CITY OF FOSTER CITY/
ESTERO MUNICIPAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
SPECIAL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 10, 2026
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER OF CITY COUNCIL/EMID BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The duly called and noticed Special Meeting of the City Council of the City of Foster City, sitting as said Council and as ex officio the Board of Directors of the Estero Municipal Improvement District (EMID), was called to order at 9:03 a.m. in the Council Chambers, 620 Foster City Boulevard, Foster City, San Mateo County, California, by Mayor/President Art Kiesel.
This meeting was held as a hybrid meeting.
ROLL CALL
The Communications Director/City Clerk/District Secretary called the roll:
PRESENT:
Councilmembers/ex officio EMID Directors Stacy Jimenez, Suzy Niederhofer, Patrick Sullivan, Phoebe Venkat, and Mayor/President Art Kiesel.
ABSENT: None.
STAFF PRESENT:
Stefan Chatwin, City/District Manager ; Marlene Subhashini, Assistant City/District Manager; Benjamin Stock, City
Attorney/District Legal Counsel; Denise Bazzano, Assistant City Attorney/District Legal Counsel ; Diane Pitman, Administrative Services Director; Andrew Brozyna, Public Works Director; Derek Schweigart, Parks and Recreation Director ; Sofia Mangalam, Community Development Director; Cory Call, Police Chief ; Nate Cruz, Finance Director; Waqas Hassan, Assistant Finance Director; Kitty Dandan, Financial Services Manager; Laura Galli, Engineering Manager; Zaheed Danish, Public Works Maintenance Manager; Rob Lasky, IT Manager; Kevin Ortiz, Management Analyst; Shuli Chen, Video Technician; and Priscilla Schaus, Comm unications Director/City Clerk/District Secretary.
PUBLIC
Diya Poojary addressed the City Council via email regarding sustainability as a 2026 strategic priority.
STUDY SESSION
Mayor/President Kiesel recessed the meeting into study session for the City Council Annual Retreat.
Meeting recessed into study session at 9:05 a.m. and reconvened at 5:11 p.m.
By Consensus of the City Council, direction was provided to staff as follows:
1. Proceed with di sbanding the Audit Committee and bringing back a resolution to disband the committee at a future Council meeting;
2. Update the committee application process , and change the application question from “Please state reasons and objectives for desiring to become a member of this committee/commission” to “Please state how your relevant skills, experience, and collaborative mindset make you a qualified member for this committee;”
3. Update the Committee appointment process to h old separate Council special meetings in the Emergency Operations Center with the full Council for applicant interviews;
4. Limit one follow-up question per Councilmember to be submitted to the City Clerk beforehand so applicants will have all the questions for committee interviews;
5. Require a sample proclamation to be provided on the proclamation request form;
6. Automatically schedule the following proclamations to be presented annually:
Black History Month, AAPI Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, and Juneteenth;
7. Amend the City’s flag policy to include the LBTQIA+ Pride Flag to the policy as approved so that a resolution does not need to be approved annually;
8. Reduce General Fund Reserves to closer to 50% of annual operating expenditures;
9. Make a payment of $20 million from the General Fund Reserves to CalPERS for the partial pay down of the City’s Unfunded Accrued Liability (UAL);
10. Return during the next budget process with options and recommendations for creating different types of reserves; and
11. Transition to a biennial (two-year) budgeting model for the FY 2026 -2027 budget cycle.
ADJOURNMENT
Hearing no objection from the City Council/EMID Board, Mayor/President Kiesel adjourned the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 5:11 p.m.