The past year as Mayor of Foster City has been a challenge and a joy. My primary objective during the past year was to achieve a unified, conflict free City Council. While I am a realist regarding politics, it is profoundly disturbing to see a City Council that fails to recognize the equality of all council members. Therefore, in every public pronouncement as Mayor and in every public presentation, I always referred to actions and achievements as those of the City Council-not the Mayor.
The role of the Mayor in my opinion is to be a fair and honest chairperson at City Council meetings. I attempted to do this by seeking the opinion of each council member on every issue before speaking to the issue as Mayor. Furthermore, I followed the principle that the Mayor does not initiate action, but assures that the Council addresses every facet of an issue prior to taking action. Above all, I attempted to keep meetings crisp, to the point, and on schedule.
I have the highest regard for the wisdom of Foster City residents. I think that given facts on an issue, our residents make good decisions. In my role as Mayor, I always kept that in mind. The most difficult part of being a City Council member is assuring that our residents have the facts on every issue. Our city staff works very hard to provide you with all of the information available on every important public issue. It is rewarding when a City Council meeting is attended by well-informed and interested residents who feel their voices must be heard. It is equally disturbing to find a crowd of residents who are not well informed on an issue. At those meetings patience is essential to successful and informed resolution of the issue at hand.
It is important for an effective City Council to have a fair and equitable rotation of the offices of Mayor and Vice Mayor among all five of the City Council members. To do otherwise is petty and destructive. I do not expect unanimity on every issue that comes before the City Council. I believe legitimate differences are healthy. I also believe that it is unhealthy to oppose a colleague on an issue based on a disagreement that is not germane. It is gratifying to now have a City Council that has grown out of such petty and destructive practices and supports equitable rotation of the Mayor and Vice Mayor.
Many residents have asked why Foster City?s Mayor is not elected directly by the voters. I always respond that Foster City is a General Law City where the California Constitution is our ?general law?. The California Constitution establishes that every council member, including the Mayor has only one vote. Even a directly elected Mayor can only have one vote. It is my firm opinion that we are best served by a city council with peer equality. The Mayor is elected by this peer group and every council member should have their turn as Mayor.
I am confident that Foster City voters have elected a strong and competent City Council that will serve Foster City residents and businesses very well.
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