Plans to end hybrid meeting options for Foster City public committee and subcommittee meetings could soon be reconsidered following a City Council decision to discuss the issue further in September.
The city announced Aug. 1 that it would no longer be offering hybrid online meetings for its public committee and subcommittee meetings for viewing online, citing limited resources, logistical complexities, facility issues and staffing shortages for no longer being able to offer hybrid meetings that started during the pandemic to ensure public access.
The decision led Councilmember Stacy Jimenez to ask staff to research the actual monetary costs to record the meetings and staff time involved so the council could have a public discussion about possibilities with all the facts available. Jimenez said it was important for the city to be open and encourage all people to get involved through different types of meeting availability, noting people with disabilities, mobility issues, ill or homebound for some reason would be affected by the decision.
“It just lends itself to our city being a more transparent city, a city that encourages our community to get involved, and we give them lots of different avenues to do that,” Jimenez said.
Public Committee meetings include the Parks and Recreation Committee, Audit Committee, Citizens Sustainability Advisory Committee, Levee Bond Oversight Committee, Traffic Revenue Committee and Youth Advisory Committee. City Council subcommittees have one or two members of the City Council who meet to discuss and provide direction to staff on items or issues that will eventually be considered by the whole City Council.
Jimenez said she understood why city staff wanted to be fiscally responsible and not overrun staff costs for meetings that often only have a few people but felt it was important to encourage people to be involved in city government and make it approachable. She noted she attended every single council meeting for four years and watched as many committee meetings as possible before she decided to run for office to help her understand how the city worked and what different committees do. Two examples she gave were learning about traffic review and street light changes because of the watching the Traffic Revenue Committee.
City Council and Planning Commission meetings can still be viewed from home via Zoom or in person. Planning Commission and City Council meetings are also streamed live online at www.fostercity.org/fctv or on FCTV on Comcast Channel 27 and AT&T Channel 99.
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