Two vie for one Foster City Council seat in recall

The seat in question this election on March 3 is currently occupied by Councilman Herb Perez, who is facing a recall attempt. Concerned with what they describe as his uncivil behavior, failure to listen to constituents and a pro-development agenda, a citizens group last year gathered 3,913 signatures — more than is required to place a recall measure on the ballot. If Perez is recalled, then the candidate with the most votes will take his seat through November when that term expires.

“Civility is the most important thing in this race,” Sullivan said. “We need to bring respect back to the community. We don’t want to be that council where everyone says ‘what’s going on in Foster City?’” 

Both candidates feel they’re in a position to bring about that change.

Sullivan said his experience hosting a nonpartisan podcast in which he interviews local politicians and officials about the issues of the day has made him a good listener and facilitator of open conversation — two things many voters feel are currently lacking on the council.

“We have to come to listen to people and listen closely,” he said. “I can continue a dialogue of openness without a political agenda.”

Froomin feels his 30-plus years in law enforcement has well prepared him to effectively work with people who have disparate views. 

“One of the main components of my job is bringing civility and the ability to work with people with different values,” he said. “As a police chief, you quickly learn the importance of respect, listening and respecting differences. 

“Welcoming the community back to their City Council chambers, allowing them to speak their mind and communicate with the council in a fair and reasonable manner will start to calm things down,” he added.

Housing and traffic are also top of mind for Foster City voters. 

Sullivan said the recently implemented prohibition on left turns at East Hillsdale Boulevard is a step in the right direction to alleviate traffic in the city, and also recommended new ways to get commuting residents to train stations.

“There are a lot of tech workers who live way out there [in the city] and they’d take Caltrain or SamTrans or whatever if they could get to them in a reasonable amount of time,” he said. “Why not have San Mateo and Foster City do a commuter lane early in the morning, maybe around 5:30 a.m., to get tech workers to the train?”

Froomin suggested the city can do little to address traffic on its own as it is a regional problem and described a plan to add capacity to the State Route 92 interchange and Highway 101 as “lipstick on a pig.” He also has reservations about the no left turn prohibition because that has made it more difficult for residents on the north side of Hillsdale Boulevard to get home. 

He instead wants to explore opportunities with traffic signal cycling to cut down on congestion. 

“I think we should be able to get more efficient with technology on the signals we have and that would help with commute and non-commute times,” he said. 

As for housing, Sullivan said Foster City has already approved its fair share of housing while recognizing cities are losing control to the state over development decisions.

Froomin described Foster City is built out and feels large corporations should be responsible for building housing on their campuses to address the shortage.

“Why not legislate ways for those bigger corporations to provide the housing,” he said. “Gilead is expanding significantly in Foster City and so is Apple and Facebook. Those companies have given millions to help with the affordable housing issue, but none of them have said we have this huge land for our campus why not build housing on it for our employees?”

He’s also worried about building more housing in Foster City for safety reasons. 

“Requiring Foster City to add housing as well as other towns on the Peninsula is going to be a public safety issue in the event of an earthquake or natural disaster trying to get people out because all these people will have to crowd onto 101 or 280,” he said. 

Froomin moved with his family to Foster City in 1972, was educated in its public schools and, at the age of 21, joined the city’s police department for 20 years before leaving at the rank of captain. He moved to Southern California where he worked as a police chief, and later moved back to Foster City, where he raised his three children and currently lives. 

“Seeing the city from a youth perspective, an employee perspective and also a resident perspective as an adult, I understand the demands of raising a family in our community,” he said. 

Sullivan is a San Francisco native who moved to Foster City 30 years ago. He has been an active Lions Club member since 2011, served on the Parks and Recreation for 10 years and also chaired it, and was a member of the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury for two years.

“Community service has been the best work of life,” he said.

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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