.
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Pictured Above: Supervisor Mueller with Department of Emergency Management Director Shruti Dhapodkar, M.D. and Program Services Manager Ryan Reynolds at the tsunami townhall in Half Moon Bay.
Following the tsunami warning on December 5th, Supervisor Ray Mueller hosted office hours throughout his district to take resident feedback, ending with a townhall featuring emergency services stakeholders.
Supervisor Mueller has emphasized plans to improve preparedness with better text alerts, signage, evacuation maps, and updated online resources by February.
“We are learning from this experience and committed to making improvements so our community feels confident and prepared.”
Click below to read more about the townhall and the County's steps toward tsunami preparedness.
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