Your Man Around Town!

"Why did I choose to be a councilmember?”

The answer won’t surprise you. To Serve, To Guide and To Make a Difference!

At the upcoming City Council meeting on February 20th, the City Council will be voting on the language to be used for the ballot measure to upgrade our levee. As you all know, our City needs to meet sea level rise as mandated by BCDC and to protect our cherished city from being placed in a flood zone by FEMA.

Please join me by voting to SUPPORT the ballot measure!

At the January City Council meeting, I proposed conversation to my colleagues to put money to lower the cost of the bond. A majority decided not to have the discussion; therefore I want to be clear on this, my vote at the January City Council meeting was in no way an indication of my support for the actual ballot measure itself. The levee is one of our most vital assets and should be cared for in the same manner as we would for any other major asset in Foster City.

Please join me by voting to SUPPORT the ballot measure!

On January 22nd, City Manager Kevin Miller and I held a gathering at the Community Center, open to everyone. The turnout was better than expected.

There were a lot of good questions. Such as why did we reduce the lane widths over the bridge on Beach Park Boulevard towards Shell Boulevard (Bicentennial Bridge)? The answer was, there was ample room to reduce the width of both lanes, thus allowing a bike lane. Another success that came from the reduction of lane width – reduced traffic speeds. Our Police Chief, Joe Pierucci, and Director of Public Works, Jeff Moneda supported this.

Another question asked was about the height of the levee. A resident who rides as recumbent tricycle almost daily was concerned about how high the wall might be once the levee has been upgraded? Jeff Moneda gave the answer – No more than 3 feet on average, but more important was his commitment to meet with her at City Hall to show the photos of the upgraded levee so that she would have a better understanding of the project. When I checked in with her and Jeff, I was told that she was pleased and felt more at ease with the Levee Project. I would encourage others to take a similar approach and to contact our Public Works Director, Jeff Moneda, with any questions or concerns regarding the Levee Project.

Yet another question was asked about traffic on Highway 92/101. Assistant City Manager, Dante Hall provided the answer about a new combined effort with San Mateo and Foster City, along with businesses in both cities to find solutions to reduce traffic. The 92 Corridor Alliance is a localized coalition of major employers, public agencies, non-profits and community leaders working together to reduce commuter traffic congestion and improve connectivity between multiple transportation modes along the 92 Corridor between Highway 280 in San Mateo and the Hayward Bart Station. A few ideas where shared, such as coordinated Commuter Shuttle Service, Water Taxi Services, and Bike Share Programs.

The new elementary school subject also came up and thanks to Joan Rosas Ed.D, the San Mateo Foster City School District Superintendent, she provided the answers and made herself available to anyone after the gathering.

Again, we as the residents of Foster City are lucky to have such good people working for us.

As I keep forging forward with a vision for the future of Foster City, one idea keeps coming up - “Foster City, a SMART CITY”. I mentioned this at the gathering and good conversation took place about the value of looking forward and using technology to the fullest.

At our recent City Council Study Session, City Manager Kevin Miller mentioned that City staff will be developing a community dialogue opportunity on basic City Finance and Budgeting for citizens or Finance 101. This conversation will be designed to provide citizens that attend a basic overview on how the City staff prepares the budget for City Council policy review as well as a basic overview of the entire budget process and a look at the structure of City finances. It should provide great insight to one of your City Council’s most important policy decisions, adoption of the annual budget. City staff anticipates this program to be presented in the upcoming months.

Our budget meetings began February 12th and will continue until we approve a final budget in June. The budget process is usually a collaborative effort among the City Council. I encourage everyone to pay close attention to this process, and the direction the City Council is taking.

I am here To Serve, To Guide and To Make a Difference!

If you wish to comment or share your thoughts, please contact me at gpollard@fostercity.org or (650) 286-3505.