Politics & Government
City Council Preview: Lame Duck Council Going Out With a Bang
Departing council holding special session tonight; Trash-hike hearing, eight resolutions top busy agenda
Foster City’s lame duck city council isn’t exactly going out quietly.
The departing five-member council meets for a last time in a special session tonight at 6:30 p.m. at city hall with a crowded agenda.
Their to-do list features a public hearing on a staff-recommended trash rate hike, along with eight resolutions.
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The hearing will address a proposed 6.4 percent increase on collection rates for solid waste, recyclables, and organic materials. The rate hike would be effective January 1, 2012.
The proposed rate increase would raise the monthly cost for a 32-gallon cart $1.14 (from $17.78 to $18.92), and a 20-gallon cart 71 cents (from $11.11 to $11.82).
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The rate increase reflects the cost the city is contractually obligated to pay Recology, a private waste management company that serves Foster City, according to a South Bayside Waste Management Authority analysis.
All eight resolutions address job reclassifications – four involving administrative positions in city government, and four in the Estero Municipal Improvement District.
The meeting is open to the public.
The new council will return just three members when it’s seated on Dec. 5.
Steve Okamoto and Herb Perez were elected to the council on a Nov. 8 vote that culminated a contentious campaign. Vice Mayor Art Kiesel was reelected to a second term in the same vote.
The newcomers replace outgoing Mayor Linda Koelling and Rick Wykoff, who term out.
Okamoto and Perez will join Pam Frisella, Charlie Bronitsky and Kiesel on the new council. Kiesel is a prohibitive favorite to succeed Koelling as the city’s next mayor, which the council selects.
