CHP Officer to Run for City Council

Sergeant Paul McCarthy, 44, is no stranger to serving his community and his country. After serving as a Mt. Carmel parishioner and U.S. Army Captain, he plans to use another avenue: politics. McCarthy will challenge the for one of the city council seats in the upcoming November election.

In addition to facing Alicia Aguirre, Ian Bain, Rosanne Foust and Barbara Pierce, McCarthy will also be running against anti-Cargill candidate , who announced his intention to run for a seat in July.

McCarthy said he won’t be running on a specific platform, but a general desire to maintain the progress of the community and continue moving forward.

“Since moving here in 1999, things have changed so dramatically and positively that I want to keep that momentum going,” the 12-year resident said.

He said he didn’t realize all the incumbents were running, but he still felt the need to “do his part.”

“Redwood City’s a great place and I want people to consider it a destination,” he said. McCarthy explained that places like University Avenue in Palo Alto were considered destinations, places where people from all over the Peninsula headed on a night out to enjoy entertainment and great restaurants.

McCarthy said Redwood City was on its way towards this label, with the theatre and plus new businesses like and .

He said he wants residents from San Carlos and Menlo Park and Woodside to head to Redwood City to frequent the businesses and draw more crowds into town.

“This job would be creatively challenging but I can be a valuable contributor,” he said. Though he couldn’t talk much about the specifics of his job, serving his community is second nature to McCarthy.

McCarthy and his wife, Catherine, are also parishioners at , where their young children also attend .

McCarthy was a U.S. Army Captain from 1991 to 2007 and was stationed in Fort McClellan, Alabama, San Luis Obispo, California and Fort Bragg, South Carolina.

He was awarded the Bronze Star & Combat Action Badge for his time in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2007.

He worked with fellow soldiers on community projects such as building schools and hospitals to make the Afghans more sustainable.

“The Taliban hated it because they didn’t like education,” McCarthy said. “They saw us doing this and it made them nuts.”

The Taliban would see the soldiers’ efforts and would burn down schools regularly. McCarthy also had to be aware of IEDs, or improvised explosive devices, that could be triggered at any moment. McCarthy lost a soldier to a powerful IED and two to a suicide bomber. He said the Taliban didn’t want anything taught in schools except the Quran.

McCarthy has dodged many a sticky situation, but the political realm is an entirely different battle. Issues like the proposed have stirred up heated debates in Redwood City, debates that McCarthy would have to address as a city council member,

When asked about his stance on the proposed Cargill Saltworks development, he acknowledges that the land is indeed private property and does not want to infringe on Cargill’s rights as property owners.

“It’s not for others to dictate how that land is used, and to possibly change its value,” McCarthy said.

He did have some questions himself, noting the potential change it could bring to the scrap metal industry down there. He said the project could adversely affect the industry by bringing in thousands of residents.

“You put in condos across from Sims Metal and they ,” he said. “We have to consider the secondary and tertiary effects.”

McCarthy said he won’t be taking any political contributions, and plans to spend almost zero dollars on his campaign. He said he will set up a Facebook page later this month.

He has also set up his Google profile, in which he also explains his love for the city, “I believe that we have one of the greatest communities on the Peninsula and I want to make a positive contribution to the future of our magnificent city.”