The Future of Foster City is Ours

December 19, 2018

It has been an amazing experience getting to the “starting line”.  The past few months have re-affirmed my belief in you, my community.  We are capable, dynamic, and hungry for success.  You want to be heard and, collectively, we want thoughtful solutions to the regional and local challenges we are facing.

I have been told I must be loyal to my constituents, I must stand up for them, and I must ensure their beliefs have representation on the Council.  That begs the question, “who are my constituents?” Are my constituents limited to people whom I know voted for me? Absolutely not.  All of you, regardless of whom you voted for, are my constituents.  It is my responsibility, along with my colleagues on the Council, to nurture a collaborative culture within our community and within the region.  We must have a healthy line of communication between us to identify solutions based on compromise when we, as a community, are not unified.

I will not be successful at representing you without your involvement.  Over the next year, we have some challenges we need to tackle with regards to infrastructure, traffic, and budget management.  We have opportunities to further quantify what our City will look and feel like in the future, improve our relationship with the elementary school district, and discuss the possibilities for enhancing our commercial experiences.  We have a City Council Vision & Policy Summit scheduled for February 4th, 2019; it would be great if you could send me your thoughts before then!

I took two weeks off after the election and I have been working hard for us since then.  I completed my new Council Member training and I have weekly meetings with our City Manager, Jeff Moneda.  By next week, I will have completed my first round of meetings with the Directors of every department.  I am diving into the Recreation Center Master Plan, progress on the Parks Master Plan, and budget study sessions and final budget documents for the past two years.   I completed my research on liaisons and subcommittees and have submitted my requests to Sam Hindi the day after he was elected Mayor.

I met with San Mateo-Foster City School District Superintendent Dr. Joan Rosas and have identified topics of discussion as well as data she has committed to share with me and the Council. I met with Council Members from San Mateo, Belmont, and San Carlos to introduce myself and learn about areas of collaboration.  I attended my first C/CAG meeting and learned about the vision for U.S. 101 Managed Lanes. I attended the 22nd Assembly District Meeting held by Assembly Member Kevin Mullin; I will be meeting with him in January to provide input into legislation supporting early childhood education.  Finally, I have met with over 200 members of our community in an effort to stay connected right here at home.

In the future, I will not be providing a status update to you in my Council Corner.  I will be picking a topic of interest and diving into it.  Because of the timing of this article, I wanted to share what I have been up to for the past few weeks.  I am committed to representing you to the best of my ability and, along with my colleagues, standing up for you.  We have an opportunity to either focus on the divisiveness of the past or lead the effort towards a brighter future.  I hope you will stand with me, this Council, and your community to make Foster City the best it can be.

Please reach out to me at sgehani@fostercity.org. I am considering hosting an event monthly if there is enough interest from you to join me on this journey.  I hope to hear from you soon!