Foster City manager embraces new role

Moneda has been learning about the job from his predecessor, Kevin Miller, for some time, but the transition is still an adjustment.

“You think you’ve been trained all these years and you’re ready to go and all of a sudden you realize, OK that’s something I didn’t learn yet,” he said, referencing a conversation he had with San Mateo City Manager Larry Patterson, another former public works director. “The download [of information] was pretty intense in the beginning.”

As public works director, Moneda focused on the details of capital projects, and now as city manager he’s zooming out and overseeing all aspects of government.

“You’re dealing with the community and the council in a different way,” he said. “There isn’t a textbook or a class that teaches you how to deal with the dynamics of a council, the five different personalities and what they feel are important to them.”

But working closely with this council is by no means new territory for Moneda. Over the past few years, he’s met with councilmembers “quite often” on high-profile items like the levee project as well as an increasing number of capital projects in response to the city’s aging infrastructure.

Moving forward, Moneda said pension liabilities and traffic improvements will be major focuses, and a new rec center, another public works-based endeavor, is also a big item on the city’s agenda.

With such a long history in public works that stretches back to 1998, Moneda said it’s sometimes challenging to “let go” of the day-to-day duties of his former role.

“I was a hands-on director, so now I’m having to pull myself away and allow the acting Public Works director handle things,” he said.

Asked what he misses about his former role, Moneda cited the meetings he’d have almost every morning with the 25 or so Public Works employees at the corporation yard and seeing them “in action.” His new job means a lot more time in the office.

“In public works it was easy to get satisfaction when you complete a project and seeing people use the completed project,” he said, comparing his current and former roles. “When so much effort has been put into meeting with the community and council on an item and at the end of the day to see that item move forward, that’s now where the sense of reward is. When you put in so much effort that often goes unseen. The community often doesn’t realize how much effort goes into a staff report.”

While Moneda, 45, is on the younger end of the spectrum of city managers, he said he had no hesitation about jumping on the opportunity when it arose.

“The last thing I wanted to do was wait, so I took the opportunity and it’s been nothing but positive feelings moving forward,” he said.

He also gets recognized around town a lot more now.

Moneda begins his days early and arrives at the office between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. A typical day entails a lot of meetings and a lot of emails.

“At the end of the day I like to have an empty in-box because someone else is waiting for that item in order to do their work,” he said, adding that “prompt response” also occurs after hours. “We often get the comment ‘amazing response’ or ‘I didn’t even expect a response back’ and, in other cities, people say that hasn’t been the case.”

Moneda said he was interested in Foster City long before he joined its staff. When his former position opened up, he took a pay cut and left the larger city of Milpitas to work in Foster City.

“What I’ve found with a larger city is typically they’re not as efficient or move as quickly because there’re more steps to certain processes,” he said. “When you’re working for a small city that’s run by a lean staff, then you can typically move things faster than in larger cities. That’s my experience.”

Moneda said he was impressed by Foster City’s financial position, which he researched before working there. And “full-service” cities that manage their own water, sewer and storm drains appeal to him as it means fewer agencies with which to work.

Moneda also said Foster City is home to the most engaged community he’s worked for, but initially, he was drawn to the city’s unique geography.

“When you first look at Google maps you see a blue lagoon and for the most part an island. When I first saw it I said ‘this is amazing,’” he said. “To have so many properties that have their backyards right up against the lagoon, to realize that the city was created, that it was fill, and a planned community.”

Moneda currently lives in Brisbane with his wife and two dogs, but hopes to one day move to Foster City and own a property on the lagoon.

Moneda met his wife, who works for the city of Brisbane, on a blind date. They married and had children at a young age, and now that the kids are grown and out of the house, Moneda and his wife have time to date and be “spontaneous” after 24 years of marriage.

“It’s our time now. [Raising kids], we didn’t get a chance to date and go to happy hours and the kinds of things people usually do before they marry,” he said.

Outside of his office and council meetings, one can likely find Moneda at any of the city’s events, and he and his wife especially love eating at Off the Grid. It’s clear he loves the city and these days there are few who know it better than him.

“I inherited a city that’s in great shape and now it’s just a matter of how do I leave the city when I’m done in better shape than when I got it,” he said.

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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