The people of Foster City have the benefit of six good City Council candidates who seek to replace Charlie Bronitsky, who is termed out of office, and Gary Pollard, who chose not to run for re-election.
Six people are running for the two available seats and the candidates who exhibit the best understanding of the issues, the right temperament and the requisite backgrounds are Richa Awasthi and Paul Williams. Awasthi is a gift to the city in that she is well-researched, even-keeled and dedicated to serving the community. Her background as a school volunteer combined with her corporate experience will only serve the community well.
Williams also checks off a lot of boxes when it comes to community engagement and participation. As a member of the Planning Commission, he is well versed in development issues and understands the key components of that issue in the city when it comes to land use and circulation. He is also a longtime Rotarian, which provides him a good basis for community service and engagement.
While there has been some chatter in this election about the type of discourse that occurs in council meetings, that should only have weight if those currently on the council are running. Being that there are no incumbents in this race, it holds less weight. What has been defined clearly is the need for collaboration and unity. However, we find the best way to get to that is for professional discourse and an understanding of the issues from top to bottom. The other candidates have varying levels of that understanding, and we tend to gravitate toward those with the deepest understanding — and Awasthi and Williams have that. They are also both oriented toward practical and viable solutions to the city’s most vexing problems — traffic and finding the right balance on housing.
Make no mistake, every single candidate in this race should be commended for putting themselves out there and for sharing their perspective. It is not easy to run for public office and be placed under the microscope.
But Awasthi and Williams understand that there is room for smart growth in accordance with the wishes of the longtime residents who have provided a solid foundation and are concerned about traffic impacts. Working toward realistic solutions to traffic, which is not isolated to the city itself, will help. And both Awasthi and Williams exhibit a good understanding of the city’s finances and the need to address its pension obligations while maintaining solid reserves.
One of the frustrating things about election season is that it is sometimes taken over by emotion and campaign tactics. There is a chance that those become the focus rather than the issues and the understanding of candidates of those issues important to the community. But when that is put aside, what remains is experience, know-how and talent. And on those counts, Awasthi and Williams stand above.
(3) comments
One way to sort out candidates is to see who they take money from and who they accept endorsements from. Foster City council candidate Paul Williiams, a developer, has just reported a $1,000 campaign contribution from the California Reals Estate Political Action Committee, California Association of Realtors. He had endorsements from all three of the pro-development members of the current council, until he rejected the endorsement of Herb Perez. Rich Awasthi just reported receiving $1,000, from this same group.. She too, is endorsed by the three pre-development council members Perez/Hindi/Bronitsky. It is a matter of record, now available for viewing at the City Clerk website. My dad was right: "Follow the money.".
Dear Mr Editor,
Thank you so much for your completely unbiased and unprejudiced opinion. You have made this important decision very easy for us. You took all the clutter out and just pointed out to the most vital information, the two names that we need to vote for. With the sample ballot, the voter guide, NextDoor, Facebook and the internet there is so much blah blah blah out there. You can’t even imagine!!!
On top of that, the names of the six candidates contesting the election, traffic problems, pension obligations, levee, affordable housing, education, high school, etc, OMG, some people just blabber on the internet. So much reading!!!! You made our job easy. All we need to know is Awasthi and Williams. We don’t even need to read about or know the names of the other four candidates, let alone their stance on issues or their credentials. Because Mr. Editor, you did all that analysis for us. You put all this complex information into your hi-tech analytical tool and let it spit out two names which you shared with us, six times to be precise, in your one-page article.
Also those internet trolls condemn Williams for having a vested interest in development because he served as planning commissioner and is himself a developer, and is now contesting the election. But you busted all those myths. You called it community service and engagement!!! Euphemism at its best, Sir!!!
Your article also cleared my mind about Russian collusion in the last Presidential election. That accusation should only have weight if Russia was running for the Presidential bid, isn’t it? Brilliant, Mr Editor.
I will end this thank you note by repeating your own line - One of the frustrating things about the election season is that it is sometimes taken over by emotion and campaign tactics. I applaud you for not subjecting this elite newspaper to these sleazy and shady campaign tactics.
Once again, thank you, Mr. Editor, brilliant job.
This editorial misses the mark by a wide margin when it comes to the current Foster City leadership environment. To say that civility and respect are not important issues because no incumbent council member is running reveals a basic lack of understanding of the leadership dynamic.
We have two incumbents who have two years remaining on the council and are known to be divisive, condescding, and disrespectful to residents and even other council members. This is why it is imperative to elect two council candidates who are independent and not endorsed by these incumbants. Both Richa Awasthi and Paul Williams have been endorsed by the two incumbants in order to preserve their majority vote and agenda.
Paul Williams, a retired developer and current planning commissioner has voted for just about every high rise office building and high density housing development in Foster City, with little regard to the impact on tradpffic, schools or environment. This is not somebody likely to listen to the wishes of residents.
Richa Awasthi seems to have been drafted into running by two of the incumbants council members. Her stances on important issues iare consistently vague and lacking in depth. I see no reason why she should be considered to be more qualified than other council candidates.
Most of the other candidates either have longer ties to the city or more civic volunteer time or both.
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