Redwood City Mayor May be Wading into Ethical Breach

According to an article in the San Mateo Daily Journal, Redwood City Mayor Rosanne Foust was named vice president of programs and business development for the San Mateo County Economic Development Association (SAMCEDA), a pro business and pro-development lobbying and advocacy organization.

Among the many business and economic development projects touted by SAMCEDA include the recent arrival of Virgin America Airlines at San Francisco International Airport and SAMCEDA’s interest in support of the redevelopment of El Camino Real throughout San Mateo County into a new and improved Grand Boulevard, as it has been termed by local policy makers and developers alike.

Foust’s involvement with SAMCEDA is not a major professional leap as for many years Foust worked for the French Government doing business development. But the peculiar aspect of her employment with SAMCEDA is her position as a local policymaker as the mayor of Redwood City and as the Chair of the San Mateo County Transit Authority - an independent agency formed to administer the proceeds of a county wide half-cent sales tax, Measure A, approved by voters in 1998 and reauthorized for an additional 25 years in 2004.

As a Vice President of SAMCEDA, Foust will now draw a salary from an organization funded by many interests she may oversee and/or regulate and as a councilmember. For example, major contributors to SAMCEDA include the Bohannon Development Company, SummerHill Homes, Foster Enterprises, BKF Engineers, Embarcadero Capital Partners LLC, KEECH Properties, LLC and Webcor Builders to name a few.

Oddly, one of the listed members of SAMCEDA’s Board of Directors, albeit an Emeritus member, is Paul Shepherd of Cargill Salt. Shepherd’s relationship with Cargill is interesting as Redwood City is now in throws of a pitched battle over the use of Cargill Salt’s industrial property on the Bayshore of Redwood City

At stake are 1,433 acres of Bay-side land now owned by the salt manufacturing conglomerate. The Bay-side property and associated salt ponds are targeted for a massive development. The development enterprise of Cargill and DMB has worked for months to build support for an as of yet undefined housing and commercial development.

This Spring, however, several environmental groups including Save the Bay, Friends of Redwood City and the Committee for Green Foothills gathered signatures in a petition drive to place a measure on the Redwood City ballot to halt all development on the little remaining open space and parkland in Redwood City and require voter approval of such developments in the future by a two-thirds majority.

The City Council and Foust in particular, according to recent news reports, has reacted almost violently to the petition that now rests in the council’s hands as the council must now place such a measure on the local ballot in the near future.

The difficulty for Foust is if one of the members of the Board of Directors of SAMCEDA is an agent of Cargill Salt and if Cargill provides funding for SAMCEDA, whom will Foust answer to?

Beyond the Cargill question, SAMCEDA also receives financial support from Sequoia Hospital/Catholic Healthcare West, the large and lucrative hospital based in Redwood City that will be undertaking a massive reconstruction in the near future, a project that Foust may also have to weigh in on as a member of the Redwood City Council.

Other likely conflicts may include AT & T which likely has a utility franchise agreement with the City.

In short, Foust’s decision to work for SAMCEDA may be fraught with ethical challenges some of which her opponents would be wise to exploit in the coming electoral battles.