In a first for Belmont, the city on December 13 installed Julia Mates as its first mayor elected at large. Mates took the gavel as the council also welcomed its two newest members, Gina Latimerlo and Robin Pang-Maganaris.
Mates’s election marked the first time in the Peninsula city’s nearly 100 years that a mayor was elected instead of appointed from the city council. It also set another Belmont milestone; Mates is the city’s first Chinese-Jewish mayor. She will serve a two-year term, also a first for Belmont.
The City’s newest councilmembers were elected by district to the five-member council. Latimerlo, a private vocal teacher from District 1, and Pang-Maganaris, a retired elementary school principal from District 3, will serve four-year terms.
At the meeting, the council selected Davina Hurt as vice mayor until December 2023. Belmont also recognized departing councilmembers Charles Stone and Warren Lieberman, who had served for nine and 17 years, respectively.
