BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer
A former San Mateo career policeman will become the next manager of San Mateo County, the Board of Supervisors announced yesterday (July 5).
Mike Callagy, currently the assistant county manager, was a San Mateo police officer for 29 years before retiring and joining the county government in 2013.
On Nov. 1, Callagy will replace County Manager John Maltbie, who is retiring after 25 years in that post. Maltbie was county manager from 1989 to 2008 and returned in 2012.
Similar decision in Palo Alto
San Mateo County is the second mid-Peninsula government in two weeks to promote its second-in-command to the top management position. On June 25, Palo Alto Mayor Lis Kniss announced that Assistant City Manager Ed Shikada would take over for retiring City Manager Jim Keene. Both local governments went through nationwide searches to find their next top bosses, but ended up hiring from within.
Callagy will receive $332,800 base salary, lower than Maltbie’s current base salary of $398,237.
Callagy was picked after a nationwide search and interviews, according to county spokeswoman Michelle Durand.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to lead this great organization with a Board of Supervisors that is dedicated to seeing its constituents thrive and that supports our committed county employees who are making positive impacts to all who live, work and visit here,” Callagy said in a statement.
His priorities
Callagy said his priorities as the county’s top boss will be public safety, health, fiscal responsibility and promoting the board’s goals.
“Mike is a collaborative leader with deep roots in the community and a passion for public service,” Board President Dave Pine said in a statement. “In the last five years, he’s proven that he is able to get the job done, and he has the skills and vision to build on the strong foundation put in place by John Maltbie.”
When he retired from San Mateo, Callagy was deputy chief, and ran day-to-day operations.
In 2010, he led an effort to merge the Burlingame and San Mateo police departments, however the plan did not garner the support needed to complete the merge. Callagy would have been Burlingame’s police chief had the merger gone through.
Law degree
Callagy, a Foster City resident, has a law degree from Santa Clara University, a bachelor’s and master’s in public administration from the College of Notre Dame and a master’s in homeland defense and security from the Naval Postgraduate School.
In his 29 years as a cop, if he wrote an average of 5 speeding tickets a day, he would have handed out 37,700 tickets.