Politics & Government
Who's Who In Foster City: Mayor Rick Wykoff
Each Tuesday and Thursday, we'll bring you an interview with a Foster City resident. Today, we kick off our series with the Foster City mayor.
Name: Rick Wykoff
Age: 71
Occupation: Mayor of Foster City
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What do you love most about living in Foster City?
Obviously, the community itself. I've lived here for 33 years now and have worked and served the community in various capacities. The fact that we have a great deal of citizens, a business community, a city staff, city committees, planning commission and city council all working together over those 33 years to make Foster City, in my opinion, the garden spot of the Peninsula.
What is your favorite park in Foster City?
I'd have to say Sea Cloud Park, just from the standpoint that I was city manager at the time when we figured out the financing for that and getting it developed. I would say that it probably has had as much impact on recreation in the community as any park. Watching the kids out at Sea Cloud Park, it gives you inspiration.
What city projects are you most proud of?
More than individual projects, this goes back to my admiration for how all the groups that I've already mentioned have worked together over the years to create this identity of Foster City. The Sea Cloud Park was a tremendous thing for this community, the redevelopment of our central park, the development of what was originally called Town Center, our high tech area north of Highway 92 - all of those things, just so many people working together. I'm really proud of this community.
What is the biggest challenge Foster City faces today?
The challenge today is to maintain the city fiscally and physically. We're in the process of looking at areas in the budget where expenditures can be reduced, because we have to face the fact that in the next couple or three years, we're going to get down to where we have about a $2.5 to $3 million structural deficit of expenditures over revenues. We have almost $21 million still in reserves, so we can manage that process without doing catastrophic things like you see in several other cities and indeed statewide where they have to come in and cut and slash. We're not in that position.
Looking towards the future, what are the key ingredients that will keep the city robust?
It's going to take a city council that is fiscally responsible. Again, I can only speak for myself, but to me that's the bottom line. One of the key ingredients to growth is the 15 acres right adjacent to the city hall here – that's owned by the citizens of Foster City. From a financial standpoint, this is part of the future of this community and that we'll develop.
