At a recent Foster City Council meeting, councilmembers were tasked with balancing their commitment to our values as a community and not make the chair of the Planning Commission, Evan Adams, seem like a victim for having to deal with the consequences of tweeting all Indians in the United States should be monitored.
Sanjay Gehani
Mayor Jon Froomin should be applauded for bringing this item forward, for his succinct and thoughtful comments, and for how he managed the discussion in Council Chambers on March 27.
Councilmember Art Kiesel should be recognized for stating he was committed to thousands of us and not committed to Mr. Adams alone.
Councilmember Stacy Jimenez spoke first, spoke eloquently, and demonstrated empathy. Her comments cast doubt on the transparency of statements made by Mr. Adams with regards to the intent of the tweet and the process Mr. Adams went through prior to deleting it. It took courage for her to share the truth which Mr. Adams had not shared.
Mr. Adams introduced racial bias as a sitting planning commissioner. The council had no option but to support a zero-tolerance policy against such statements to ensure the integrity at City Hall is maintained for all of us in Foster City.
The council had no business opining on whether Mr. Adams was a racist or whether he should be forgiven. Mr. Adams’ character should not have been the focal point of any councilmember’s comments. There is no argument against “zero tolerance” for bigoted statements from elected officials nor selected officials on committees operating at the pleasure of the council.
Councilmembers Sam Hindi and Patrick Sullivan focused primarily on Mr. Adams’ character. Both claimed to be friends with Mr. Adams. Their comments, not their votes, demonstrated their friendship was placed higher than their commitment to the integrity of City Hall. A “slap on the wrist” censure would have resulted in many of us feeling like second-class citizens in our city.
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Councilmember Sullivan stated racist people have done good things for communities in the past. He mentioned Gandhi, Mandela and others in another part of his comments. He recommended keeping Mr. Adams on the Planning Commission and not allowing him to speak from the dais. The city attorney stated the proposal wasn’t viable.
Councilmember Hindi claimed he felt the pain of racism before making a series of excuses for Mr. Adams. He asked the council to “invite him in” instead of “leaving him out.” Some of Councilmember Hindi’s excuses for Mr. Adams were: we all make mistakes and will continue to, we shouldn’t subscribe to “Cancel Culture,” everyone deserves second chances, and we need training. He also requested a policy for handling these types of situations which was surprising because he voted to repeal the Code of Conduct in December of 2021.
The most concerning observation from the meeting on the 27th was the votes cast by councilmembers Hindi and Sullivan did not match their “passionate” statements. Based on what they said, the vote should have been 3-2 for removal. Councilmembers Hindi and Sullivan did not vote in line with their comments and the Council voted 5-0 to remove Mr. Adams from the Planning Commission.
If Mr. Adams truly put the city above all, he would have resigned weeks ago. Had Mr. Adams resigned earlier, he would not have put the onus on the council to remove him strictly because of his actions. Furthermore, had he resigned earlier, he would not have tried to negotiate with the council at the very last minute from the podium to stay on the Planning Commission by offering to give up other positions on committees in exchange for a censure vote.
It is my belief Mr. Adams submitted his resignation after the 5-0 vote to remove him so he will be able to say he resigned without lying. The truth is Mr. Adams didn’t fall on his sword.
Mr. Adams has not been excommunicated from society. He has been removed from the Planning Commission. Mr. Adams can continue to ask for forgiveness and take this time to heal the “disconnect” between his brain and his fingers, which according to him, led to a bigoted tweet.
In today’s self-centered world where many people stand for nothing and fall for anything, Foster City should be celebrated for standing up for our values.
i did notice a cronysim of regan who is not a fc resident and gehani who broke the roberts rules of order telling one councilmember it would behoove her to vote for him to purchase toritos. what is the cronyism of a non resident regan and smoke over not being able to join fc together hate mongering and cronyism...finally eliminated...
mr Gehani were you standing up fpr values when you told the past city council it would behooves you to support your purchASE OF TORITOS? BREAKING THE ROBERTS RULES OF ORDER MEETING COUNCIL TO VOTE FOR YOUR TORITOS PURCHASE TO PROMOTE YOUR SCHOOL ?
GREAT COMMENT TER3ENCE I AM TRYING TO FOLLOW GEHANIS SMKE BLOWING FOR ATTENTION CELEBRATE FC NOT ME I WON'T BE SUPPORTING ANY CRAB FEEDS LIONS CLUB I ALWASY GE T TA THANK YU NOT WITH THIS COUNCIL VOTING TO WRITE A PROCLAMATION FROOMIN TO ELIMINATE A HARD WORKING VOLUNTEER NOsW TOTALLY CRITICING ANY PAST PARTICIPATION WON'T BE MINE NOW KIEsEL VOTED WITH THE FIVE HIS WIFE THANKS ME FOR PARTICIPATING TOO BAD IT DIDN'T RUB OFF ON OTHER VOLUNTEERS HOW EXCITING TO WRITE QQ PROCLAMATION RE3MOVING AHARD WORKING VOLUNTEER THEY AONG WITH SMOKE BLOWINF GEHANI DESERVE A REMINDER JUST WHO DO YOU THANK CERTAINLY NOT THE 5 THANK YOU CERT5IFICATES FROM THE MANY YEARS I SPENT ON THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE AND WHAT KIND OF SIGN TO THE PRESENT VOLUNTEERS WE WILL VOTE YOU OUT WITH A PROCLAMATION GOOD JOB! THECERTIFICATES WERE ARE HEAVY DUTY WELL DONE TO SPEND TIME VOLUNTEERING NO MORE FROM ME...HIS WIFe GAVE ME A CALL about the lions club i had listened to information regarding the lions club well kiesel voted to remove a volunteer i won't be volunteering at fc foster city we got the honor sservice award as we walked o get the award we heard a parent say "You deserve it.@ made my day no mor for this town that doesn't enjoy their volunteers and award them a proclamation to volunteer i don't want that to happen to me as inproclaim to remove a volubntteer hope that makes you all happy as you certainly don't care..any way.
i was like indians as in cowboys and indians it never entered y mind the way gehani makes all this smoke over this comment indians will be judged even more than ever even to the of color richa loves to use i find racist eliminate that or let that comment be in the south the of color would be eliminated in a flash. meantime gehani will never let the indians rest with his hate odf the commissioners a back lash caused by him and regan entirely.
Here we have Gehani saying, “Mr. Adams can continue to ask for forgiveness…” It sounds as though even if Mr. Adams begs for forgiveness a million times, it may never be good enough for Gehani. I wonder whether supporters of Adams will keep an eye on Gehani’s and other councilmembers’ personal social media posts...
Meanwhile, in the case of Foster City and many people standing for nothing, I get the feeling many people may be standing on something – geese poop, as it appears geese are continuing to have their way with Foster City.
here we go again gehqani claiming ALL HIS PASSION AGAINS T APLANNING COMMISIONER WAS GEHANI all pro council telling one it would behoove you to vote for his purchase of toritos breaking the roberts rules of order not even cinsidering or maybe he didn't know everything he says he claims he knows . i don't remember if he was arrested? i am assuming the regan gehani triangle is in order here. seems gehani loves to judge finger point writing this same opinion wherever he can enter it as such agreat opinion he was on next door in a why i won't vote for even adams causing turmoil as much as possible. this council needs to finsh and get out of the kitchen they did not even thank evan for all his ha4rd work, did they thank or excuse geihani when he broke the law i think not. and stacy when the recall had her making an awful video of hate against evan. Gehani needs to be censured to shut up and leave your hate of not be admitted to fc together along with regans resentments to practically everything he can find to abhor. find something better to do instead of removing your own attentio to your own broken laws.
I checked the quote. It referred to "Indians." No mention of Americans of Indian heritage. However, i think he should have resigned - for caving in to these fascists.
Adams full Tweet “Time for the USA to start monitoring Indians in the USA and connections to Indian Defence Contractors working with Russia. Shut down the $$$.”
In 2020, the City Council adopted a code of conduct to help avoid the type of abuse that went on for years until the recall of a councilmember. Inexplicably, former Mayor Richa Awasthi and councilmembers Sam Hindi and Patrick Sullivan voted to abolish it in 2022. These same councilmembers voted against campaign reform. Foster City residents and the council majority delivered a clear message, despite attempted cronyism by two councilmembers. I hope Hindi and Sullivan put residents interests first going forward.
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(11) comments
i did notice a cronysim of regan who is not a fc resident and gehani who broke the roberts rules of order telling one councilmember it would behoove her to vote for him to purchase toritos. what is the cronyism of a non resident regan and smoke over not being able to join fc together hate mongering and cronyism...finally eliminated...
mr Gehani were you standing up fpr values when you told the past city council it would behooves you to support your purchASE OF TORITOS? BREAKING THE ROBERTS RULES OF ORDER MEETING COUNCIL TO VOTE FOR YOUR TORITOS PURCHASE TO PROMOTE YOUR SCHOOL ?
GREAT COMMENT TER3ENCE I AM TRYING TO FOLLOW GEHANIS SMKE BLOWING FOR ATTENTION CELEBRATE FC NOT ME I WON'T BE SUPPORTING ANY CRAB FEEDS LIONS CLUB I ALWASY GE T TA THANK YU NOT WITH THIS COUNCIL VOTING TO WRITE A PROCLAMATION FROOMIN TO ELIMINATE A HARD WORKING VOLUNTEER NOsW TOTALLY CRITICING ANY PAST PARTICIPATION WON'T BE MINE NOW KIEsEL VOTED WITH THE FIVE HIS WIFE THANKS ME FOR PARTICIPATING TOO BAD IT DIDN'T RUB OFF ON OTHER VOLUNTEERS HOW EXCITING TO WRITE QQ PROCLAMATION RE3MOVING AHARD WORKING VOLUNTEER THEY AONG WITH SMOKE BLOWINF GEHANI DESERVE A REMINDER JUST WHO DO YOU THANK CERTAINLY NOT THE 5 THANK YOU CERT5IFICATES FROM THE MANY YEARS I SPENT ON THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE AND WHAT KIND OF SIGN TO THE PRESENT VOLUNTEERS WE WILL VOTE YOU OUT WITH A PROCLAMATION GOOD JOB! THECERTIFICATES WERE ARE HEAVY DUTY WELL DONE TO SPEND TIME VOLUNTEERING NO MORE FROM ME...HIS WIFe GAVE ME A CALL about the lions club i had listened to information regarding the lions club well kiesel voted to remove a volunteer i won't be volunteering at fc foster city we got the honor sservice award as we walked o get the award we heard a parent say "You deserve it.@ made my day no mor for this town that doesn't enjoy their volunteers and award them a proclamation to volunteer i don't want that to happen to me as inproclaim to remove a volubntteer hope that makes you all happy as you certainly don't care..any way.
i was like indians as in cowboys and indians it never entered y mind the way gehani makes all this smoke over this comment indians will be judged even more than ever even to the of color richa loves to use i find racist eliminate that or let that comment be in the south the of color would be eliminated in a flash. meantime gehani will never let the indians rest with his hate odf the commissioners a back lash caused by him and regan entirely.
Here we have Gehani saying, “Mr. Adams can continue to ask for forgiveness…” It sounds as though even if Mr. Adams begs for forgiveness a million times, it may never be good enough for Gehani. I wonder whether supporters of Adams will keep an eye on Gehani’s and other councilmembers’ personal social media posts...
Meanwhile, in the case of Foster City and many people standing for nothing, I get the feeling many people may be standing on something – geese poop, as it appears geese are continuing to have their way with Foster City.
here we go again gehqani claiming ALL HIS PASSION AGAINS T APLANNING COMMISIONER WAS GEHANI all pro council telling one it would behoove you to vote for his purchase of toritos breaking the roberts rules of order not even cinsidering or maybe he didn't know everything he says he claims he knows . i don't remember if he was arrested? i am assuming the regan gehani triangle is in order here. seems gehani loves to judge finger point writing this same opinion wherever he can enter it as such agreat opinion he was on next door in a why i won't vote for even adams causing turmoil as much as possible. this council needs to finsh and get out of the kitchen they did not even thank evan for all his ha4rd work, did they thank or excuse geihani when he broke the law i think not. and stacy when the recall had her making an awful video of hate against evan. Gehani needs to be censured to shut up and leave your hate of not be admitted to fc together along with regans resentments to practically everything he can find to abhor. find something better to do instead of removing your own attentio to your own broken laws.
What, exactly, was said? I don't see anything in quotes. Just taking your word that it was "racist."
I checked the quote. It referred to "Indians." No mention of Americans of Indian heritage. However, i think he should have resigned - for caving in to these fascists.
Adams full Tweet “Time for the USA to start monitoring Indians in the USA and connections to Indian Defence Contractors working with Russia. Shut down the $$$.”
See.
In 2020, the City Council adopted a code of conduct to help avoid the type of abuse that went on for years until the recall of a councilmember. Inexplicably, former Mayor Richa Awasthi and councilmembers Sam Hindi and Patrick Sullivan voted to abolish it in 2022. These same councilmembers voted against campaign reform. Foster City residents and the council majority delivered a clear message, despite attempted cronyism by two councilmembers. I hope Hindi and Sullivan put residents interests first going forward.
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Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.