Mountain View Hires Justin Mates as City Attorney

The city is bringing in San Mateo County's assistant county executive to lead its legal office.

Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in People

Mountain View Hires Justin Mates as City Attorney

Live Poll

Do you trust your local government to spend public money wisely on salaries?

Mountain View plans to hire Justin Mates, currently assistant San Mateo County executive, as city attorney at an annual starting salary of $400,000. His first day in the role is January 4.

Why it matters

The appointment places a senior county official with a background in public finance, tax, real estate and litigation in charge of the city's legal work. It also sets the compensation level for the position.

Mates's annual starting salary is $400,000, and his first day as city attorney is January 4. The extraction does not include a comparison to prior compensation for the role.

The players

Justin Mates

Justin Mates is the assistant San Mateo County executive and a former Deputy County Attorney who has spent his career in public finance, tax, real estate and litigation.

San Mateo County

San Mateo County is the California county where Mates has worked since 2012 and currently serves as an assistant county executive.

The details

Mates holds a political science degree from Stanford and a law degree from Harvard. He joined San Mateo County in November 2012 as a Deputy County Attorney, where he specialized in public finance and tax, real estate and litigation, and previously worked in private practice and for an international development nonprofit.

November 2012: Mates joins San Mateo County as a Deputy County Attorney.
January 4, 2027: Mates starts as Mountain View city attorney.

Market Landscape

Mates's move from county government to a city attorney post reflects a pattern of senior public-sector lawyers shifting between jurisdictions within the Bay Area. The extraction does not document this as a broader regional trend.

Mountain View residents will see the city's legal office led by a new attorney starting January 4. The extraction does not describe any direct change to city services or fees.

The takeaway

Leadership changes in city legal departments often reflect how cities recruit experienced county-level attorneys for complex public finance and litigation work. Readers tracking local government can watch the January 4 start date for the new city attorney's first actions.