Successful Policy in Action - October 11, 2017

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. But most are involved in a variety of different activities so that they can gather input from the residents who have chosen to elect them to lead.

In this Council Corner, I will deviate from my usual discussion of policy matters to share some of our City's successes. These are not a Council's successes but rather the successes of our residents, City staff and elected officials together.

This year, we adopted a budget that demonstrates a fiscally sound city that has resources to provide and maintain excellent quality of life. This has been a long-standing tradition of Councils' past and I am proud to say that this Council has continued that tradition.

We have addressed the need to create workforce housing for first responders and emergency personnel with our recent action to develop term sheet with Sares Regis and develop additional market rate units and work force housing. This first step will start a dialogue regarding the need to provide affordable housing for our City employees.

We have addressed global warming and the anticipated sea level rise and are completing work on the design of the Levee Project. This will allow us to move towards a bond measure in June 2018. This will not only protect our community from potential flooding but also from increased insurance rates.

We have listened to our community and approved a Lease Agreement with Edgewater Marine to expand those services to the community with facility support at Boat Park. The owner is a long time Foster City resident who services our community and its boat owners. He also provides a much-needed recreational amenity for non-boat owners.

As responsible citizens of our global community, we have implemented of a variety of sustainability initiatives including SCOOP carpooling, the KIVA loan program, and energy conservation through Peninsula Clean Energy. These are just the first in a series of initiatives to address our civic responsibilities.

Foster City under this City Council's leadership maintains its commitment to Public Safety so that we can remain one of the safest communities in the United States. We are working to complete the Fire JPA in partnership with the City of San Mateo and Belmont Fire Protection District to create more efficient fire protection services. We have realized tremendous savings over past years and will create a more integrated and responsive department to serve our combined communities.

This City Council and staff have implemented a four-part Community Dialogue Series. The third session will be held on October 11 with a focus on transportation & mobility. These dynamic conversations allow for two-way dialogue between City staff and our residents. We have also expanded the City's Communications program to connect with residents via all elements of social and traditional media.

Our City values its open spaces and we are extremely proud of the completion of a variety of Parks and Public Works infrastructure improvements as adopted in the annual CIP program.

Finally, we have completed the vision of Councils' past with the opening of residential Atria project at Foster Square and the retail located at TownePlace Suites (FedEx, Habit Burger, Panera, Mod Pizza).

Thank you for joining all of us on our mutual adventure. Together we make Foster City the best place to live on the Peninsula. We enjoy great service, great friendships, and great families. This is the result of a mutual desire to create the best community we can for our diverse population. I am proud to continue to have the opportunity to serve and coalesce our diverse opinions into action items on council agendas. Join me any Friday for a cup of coffee at Penelope's.