City Council Candidate: Marge Colapietro

Editor’s note: This is the sixth and final article of a series of six profiles of Millbrae candidates.

In the 39 years that Marge Colapietro has lived in Millbrae, she thinks the last four have been the city’s most challenging.

She blames the country’s overall economic malaise for the majority of Millbrae’s financial problems. And as she runs for her second term on the city council, she wants voters to consider her commitment and determination to the city’s welfare.

“In the four years that I’ve been on the council, I have kept all the promises that I made in 2007,” she said.

As a result of the economy, Colapietro said it was heartbreaking for her to cut city employees’ salaries during her tenure.

Nonetheless, “we are here to serve the people, the people are not here to serve us,” she said.

Colapietro has been a proponent of shared services with neighboring cities. Regarding the police department, she does not think it is fair to lay off four to eight city employees to hire a full-time police chief. 

But, she wants to ensure that the same level of service is maintained if the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office replaces the Millbrae Police Department.

The sheriff's proposal would save the city about $167,000 in personnel costs, according to a city staff report, but the total full-time police employees would be reduced from about 30 to 16.

The Sheriff’s Office would offer jobs to all full-time Millbrae police employees, according to Sheriff Greg Munks.

She said one benefit of outsourcing is that Millbrae would not have to pay overtime if an officer is sick or on leave, saving the city over $400,000 annually.

Although budgets are tight for the city and residents alike, Colapietro hopes people consider supporting local businesses as much as possible, raising revenue for city services.

She said she is happy that Millbrae has become a regional culinary magnet, but wants to attract retail stores to the downtown as well.

“I would like to see a clothing store for teens for example,” she said, noting that many of today’s young adults receive big allowances that her generation only dreamed of.

If Millbrae had more stores catering to teens, many of them might choose to shop downtown instead of the Hillsdale or Tanforan malls, she said.

Ideally, if the city had more money, Colapietro would like more night lights and signs installed downtown to allure more shoppers.

But for now, she is focusing on the financial issues. As the only incumbent, she stresses that her experience and knowledge will help resuscitate the city’s weakened economy.

“I’m proud that I’ve never missed a council meeting, and I always come prepared,” she said.

Correction: The article previously stated that Marge Colapietro has lived in Millbrae for 36 years, it is actually 39.