School Kid's Page

About Our City

This website is the official website of the City of Daly City.  There is a lot of information here, but if you need help finding more information, a librarian at the Daly City Public Library can help you.

How did Daly City become a city?

In the famous earthquake of 1906, many people in San Francisco lost their homes.  There were so many people without a place to live that some of them decided to leave the city to find a place to camp.  Many went south to stay on a dairy farm owned by John D. Daly, which was then around the top of the hill where today John Daly Blvd. ends at Mission Street.  Back then, this area was known as Vista Grande and there were only about 50 people living here.

In the next few years there were so many people here that that some community leaders thought that we needed to incorporate (join together to become a city) so that we could have rules, fire fighters, police officers, and such to serve the growing community.  There was vote about whether to become a city on March 18, 1911, and 138 people voted for it and 136 people voted against it.  Because John D. Daly had helped the people who came to the area, they decided to name the new city after him.  He was so happy that he gave a flower to every woman in the city.

Who's in Charge?

A city needs people in charge to make decisions and other people to take care of the people that live in the city.

The people of the city vote to decide who will be in charge.  The people that are chosen become members of the City Council.  There are five people on the Daly City City Council.  The five Council members choose one from their group to be the mayor.  These people vote on city laws.  The City Council hires a City Manager to be in charge of all the City departments and keep the City running.

City Departments 

The City has departments to take care of different things, for example the Fire Department puts out fires and rescues people when they get into trouble.  Daly City has nine City departments. 

To the Rescue!
Fire Department

Everybody knows that the Fire Department puts out fires, but they also make sure that buildings are safe and people are taught about safety so that if there is a fire, earthquake, or other emergency people are less likely to be hurt.  The Fire Department also goes out to help people when they get sick or hurt before they go to the hospital; the men and women that help hurt or sick people are called paramedics.  Daly City is lucky to have 67 Fire Fighters.

Police

The Police Department’s job is to make sure everyone follows the law (the rules).  If there has been a crime, they investigate to find out who did it and make sure that that person is punished so they won’t do it again.  There are 120 police officers in Daly City.

Building Daly City

Public Works

Public works are buildings, parks, and other things built by the city for the people that live here.  The Daly City Public Works Department takes care of our streets, sidewalks, and our City buildings, such as City Hall and the libraries.

Economic & Community Development

The Economic and Community Development Department helps people to build houses and start new businesses in Daly City.  They also make sure that when people build new buildings they are safe and won’t fall down.

Water & Wastewater

The Department of Water and Wastewater Resources takes care of all the pipes and other machines that keep our drinking water safe and make sure we have enough.They also take care of what goes down our sink and bathtub drains and down the toilet and make sure that it doesn’t get mixed with the water we drink.

Keeping the City Running

Human Resources

You have probably met some of the people that work for the city.  These people are called City employees.  There are police officers, building inspectors, secretaries, fire fighters, librarians – there are around 800 people working for the city.  The Human Resources department helps people apply for City jobs and become Daly City employees.

Finance

All people that live here pay money to the City (taxes) that is used for running the departments.  People also have to pay for water and for licenses.  The money is used to pay all the people that work for the city as well as for the tools – computers, shovels, brooms, trucks – that they need to do their jobs.  The Finance Department keeps track of all that money.

Making Daly City a Great Place to Live and Work

Library and Recreation Services

The Library and Recreation Services Department is all about fun.  They offer arts and craft classes, computer classes, sports, dance classes, swimming, and much more.  They have big halls that people can rent for parties.  They also take care of the parks so that we can play on the swing set or lie on the grass on a nice day.

There are over 186,000 books at the Daly City Libraries!  That’s a lot of books, which is why we have six librarians whose job it is to help you find the right one.  And the library doesn’t just have books – there are also videos, DVDs, music CDs, magazines, newspapers, books on tape, and computers to use.  We have four library locations so chances are there is one near where you live.  Come on by and check it out!

Daly City is the largest city in the San Mateo County. Daly City is also very diverse, meaning there are lots of people here from all races.  Below are some facts about our City.