Project Summary
The County of San Mateo spans 455 square miles (1.178 sq. km.) with approximately 760,000 residents across 20 cities and County unincorporated communities. The County Government also features dozens of departments and partner agencies responsible for community services, and above all, ensuring the health and welfare of its constituents, businesses, and visitors.

In this context, County recognized the need for its first Ombudsman to develop and implement improved interdepartmental and interagency communications and coordination to resolve complex issues with "gray areas", which included - but were not limited to - one or more of the following variables:

+ Ambiguous regulatory definition(s) to otherwise clearly assign a responsible departmental or agency
+ Lapsed resolution activity (i.e., turnover of responsible staff, historical documentation errors)
+ Significant complexity requiring exceptional multi-departmental/agency involvement and coordination
+ Issues reported to departments or agencies unequipped to provide full resolution or response

I was selected as for this pioneering Ombudsman role to facilitiate resolutions to myriad issues, spanning building permits with complicated regulatory requirements; tracking down historical files alongside the County Counsel to resolve historical land development disputes; connecting unrelated County departments and agencies to address anomalous events - among many other circumstances. I engaged citizens, colleagues, and County leadership to resolve complex issues and regularly exercised public speaking, diplomacy, and dispute resolution skills to achieve resolutions for every case handled.