Herb Perez - Council Corner
December 25, 2019
Championship Result-Oriented Leadership cannot be taught. It is learned and forged daily by the willing and the able. Those who chose to step up and serve can develop the skill sets necessary to become a Leader but not every potential leader can meet the mark.
October 16, 2019
Foster City continues to give back to all of us who are fortunate to live here. Many years ago, my family, like you, chose to live here and we doubled down. We decided to invest in our community, open a business here and serve in a variety of ways including philanthropy and public service.
March 20, 2019
Councils past, present, and future have and will consider what our community needs and desires. Simply stated, what can we add to our offerings to our City and its residents that will enhance their quality of life and sense of community? Various nonprofit sports groups, service clubs, and nonprofit activity groups like Boy and Girl Scouts undertake many of these offerings. The City works with these groups to provide them opportunities and venues to enhance our community’s quality of life.
February 13, 2019
Community is built and Culture is shared. Foster City is a community where each family brings their perspective and culture to virtually each aspect of their lives. We celebrate our diversity in action and in words. As a result, our lives are richer and fuller for these experiences. Our City provides the place however we create the environment.
January 24, 2018
Years past, a Foster City citizen group was asked to come up with a solution for overcrowded schools in Foster City. They offered a solution which made it to the ballot box, where it was defeated by the good voters of San Mateo & Foster City. Despite failing, it was a responsible solution to a difficult problem. Build a school on land already owned by the San Mateo-Foster City School District and create inventory for future students. However, enough tribute and dollars were not offered to San Mateo & Foster City parents, so it failed to make the mark.
Quietly with little pomp and circumstance, City staff and our elected leadership go about the day to day business of running a great community. Over the past years, we have created new and exciting means of interaction and communication so that we may share our goals and objectives with our community. Each elected official interacts with the community in different ways. Some choose service in local service clubs, others do business within the City.
“HOW EASY IT IS FOR SO MANY OF US TODAY TO BE UNDOUBTEDLY FULL OF INFORMATION YET FULLY DEPRIVED OF ACCURATE INFORMATION.” Over the recent months, I have noticed an increase in irresponsible and malicious behavior and purposeful misinformation. This has been perpetuated by the usual cast of questionable characters with questionable intentions and dullards and ne’er-do-wells. Unfortunately, the Internet creates an environment that allows one individual to post gossip and hyperbole to many individuals in a few keystrokes.
This past week the Council held a lunch session with the past leaders of our unique City. The City Manager and I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to share this past year’s initiatives and gather crucial input from our past Council members and City Managers. This group was invited in acknowledgment of a great tradition of dedicated political leadership contributing to a variety of components that we love about our great City.
In January, our Foster City Council held our Annual Policy meeting. As Mayor, along with our City Manager and the Council, we crafted a streamlined agenda with laser-focused outcomes. This was a departure from past practices and was welcomed by the Council, Staff and community. We created a short-list of priorities for the coming year and handed these off to Council-Staff subcommittees to develop action items for implementation.
This coming week, the Council will consider what policy initiatives we will move forward this coming year. We will consider many factors and rely upon our staff to provide us with accurate information and diligent analysis of that information so that we can formulate a plan of action. This will manifest itself in a variety of short, medium, and long-term goals for our community's benefit. The City is a business and as such relies upon the best practices of well-run business as a starting point.
