MCC Midcoast Community Council’s (MCC) Candidate Forums for Harbor District 4

At the Regular Board meeting of January 15, 2020, Commissioner Nancy Reyering was voted in as President of the Harbor Board of Commissioners for the calendar year, 2020.

At a special meeting of the Harbor Board of Commissioners on September 19, 2019, Commissioner Reyering was elected to the office of Vice President in addition to her office of Secretary.. .

At the January 16, 2019 Regular Board meeting, Commissioner Reyering was elected to the position of Secretary by the majority of the Board.

Commissioner Nancy Reyering was elected to the San Mateo County Harbor Commission in November 2018.

Nancy is a lifelong peninsula resident.  She graduated from Stanford University with degrees in Linguistics and French.  During her professional career, she founded a property development and management company specializing in executive office complexes in Atherton, Menlo Park, and Redwood City.  As a volunteer she has taught high school (AP French), served as VP at Stanford Professional Women Alumnae Association, and is currently a director of the Committee for Green Foothills.

Awards for Ms. Reyering’s work include a San Mateo County Sustainable Development Award, and Woodside Environmental Champion.

As a third generation Californian, and a sailor from a young age, Ms. Reyering has sailed out of almost every port in San Mateo County, and has lifetime interests in our coast and marinas.  Nancy will work collaboratively with the public and fellow commissioners to ensure the mission statement of the Harbor District is met.

At the January 15, 2020 Regular Board meeting, Commissioner Chang Kiraly was voted in to the positions of both Vice President and Secretary of the Harbor Board of Commissioners.

Commissioner Chang Kiraly was elected as President of the Harbor Board of Commissioners at a special meeting on September 19, 2019.  She was previously Board President in 2018.

At a special meeting on November 16, 2015, the Board of Commissioners interviewed six candidates seeking to fill the vacancy on the Board. Virginia Chang Kiraly was appointed by the Board to fill the vacancy,  Commissioner Chang Kiraly ran for a four year term in 2016 and won, being elected to a four year term on the Harbor Board.  She was re-elected to Vice President of the Board on January 18, 2017.

Virginia earned her B.A. in Government and Economics from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2007, she was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to the California Commission for Economic Development. She served on the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury for two years from 2007-2009 and as Foreperson from 2008-2009. During her time on the Civil Grand Jury, she led an effort to connect public school fire alarms to first responders, such as fire departments (2008-2009); curb public employee pensions in San Mateo County cities (2008-2009); and discourage public agencies from using cash out re-funding of their general obligation bonds (2007-2008)– a practice that has since been deemed illegal in California.

Virginia has fifteen years of professional experience in corporate financial analysis, planning, and investments. She is a former Senior Director of the Nasdaq Stock Market and has worked at some of the country’s leading financial institutions.

She serves on the boards of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, Silicon Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross, California State Parks Foundation, and Sequoia High School Education Foundation. She is the founder and President of Ring The Bell Fund, which was established in 2012 to advocate, educate, and raise funds for school fire alarms to be connected to first responders and for automatic sprinklers to be installed in schools. She is a member of the San Mateo County Community College District’s Measure G Parcel Tax Oversight Committee and the Sequoia Union High School District’s Career Technical Education Steering Committee. She is a guest lecturer on “Women & Management” at Notre Dame de Namur.

A daughter of Chinese immigrants, Virginia was born and raised in Austin, Texas. She and her husband, Ken, live in unincorporated West Menlo Park with their two sons.

Contact information for Virginia Chang Kiraly:

At the Regular Board meeting on January 15, 2020, Commissioner Tom Mattusch was once again voted in as Treasurer of the Harbor Board of Commissioners.  Commissioner Mattusch has served as the Treasurer in 2018 and 2019.

Commissioner Tom Mattusch was first elected to the San Mateo County Harbor Commission in November 2014, and re-elected in November of 2016. He was elected as President of the Commission,  re-elected for a 2nd term  at the Board Meeting of January 18, 2017.

Captain Tom Mattusch is the owner/operator of the Huli Cat, a charterboat in Pillar Point Harbor. He has fished the West Coast since 1967. He fishes for salmon, rockfish, tuna, Dungeness crab, flatfish and Humboldt squid. Tom also participates in Nature Trips, Bird Watching, Whale Watching and ash scattering at sea. He was a Member of the CA DFW Salmon Stamp Committee, License Agent Advisory Committee, NOAA’s Sportfishing Action Team and is an Ambassador for DFW’s Fishing Passport Program. Tom was a Member of the Regional Working Groups for the Central and North Central Coast Region to assist in the creation of the network of marine reserves along the coast. Past Board Member of the Golden Gate Fishermans Association and the Fishery Enhancement and Research Foundation. He is currently on the Board of Coastside Fishing Club and assists the National Weather Service as a Marine Users Group member. Tom has collaborated with the PCFFA and Institute for Fisheries Research on research projects. In addition to charterboat activities Tom participates in fisheries research with NOAA/NMFS, The Nature Conservancy and has completed projects with Scripps, Point Reyes Bird Observatory and Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. He has participated in Exempted Fisheries Permit projects for chilipepper and other underutilized species. Tom has experience in healthcare operations management and an MBA in Management. A former competition freediver, underwater hockey player, Tom has worked out of Pillar Point Harbor since 1992.

In November 2012, Brennan was first elected to the SMC Harbor Commission. Brennan received 120,656 votes from a field of six candidates. She beat two longtime incumbents and received over 25,000 more votes in a landslide victory.

In November 2016, Commissioner Brennan was re-elected to the San Mateo County Harbor District Board of Commissioners. Brennan received 156,292 votes from a field of five candidates. She received the highest number of votes for a 4-year seat.

In 2015, she advocated for the inclusion of women in the Mavericks big wave surf competition, she persuaded the California Coastal Commission to require that women athletes be included. Building on her success at Mavericks, she co-founded the Committee for Equity in Women’s Surfing and led the charge for global equal pay in professional surfing. She’s made numerous remarks and given presentations at Coastal Commission hearing and State Lands Commission meetings. In 2018, she successfully advocated for gender pay parity. Her work is the subject of two documentary films, hundreds of news stories including the the New York Times Magazine feature published Sunday, February 10, 2019, “The Fight for Gender Equality in One of the Most Dangerous Sports on Earth.”

She serves as an elected San Mateo County Democratic Central Committee member and delegate to the California Democratic Party and is the founder of the Coastside Progressive Democrats.

Commissioner Larenas was re-elected to his seat on the Harbor Board of Commissioners in November of 2018.

Commissioner Larenas was elected as Secretary of the Harbor Board of Commissioners at the Board Meeting of January 17, 2018.

Edmundo Larenas was re-elected to a four year seat on the San Mateo County Harbor Commission November 6, 2018.  Commissioner Larenas was elected originally for a two year seat on the Commission November 2016.

Commissioner Larenas was voted to the position of Treasurer at the SMCHD Board Meeting of January 18, 2017.