City Council

Foster City is a "General Law" city, meaning that we operate by the standard governing rules that are set up by the State of California for cities in our state. The City Council consists of five Foster City residents who serve the city on a part-time basis, and all of them serve the whole City. They are elected by the voters of the City to staggered terms of four years each. The City Council is the only body elected directly by the residents of Foster City (they are not elected by district). As the legislative branch of the government, it makes final decisions on all major city matters. The Council adopts ordinances and resolutions necessary for efficient governmental operations, approves the budget and acts as a board of appeals.

Compensation

City Councilmembers receive $496 per month. Councilmembers shall be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of duties imposed upon them by law or in the course of business on behalf of the City as authorized by the City Council.  In addition, each Councilmember receives $25.00 for each Estero Municipal Improvement District meeting attended, not to exceed three meetings per month. Councilmembers are also eligible for certain other City benefits such as medical and dental insurance.

Current Councilmembers:

Stacy Jimenez - Mayor, term date: December 2026 - sjimenez@fostercity.org
Art Kiesel - Vice Mayor, term date: December 2026 - akiesel@fostercity.org
Suzy Niederhofer - Councilmember, term date: December 2028 - sniederhofer@fostercity.org
Patrick Sullivan - Councilmember, term date: December 2028 - psullivan@fostercity.org
Phoebe Venkat - Councilmember, term date: December 2028 - pvenkat@fostercity.org