[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:00] In progress. Welcome to the City of Foster City, a stereo municipal improvement district regular meeting of Monday, May 19th, 2025, 630 PM. Members of the public that wish to attend and are participate in the meeting may do so in person or by joining the Zoom meeting. Public comments will be accepted both in person and via Zoom. Any email sent to public comment at fostercity.org have been provided to the council prior to the meeting.
[0:30] All right. Welcome. I will call this meeting to order.
[0:32] Senator, I do have one request of staff.
[0:34] It looks like we only have one door that's open, can we unlock one of the other two doors?
[0:40] Thank you.
[0:41] Why don't we begin with the Pledge of Allegiance, please?
[1:06] Thank you, next item, please.
[1:07] Item three, roll call, council members, ex officio, emid directors, Art Kiesel.
[1:12] Here.
[1:13] Stacey Neaterhofer?
[1:14] Sorry, Susie Neaterhofer, present.
[1:17] Patrick Sullivan, Phoebe Venkat, and mayor, president, Stacey Jimenez.
[1:22] I'm here. Next item, please. Item 4, special presentations 4.1, presentation by the San Mateo County Transportation Authority regarding US 101, State Route 92 Interchange Direct Connector Project.
[1:37] All right, we have Carolyn Memorandolo and Amy Linahan. Welcome.
[1:47] Good evening, council members, and thank you for having us here tonight to provide an overview of the
[1:53] U.S. 101 State Route 92 Director-Connector Project.
[1:57] Again, my name is Carolyn Mamaradlo.
[2:00] I'm a Senior Project Manager with the San Mateo County Transportation Authority.
[2:05] Joining me today are Jessica Manzi, our Project Delivery Director,
[2:11] as well as Van Acompo with the CCAG.
[2:14] And co-presenting via Zoom is Amy Lynn Han from our government and community affairs team.
[2:22] Before we begin the presentation, just want to start by acknowledging that we've started
[2:30] this project really on the wrong foot.
[2:33] There's information in the community about dozens of homes being taken by the project,
[2:39] which is rightfully alarming.
[2:41] And there are concerns that the project won't serve residents and that it's fully baked
[2:45] with no community input in the decision-making process.
[2:52] What we know now is that the current project alternatives will not require the purchase
[2:58] of any houses or parks, and I will go into more detail on this on a later slide.
[3:04] What we don't know and what we're still working on to complete this assessment is how the project
[3:11] may affect utilities in the area, whether CalTrans will approve the designs and what the potential
[3:18] noise and sound wall needs will be today
[3:25] we're here to assure that we're committed to creating
[3:29] a more transparent and engaging process moving forward and that no decisions about the project
[3:35] have been made yet illustrated on this slide is how the state defined environmental review process
[3:42] is designed to minimize harm and maximize public benefit we're here in this first part of the process
[3:51] us on the left, where all the technical studies are being done to inform what the potential
[3:56] project impacts and mitigations will be.
[3:59] And this is a complex iterative process, which is why findings are subject to change during
[4:05] the step, and may only represent a snapshot of what the ultimate comprehensive findings
[4:10] will be.
[4:12] Those findings will be compiled in a draft environmental impact report that's then circulated for public
[4:19] feedback so that everyone can have an informed conversation about whether or
[4:24] not to build this project. So we apologize for the way things have been
[4:29] communicated about this very complicated project to date but what we're
[4:34] looking forward to is getting more input today on better ways we can do this.
[4:44] So presentation today is three we're going to cover three main points. First is
[4:52] general overview of what the project is and how it came about. Second is sharing progress
[4:57] today where we're at within the overall project development process. And lastly we're going
[5:04] to share how we propose to get the public involved and have a discussion to get your input.
[5:14] So starting off with some background and how this project came to be, there's been a long
[5:19] Along history of public interest in fixing the traffic issues at the interchange.
[5:25] The 101-92 was identified as far back as the 1988 Measure A.
[5:32] Again, in the 2004 Measure A, and more recently in the 2018 Regional Measure III.
[5:39] These tax measures dedicate a portion of funding specifically for freeway projects.
[5:45] but also include funding for transit, bike, and pedestrian improvements, so it's not a zero-sum situation.
[5:53] The actual direct connector project was not identified in those tax measures, but was the recommendation from a 2016 planning study that involved the cities, CalTrans, SMCTA, and CCAG, to look at a range of possible solutions,
[6:11] and ultimately recommended two packages, comprised of short-term and long-term solutions.
[6:18] These each have since advanced as separate projects, the area improvements project and
[6:25] the direct connector project.
[6:30] Before we get to the direct connector project, I'm going to, project I'm going to touch briefly
[6:36] on the short-term area improvements project.
[6:38] The near-term project includes less complex, low-hanging fruit type of improvements at four
[6:45] ramp locations that are listed here to address safety and traffic flow issues.
[6:51] While these will provide some traffic relief, the overall demand and projected growth in
[6:56] congestion would still need to be addressed by the longer-term direct connector project.
[7:01] And this project is funded with local measure A, as well as federal, earmark, and regional
[7:07] measure three funding.
[7:13] The short-term area improvements project is currently under construction and scheduled
[7:18] to be complete by summer 2028.
[7:21] All of the improvements will be located within CalTrans property, and construction activities
[7:26] will be minimized during sensitive hours to avoid noise and light disruptions.
[7:31] Any work that may impact travel lanes will be focused overnight to avoid exacerbating traffic during peak travel times.
[7:40] CalTrans is the construction lead and handling all of the public information efforts.
[7:50] This brings us to the Direct Connector project.
[7:54] This project is intended to achieve the goals listed here by providing a new median ramp connector that would allow users to stay in the center lanes to get from one freeway
[8:05] to the other without having to cross multiple lanes.
[8:09] This new connector would be operated as an express lane,
[8:13] and that would be free for high occupancy vehicles,
[8:15] such as buses, shuttles, and carpools,
[8:18] and help to free up space in the general purpose lanes.
[8:22] This project was first initiated by the cities in 2019,
[8:26] and then in 2021, the cities requested that the TA and
[8:30] CKAC take over sponsorship due to the regional nature and
[8:33] level of effort required for a project of the scale.
[8:42] The project is currently in the environmental review phase.
[8:46] The purpose of which is to inform a decision on whether or not to pursue the project.
[8:51] There are four alternatives being studied.
[8:54] The first being a no-build option that would result in no changes to the interchange.
[9:00] The other three build alternatives will be detailed on the next few slides.
[9:04] If a build alternative is approved, the project may advance to future phases for design and construction, but
[9:11] will still be subject to funding availability.
[9:15] Currently, there are no funds secured for the design or construction phases of this project.
[9:28] For alternative one, this design would benefit peak morning traffic when there's more demand coming into the peninsula from the east.
[9:37] and drivers would enter the connector from the center lanes, lane of 92, heading westbound,
[9:45] and flying over to tie into both directions of 101.
[9:49] This would help users avoid having to cross multiple lanes to get to the existing connector ramps,
[9:55] which currently contributes to a lot of the delay and safety issues here.
[10:00] With this alternative, we expect a benefit to city streets by encouraging drivers to stay
[10:07] on the freeway instead of using J. Hart Clinton Drive, Hillsdale Boulevard and Fashion
[10:13] Island Boulevard shown here in red to get to 101.
[10:22] Going out of order a little bit, I'll move into alternative three.
[10:26] The direct connector would serve the opposite direction and start in the center express lanes
[10:32] of 101 and tie into ease about 92.
[10:37] This would serve demand in the evening hours and offer similar benefits to traffic flow
[10:44] and reduced cut through city streets as alternative one.
[10:48] This design would also provide traffic relief for residents using Hillsdale, Fashion Island,
[10:56] in Edgewater, Foster City Boulevard to get home, but are currently getting caught up in
[11:02] the traffic caused by all the eastbound 92 traffic.
[11:18] Finally, alternative two.
[11:20] This would provide a reversible lane facility that would use a gating system to change the
[11:26] flow of traffic on the direct connector from westbound during the morning peak hours to
[11:32] eastbound in the evening peak hours and provide the combined benefits of both alternative
[11:43] So for each of these alternatives, as I mentioned earlier, we've recently refined our assessment of the potential property impacts, which are summarized on this slide.
[11:55] None of the current build alternatives will require acquisition of parks or houses.
[12:01] Alternative three would not require any land beyond existing cash transfer property.
[12:06] However, for alternatives 1 and 2, there may be portions of residential yards, approximately
[12:13] through Andrew Square feet across multiple properties, as well as space within an existing
[12:19] utility easement, which is the area behind people's rear fences and the freeway sound wall,
[12:26] along the western side of Norton Street that may be needed.
[12:31] And again, these may change pending confirmation of what's required for those utilities,
[12:37] culture and safety and design standards, and what may be needed for the sound wall to mitigate potential noise impacts.
[12:48] Summarized here is the Environmental Review Schedule.
[12:51] It's over three years of work.
[12:53] Currently, our focus is on numerous engineering and environmental studies that are currently underway.
[12:59] The study findings are anticipated to be ready by fall next year, and will be compiled
[13:05] and circulated for public comment as part of the draft environmental impact report.
[13:09] Public comments provided and the draft AAR are then considered as part of a selection
[13:15] of a preferred alternative, and that gets wrapped up in a final EIR, and the TACCAD boards
[13:21] would then consider whether or not to advance the project.
[13:27] And throughout this process, there will be ongoing public engagement that AB will walk us through in more detail in later slides.
[13:38] The process for selecting the preferred alternative is illustrated on this slide.
[13:43] As I mentioned, community feedback is a key factor that gets considered along with potential environmental impacts, project benefits, design feasibility and cost.
[13:53] All these factors will be presented to the TA and C-CAC boards for consideration and feedback as the first step in the selection of a preferred alternative.
[14:03] That will then feed into a recommendation from the project development team, which is comprised of staff from CalTrans, T and C-CAC.
[14:12] And then ultimately, the selection is made by CalTrans, at which point if the project is approved,
[14:22] the decision, we'll be back to TACCAC boards on whether or not they would like to continue seeking funding for this project.
[14:35] So with that, I'm going to hand it off to Amy to cover the outreach plan.
[14:43] Good evening, everyone. Can you all hear me?
[14:46] First test of noon.
[14:48] Yes, we can.
[14:49] Thank you.
[14:50] Thank you for having us inviting us tonight to speak to you.
[14:53] I'm sorry I couldn't be there in person, but I'm happy to be able to join you remotely. My name is Amy Lynnahan.
[15:00] I'm a government, community affairs officer for the TA. I'm going to review the public participation plan that we are putting together for this phase of the project. Would like to get your feedback on some of the tactics that we've outlined, if we have time later on in the evening. But before I go through what announced to about two slides, I would like to take a quick step back and mention just a few things related to the environmental review process and how it relates to this project in particular.
[15:28] The environmental review process that Carolyn just outlined is clearly very long.
[15:34] It takes years to go from point A to point B to point C. And from members of the public
[15:40] that are not familiar with this process, they can be very frustrating to understand how
[15:45] to get their voice heard and how to get their voice heard in a meaningful way that can actually
[15:50] impact the decisions that are made between points A, point B and point C. And for projects
[15:57] It's like this that have created some very, very valid concerns for community members.
[16:02] That frustration can be really heightened because not only is this a long process,
[16:06] but it's very prescriptive.
[16:08] The process itself actually lays out exactly when and how the public can provide feedback
[16:14] in a way that it is considered to be on the record.
[16:17] Of knowing this, we have developed a public outreach plan that goes above and beyond
[16:22] the outreach that was done for previous phases of this project.
[16:25] and above and beyond what you would typically see
[16:28] for the release of a draft environmental impact report.
[16:31] Because at the end of the day,
[16:34] the TA does not want to be implementing projects
[16:36] that are not supported by data and the community.
[16:40] And I can't stress that enough.
[16:41] The TA does not want to be implementing projects
[16:43] that are not supported by the community.
[16:46] The public participation plan has a few goals as I see them.
[16:51] I want to provide the public and our stakeholders
[16:53] with an abundance of information about the project,
[16:56] given information about what we are studying,
[16:59] why we are studying it, give them a chance
[17:02] to meet with project staff, get their questions answered,
[17:06] and provide early input into the drafts VIR.
[17:09] That way, members of the community
[17:11] who want to participate in an upcoming
[17:13] Caltrans public comment process can do so
[17:16] in an informed manner.
[17:18] I also want to make sure that members of the community
[17:20] that want to participate in public comment process
[17:22] know exactly how and when to do that.
[17:26] I do want to acknowledge the fact that there has been some confusion about this project.
[17:31] It is a complicated process, but project and a complicated process, but we are committing
[17:36] to do a better job with our community outreach and clarifying any confusion people may have
[17:41] about the project.
[17:43] One of the reasons why we're here tonight is really important that people understand about
[17:48] this project.
[17:48] We're really strived to be more open, more transparent, and forthcoming with all of our projects that affect our local communities.
[17:56] We have committed to improving our communications.
[17:59] We will be providing monthly updates to our stakeholders and the community for anybody who's interested in receiving those.
[18:06] And you will continue to see us out in the community in the coming months and years to get that feedback.
[18:11] back. So moving to the first slide, we have divided this public participation into three
[18:18] phases. First phase, which we're in right now, focuses on explaining the project, explaining
[18:24] the process, and getting that early input. This all happens before the draft and environmental
[18:29] impact report is released. It actually started last summer with a sculpting meeting that we held,
[18:35] and it will continue until next summer. So we have another, approximately, another year to go
[18:40] this phase of the project. During this phase of the project, as I mentioned, we hope the scope
[18:44] and meeting were having regular updates with our board and the CCA board. We continued to coordinate
[18:51] with city staff and can provide council updates like this on a regular basis if needed. We did host
[18:59] a set of project neighbor virtual office hours where upon request, neighbors of the project would
[19:05] meet with the project staff asking questions they may have.
[19:09] We did host a neighborhood meet and greet this past weekend in San Mateo, again, where
[19:14] members of the public could come and personally meet with the project team asking those clarifying
[19:19] questions that may have.
[19:20] It was a good opportunity for us to maybe clear some confusion that's out there.
[19:24] We will continue to look for ways that we can be more out there in the public and engage with
[19:30] members of the community because we really are committed to doing that moving forward.
[19:33] We have identified some elements of the design phase that can be studied as part of the EIR.
[19:42] So we will be holding focus topic discussions with members of the community and stakeholders
[19:48] to get their feedback on those elements of the design phase.
[19:52] So we'll look for those focus topic conversations to come up as well during this phase.
[19:57] the project. Phase two, which really focuses on the release of that draft environmental
[20:04] impact report, we anticipate that we'll begin in fall of 2026 and extend into early 2027.
[20:12] This is really about talking about the project benefits and impacts as they are discussed
[20:17] in that draft environmental impact report. Again, we will be providing T.A. and C.C.C.
[20:22] board updates, state staff coordination will continue as we'll council meeting updates.
[20:29] CalTrans will release a draft environmental impact report and host a public comment
[20:33] period. It will probably be about 45 days long. We will make ourselves available at community
[20:39] meetings to meet with people and really distill down what is in that draft environmental impact
[20:45] report. It is a dense document. It is hard for the majority of people to really understand
[20:51] all the verbiage that's in there so it's our responsibility to make sure that they have
[20:55] blood information about what is said in the draft environmental impact reports that they can
[20:59] make informed comments and there will also be a public hearing. I've been telling people that
[21:05] this is really a critical phase of the project. For all of those people that are engaging with us right
[21:11] now, don't lose that momentum, make sure you come back, make sure you get your comments on the record,
[21:17] make sure that cattle trans and our board and CK sees all of these comments and we can really get a feel for what the
[21:24] sentiment is out there about what people want to see and what they don't want to see.
[21:29] And again, my job is to make sure that everybody knows how and when to comment.
[21:34] Our goal is to make it as easy as possible even if that means I stand in the room, back of a room with an iPad and help people walk through the process.
[21:43] I'm happy to do that.
[21:45] So yes, this is a really important time to make sure that you get those formal comments on the record.
[21:51] Phase three really focuses on the red lease and the final EIR.
[21:55] That will take place in probably about early 2027 to summer of 2027.
[22:01] The focus on that will be explaining what that final alternative is and providing members of the public details about that.
[22:08] It also includes a really important decision that our board has about whether or not they want to pursue additional funding through this
[22:16] project. So those are the three phases as we've outlined them from summer 2024 all the way to summer 2020 second.
[22:26] Next slide please.
[22:30] So I mentioned needing to get information out there about how people can participate. We have a number of public participation
[22:36] tools that we have set up, we have a dedicated project web page, a multi-lingual fact sheet
[22:42] which explains a lot of details about the project, a frequently asked section portion
[22:47] of the web page, and every meeting we have, all of those public meetings, they will all
[22:53] be publicized in a variety of different ways, whether that's physical, invitations, mail
[22:58] to people, neighborhood flyers, there will be a newspaper ad about that public comment
[23:04] period and telling people where they can go for the public meeting. We will continue to blast
[23:09] people, blast issue e-blast and there will be a variety of social media posts that we issue,
[23:15] both on our social media platform and and cal transfer really get the word out there and let people
[23:22] know what's going on. And so if this body has any suggestions for additional things we can do,
[23:28] additional tools that you may think may be useful for your community. You know the best
[23:32] We're happy to take any of those suggestions.
[23:37] And that is not the portion of the question.
[23:40] Oh, yes, next step.
[23:42] We will continue our environmental studies and engineering reports.
[23:45] We're going to finalize those focus topic discussions for next summer and then we'll continue
[23:50] to provide a city council update in fall of 2026 as we initiate face to average.
[23:55] That
[24:02] concludes our presentation and happy to answer any questions.
[24:08] Great.
[24:08] Thank you so much.
[24:09] So we'll start with questions from Council then turn to public comment.
[24:14] So when we start with questions, we'll go to Council Member Sullivan, do you have any questions?
[24:20] Just one question, what I appreciate your presentation.
[24:23] Right now, we haven't developed which plan we're going to do and we're going to investigate
[24:29] it.
[24:29] And I think the range right now is $200 million, and I guess the projected depending on what happens with the economy and everything else is somewhere around 400, which is double.
[24:42] Most of your fundings coming from state or federal money right now, we're seeing it cut back in our state and also federal government.
[24:50] And so I am a little bit concerned of an alternative for financing.
[24:56] Is there been any thought process in that?
[24:58] Because the financing is pretty scary right now.
[25:03] Yeah, again, so the prior planning study estimated that the project may cost around 200 million.
[25:11] So that's now an outdated estimate.
[25:15] We don't have a current estimate yet, but
[25:17] but it's likely that the project would cost more than 200 million and current funding for this phase includes local measure A funds as well as regional measure three funds, which is administered through the MTC.
[25:37] We would be looking to leverage those funds to compete for federal state funding in the future.
[25:45] if the project is approved and.
[25:51] So basically you don't have any answer because I appreciate I read the slides and I understand where the money is and we're hoping anyway what I was leading up to is that maybe you need to have an alternative plan if the funding's not there that's that was my only point anyway that's that's all my questions for now Madam Mayor.
[26:09] Thank you, Councilmember Venkin.
[26:13] Thank you, Carolyn, Amy, and team, for presenting today.
[26:19] One of the questions I have is around, you know, I wasn't able to find on research on my own
[26:24] any kind of case studies that show that highway widening and projects similar to this
[26:31] do help in the long term, right?
[26:33] I was able to find some examples of short-term relief.
[26:38] There was a project in Texas where they widened to 23 lanes.
[26:43] So they saw some immediate relief and then it went back to pre-condestion levels.
[26:48] Are there studies that we can refer to or examples we can refer to that will help us understand
[26:53] the impact that you're speaking about?
[26:58] Yeah, that's a great question I might have just help me with this one.
[27:02] Thank you for your question.
[27:06] Just Nancy, the Director of Project Delivery with the Transportation Authority.
[27:10] So the modeling and the analysis that we're doing now is going to help inform what sort
[27:15] of impacts and benefits we're going to see from a traffic standpoint.
[27:18] One of the unique elements of this project is that it's providing additional capacity for
[27:25] that specific segment between 101 and 92, but it's not changing the capacity of either
[27:32] 92 on one side or 101 on the other. So because those facilities aren't changing you still have
[27:39] the same volume of traffic that's going to go through the facility, but there's more space for
[27:44] that existing volume to use. And so the hope is that you shift some of the cars that are doing all
[27:51] of that merging and creating all that congestion on 101 and 92 to this direct connector so that those
[27:57] flow more freely, and you don't have that backup that keeps people, even folks that aren't using the
[28:03] interchange direct itself, that it clears up some of that congestion that you experience on either
[28:09] 92 or 101. So it's not exactly the same as, you know, adding even our ExpressLanes project on 101,
[28:17] or your Texas example where you're adding 23 miles of of highways. It's a different example because
[28:22] those in those cases you're actually adding new capacity that could be accessed from multiple
[28:33] sources. Thanks and a follow-up question I have is around the transit component and actually I know
[28:39] the answer I don't see a transit component in this plan and I think that you know that would be given
[28:48] and all the money that is going to be allocated to be spent on this potential project, I would
[28:54] think that we want to focus on transit, especially with cross-bay transit connections, because
[29:02] there's data that shows people, a lot of the people are commuting from East Bay to mid-Southern
[29:08] Peninsula, so strengthening those kinds of transit connections can be really helpful in
[29:14] alleviation congestion. So I know there's no component in this plan. Is there any way to be able to modify this plan and to be able to fit in and integrate transit?
[29:30] So it's an interesting question. So the funding, it depends a little bit on the funding source where the best opportunity is to incorporate transit into the project is as a mitigation measure.
[29:43] So any project within the state of California that increases vehicle miles traveled is required to mitigate those impacts
[29:50] And so one of the ways to mitigate
[29:53] What we call a VMT impact is through projects that reduce
[29:58] Driving so some of those
[30:00] Those options are increased or new transit service, affordable housing, some complete streets projects that reduce travel lanes or repurposed travel lanes for transit service or active transportation. So there are opportunities through the mitigation program to consider transit. But as it stands, the project itself, largely in part because it's funded with highway program funds, is focused on the actual highway.
[30:29] facility.
[30:33] Thank you. And my last question, why is it escaping me now? I had a question
[30:39] around the imminent domain. You mentioned that the new, the alternatives laid out don't
[30:44] have a component of imminent domain, but potentially will impact people's yards.
[30:53] Is that not
[30:54] also considered imminent domain because it's going to impact people's properties? And then
[31:00] and I also part B of that is around the pollution,
[31:04] even if people's homes or parks aren't used for this project.
[31:10] People who are living closest in the impact areas,
[31:14] the pollution will be felt much more strongly
[31:16] for those families and individuals.
[31:19] Great, so I'll take your first question
[31:21] and you have a very capable and imminent domain attorney
[31:25] as your city attorney.
[31:27] So I don't wanna play a lawyer,
[31:28] But I want to be clear that eminent domain is a process that can be used to acquire land that's needed for a public project.
[31:37] So what we're trying to do, the language that we're seeing in the community is that the project is going to cause the demolition of 30 plus homes.
[31:48] So we're trying to be really clear to residents that live along 101 is that no houses are going to be impacted by the project.
[31:56] That doesn't mean that some of the alternatives might not need additional private property in order to be built.
[32:04] So as Carolyn outlined, two of the alternatives might need additional space between people's back fences and the sound wall.
[32:13] That land, while it's not accessible and usable to those residents, is private property and it belongs to them.
[32:20] So, but if it's needed, then we would be going through a process to acquire that land if that alternative is selected.
[32:28] There's a very elaborate process that we have to follow according to state law about how we would acquire that process.
[32:35] The very last step in that is what's considered eminent domain and if we haven't been able to negotiate the acquisition of that land for the property and we still need it,
[32:48] Then we would go to court to make a decision about whether the project can acquire that property and that's the actual what's considered eminent domain.
[33:00] So I guess I want to be clear that there are alternatives that might need private property in order to be built.
[33:06] We do have one alternative that does not need any additional property.
[33:09] Whether or not we would need to use eminent domain, we are very far from knowing if we would have to go through a court process
[33:17] to in order to acquire that land.
[33:20] Thanks.
[33:21] And then do you have any, I know you're in the middle,
[33:24] you're in the middle of the ERI,
[33:26] but what about the pollution impact to those?
[33:28] Yeah, so that's a great question.
[33:30] And that's one of the studies that we do in the environmental impact report
[33:34] is to assess the air quality,
[33:35] potential air quality impacts associated with the project.
[33:38] So we'll have more on that when it's,
[33:40] the draft ERRs is released.
[33:43] Okay. Thanks. That's all for me for now.
[33:46] Okay, turning to my right, Council Member Niederhoeffer, thank you.
[33:50] And thank you for that wonderful presentation.
[33:52] So my understanding is that these lanes or this indirect connector stops at the bridge.
[33:59] It doesn't have anything to do with the bridge.
[34:02] And so, in part of the money, the RM3 money is raised from toll increases.
[34:13] How do we get transportation agencies to come together regionally to address the greater
[34:24] issue which is the bridge and maybe coming up with a solution for public transit?
[34:33] There used to be a bus on the bridge that's no longer that was run by East Bay Transit but
[34:39] maybe, I don't know how they would do this, as you said, a reverse commute lane that
[34:45] goes to the bridge, carries across the bridge, that could be for public transit buses and
[34:52] commuters. So I don't know how to make that happen, but I think there needs to be some
[35:00] agencies working together on the East Bay and this side in solving the real problem.
[35:06] Yep, that's a great point.
[35:11] Yeah, I've got several, obviously.
[35:14] First off, let's start with RM3.
[35:17] When RM3 was passed, I think it was boom,
[35:22] 92101, I believe was number 29 on that list.
[35:28] And what was the scope of the $50 million
[35:33] that was going to get allocated to 92101?
[35:37] So as part of the measure, it was not scoped.
[35:40] And basically identified that there were concerns about congestion around the 1092 interchange
[35:46] and the funding is available for solutions that can help address that congestion.
[35:52] So this is the area improvements, this is one project, the direct connector is another
[35:57] one and then we're also using those funds to make improvements to the 19th Avenue Fashion
[36:02] Island Boulevard corridor to make it safer for people walking and biking along their improving
[36:07] access to the Caltrain Hayward Park Station.
[36:11] Okay, so now that I got that, now let's go to the,
[36:15] you're talking about phase one, two, and three in the longer term.
[36:19] Okay, how did that become initiated?
[36:24] So that all went back to sort of the history
[36:28] that Carolyn was presenting where, again,
[36:33] the congestion in this area has been around since the 80s.
[36:37] That's where it first appeared, but sort of fast forward, there is initial planning work that was done working in conjunction with the cities to identify what are potential improvements and then to narrow down, you know, these sort of processes, you know, you're looking at everything under the sun and seeing what actually has a benefit and what the, which impacts maybe worth examining.
[37:04] And that big list of potential improvements was narrowed down with the cities to come up with what became the area improvements and the direct connector project.
[37:14] Okay, now that we've got them identified as two separable issues, why haven't they not been combined?
[37:28] So they were started as one project, but the desire was to get improvements on the ground as quickly as possible.
[37:34] And so the best way to do that was to advance the, what we call the area improvement projects because it was faster to design and easier to fund than a project of the scale of the direct connector.
[37:48] And so we didn't want to hold up those near-term improvements while we're trying to find a $200 plus million dollar project.
[37:56] Okay, all right.
[37:58] On the
[38:04] project, I got to get near-term and long-term.
[38:09] Okay, is that fair?
[38:10] All right.
[38:12] Is any construction that's going to be done on near-term?
[38:16] We're going to have to be, there's only a temporary because long-term we're going to have these flyovers or they're going to have to knock it down.
[38:28] There could be some overlap between them.
[38:31] I mean really we're trying to identify improvements that wouldn't need to be touched by the long-term project but there's a little bit of overlap.
[38:39] up. So we could be throwing money as a temporary solution at the near term.
[38:47] Yeah, the idea is, well, at this point we don't know if we have a long term project.
[38:52] So that could be all, this could be all we get. But the idea is yes, to have something on
[38:56] the ground that can benefit the residents of San Mateo County while we're evaluating
[39:01] whether we want to advance a long term project.
[39:03] Okay, so long term is dependent, you said if we get it, if it comes to fruition, what is going to drive that?
[39:12] So that's the process we're going through now.
[39:15] We're evaluating from a technical standpoint and an environmental standpoint to identify the potential benefits from the project and the potential impacts.
[39:23] This phase at the end when we get to the draft environmental impact report is where we're going to be talking to everybody and saying hey, is this worth it?
[39:31] And once we go through that process and provide that feedback, our boards are going to be weighing in on whether there's a preferred alternative that they think would be most effective.
[39:42] And then that information and feedback goes to CalTrans to make a decision about whether there's a preferred alternative that should be advanced.
[39:49] Okay, and I notice your timing has gotten confused a little bit because you're going to be developing a draft EIR and an EIR when we don't even have the implications or the statistics of real live data of the near term project.
[40:13] How is that going to come together here?
[40:17] Right? Yeah, so our analysis takes into account those near-term improvements. So, the model has that as the baseline condition.
[40:27] It assumes that that's going to be the case. So we use all of, we collect data about what's going on now and use that, put those into the models to see how the traffic flows and and we can make adjustments to the transmission network in those models to reflect the near-term improvements so that we can gauge the additional
[40:47] benefit that might accrue from the long-term project.
[40:51] And I appreciate that things could change like we could get, we could be four years from now
[40:56] and there's no problem anymore.
[40:59] Nobody's going to say we have to do this project if there's no problem anymore.
[41:04] I think it's more realistic that we might do like a small traffic study in four or five years
[41:11] just to reaffirm how do the existing conditions now that the near-term improvements are built.
[41:17] correspond to what our analysis said would happen.
[41:21] So we do have opportunities to confirm that the analysis that's being done now does
[41:27] align with what's happening in the real world.
[41:30] Okay. Would available funding have anything to do with the process of deciding whether
[41:36] to go ahead with or wherever you go with this project?
[41:40] Yes.
[41:41] Okay.
[41:42] So when we're at the very end of this phase,
[41:46] part of that is updating our cost estimate and coming up,
[41:49] or examining the reality of a funding plan.
[41:52] And it's, I mean, everybody knows like costs are going through the roof,
[41:55] and it's harder and harder to get any funding outside of the state,
[41:58] not let alone in the state.
[42:00] So if we don't have an option that we can largely fund, it may not go,
[42:05] even if people decide that the project's worth doing.
[42:09] Okay, and I go one more. If you're willing to share, how did eminent domain come into
[42:17] the public for it, if you will, at the term, okay, because all of a sudden it's like
[42:24] somebody crowded, the old fire in a crowded theater, and we got e- we got emails, I'm
[42:30] sure San Mateo got more than we did, but how did that happen?
[42:34] So in an effort to increase transparency, we posted the early planning study for the project online, and if you read into the details about the potential property needs for the project, it identifies that there were sliver takes that would be necessary that could be necessary for the project.
[42:54] And then I think there's it's like eminent domain is just I think a free hand that folks use for, you know, needing property, but it's I think it's that document and then I think yeah, I'm good for now. Thank you.
[43:17] So my colleagues asked most of my questions too, but I just want additional questions.
[43:21] So the potential property means that you will need for option two, will those include more than just the portion of property that exists between the fence and the sound wall?
[43:38] Yes, so there are two properties where there could be some space in the yards that's needed beyond the sound wall.
[43:45] be out of it in their backyards.
[43:48] And does that mean that the freeway will
[43:51] abut directly against these backyards?
[43:54] Or will there be some space or sound walls
[43:57] or something built?
[43:58] I'm going to note too early, but yeah,
[44:00] that's really to have that level of detail.
[44:02] I mean, there are, if you look at the Keeho off ramp,
[44:05] there are properties right at Keeho
[44:06] that they're existing fences.
[44:09] Correct, right there.
[44:11] Okay.
[44:11] All right, I think that's it for questions
[44:14] then we may have more as the public comment, but thank you so much, I appreciate your level of detail.
[44:26] Appreciate that.
[44:27] Thanks very much, and my colleagues kind of said it well, Council of Phoebe and Susie talked about transportation.
[44:37] And, you know, California, as we talked with Seamless, California was trying to connect that transportation.
[44:43] My concern, and I brought it up to you both, and I know you're going to have to look in the study as the connection from 101.
[44:51] in 92. As you know, we've been patching 101 for the last 20 or 30 years. So I'm
[44:57] assuming the EIR report is going to be...
[45:00] It's quite important for anything. But we don't see anything in this presentation to me that we're working with the motive of seamless California. This is state and federal money. And we're trying to get people off the freeways. And I know this is a dangerous 92 because you guys started this project while away before we were been talking seamless California. But the motive is so somehow I think the project needs to address
[45:29] Yes, the public transportation or some kind of connection on that.
[45:34] Any thoughts about that at all?
[45:41] Thank you.
[45:42] I would just, so the short answer is yes, the transportation authority collects sales tax
[45:49] money that's spent on a wide array of different types of projects, including on transit service
[45:54] as well as capital projects.
[45:56] We actually have, in Measure W, a new category called Regional Transit Connections.
[46:01] And that is specifically funding service to and from San Mateo County by different transit providers.
[46:10] And so that is a bucket of funding that providers outside of the county could use to improve transit.
[46:17] Some of the initiatives of seamless Bay Area, the idea that you can improve the regional transit connections.
[46:26] And one other thing my colleague made a good comment there, art on your traffic study is 2023 isn't that correct?
[46:35] That was the most recent traffic step.
[46:37] And you guys have a new one, it's going to be coming out with the IR.
[46:41] So the existing conditions data is 2023, and then we'll have modeling results for 2030 and then 2050 as well.
[46:50] Okay, thank you.
[46:51] Thank you very much.
[46:53] Okay, so with that let's go to public comment. I do have some ground rules tonight.
[46:59] We're going to begin with our online
[47:03] public comment first and then move to those who are in our chambers.
[47:08] You will each have two minutes.
[47:11] I would ask that we respect each other and
[47:15] provide space and respect for everyone to speak. So please no cheering, no jeering, let's, let's be
[47:22] kind. And if you have written in with the public comment via email, I would ask that you
[47:31] consider not commenting tonight. Your comment is public record. We will have read it or
[47:37] we will read it. I assure you that. And it just, it takes up time. And I just want to be
[47:44] respectful of our time tonight. And finally, it helps us with the context of your comments
[47:52] If you can let us know what city you live in, you don't need to give us your address, but I would appreciate just letting us know what city you are, a resident of that just helps us place where you are.
[48:05] So with that, we're going to begin with our online comments. Madam Clerk, do we have any comments online? Yes, we do have one raised hand online. That would be Evan Adams. Welcome Mr. Adams.
[48:18] No,
[48:30] I'm not muted. Thank you. Can someone not say that you see me?
[48:34] I don't see you, but I can hear you.
[48:35] Can hear me? Sorry.
[48:38] That's good enough. Go ahead.
[48:40] Okay, my name is Evan Adams, and I'm from Foster City.
[48:44] Look, adding paid express freeway lanes only subsidizes the corporate importation and underpaying
[48:51] of workers from outside our region. This project, benefiting those who can pay to use the lanes
[48:58] or who are fortunate enough to have jobs at the select companies with buses that use it
[49:04] doesn't really benefit Foster City.
[49:07] In 1997, CalTrans took word-or-peer from Foster City.
[49:12] You might not know this, but word-or is the last remnant of the first San Mateo Bridge.
[49:19] It was home to fishing and a destination for people to come to Foster City.
[49:23] CalTrans took it. CalTrans never gave it back because these lanes will not help
[49:30] Foster City. It helps other cities on the peninsula far more. I'd like to see
[49:36] some benefit come to Foster City from CalTrans as part of this project. I'm not
[49:41] sure what word-or-peer historic preservation and restoration perhaps something
[49:46] out of a huge project like this for Foster City. I hope CalTrans can come up with
[49:51] something to our city even if not murder here. Thank you.
[49:56] Thank you. Do we have any other online comments? We do not have any other raised hands.
[50:03] All right, so we'll turn to those in our chambers. So first, we have Karen Cutler.
[50:18] Good evening. I thought I'd have left the last time, so I made my note short, but
[50:25] My name is Karen Cutler, I live on Adams Street in San Mateo, part of the families
[50:31] that were possibly affected by imminent domain are homes run straight along the highway.
[50:41] I have recently been informed by the Transportation Authority that they took the imminent domain
[50:48] and removal parks off the table, which sounded good and it meant really for me and my neighbors, however, there's no saying that once the EIR is completed that they could change that decision later.
[51:02] anymore lanes will not cure the congestion problem, especially since no
[51:07] modifications are being made to the San Mateo bridge. Traffic will get backed
[51:12] up from the entrance to the bridge at peak hours. This adds more pollution,
[51:16] noise, disruption, and encourages cut-through traffic onto our streets. It's a
[51:22] waste of our taxpayer dollars and continuing to spend money on the EIR, which is
[51:27] around 10 million, seems counterproductive.
[51:30] And by the way, the reason imminent domain came up was
[51:34] because I did get a copy of that early project.
[51:37] And on one of the articles, it did state that yes,
[51:40] they were talking about slivers, but more unlikely,
[51:43] it would be imminent domain.
[51:45] And of course, that certainly set me off in my neighbors.
[51:50] Our residents in San Mateo do not want additional lanes
[51:54] and have expressed it vigorously.
[51:56] We recently had a meeting on April 7th,
[51:59] where 250 people showed up and voiced their objections.
[52:03] We also did some surveys.
[52:04] I believe it about 9,000 people responded
[52:06] and did not want this project to proceed.
[52:10] And the result of that was that our city council
[52:13] has requested a letter of opposition to CalTrans
[52:17] and what we are, but I'm doing here anyway,
[52:21] as we hope that you, the Foster City Board,
[52:23] We'll join us by doing a letter of opposition to this project to stop it now, not years from now, not next year, now.
[52:33] Thank you so much.
[52:37] Next we have Juliano Carleini.
[52:51] Thank you for having me here and allowing me to speak.
[52:54] I'm here only for myself.
[52:57] I'm a Belmont Ross resident who is in Foster City fairly often.
[53:01] We're real close.
[53:01] at the C-cloud fields, referring soccer,
[53:04] barely all over the past 25 years.
[53:07] Maybe some of you have seen me there,
[53:08] I don't recognize anybody that I'm terrible with in the faces.
[53:12] The time to oppose this project is now,
[53:14] not a year from now, not who knows when from now,
[53:16] but now please join the San Mateo City Council
[53:19] and send a letter saying no.
[53:24] The state of goals include reducing congestion
[53:27] and cut through on Foster City streets won't happen.
[53:30] This is a boondoggle.
[53:32] You add capacity, congestion returns, every single time.
[53:38] It might last for a few months for a year.
[53:40] More cars will come, more cars is more traffic.
[53:43] That will be more cut through traffic.
[53:46] It's gonna be more VMT, more GHG, more climate change,
[53:49] more accidents, more injuries, more deaths.
[53:53] People are smart, right?
[53:55] You know, the statement was that we would add VMT,
[53:58] but not congestion?
[54:00] No, people are going to see, this is better, this is faster, I'm going to take it than now you got congestion again.
[54:08] We don't need more exploration and investigation, we know it's going to happen now.
[54:12] We have modeling tools already, we've been hearing about modeling tools that we're going to apply in the future.
[54:17] For example, UC Davis has an excellent modeling tool that's used by traffic planners all over the place.
[54:25] If this project goes through, we're not going to get off of this wheel, right?
[54:32] It's just going to keep coming, more projects like this will keep coming back over and over and over again.
[54:37] It's time to stop, you know, the mouse wheel.
[54:41] And the way that we do that is finally start telling the sponsors and calatrans no more.
[54:46] We want projects that will really solve congestion.
[54:49] I mean, cars are the least efficient method, we need more efficient methods, please send a letter now.
[54:56] Thank y'all.
[54:59] Next, we have Mike Suyer.
[55:08] Jimenez and members of the council, thanks so much.
[55:11] I'm speaking on behalf of the 20 plus environment transportation and safe streets groups that oppose this project.
[55:16] We agree with supervisors Jackie Spear and Nualia Corso that this project is not appropriate to pursue at this time.
[55:22] We're currently unable to fund popular transportation programs like
[55:26] Great Separations and San Mateo and Burling Game.
[55:28] When CalTrain and Bart will likely need service cuts due to a lack of taxpayer funding.
[55:33] And when every week or so we lose another pedestrian or
[55:36] a person on bike due to our failure to make our streets safer for those who don't own cars.
[55:40] Thus, we are now asking taxpayers to consider additional taxes to fund transportation projects.
[55:46] Why then is this $300 million at least project the highest priority for
[55:52] or San Mateo taxpayers at this time.
[55:54] Can you actually tell me that your constituents are saying
[55:57] that this is something they want?
[55:58] Or is this something coming down from elected elsewhere?
[56:01] Chair Romero of the SMCTA has said
[56:03] that he'll re-evaluate the project
[56:05] if the San Mateo and Foster City Councils oppose it.
[56:08] Saving taxpayers up to $10 million in environmental studies.
[56:11] In addition, San Mateo Daily Journal poll indicated
[56:14] that a plurality respondents do not support this project.
[56:17] You've heard about the eminent domain,
[56:19] but again, this project will not reduce congestion.
[56:21] Have you ever seen a project that's reduced congestion?
[56:24] We were promised on 101, just three or four years ago that that project would reduce congestion.
[56:29] We just heard, thanks to data that the mayor has requested, that that project didn't work.
[56:35] Why do we need to spend $10 million with a magical hope that all of a sudden this one is going to reduce congestion?
[56:41] If you listen to what the TAs just said, they said that we could have buses through a mitigation measure.
[56:46] Mitigation because why?
[56:47] Because it increases VMT.
[56:49] How can they say that it won't induce demand, but it's going to increase VMT?
[56:54] That is illogical.
[56:56] I think you guys really need to do a deep dive in terms of what you guys are being fed
[57:01] at this point, and who is really requesting this.
[57:04] And if it's your tax, if it's the tax version in your area, it's fine.
[57:07] But my assumption is that this is not something that people want, and it's not going to work.
[57:11] And we can stop this now instead of $10 million later.
[57:14] Thank you.
[57:15] Thank you.
[57:17] That's all we have for public comment. Fantastic. All right. Thank you everyone for sharing your comments tonight. Now I'll turn it back to my colleagues. Let's start it. We're here this time. Councilmember need or have any comments?
[57:31] So I'm going to repeat what I said before.
[57:33] or I think we need to solve the issue of the bridge with some kind of commute transit
[57:42] that goes to transit connections as Council Member Benkat had mentioned earlier.
[57:47] I think it's a regional effort and I think we really need to look at that.
[57:57] Council Member Benkat?
[58:01] Yeah, I echo my thoughts from before, I really think that if we're going to make real progress, it needs to be long-term projects that we focus on that show that they will definitely impact and that we have data that will show that, and as far as I know, I don't know of any constituents of ours in Foster City or outside of Foster City that are looking to this kind of solution.
[58:28] what I'm hearing a lot is around more options for transit, like the cross-bay, cross-bay transit options.
[58:38] That will really help a lot with the traffic coming from East Bay to the peninsula to southern peninsula.
[58:47] Those are the areas we need to focus on. I understand this project has been in the works for quite a while, originated a while ago.
[58:54] So, there's been updates made to it, but I still think each time I haven't been able to see a component of really try to integrate transit and alternative forms of transportation, and that's where we really, where we need to head to and think about for the future.
[59:12] Thank you.
[59:14] Councilmember Sullivan.
[59:17] Back to the word seamless California.
[59:19] We look and I'm looking just here at Foster City, 50% of our traffic is mom and dad taking
[59:25] their kids back and forth to school.
[59:27] Most of the people that are driving on 101 North and South are only going 30 miles.
[59:33] The failure we've had is being able to get Cal Trains, Bart, Sam Trams to all get together
[59:39] and develop a seamless thing.
[59:41] We're dancing on this issue, we're dancing on the issue.
[59:44] We do need to improve our freeways and our highways, but we have no plans.
[59:49] So the demand that I scream out is the same things my colleagues are saying.
[59:53] They're saying, well, how are we connecting transportation?
[59:56] How are we taking care of the environment?
[59:58] I mean, Walt Disney was right.
[1:00:00] I had an idea of a model rail that was way before it, we could even imagine. How can we get people to move on 101? If they're only going 20 or 30 miles, it would seem reasonable that we can come up with some kind of public transportation, whether it's e-bikes, whether it's scooters. We've got to get people out of their cars. This solution is not that I don't think we need to improve 92 and 101. God don't know we need to do something there, but let's solve the problem. That's my comments. Thanks, Madam Mayor.
[1:00:31] Councilmember, I'm sorry, Vice Mayor.
[1:00:34] Yes, first off, I'm not sure that, you know, the five of us can sit up here and we're
[1:00:39] going to cancel this project, or we're going to say give the nod to go ahead with it.
[1:00:46] That remains, I mean, we got the CKAG, which is every city on the peninsula has some say
[1:00:53] in the TA and they can tell you more than I can about all the departments that are involved with it and who this decision has to be made by, we've got the Board of Supervisors getting involved.
[1:01:10] If it's to go forward, for me it would be, I would like some of them to address Foster City, I call it Foster City Intrusion,
[1:01:20] Where they're coming off foster city and using it as a shortcut to get on to 92 because I don't think that
[1:01:27] There's a near-term solution would address that or solve it
[1:01:33] I question the project all we're doing in this movie in it from one oh one
[1:01:38] Tonight I'm thinking in terms of people going home. He's bound 92 all we're moving it was from that traffic from one oh one
[1:01:46] on to 92 and creating a parking lot because no matter how you do it, you still are limited down to three lanes on the bridge.
[1:01:55] So where are we put the neck of the bottle is where the jam is going to start.
[1:02:04] I'd like to know, not that it's, it may be even a rhetorical question, but when we, when the San Mateo County approved RM3,
[1:02:17] What was in their minds, and you can ask the San Mateo and Foster City people to put more particularly, but what was in their mind when they saw the 92101 was a project that was going to be undertaken and voted for it?
[1:02:34] What was their perspective and what did we, the politicals, if you will, present at that particular time?
[1:02:41] What would they expect?
[1:02:44] How do I say it is we, unmet expectations are a downers.
[1:02:51] So that's what you're faced with.
[1:02:57] Somebody I think was used, the gentleman said that money for
[1:03:01] great separations.
[1:03:04] I asked that question when I was on the council before,
[1:03:09] when the high speed rail was coming through.
[1:03:11] I asked how many, I called thing, thing, things, gates coming down, up and down, the train, the
[1:03:19] Calthane, how many gates were there, and how you're going to run a train up to 100 miles
[1:03:25] an hour with great separations.
[1:03:29] And there was no money for great separations.
[1:03:34] Has that been addressed because I see great separations happening, but I don't know where
[1:03:38] that money's coming from.
[1:03:41] And just for my perspective, 902-101 interchange has been a problem since 1968, when I first started driving on it.
[1:03:54] And here talking about it means it hasn't been solved long-term, so there's some of my comments.
[1:04:02] Thank you. So my comments have two levels, I guess. The first level is the big picture.
[1:04:08] and my job is to represent the residents of Foster City, so while I am not without
[1:04:15] empathy for those who may lose parts of their homes, I'm very concerned about
[1:04:20] that and personally, I hope that we can come up with a plan that doesn't include
[1:04:24] that. My job and my role is to protect and make the lives of those in Foster City
[1:04:31] easier if I can. And my concern is the 101 92 interchange. So many of us have
[1:04:41] chosen to not take classes outside of Foster City after four o'clock because we
[1:04:49] didn't want to have to get in or out, right? I would take my kids to gymnastics as early
[1:04:54] as possible so that I didn't have to get back on the 101. But on a more serious
[1:05:00] know what happens in the event of an emergency. We know that it's very difficult for us to get
[1:05:05] into or out of foster city. So if this project has the potential to aid in emergency evacuation
[1:05:13] situations, then I am all in. If this project has the opportunity to lessen the congestion and make
[1:05:23] it easier for those of us who live in foster city to get into foster city, then I'm all in.
[1:05:30] So I think on a big picture level, those are some of my thoughts.
[1:05:34] I'm hopeful that we can be creative and that we can find a way that will include transit options.
[1:05:43] It will include not taking people's homes or parts of their homes.
[1:05:49] Because even though you're saying we're not taking houses, we're not buying houses.
[1:05:53] People's yards and their ability to enjoy their front yard or their back yard is just as important.
[1:05:57] So personally, I very much hope that we can do that, but in terms of my role as a City Council and my voice and my advocacy is for the people Foster City and what this project will do for those in Foster City.
[1:06:14] And I think at this point it feels like it's almost too early to say, yay or nay, am I in favor of this because we don't know the specifics.
[1:06:24] So until I can see a 3D modeling or some specific plan and see some data, I think that's what we need to do.
[1:06:34] So I'm not willing to sign off on any letters, I'm not willing to join my colleagues in San Mateo yet.
[1:06:40] And I'm not willing to oppose the project yet because I think there's potential to make the lives of those in Foster City easier than they are now as a result of this project.
[1:06:51] And then the money, I think we have to look at that, like the money is not coming just
[1:06:55] from Foster City or just from San Mateo, it's money from the region.
[1:06:59] So I think we need to make sure that regionally we weigh in and we look at solutions.
[1:07:04] And I agree with Council Member Nader-Hoffer that it would be great to look regionally at
[1:07:09] some of these things.
[1:07:10] Can we partner with Hayward?
[1:07:11] Can we partner with, you know, Belmont or Redwood City?
[1:07:15] What are we doing regionally to address traffic issues?
[1:07:18] and so that's that now going on a I guess would be a micro level in terms of
[1:07:27] just outreach and moving forward with your outreach portion my hope is that you
[1:07:32] will not only you recently did a pop-up in San Mateo I would say definitely hit
[1:07:39] our parks for sure hit AYSO opening day hits little league opening day hit
[1:07:46] little league picture day, come out to our city fest, 4th of July even, and then we serve
[1:07:58] not just our residents, but the people who work here too.
[1:08:00] So I would encourage you to reach out to some of the larger businesses, Gilead, Costco,
[1:08:06] Visa, because those are the people that really are affected by the long commutes.
[1:08:12] You know, ultimately be great to see more housing here, but that's outside of the scope of what you're doing
[1:08:18] And you know, I think we have more housing. We'll have less people on the bridges, potentially, who knows. But that's again, not for today's topic
[1:08:29] So I would encourage you to think, you know, as broadly as you can. We've got some amazing, very smart people who both live and work here
[1:08:39] And they've come up with some amazing ideas already that we have been able to implement
[1:08:45] to deal with traffic.
[1:08:46] So tap into some of our Brainiacs in Foster City and use that to guide this project if
[1:08:53] it all possible.
[1:08:55] So I think that was conclude my comments.
[1:09:01] And I think this is just a presentation and information on item only, so no action acquired.
[1:09:07] I want to thank you.
[1:09:08] I want to thank those of you who came in from San Mateo today to speak to us and our residents and
[1:09:14] Yeah, let's stay informed and stay engaged. Thank you. All
[1:09:20] right, Madam Clerk next item. Please
[1:09:22] Item five public. This is an opportunity for members of the public to speak on items not listed on the agenda as a reminder
[1:09:30] We're taking comments in a live meeting format government code five four nine five four point two e three
[1:09:35] the city council from discussing or acting upon any topic initially presented during the public portion of the agenda.
[1:09:42] Anyone who wants to provide public comment in person, please fill out your speaker slip and hand it to me.
[1:09:47] Anyone who wants to provide public comment on Zoom, please raise your hand during this time.
[1:09:52] We'll take Zoom comments first and then those in person.
[1:09:57] I do not see any raised hands on Zoom.
[1:10:00] In person, we do have one speaker slip from Smyra Benzo.
[1:10:12] Thank you for your patience.
[1:10:14] Thank you.
[1:10:15] Good evening, Foster City Council.
[1:10:17] My name is Mita Banzal, and I am in San Mateo,
[1:10:20] but I've been living in Foster City for 30 years.
[1:10:23] And I'm here to introduce my 501C3 Mental Health Nonprofit
[1:10:27] Organization called On My Mind Foundation,
[1:10:30] which is registered for Foster City.
[1:10:32] At On My Mind, our mission is to provide mental health
[1:10:35] resources and fully funded therapy sessions
[1:10:37] to high school students and college students
[1:10:39] facing mental health struggles.
[1:10:41] We offer 10 free therapy sessions to California-based students between ages 13 to 24 who go through
[1:10:48] an anxiety depression, suicidal thoughts or addiction, but cannot afford therapy on their
[1:10:53] own and through their school's wellness programs.
[1:10:57] Please allow me to share why this work is deeply personal to me and urgently needed in our community.
[1:11:03] As per mental health statistics at 24, 25 teens ages 12 to 17, there are 1 to 7 children
[1:11:11] under 17 who is living with mental or behavioral health condition.
[1:11:16] In 23, 19.5% experienced a major depressive episode, about 42% of high school students
[1:11:24] currently reported persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness.
[1:11:28] According to CDC, 12% seriously considered suicide and 3% attempted it.
[1:11:34] We also know from public schools here in Baudich and high schools who have done that.
[1:11:39] College students 18 to 24, 36% have been diagnosed with ion anxiety, 30% with depression,
[1:11:46] 36.7% reported unmet needs for mental health support.
[1:11:51] In 2022, there were approximately 6,530 suicide deaths amongst individuals aged 10-24 with young males making up the majority.
[1:12:06] We launched on my Malan Foundation in memory of our brilliant compassionate son, Karna Batia, who tragically died by suicide in September 2020 at the age of 21.
[1:12:18] During his freshman year of college, he was committed to reducing mental health stigma through
[1:12:25] journalism advocacy. He was doing this at Ergon High School as well. We now continue
[1:12:30] his legacy through his fund up, through this foundation, and I want to ensure that no young
[1:12:36] person suffers in silence and no parent has to experience a loss of a child.
[1:12:44] What do I need
[1:12:45] help with. We need awareness. Please help spread awareness word about on my
[1:12:51] mind foundation through schools, your networks, through the communities. We want to
[1:12:56] be a resource for any student and parents to help and be there for
[1:12:59] assistance. We are looking for donations and grants. Every contribution helps but
[1:13:04] the donation of just $1,50 to $200 can cover students first therapy session and could
[1:13:10] be a lifeline that prevents a tragedy. Our goal right now is to raise 50,000 for this year.
[1:13:19] Thank you so much for your support. I know we're not supposed to comment, but how can people donate?
[1:13:25] On mymindfoundation.org online, there is a donation button. Everyone can contribute.
[1:13:32] Thank you so much. Thank you.
[1:13:45] Item 6 City, Mid-Consent Calendar, all matters listed under consent are
[1:13:49] are considered to be routine by the City Council,
[1:13:51] even Board of Directors,
[1:13:53] and will be enacted by one motion
[1:13:55] unless removed by a member of the Council Board staff
[1:13:58] or public.
[1:13:59] Anyone who wants to provide public comment,
[1:14:01] please provide a speaker's look
[1:14:02] or raise your hand on Zoom.
[1:14:06] Okay, I have a request to pull item 6.2.
[1:14:09] Do we have any other requests?
[1:14:15] I believe I need to take public comment.
[1:14:17] First, do we have any public on anything?
[1:14:21] Yes, I'm sorry.
[1:14:22] I really have a raised hand on Zoom, that would be Evan Adams.
[1:14:26] And I believe this is probably for 6.2, so do we public comment on 6.2?
[1:14:31] No, right now we're just seeing whether any members of the public want to take any other items off of the agenda before we move on to item 6.2.
[1:14:38] Okay, so do we have any other requests for anything besides 6.2?
[1:14:43] No, I take a motion,
[1:14:48] sorry, we'll off my rocker.
[1:14:50] All right, can I get a motion to accept all items on the
[1:14:54] calendar, except for item 6.2?
[1:14:56] So moved.
[1:14:57] A second?
[1:14:59] A second.
[1:15:00] All in favor? Aye. No opposed? Okay, motion carries. Okay, so now we have item 6.2. Did you need a staff reporter? What did you need with that? Yeah, thanks Madam Mayor. If I could have a background on the background analysis on page 37. And my question is kind of directed. We're changing the zoning on this. So it's not going to be as impactful, but what I didn't see in the content
[1:15:30] Again, with us down zoning it with the biotech, the retail, why do we not have to have a
[1:15:39] sequel or how many more employees are we going to be having or potential people in that
[1:15:45] immediate area, and it may reference that we didn't need a sequel report there.
[1:15:51] Thank you, councilmember Sullivan, for your question.
[1:15:54] So, regarding this project, the applicant is requesting a GDP amendment, so I'm just going to quickly read the previous project that was approved.
[1:16:07] So, the previously approved master plan EIR analyzed the demolition of 190,000 square feet of existing building with the development of 800,000 square feet of new office users.
[1:16:25] including flexible space for retail and other amenities for a net new
[1:16:30] development amount of 610,000 square feet. However, now the preliminary
[1:16:37] application that we just received from Gilead is basically changing that 800,000
[1:16:43] square feet of office use, which included biotech to 800,000 square feet of
[1:16:49] biotechnology or R&D. I also do want to note that one of the major reasons
[1:16:55] for them applying for this revision was, that the previously approved ordinance had a very specific site plan which included very specific heights.
[1:17:08] So now they just want to change because over the period of time they have a new design.
[1:17:13] So I think they need that flexibility.
[1:17:16] So that is one of the reasons they have applied this preliminary review application.
[1:17:21] Well, I guess might be my question.
[1:17:23] I think the first plan, if I'm not mistaken, there was a 3,000 potential employees coming into the town with that first proposal.
[1:17:30] So the new one, I was just curious on how much that dropped it down because that's probably the leading reason why
[1:17:37] Sequit doesn't get involved with the, or the EIR on that.
[1:17:41] Councillor M. Sullivan, we haven't done that analysis yet.
[1:17:44] It's a preliminary review application and the item in front of you all is a task order to engage with
[1:17:50] that they seek a consultant to do an initial study.
[1:17:55] In that initial studies, the consultant will be reviewing
[1:17:59] all this information.
[1:18:01] Okay, I appreciate it.
[1:18:02] And I really was, this was for Matt Meredith,
[1:18:05] I understand what I was trying to explain.
[1:18:06] This is a transparency to the public and what the impact is.
[1:18:10] We were just talking about people coming in and out
[1:18:13] of foster city.
[1:18:14] So it's kind of important when we approve a project
[1:18:17] or we downsize it or up size it, whatever we do that.
[1:18:20] We know what is impactful. Thank you. So I'm looking forthcoming for that E.I.R. Thank you
[1:18:24] Thank you. So now turning to the public we had the public comment from Mr. Adams
[1:18:30] Thank
[1:18:38] you for that. I spent some time rewatching the meetings about this property. I even saw in 2013 Vice Mayor Kiesel
[1:18:50] Pointing out that this first came before him in
[1:18:54] 2005 when he was on the planning commission
[1:18:57] a lot changes in 20 years. The reason I'm here tonight is that I believe that under Foster City
[1:19:03] Municipal Code 17.72, this project should first come to the council and it opens to the public
[1:19:10] project preliminary review a K-A-K keeper meeting. What sort of development projects do 17.72 apply?
[1:19:19] It applies to general plan amendments. As you just heard, this project on the third page of the
[1:19:25] staff report, calls for an amendment to the general development plan.
[1:19:30] Also, it applies to substantial zoning changes,
[1:19:33] resounding from one district to another district,
[1:19:35] and text changes, general development plans,
[1:19:38] and general development plan amendments.
[1:19:41] Again, page three of the staff report calls
[1:19:43] for a specific development plan.
[1:19:46] Vice Mayor Kiesel in 2014,
[1:19:49] of the preliminary review process said and I quote,
[1:19:53] It should be done before the sequel process and hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent.
[1:20:00] I love video.
[1:20:03] I want to point out that when this past project development agreement was approved,
[1:20:10] the council insisted on relocation assistance for tenants as an important part of the agreement.
[1:20:18] Councilmember Okamoto spoke eloquently on this. None of those tenants exist anymore.
[1:20:25] The unbuilt project killed those small businesses. That might color how the council views this
[1:20:31] project in a preliminary review meeting. I want to point out that when the past development
[1:20:38] agreement was approved, the council expressed the importance of follow-through that the
[1:20:44] The project needed to happen in an expedited manner.
[1:20:48] That didn't happen.
[1:20:50] 12 years later, and here we are.
[1:20:52] Blighted, economically unproductive property.
[1:20:55] That history of economic blocking might color
[1:20:58] other council views this project in a preliminary review meeting.
[1:21:04] Considering a preliminary review meeting
[1:21:06] killed the Costco expansion,
[1:21:09] this project absolutely needs to come to you
[1:21:11] through that process.
[1:21:13] It's in your code.
[1:21:13] and it is your policy. Thank you and good night.
[1:21:19] Thank you. Okay, with that can I get a motion to approve item 6.2?
[1:21:27] Motion to approve item 6.2. Second.
[1:21:31] Okay, all in favour? Aye. Any opposed?
[1:21:37] Okay, all in motion carries. Thank you. Next item please.
[1:21:42] Item 7, resolutions for adoption. 7.1,
[1:21:45] Then, interview and consideration of appointment of one member to a full four-year term from June 1, 2025 through May 30, 2029 on the Planning Commission.
[1:21:56] Applicants listed in alphabetical order are Shankar Kanker, the Hermosa Patel, Barry Solberg, and Cindy Wang.
[1:22:04] Anyone who wants to provide public comment, please provide a speaker slip or raise your hand on Zoom.
[1:22:09] Mayor
[1:22:13] and members of the City Council, it is recommended that the City Council interview
[1:22:18] and by resolution appoint one member to the poll term from June 1, 2025 through May 31,
[1:22:24] 2025 on the planning commission.
[1:22:26] The purpose of the Planning Commission is to consider the overall site and architectural
[1:22:30] development and redevelopment of properties of all commercial, industrial and residential
[1:22:35] districts in Foster City.
[1:22:37] The Planning Commission consists of five members and one seat is expiring on May 31st, 2025.
[1:22:45] The new appointment will be for a member to a full four-year term from June 1, 2025 to May 31st,
[1:22:52] 2029. A notice of vacancy to fill the four-year term was advertised in the local paper, posted,
[1:22:59] and displayed on the city's website and FCTV for five weeks. Four residents have submitted their
[1:23:05] application by the established deadline.
[1:23:10] We have three applicants who are available
[1:23:13] here tonight for the interview. That would be Shankar Kinkar, Barry Solberg, and Cindy
[1:23:19] Wang. And Abby, her most subitel, was unable to attend. That concludes my report.
[1:23:27] Great, thank you. So, tonight we're conducting the interviews. The applicants have been
[1:23:33] invited to attend the meeting, they will each have three minutes to answer the following two questions.
[1:23:39] Why do you want to serve on the Planning Commission and what makes you qualified candidate as well as what is your understanding of the role of a Planning Commission?
[1:23:49] Then after the three-minute statement, we will have an opportunity to ask our own questions.
[1:23:55] So with that I believe we are going to begin with Shankar Cancray if we can move the others in person outside.
[1:24:04] Madam Mayor, do we want to start with public comment?
[1:24:06] I'm sorry, yes we did.
[1:24:07] If you want to invite the other applicants.
[1:24:11] Let's do public comment while we move applicants outside.
[1:24:13] We do not have any public comment for this item.
[1:24:16] Okay perfect.
[1:24:29] Mr. Cancray welcome.
[1:24:31] Thank you.
[1:24:32] Good evening Madam Mayor, members of the Council and staff.
[1:24:37] My name is Shankar Kankari, a long-time resident of this beautiful city.
[1:24:42] I was appointed to the Planning Commission on January 21st for a short term.
[1:24:50] The term is now up for Rina.
[1:24:53] I won't talk much about myself since I've already gone through the interview process.
[1:24:57] Instead, I would like to focus on what I have done on the Planning Commission and what
[1:25:04] I plan to do if I am reposted today.
[1:25:08] Since my appointment, I have attended five commission meetings and two study sessions
[1:25:16] with Park and Rick Committee about Park's Master Plan.
[1:25:21] I attended a three day planning commission academy of three weeks after my appointment.
[1:25:30] There I learned a lot.
[1:25:32] It also allowed me to network with other planning commissioners and city officials from other
[1:25:40] cities.
[1:25:43] I wrote a report summarizing the sessions I attended and I shared it with the Mayor, City
[1:25:51] manager and my fellow planning commissioners. During five meetings I participated in, I learned a lot,
[1:26:01] but the most interesting was a discussion about objective design standards for single-family homes.
[1:26:10] Looking ahead, I like to focus on two key areas, regional engagement. I would like to get involved
[1:26:17] as a planning commission representing foster city in county at a regional level and if possible
[1:26:24] at the state level. I am looking at the opportunities and if reappointed I would jump into the opportunities
[1:26:32] in the second or third year of my term. Another thing I would like to do is commissioners collaboration.
[1:26:42] I would like the city to organize workshop for planning commissioners a 3-4-hour session
[1:26:48] to share ideas and discuss how we can help city.
[1:26:53] I have great admiration for my fellow commissioners.
[1:26:57] Each brings valuable experience in sites and strong community connection.
[1:27:02] If we are appointed, I will schedule time with the community planning director to explore
[1:27:10] the feasibility of such workshop.
[1:27:12] The city has already invested in me by helping me learn various aspects of the planning
[1:27:19] process.
[1:27:21] It would be a wasted opportunity if my term were not renewed.
[1:27:26] So I humbly request the opportunity to continue serving the city.
[1:27:30] Thank you.
[1:27:33] Perfect timing.
[1:27:34] Thank you.
[1:27:36] Any follow-up questions from my colleagues?
[1:27:39] Councilmember Sullivan.
[1:27:41] Madam Mayor and I kind of cleared it with Councilor Rhea.
[1:27:44] My question is yes, no, or declined to state.
[1:27:47] And first of all, I want to congratulate you for being on the commission and doing all your
[1:27:51] hard work.
[1:27:53] My question is, if you are the chosen, will you continue to fill your term?
[1:27:59] or would you be considering running for council, yes, no, or decline to stay?
[1:28:06] It's a very difficult question.
[1:28:08] I don't know, I'd like to decline.
[1:28:10] Okay, thank you.
[1:28:14] Any other questions?
[1:28:15] I
[1:28:18] answered my question already.
[1:28:20] My question is going to be now that you've been on the Planning Commission for a little over
[1:28:23] three months.
[1:28:24] What have you learned?
[1:28:25] Do you have so do you want to expand on anything that you said?
[1:28:31] I learned a lot, and the more is the, about this state laws.
[1:28:37] how they are affecting our communities. I know about the laws that are going to
[1:28:47] come this year. I learned about the objective standard designs. There is one
[1:28:56] session we already had about single-family homes. I am very encouraged to learn
[1:29:03] about waterfront properties that standard will be put in place as well as
[1:29:10] each one is.
[1:29:17] As you well know already it takes three to get anything passed or more.
[1:29:27] How do you see working consensus on getting across your ideas? How would you approach that?
[1:29:37] you have any strategy for that?
[1:29:39] No, I mean we just discuss things and like you know I at least I come to the meeting
[1:29:48] predetermined like you know cow studied and this is how I'm going to vote but when I listen
[1:29:53] to others and it has happened in couple of meetings that I change my vote after listening
[1:30:00] To some other commissioner, make a point about certain things. So it is just about coming to meetings with open mind and do all your studies upfront.
[1:30:12] Okay. And the next one. As we recently passed out of ethics, but basically in there was talking about attendance at meetings, do you have any personal or business requirements that would curtail you from attending?
[1:30:32] I mean, the Thursday can't commission meetings.
[1:30:36] No, I mean, I may not attend all meetings in person,
[1:30:42] but I'll definitely attend all meetings with a person or by Zoom.
[1:30:47] Okay, good. Thank you.
[1:30:50] I mean, I attend the meetings even when I'm not on a commission or.
[1:30:56] I can't remember if I can. Did you have a question?
[1:30:58] I do. I'm not going to retread questions I have last time.
[1:31:01] but mine is more at a different level, you know, I want you to tell me about a time that you had to make a decision that was not aligned to what your like closest friends and supporters expected or wanted of you.
[1:31:14] How did you find the courage to go against the grain and how did you talk through your thought process to them?
[1:31:23] You know, the decisions that we make, like, you know, either UCity Council or at Commissioner,
[1:31:30] is not about just a one small group. It is about the whole community.
[1:31:35] So we always look at what is beneficial to the community rather than my friends or small group.
[1:31:43] And then can I ask a follow-up, the follow-up is, I did can I ask this last go around, but how can you help make sure that more community voices are not only heard, but considered and respected in the planning process, voices that are under represented like you, the young adults, renters, which are 50% plus of our population?
[1:32:07] So, the staff does a lot of work about getting the information out to the public.
[1:32:16] What I do from my own, I reach out to people on my own circle, there are about 150 people
[1:32:26] that I reach out.
[1:32:28] For example, this standard object design that they did a survey, I sent a personal note to
[1:32:36] 150 people of different ethnicities, different age groups, homeowners, renters, just to get
[1:32:44] their input.
[1:32:45] So, that's all I can do from my standpoint, but that's what I do.
[1:32:50] Thank you.
[1:32:54] No questions?
[1:32:55] So, thank you so much.
[1:32:56] Thank you.
[1:33:01] Next, some of us is Avi Hermose Patel, but she is unable to attend.
[1:33:08] So, next, we have Barry Salberg, whom I believe is outside.
[1:33:11] Mr.
[1:33:32] Salbert, welcome.
[1:33:34] Sorry?
[1:33:35] Welcome.
[1:33:36] Oh, thank you.
[1:33:38] Are we ready?
[1:33:39] We are ready.
[1:33:40] Go ahead.
[1:33:42] As you are aware, I was here in January,
[1:33:45] I was one of the 14.
[1:33:47] Nothing has really changed professionally academically.
[1:33:50] Undergraduate was at UCLA.
[1:33:53] And they was from USC.
[1:33:56] But after the presentations that we all gave,
[1:33:59] I saw an artificial intelligence evaluation of each of the candidates qualifications.
[1:34:04] And I was faulted because I did not have the service organization background.
[1:34:11] I wasn't a member of any of the service organizations nor did I have committee membership.
[1:34:17] So I'd like to thank the Ferris and the equateability or
[1:34:20] a commensurateness with my 20 plus years of service in the election department as a
[1:34:26] Trainor for the county for the election workers and here as a precinct supervisor in various precincts throughout the county for
[1:34:34] Over 20 years continuously
[1:34:38] Hopefully those will fulfill whatever those prerequisites were
[1:34:43] It are but beyond that I can only stress again
[1:34:47] That because I am four decades
[1:34:51] plus, as a apartment rent or in Foster City, that I definitely bring a different voice, different perspective, insights, and a representation to the thousands of apartment dwellers who live in Foster City have never been represented on that commission.
[1:35:11] And yet, I was at the meeting last Tuesday.
[1:35:14] Today, it's my opinion that that board definitely needs representation that is more balanced
[1:35:20] than what comprises it right now.
[1:35:24] We also, nori's slide when she gave the BMR presentation, and it was obviously evident
[1:35:33] to me that there was nobody representing apartment people other than Doug to make their case
[1:35:41] for those minor amendments to the BMR program and that to the contrary, oh, I've got some time left.
[1:35:50] Okay, and to the contrary, the other side was overloaded.
[1:35:57] It was decidedly the opposition was increasingly, it was just, they needed balance on that commission.
[1:36:08] So, I'd like to be able to make my own contribution.
[1:36:11] I think there's a place for me on that board.
[1:36:18] And, apparently, whoever deems that kind of
[1:36:24] work is more valuable than what I've done in terms of service to the community, so be it.
[1:36:29] But that's where I would like to be.
[1:36:35] And I do, I only have five seconds left, okay.
[1:36:38] Well, I do want to talk about the meeting.
[1:36:40] I found it revealing and disturbing at the same time.
[1:36:44] If you want to ask me about that, I'd be happy to respond.
[1:36:48] Okay, thank you so much.
[1:36:50] Follow up questions.
[1:36:51] We'll start on this side.
[1:36:54] Council member Venkat.
[1:36:56] Hi, same questions I'm asking.
[1:36:59] Okay, and it's the first question is, tell me about a time
[1:37:03] that you had to make a tough decision that wasn't aligned to what your closest friends and supporters expect or want.
[1:37:10] How did you find the courage to go against the grain and how did you talk through your thought process to them?
[1:37:17] You know, I thought about this when you sent the email.
[1:37:20] I think it's right now because I looked at the candidates.
[1:37:25] I mean, you've got an incumbent, well connected, well versed in all, everything the commission does.
[1:37:32] you've got another candidate whose stellar academic credential she served on the audit committee can't go wrong with either one of them, but so why am I here again because I think I have something that I bring to the table that the others don't I really
[1:37:49] think I can make a contribution that counts and make a difference and so where everybody else would say don't waste your time don't spin your wheels I'm going against the grain just like you said.
[1:38:00] Thank you, and just to clarify, I did email all of the candidates in BCC to let them know.
[1:38:09] Thank you for applying, and I gave some sample questions.
[1:38:12] The other question I have, the last question is, how would you help more community voices be heard and
[1:38:20] considered and respected in the planning process, especially voices that are typically underrepresented,
[1:38:26] and like renters youth and young adults.
[1:38:30] Yeah, I was hoping you would ask one of the other questions
[1:38:32] about decision making because I saw it in the process
[1:38:36] as you guys looked at the presentation earlier today.
[1:38:40] But in terms of media choices and reaching target audiences,
[1:38:45] target audience is everything to me.
[1:38:48] What do they know?
[1:38:49] What do we want them to know?
[1:38:50] What do they want to know?
[1:38:52] And if there's a call to action,
[1:38:53] what do we want them to do?
[1:38:54] So, each one of those audiences determines different media choices, different talking points
[1:39:02] in different ways of reaching them.
[1:39:04] If it's young people, I mean in the last presidential election, it was suggested that the president
[1:39:16] go on a certain podcast that reached young men was highly successful.
[1:39:20] If you're talking about younger voters, younger folks, maybe it's tick-tock, I don't know,
[1:39:26] but you need to do some research and you can't just do a one shot to everybody, but the same needy choices.
[1:39:35] So, thank you.
[1:39:36] Thanks.
[1:39:38] Council Member Sullivan.
[1:39:39] First of all, Barry, I want to thank you for not quitting.
[1:39:42] I know how that is.
[1:39:43] I've been a theorem a long time.
[1:39:45] I never got appointed to planning commission.
[1:39:47] But I want to point out is something very positive about this council.
[1:39:51] We do have, Phoebe was a red turn chic on the planning commission.
[1:39:56] So we were trying to broaden that perspective.
[1:39:59] I only really have one question and I'm asked the same question.
[1:40:04] If your chose for some reason you have an opportunity here in our body decides to put you, would
[1:40:11] you serve out your term or would you consider a yes-no or a decline in state run for
[1:40:17] city council.
[1:40:20] I don't think I have the wherewithal to run for city council at this point.
[1:40:26] Certainly
[1:40:27] at this point, I don't know how to answer that. Certainly, I doubt it.
[1:40:33] Is it more likely you'd serve out the four years on the planning?
[1:40:37] It would be my intent to, but things change.
[1:40:43] Because of my MBA background, I think strategically
[1:40:47] the strategic planning was an intrinsic part of my being.
[1:40:52] And I was thinking about you guys, whoever you're picking up here in terms of the commission,
[1:40:58] that person could very well be running against you for City Council at some point, and I'm thinking.
[1:41:04] So they would be voting strategically or appointing strategically.
[1:41:09] Someone that either is or isn't going to be able to run against them, which just kind of relates back to your question.
[1:41:14] In terms of me, I don't know, probably not.
[1:41:18] You can see here with the body even or mayor ran for the planning commission.
[1:41:22] That is not a guarantee that you're going to get on council and she won on council and
[1:41:26] then fee views on the planning commission.
[1:41:28] She ran for council and she won, so either way, but thank you for your comment, and I appreciate
[1:41:32] that.
[1:41:33] Good luck, don't give up.
[1:41:34] I appreciate it.
[1:41:36] Councilwoman Niederhofer.
[1:41:37] Hi, Barry.
[1:41:38] Thank you for applying.
[1:41:40] Your application stated that you hadn't attended any planning commissions yet but that you
[1:41:44] We're going to you plan to before the interview so I believe you've done that. How many did you attend? Oh, I can hardly wait to talk about this. I was there Tuesday night.
[1:41:55] Yeah.
[1:41:56] And as I say, I found it highly revealing and a little bit disturbing.
[1:42:03] First of all, I think it was inappropriate for the incumbent to, it's not a club.
[1:42:10] He got up there in front of everybody, public record and asked the council or the commission members to wish him luck here.
[1:42:18] That's inappropriate and it was offensive to me.
[1:42:21] I was sitting right there in the audience, nobody wished me luck, but beyond that and you could appreciate this.
[1:42:27] There was a presentation from the staff regarding Parks and Rec.
[1:42:34] And it was a prototypic strengths, weaknesses, opportunities in threats analysis.
[1:42:40] And it was brilliant, it was beautifully done.
[1:42:43] In response, I saw the commission members, grandstanding, and
[1:42:50] And speechifying and way off topic to the point where staff member had to step up the
[1:42:58] depotium and rein them in and said, hey guys, can we back this up and stay more on topic?
[1:43:05] And I was a gas that the whole situation said, come on.
[1:43:11] And I remember and I ran the tape back, I saw Doug Stovlin's presentation here when he
[1:43:19] He spoke in January, and he said one of the things that he would make a difference
[1:43:23] when he would like to see meetings not go to two o'clock in the morning, but he would
[1:43:27] help to move them along.
[1:43:29] Similarly, I would like to be able to see things a little bit more succinct on point and
[1:43:37] certainly more productive.
[1:43:39] Thank you.
[1:43:43] Yes, as I'm sure you've aware that it takes three votes or more votes on a planning commission
[1:43:51] or the council, excuse me, to get it in the past, when you bring your idea, how would
[1:43:59] you approach obtaining consensus?
[1:44:04] This is kind of related to what Council Member of NCAT was referring to or decision making
[1:44:12] question before. You have to kind of rely on your own research. You have to rely on your
[1:44:20] legal and your staff.
[1:44:24] And then you have to weigh all the options in terms of who benefits
[1:44:30] and who is it going to harm. And you have to have the way. Are those benefits going to be stronger
[1:44:38] longer than the harm that they might cause.
[1:44:43] And that's the way I would make a decision.
[1:44:44] And that's hopefully what I would advise you guys to do
[1:44:48] in terms of what's best for the overall situation
[1:44:55] without doing long term hurt that in the end.
[1:45:00] Your decision really wasn't that good. So that's what I would advise. Okay, thank you. And then, is there anything in your business or personal life that would inhibit you from attending all the planning commission meetings? No, this is where I live. This is my home. Okay, thank you.
[1:45:23] Actually, no question. So thank you so much. Appreciate it. Thanks.
[1:45:32] Canada, the evening is Cindy Wang.
[1:45:50] Good evening.
[1:45:51] esteemed members of the City Council and my fellow residents from Fasthit City.
[1:45:58] My name is Cindy Wen. I'm honored to stand here again as the candidate for the Planning Commission.
[1:46:05] Fasthit City is a remarkable community, a model for smart planning, innovation, quality of life, and sustainability.
[1:46:13] I am deeply rooted in our community, having lived in fastest city for 22 years and raised my kid here.
[1:46:22] I have a keen interest to see our city continue to flourish with harmony and balance in its growth and sustainability.
[1:46:30] My commitment and qualification for the position are in the following four areas.
[1:46:34] 1. General skills have a career background in managing complex government, financial
[1:46:42] investment, and technology programs throughout my 30 years career.
[1:46:46] I have skills in strategic planning, policy development, and data analytics.
[1:46:51] I think these skills can be essential and beneficial to this role.
[1:46:56] 2. Special experience. I had previously invested in commercial buildings in another city involving
[1:47:03] in Tidalman Zone, converting from office buildings to residential condos in
[1:47:09] providing me with valuable first-hand experience in navigating the complex
[1:47:13] landscape of the city planning, consensus building, ensuring that decisions are
[1:47:19] made with both foresight and fairness. Number three, transparency. Our city's mission
[1:47:26] is to deliver excellent services to its residents. Development and a
[1:47:31] Every development must balance economic growth with environmental sustainability and community needs with infrastructure capacity.
[1:47:42] I will commit to transparency and ensure public voices from all residents I heard and considered.
[1:47:50] Number four, physical responsibility.
[1:47:52] I recognize the importance of physical responsibility in our cities planning.
[1:47:56] I previously served a three-year term in the audit committee, which gives me the insight
[1:48:04] that our initiatives should be economically viable, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are
[1:48:14] used wisely for projects that benefit all.
[1:48:17] The role of planning commission is advisory body to serve the city council.
[1:48:22] So, it encompasses every aspect of city planning, development, and redevelopment, with consideration
[1:48:30] of laws, regulations, and compliance.
[1:48:33] If appointed, I pledge to listen to community voices and ideas worked diligently to my
[1:48:39] homework, review, and analyze pros and cons of our projects, work closely with the City
[1:48:46] Council, and help the city to make informed decision.
[1:48:50] I believe I was short of 30 seconds, I look at the clock a little bit, but I just want to give you a little more time.
[1:48:58] Thank you.
[1:49:01] To help the city to make informed decisions together, I believe we can achieve a good littleism of growth and quality of life for all residents of the city.
[1:49:11] I hope to have the opportunity to serve the beautiful city again and make it an even better place to live.
[1:49:16] Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay. Council Member Fechak.
[1:49:25] Hi, I asked the same questions of all the applicants. First one is tell me about a time that you had to make a decision that was not aligned to what your closest friends and supporters expected or wanted of you.
[1:49:41] How did you find the courage to go against the grain, and how did you talk through your thought process to them?
[1:49:48] I believe this situation happens all the time in our personal life or professional life.
[1:49:54] So I will give example, I manage a small private investment fund, and my investors or members are my constituents.
[1:50:02] I have to make sure that we deliver the maximum benefit or profitability to our members.
[1:50:11] So sometimes a project didn't go the way that they expected it.
[1:50:15] So I will give an example like one of the companies that we invested.
[1:50:19] We took a position in the company, but a few years down the road they decided to do a marginal position
[1:50:26] and was a low-ball offer from the buyer.
[1:50:30] And by the timing, the market condition
[1:50:33] just not allowing us to vote no.
[1:50:36] So I had to talk to our members that make sure
[1:50:40] they understand if we voted down the deal,
[1:50:44] a lot of consequences could happen.
[1:50:46] It could be break up fee, could be a deal just no more there
[1:50:51] and financial condition going to be worse for the company.
[1:50:55] So I would say it's just a persuasion layout all the possibilities if you don't vote in the way that they expected.
[1:51:05] So I would say this happens a lot.
[1:51:07] It just takes time to make sure people understand all the pros and accounts.
[1:51:14] So I think it's manageable.
[1:51:17] Thank you for that.
[1:51:18] And my follow up and last question is, how would you help more community voices be heard, respected,
[1:51:25] and considered into the planning process,
[1:51:27] including especially voices that are normally underrepresented
[1:51:32] such as renters, youth, young adults.
[1:51:36] Yeah, so I think in general,
[1:51:38] we should be pay attention to the public polls
[1:51:41] through monitoring, I wouldn't say monitoring,
[1:51:44] just participating in all the groups,
[1:51:47] like social groups and neighborhood groups,
[1:51:50] to hear their regular concerns and things like that but also take initiative to
[1:51:58] speak to people that you meet daily may not be the similar by one as yourself
[1:52:05] but you have to interact with people they encounter in life let's say you go
[1:52:10] to a grocery store you go to the barber shop you go to places fix your car so
[1:52:17] It's just reach out to the other side that you're not familiar with and make sure all the
[1:52:23] voices are considered and being fairly integrated into the city decision and make sure there's
[1:52:33] sort of a plan. If not at this party, maybe next party, so historically kind of balance out
[1:52:41] everyone's interest because I understand we have 47% of renters, more than 50% of home owners,
[1:52:49] so there's always a bit of trade-off that we needed to build the consensus and make sure everyone's
[1:52:56] opinion are heard and what we,
[1:53:03] whatever party we take kind of benefit of in the long run. So I literally
[1:53:09] I really wanted to refer the topic I just heard about 101 and 92, and I think the long term sort of analysis or long term view would be very important for all the citizens.
[1:53:25] So I definitely appreciate a lot of comments I heard earlier when sitting there.
[1:53:30] So that was a great exercise of hearing all the voices.
[1:53:39] Thank you.
[1:53:41] Councilmember Sullivan.
[1:53:43] First of all, thank you, Cindy, for coming back.
[1:53:47] That says a lot.
[1:53:48] I know the first time you came here, it was just for a short term.
[1:53:51] And thank you for serving on the audit committee.
[1:53:54] I was on the audit committee too, and it's not the most attractive committee,
[1:53:58] but it's the nuts and bolts of financing.
[1:54:00] I've got one question, this is for a four-year term.
[1:54:04] In my question, would you serve out the four-year term,
[1:54:07] as you know we're going, you could be in a position
[1:54:11] where you might consider running for council.
[1:54:13] Would you make a commitment to serving the four-year term?
[1:54:18] Yeah, I would love to serve the four-year term, yeah.
[1:54:22] Okay.
[1:54:23] What is the, like, is there a prohibition if you are doing something you cannot do that?
[1:54:31] Well, if you chose to run, we have district elections coming up in 2026 and 2028, so you'd be real close.
[1:54:39] I'm not sure what district you're in, but I was just curious if you would try to do a stepping stone to the City Council,
[1:54:47] or you've served on your four-year term out.
[1:54:51] Oh, I see that's your concept, so I'm going to say right now like I'm willing to serve
[1:54:57] the four-year term.
[1:54:58] Okay.
[1:54:59] Thank you.
[1:55:01] I can't remember neither offer.
[1:55:03] Thank you for applying again.
[1:55:06] So your applications that you attended the April 3rd Planning Commission meeting, did you
[1:55:12] attend any other ones or just that one?
[1:55:14] So I wanted to take back, I actually just viewed the online meeting, so I actually viewed
[1:55:21] all three past meetings April two meetings and another meeting. Just wanted to point out the name
[1:55:29] meeting was eight hours long which is incorrect. It's actually just a little over one hour. It was
[1:55:34] scared a little bit. I'm like wow from 7 pm all the way to 3 pm. It was eight hours and I actually
[1:55:46] reviewed and found it's actually just under one and a half hours, so I just wanted to point out
[1:55:53] that's a FYI, so then my next question is what did you take away from or learn from the meeting?
[1:56:01] So I thought I learned a lot about the detailed forum or detailed discussion about these meetings
[1:56:11] because it involves a lot of different type of things that they decided on.
[1:56:18] The main meeting was a joint meeting, was a park and a wreck.
[1:56:23] It talks about swimming pool, water conservation or kind of initiative
[1:56:28] and approving another side plan or something like that.
[1:56:33] And I think April plan was more of study
[1:56:39] session.
[1:56:39] I think the second one April 17 was a long study session about single-family residential
[1:56:48] code, garage, front, roof, or kind of topic they needed to discuss and review and have
[1:56:59] a consensus.
[1:57:00] So I did actually spend time to review all those three meetings.
[1:57:04] But I didn't physically attend, by the way.
[1:57:08] Thank you.
[1:57:08] Yes.
[1:57:13] Okay. As you well know, it takes three votes to get anything passed. True?
[1:57:20] Yeah. Three or more votes. Okay. So, if you had an idea that you wanted to get the commission to pass,
[1:57:29] what would be your process to develop consensus to get for the rest of commissioners to see your point of view?
[1:57:36] I
[1:57:42] feel like it would be understanding my fellow planning commissioners' point of view.
[1:57:50] I would be listening tentatively.
[1:57:52] You're talking about the planning commission, right, to get something approved with majority.
[1:57:58] So, I would try to think about from their angle what position they are taking
[1:58:09] and based on what kind of view and from that point on,
[1:58:14] and I would just lay out our line, the issues if I disagree.
[1:58:21] Just need to be truthful.
[1:58:24] If I agree, it would be perfect, but if disagree,
[1:58:28] we need to just engage more for discussion
[1:58:31] and maybe spend more time, have the luxury of explore
[1:58:34] all the ideas, options, maybe not just one option
[1:58:38] we're discussing when maybe lay out four options and fully discuss it and hopefully that there
[1:58:43] will be consensus building at the end for a majority. Three versus two. That's the minimum requirement,
[1:58:50] but I think at the end of the day, if I'm on a minority, I will agree with the commission
[1:58:58] overall, because it's always majority rule. So I don't have an issue personally if my view is
[1:59:06] different than others because it always happens in the life.
[1:59:11] Okay, and the second one is do you have anything in your personal business life that would
[1:59:16] prevent you from attending all the planning commission meetings?
[1:59:20] Not right now. Right now I'm pretty light in my career. Kind of sort of like a career break,
[1:59:26] but I kind of maintain or maintain managing two funds, small funds that I have.
[1:59:34] But I take sort of a little career break.
[1:59:38] I previously worked in the federal government for 4.5 years with the Small Business Administration
[1:59:45] and with three grants and loan programs I worked up and I think some of my experience
[1:59:53] might be able to help some of the small business in the fastest city, how to get loan, how
[1:59:58] to apply all kinds of programs.
[2:00:00] It might be another possibility, but it's different than the planning commission. So I wanted to refrain what I can't do here. Maybe just like as a friend, if I bump into any small business owners, I can't tell them, oh, there's this 8A program. There's this all kind of programs for export for whatever. Like there's a lot of programs that they can't utilize. Okay. Thank you.
[2:00:27] I have no questions. Thank you so much. Thank you.
[2:00:30] All right, so now we turn back over.
[2:00:35] I do just want to say thank you to all of the candidates.
[2:00:37] This is incredibly difficult.
[2:00:41] And if you're not chosen tonight, please don't stop trying.
[2:00:46] There's various ways to get involved.
[2:00:48] You can lead.
[2:00:49] You can serve from various positions within our city.
[2:00:54] So with that, Madam Clerk.
[2:00:55] So now I will call out the names of the council members, so you can provide the person
[2:01:00] that you would vote for for the spot on the Planning Commission.
[2:01:05] Council member Niederhofer,
[2:01:10] Shankar Kangry.
[2:01:12] Council member Sullivan, Berry,
[2:01:20] Council member Benkut, Sanuwo,
[2:01:30] Smyr Kiesel, Shankar Kangry,
[2:01:34] And Mayor Jimenez.
[2:01:36] Mr. Cancri.
[2:01:39] Motion.
[2:01:41] Well, Shankar Cancri is appointed to the planning commission with three votes.
[2:01:49] Thank you so much.
[2:01:50] You know, we need to make a motion on that to make it official.
[2:01:54] Actually adopt the resolution or do it.
[2:01:58] So can I get a motion to adopt the resolution appointing Shankar Cancri to the planning commission for a four-year term?
[2:02:05] Make a motion to adopt the resolution for Shankar Cancri to a four-year term on the planning commission.
[2:02:23] Can I get a second?
[2:02:25] No second.
[2:02:29] Do we need a roll call letter or no?
[2:02:32] Okay.
[2:02:32] All in favor.
[2:02:34] Aye.
[2:02:36] Any opposed?
[2:02:39] Thank you so much.
[2:02:40] Motion carries 5-0.
[2:02:43] Next item, please.
[2:02:46] Item 8, communications 8.1, city district warrants of demands are processed and issued on April 30th, 2025.
[2:02:54] Anyone who wants to provide public comment, please provide a speaker slip or raise your hand on Zoom.
[2:02:58] This is an information item only no action required.
[2:03:04] Item 9, city district manager reports council board statements and requests and council liaison report.
[2:03:12] Madam Mayor, members of the Council, just a couple of quick reminders.
[2:03:16] Next Monday is Memorial Day.
[2:03:18] City Hall will be closed and all city offices will be closed in celebration of Memorial Day.
[2:03:26] Also, the next Council of Cities is scheduled for Friday, June 27th.
[2:03:31] That's a little bit off.
[2:03:32] It's going to be in Berlin game.
[2:03:34] Expect registration information to come to you shortly.
[2:03:38] and Kevin, yeah, Kevin will work with you on getting that taken care of.
[2:03:44] That's all I have unless you have questions for me.
[2:03:47] Thank you so much.
[2:03:48] Now we're turning to my colleagues for their reports.
[2:03:52] Let's begin with Council Member Sullivan.
[2:03:56] Mayor, I attended a meeting with airport land use, but it was specifically for child care.
[2:04:04] They were out and they were talking about the same Carlos airport and zoning out there.
[2:04:08] they're trying to encourage more child care availability for different locations out there,
[2:04:15] whether they're retail or private. So, and again we are only an advisory board, so the board makes
[2:04:21] their overall decisions. I also with council members, all the council members attended the Edgewater
[2:04:27] Marine ribbon cutting. That was a great opportunity for Mike Turner. He had some retro boats out there,
[2:04:34] or they were really beautiful.
[2:04:36] Congratulations to that mic.
[2:04:39] Also attended on Friday, the council of cities
[2:04:42] at the police department
[2:04:44] and the San Mateo.
[2:04:46] I made it a point to not park my cyber truck over there.
[2:04:50] It wasn't much room.
[2:04:51] So I thank Kaiser.
[2:04:52] I'm a Kaiser patient.
[2:04:54] So I park my truck over there.
[2:04:56] The presentation was accidentally well done.
[2:04:59] Something may be foster city.
[2:05:01] Eventually we'll look into it.
[2:05:02] They were piloting their drones.
[2:05:04] they were showing their drones and command central on the roof and it was a great
[2:05:09] opportunity to find out that they've helped us several times with the drones with
[2:05:13] swimmers outside near the or they do the wind surfing and kite flying and
[2:05:19] all that stuff so drones are here to stay and of course we got to make sure
[2:05:23] nobody flies too high to interfere with the plane traffic so yeah I can see the
[2:05:29] wave and I have a same a tail was indicated that they're gonna probably have
[2:05:32] another location, but do a way to see how the dispatch is able to actually take a drone
[2:05:41] out to a crime scene or potential thing. They know what to send out, whether they're sending out
[2:05:48] somebody because it's a robbery or kids just drinking alcohol or doing whatever. So very impressed
[2:05:56] with the drones, I think it's going to save a lot of lives, and it's here.
[2:06:02] And of course, they got those drones before the tariff started too.
[2:06:05] So yes, that's been in my report.
[2:06:07] Public Services is the best work of life, thanks Madam Mayor.
[2:06:11] Thank you, Council Member Neater, Huffer.
[2:06:14] Thank you.
[2:06:15] So Thursday, I attended the 169th Anniversary Celebration of San Mateo County,
[2:06:21] where they re-enacted a story about how San Mateo County came to be.
[2:06:26] So I just wanted to ask did everybody know that San Mateo County was part of San Francisco?
[2:06:31] Oh, wait, I did not know that and I grew up here
[2:06:36] It became San Mateo County at the same time the city and county of San Francisco were combined
[2:06:42] So it was also a celebration of their new administration building, which is touted as the greenness
[2:06:49] Government building in the count in the country
[2:06:52] So I would encourage anybody to go take a look at it
[2:06:56] I had a planning commission meeting on Thursday which ended in a joint meeting with the parks and rec committee to discuss status updates and feedback and policy considerations on the existing conditions and assessment for parks and open space element and conservation element which are currently under being updated.
[2:07:15] There was a lot of good discussion that night.
[2:07:17] I think there will be a focus that the consultant is conducting a focus group on June 18th and
[2:07:28] also considering public engagement Wednesdays off the grid and farmers market so there should
[2:07:35] be some engagement coming up for those two studies.
[2:07:40] And as can some member Sullivan said attended the Edgewater Marine Ribbon Cutting and the
[2:07:45] Council of City's dinner on Friday.
[2:07:50] Also attended the third annual spring celebration at the PJCC last night with Mayor Kiesel.
[2:07:59] And they wanted to thank the city for all the support that the city can continue to give
[2:08:05] them.
[2:08:05] And that's all I have.
[2:08:09] That's all you have, that's quite a bit.
[2:08:12] It just started off with the BJCC last night was celebrating their 21st year in Foster
[2:08:22] City.
[2:08:23] It doesn't seem like it's been 21 years since they've been here.
[2:08:28] I attended Bosca and they're working on a project for a reliable source of water plan through
[2:08:40] 2050.
[2:08:40] what we're going to be doing and they're going to be taking into housing elements and business elements and business growth and water requirements.
[2:08:49] So they're going to be doing a study on that.
[2:08:54] Like we have done affordability is not only rents, it's going to be water and utilities that are starting to include that in there.
[2:09:04] And they're going to be looking at perhaps lowering some rates for affordable affordability.
[2:09:16] Pretty much, oh, and then the snow pack has already started to melt.
[2:09:20] But the good news is Shasta is full right now.
[2:09:25] So it's, quote, higher than historical averages, whatever that's worth.
[2:09:31] But that doesn't mean that tomorrow we're going to have to have a drought.
[2:09:35] I mean, the weather is changing quite quickly.
[2:09:39] And to this morning, I was supposed supposed to be at the library JPA meeting.
[2:09:47] And when I got there, the building is evacuated for a dastly scare.
[2:09:54] So the meeting was called off or postponed.
[2:09:59] And that's really a part.
[2:10:03] Oh, excuse me, one more thing.
[2:10:05] I'm going to be meeting with, I'm just made this decision that going to be meeting with planning because I want to find out if, in fact, the gatekeepers process has morphed over the years.
[2:10:22] I was involved when it was brought up earlier this evening.
[2:10:26] Has it changed? I don't know, but I'm going to be doing some investigation with that.
[2:10:35] So I had a busy few weeks, I was privileged to attend or to visit a class of Audubon.
[2:10:44] And that was some second graders who had a lot of questions about what I do as mayor.
[2:10:50] It was exciting.
[2:10:51] When they found out that I had the ability to make laws in Foster City with obviously the
[2:10:58] support of my council members.
[2:10:59] There was a lot of discussion about chocolate milk, and I think maybe we might need to make a new mandate in foster city that we all must drink more chocolate milk.
[2:11:15] So that was a lot of fun.
[2:11:17] I attended the sea cag later that evening, and we had a presentation from the county office of education regarding safe routes to school.
[2:11:27] which is a program that encourages less cars for better health outcomes, more walking, and what I'm interested in doing and pursuing is doing a walk audit, where we can meet with the experts from the county and figure out ways that we can encourage our kids to walk to school.
[2:11:51] So that's something that I will be doing a deeper dive with, and I'm hoping to also potentially partner with the liaison to our school district, Council member Benkat, and figuring out some ways that we can partner with our schools to encourage both pedestrian safety measures that we can implement and ways that we can promote just getting our kids to school and back safely.
[2:12:19] Then there was another presentation regarding the Energy Watch, which is a partnership between
[2:12:23] C-Cag and PGE, which is funded by the PUC through the RAPAIRs.
[2:12:28] And what this does is it works with heart to reach customers.
[2:12:33] The goal is to reduce GHG emissions.
[2:12:37] And so this is a program specifically for our schools, small businesses, you can reach out
[2:12:43] and have someone who will identify ways where you can reduce energy and then help
[2:12:50] you find programs to fund that. So that is on our county website and PG&E as
[2:12:55] well and then you can also if you're interested in that please reach out to me
[2:13:00] and I can connect you with the people that you need to be connected to. Then I
[2:13:05] I attended on the 10th, I attended the Chamber Fun Run.
[2:13:11] I did not run, I apologize, I'm really out of shape.
[2:13:15] But I wanted to thank the Chamber for putting on a fun event.
[2:13:18] It was well attended, I believe.
[2:13:21] Council Member Beckett, were you there?
[2:13:24] I ran to, but I mean, I walked.
[2:13:27] But I heard it doubled the attendance from last time.
[2:13:30] I forgot the exact number, I want to say around that.
[2:13:32] It was well attended and it was fantastic
[2:13:35] Because at the end, there was all of these booths, and a lot of them were run by members of our community that were young, younger kids, teenagers, and it was just a fun, fun way to break the community together.
[2:13:48] So congratulations for a successful event and moving on a couple
[2:14:00] other meetings throughout the week.
[2:14:02] We had a CMAC meeting today, congestion management, and had some other presentations and budget meetings, and then the CCPC, childcare partnership council meeting as well today, and we're all working on budgets, working how we can serve our community and kind of dealing with the May revised with our state budget.
[2:14:28] And we initially had this amazing, we had a surplus and now we're in a deficit situation
[2:14:39] potentially.
[2:14:39] So, several committees and commissions are scrambling to figure out, you know, are we going
[2:14:46] to be funded or not?
[2:14:47] And what programs are going to be funded or not?
[2:14:49] So it's sort of in a way and see, I would encourage you to reach out if you have concern about
[2:14:57] specific programs. There are some concerns.
[2:15:00] For local theater goers, that money, that a lot of our local theater groups, Hill Barn included, may lose some funding. And as you know, local theaters generally hang on by, by thread, most, most days. So would encourage you to reach out to your state senator and state congressman, Diane Papin, Josh Becker, and let them know if that's something that might be important to you. We need to save, save funding for
[2:15:30] or local arts programs.
[2:15:33] And that does it for my report.
[2:15:36] I am just one last announcement.
[2:15:38] I will be holding my monthly coffee this Saturday
[2:15:41] at 1 o'clock at Penelope's.
[2:15:44] So I would love to see the community come out
[2:15:46] and ask questions.
[2:15:48] Give me your ideas, your concerns.
[2:15:51] I'm open to chat about anything for as long as you need
[2:15:53] to with that.
[2:15:54] Thank you so much.
[2:15:55] And I believe we are adjourned.
[2:15:57] Oh, one more question.
[2:16:01] I guess we'll start with the 5K since Madam Mayor mentioned it.
[2:16:05] I'm proud to say I came in last place.
[2:16:08] The gentleman was folding up the finish line as I was crossing it.
[2:16:12] I did not plan to be in last place by ended up meeting new friends along the way, which
[2:16:15] is what you do, and got some group of rollerbladers to come to join me.
[2:16:21] Actually, they flew by me about 20 minutes after me, so that was really fun and great to
[2:16:26] to see fun raising for the chamber,
[2:16:28] they do a lot for our city,
[2:16:30] and great to see all kinds of people out.
[2:16:33] And I also wanted to apologize
[2:16:35] I missed the last council meeting.
[2:16:37] I was part of an energy security summit in DC
[2:16:41] with a leadership class I'm affiliated with
[2:16:43] and that was scheduled before I was elected.
[2:16:47] And as part of that trip,
[2:16:48] we actually got to lobby,
[2:16:52] this is a non-partisan group that I was with.
[2:16:55] We actually got to lobby for climate resiliency and bills related to that to talk to different
[2:17:02] leaders in Congress, so I was really excited.
[2:17:06] There was bike to wherever, used to be called bike to work, bike to school, bike to wherever
[2:17:10] day.
[2:17:11] Recently, I usually work from home, so I bike to Penelope for a meeting, hopefully that counted.
[2:17:18] I got to attend, there's a group called OCA San Mateo and they serve Asian American Pacific
[2:17:25] under youth across the county. I'm really proud that somebody from Foster City, a senior at
[2:17:32] San Mateo High School, her name is Zhang Yizhou. She earned one of the scholarships and it's great.
[2:17:39] All of the students are amazing and we are in exceptional hands with them. And also wanted to denote
[2:17:46] that May is, there's lots of different months that you celebrate but it's a mental health month
[2:17:52] So it was actually very uppercut that our public commenter came today and shared her story and her organization.
[2:18:02] It's also Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, so a couple of weeks left.
[2:18:09] So find a way to celebrate, and our city is actually about 54% AAPI and growing.
[2:18:16] So that's definitely something we want to share out with everybody.
[2:18:21] Thank you.
[2:18:23] Okay, and with that, we're adjourned.