The day after the election, I drove down the street and was pleased to see most of the political signs were gone. It was refreshing to be able to see a normal landscape again. I think the over-enthusiasm of running for office created an epidemic of signage this year.
I enjoyed meeting new residents and discussing a variety of issues facing our community. New thoughts and ideas were fostered from these discussions and I appreciate all your suggestions. I thank all of you who voted for me. I am honored that you have the confidence in my ability to continue serving this community. I was disappointed that this election year brought out the worst in some people and it surprised me given the trend of politics in our City.
Thankfully it is over and we can put all the negative energy behind us and move the energy towards planning a course for the future. I want to congratulate Rick Wykoff on his re-election and welcome Art Kiesel to our team. I also want to commend the rest of the candidates for their interest in public service and desire to play a role in shaping our community. There is a lot of work ahead of us with the various projects in the works and we have a strong team to accomplish the tasks.
As I mentioned during the campaign, we must now turn our attention to the issues that will be the bi-products of these future developments. Public transportation and congestion management will be a high priority as these projects move through the planning process. We are also reaching the limits of our fundamental needs- of water to drink, of fresh air to breathe, of open space to enjoy and alternative sources of energy to make life easier and at the same time protect our environment.
We will organize a plan so we have a direction towards understanding our responsibility to this end. This Council will soon be rolling up its sleeves and preparing for long range planning to enable us to frame our City’s future. I encourage more community interaction so that residents may play a roll in the process. We all love our community, it’s well planned idea has been a strong foundation on which we have built a city we are all proud of and through a collective effort, we can continue this successful vision.
Again, thank you all so much for allowing me to represent you on the City Council!
I appreciate comments on this and other issues by emailing me at lkoelling@fostercity.org
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