Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Supervisor Ray Mueller, District 3
Subject: Appointments to the Agricultural Advisory Committee
RECOMMENDATION:
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Recommendation for the appointments of the following members of the Agricultural Advisory Committee, each for an initial partial term in position ending September 30, 2026:
A) Cole Mazariegos-Anastassiou, representing Agricultural Business Representative; and
B) Daniel Theobald, representing Farmer/Grower.
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BACKGROUND:
The Agricultural Advisory Committee (AAC) is established to advise the Board of Supervisors on all matters related to agriculture within the County of San Mateo. Members of the AAC are appointed by the Board of Supervisors and represent various stakeholder categories, including Farmer/Grower and Agricultural Business Representative.
As reflected in the AAC bylaws, the positions of Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson are to be held by Farmer/Grower members. Currently, there is a member appointed to the AAC who is unable to serve as a Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson as an Agricultural Business Representative, but meets the criteria of Farmer/Grower. To qualify this member to serve as a Chairperson/Vice-Chair, a request was made to vacate their current seats and be appointed to fill the other’s seat for the remainder of their terms.
DISCUSSION:
The above-recommended appointments require board approval for designation of members’ represented categories and terms. AAC member Cole Mazariegos-Anastassiou, who is a Farmer/Grower member, is also an active agricultural businessperson at Brisa Ranch in Pescadero. Cole has agreed to vacate his farmer/grower seat and represent as Agricultural Business Representative on the AAC. AAC member Daniel Theobald, who serves as Agricultural Business Representative, is also an active farmer. Vacating the agricultural business seat and appointing Theobald as Farmer/Grower allows him to serve as AAC Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson.
Upon approval, each member will be appointed to the existing term of their new represented seat. Daniel Theobald and Cole Mazariegos-Anastassiou were both appointed to the AAC in July 2023 to partial terms ending September 30, 2026. Upon approval of this memorandum for their appointments, their new seats carry the same partial expirations dates of their prior seats, and will reflect as an initial partial term ending September 30, 2026.
Daniel Theobald is a builder, farmer, and investor who loves turning big ideas into global solutions. He has been actively farming on the coastside for ten years. Founder of 127-acre Twisted Fields research farm, Rancho San Gregorio, Daniel also owns a 50-acre greenhouse property in Half Moon Bay under Mister Sunshine LLC (formerly Bay Cities Flowers). Through sustainable and regenerative farming to create a thriving ecosystem, Daniel grows fruits, vegetables, grains, cows, goats, chickens, geese, and ducks, and sells eggs to most of the local general stores. Daniel was chosen as the top student in the School of Engineering at MIT by the faculty, and was awarded fellowships from the Ford Foundation, National Science Foundation, and Hertz Foundation. He is chairman of FoundersGuild.org, with a mission to improve financial outcomes and quality of life for founders worldwide. He advises venture capitals, founders, governments, and fortune 50 companies. He has 67 patents and 30 pending. He believes founders can be the solution to many of the world’s problems when they are armed with an understanding of how the systems operate.
Since 2019, Cole Mazariegos-Anastassiou has worked full-time on growing Brisa Ranch in Pescadero, and leads Brisa’s sales, marketing, harvest coordination, orchard production, and greenhouse production. Cole has served on the San Mateo County Agricultural Advisory Committee since 2023. While growing up interested in farming with extended family members in agriculture, he began building his farming expertise as a college student at UC Davis, where he graduated in 2012 studying agriculture, wildlife conservation biology, and animal behavior. He worked extensively in conservation, working on a USFW-funded project breeding critically endangered Mexican wolves for reintroduction into the wild and doing wildlife research in Yellowstone National Park, the Peruvian Amazon, and Honduras. In 2015, Cole apprenticed in Pie Ranch’s Emerging Farmer program in Pescadero. From 2016-2018, Cole managed Green Oaks Creek Farm in Pescadero, CA, a six-acre certified-organic diversified vegetable, fruit, and flower operation that sold at farmer’s markets and to restaurants and other small local businesses.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None.