My First 100 Days
April 10, 2019
Last month marked the completion of my first 100 days as a Councilmember. I think it’s a great opportunity to reflect on the past three months and share a snapshot of what I’ve been up to, my experience thus far, and my outlook for the future.
It has been a fast transition to the role and broadening of my thought process and analysis and continued evolution and refinement of my views and positions on various topics. I went through a steep learning curve, with the help and support from the City staff and my mentors. I realized the depth of the issues and multi-dimensional analysis required to come up with a decision or a point of view.
In my professional career, my approach in getting up to speed in a new role has been to first build a strong foundation of job content, formulate opinions and point of views based on facts, and invest in establishing relationships. This has always allowed me to hit the ground running effectively. I applied the same approach in this role and started by building an in-depth understanding of topics such as housing, aging infrastructure challenges, and economic development opportunities and challenges. I went through the budget planning process and met with various staff to better understand the City’s finances. I was assigned and have been serving as the Council Liaison for the Youth Advisory Committee, San Mateo Union High School District, Peninsula Traffic Congestion Relief Alliance (Commute.org), and the Foster City Communications and Public Engagement and Levee Council Subcommittees. I also started the efforts on establishing regional relationships and representing Foster City at regional meetings and events.
We, as a City Council, are a team with common goals. We may differ in our skills, perspectives, and ideas that we bring to the table, but we are unified in our love for our City and the passion, drive, and the dedication to serve our community. The City Council and the City staff worked together and made great progress in this short period of time and we are poised very well for productivity and success in the future.
In February, the City conducted its City Council Vision & Policy Summit where it identified and discussed its key priorities for the next two years. Then as the City Council moved into the strategic planning process, proposed goals and initiatives that met each respective priority focus area was discussed in greater detail, refining the associated strategies and prioritizing the necessary action steps. As a result, the Implementation Plan for the goals identified in the next 2 years was recently approved by the City Council.
One of the first, and by far one of the most important decisions that was brought up in front of the City Council was the “Traffic Relief Pilot Program” approval to address cut-through traffic down the City’s main corridor – E. Hillsdale Boulevard. Following over a year of discussions with the community and the City Council, the three-month pilot started in February of this year. Currently, the City is analyzing the feedback from our community on the pilot program and its feasibility to continue.
The challenges with our Recreation Center have been discussed for years. The City Council reviewed and accepted the Recreation Center Conceptual Design Plan Report, decided on the preferred conceptual design, and provided direction to staff to include as a Capital Improvement Project to be considered for funding as part of the FY 2019-2020 budget process. This does not authorize the expenditure of funds and would be brought back to the City Council for consideration. Because of the cost involved and the funding challenges, it will require a lot of courage for the City Council to make the right decision. Inaction on this is no longer a viable option. I am confident that the City Council will work together to achieve the best possible outcome for our community and our future.
To address the $78 million unfunded pension liability, an Additional Discretionary Payment (ADP) strategy was directed for $2 million originally reserved. I think, short term, it’s a good idea to evaluate the approach of addressing the pension liability every year, before we decide to formulate a policy on this.
We face unique challenges on the economic development front, because of our location and other factors. The exciting news is that the City is trying to move the needle again with renewed focus. A new local campaign, “Get It Here: Support Local Foster City” launched in March to connect businesses within Foster City to each other, to its residents, to the 15,000-daytime working population, and to visitors. Having a career in business, I am very passionate about economic development and have had several discussions with City staff & the Economic Development/Sustainability subcommittee members on potential ideas to continue the momentum. I also expressed the importance of continued monetization of our assets i.e. our parks and beautiful locations via regional events like the Summer Concert Series and the Fourth of July Celebration, while continuing to have local events targeted for residents only.
Attending events like ribbon cutting ceremonies for the Post Office and local businesses, and events like the Spaghetti Feed & Bingo with Lions and Rotary clubs, and special cultural events like Holi, gave me the chance to interact with our residents and get a better sense of what’s important for our community. Events like the New Mayors and Councilmembers Academy in Sacramento and the monthly Council of Cities meetings have helped me build relationships with our regional counterparts and understand the common challenges and opportunities we share with them.
Overall, it has been a whirlwind three months of learning, observing, and generally getting used to the rigor and the process. I have found myself and my views evolving as I gained knowledge, background, and context on various topics, and you will see that reflected in my future decisions and views. Challenges in the near future include deciding on the next steps on the Recreation Center, identifying next steps and a plan based on the results of the Traffic Relief Pilot Program and finding creative ways for continued efforts around economic development. Identifying ways to increase and diversify our revenue sources will allow us to address the needs and expenses of our aging infrastructure and will ensure that we will continue to have a balanced budget. Regionally, it is becoming more critical than ever for us to try even harder to ensure local control and fight the “one size fits all” syndrome. We must continue to represent Foster City and play a role in influencing the decisions on topics such as housing, traffic & transportation that would impact us. We need to be able to convey our City’s unique geographic location, articulate and highlight the steps we have already taken to address the housing crisis, and that we are already built out.
One of the sources of encouragement and motivation for my efforts has been the positive feedback from the community. I look forward to continuing to hear from you all. Please reach out to me at rawasthi@fostercity.org with questions or ideas.
