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City of Foster City · Statewide General Election

Foster City Council, District 1

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person would hold one of five district seats on Foster City's council-manager government: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this roughly 33,800-resident San Mateo County city built on filled Bay land. A 4-year term. This is Foster City's first-ever district election -- the city moved off an at-large system in 2024, after a California Voting Rights Act demand letter, to five geographic districts; Districts 1 and 2 elect in 2026, Districts 3, 4, and 5 follow in 2028. The Council chooses a Mayor from among its own members each year rather than voters electing the office directly.

Two of Foster City's own sitting councilmembers face each other for the District 1 seat: Mayor Art Kiesel, back for a third mayoral term, against Councilmember Phoebe Shin Venkat, elected citywide in 2024.

This is Foster City's first-ever district election. The city moved off an at-large City Council in 2024 -- after a letter alleging California Voting Rights Act violations -- to five geographic districts; Districts 1 and 2 elect this cycle, Districts 3, 4, and 5 follow in 2028. The winner serves a 4-year term, through 2030. The Council chooses its own Mayor from among its members each year rather than voters electing the office directly; Kiesel currently holds that post.

Kiesel and Venkat are both already on the Council -- their both landing in District 1 is an ordinary consequence of drawing district lines around a city that previously elected everyone at-large: whichever district a sitting member's home falls in is the one they can run in, or not run in at all. That leaves District 1 with two incumbents on the ballot and, notably, no incumbent contesting District 2 this cycle beyond Stacy Jimenez, whose seat isn't affected by the same geographic accident.

Art Kiesel

The sitting Mayor, in his third term holding that rotating title and his second stint on the Council -- roughly 8 years across two elected terms, plus 3.5 years on the Planning Commission and earlier service on the city's Information Technology Advisory Committee dating to 2000. A 30-plus-year Foster City resident and third-generation San Franciscan, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, spent more than 50 years in software development and consulting, and recently retired as CFO of a privately held company doing roughly $15 million a year in government and military contracting. He has also served on the League of California Cities board, represented Foster City on the City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG) board for four years, and belongs to the Foster City Lions Club (member since 2004, past president). His stated 2026 priorities are managed housing growth within the city's roughly four-square-mile footprint, fiscal discipline and reserves, protecting parks and recreation assets from development pressure, infrastructure and levee maintenance, and public safety including cybersecurity resilience.

Strengths

Foster City's most tenured sitting official -- two Council terms, three mayoral terms, and Planning Commission service -- direct experience in the office he's asking voters to keep.

Trade-offs

A long incumbency raises the ordinary question of continuity versus a fresh voice; this dataset found no independent, non-campaign reporting evaluating his recent term.

Keep in mind

He and Venkat are both current councilmembers running against each other only because district lines placed both their homes in District 1, not because either is challenging an outsider.

Phoebe Shin Venkat

A sitting Councilmember, elected citywide in November 2024 as, by the city's own account, Foster City's first renter, first HOA resident, and first Chinese woman on the Council; she served on the Planning Commission from 2022 to 2024 before that. Her professional background spans Salesforce, Facebook (Meta), Okta, and TripActions, plus broader strategic-consulting work across tech, pharma, and finance; she holds a bachelor's degree from Boston University and was the first in her family to attend college. She serves as vice chair of CORA (Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse) and as a founding executive-board member of the San Mateo County Asian American Pacific Islander Alliance. Her stated 2026 priorities are economic vibrancy and fiscal responsibility, community safety, support for seniors and youth, mental-health resources, environmental sustainability, childcare and early-childhood education, arts and placemaking, and educator and workforce housing.

Strengths

Sitting Council and prior Planning Commission experience, plus a private-sector tech and strategic-consulting background distinct from Kiesel's finance and public-administration track.

Trade-offs

Her official bio lists her current term running through December 2028, two years past this election, and no source found here explains why she's a candidate for this seat two years early.

Keep in mind

That term discrepancy is an open question this dataset could not resolve: a resequenced term from the district transition, her own choice to run early, or a stale bio page are all plausible but unconfirmed.

Source review: Strong (81/100) · 8 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Art Kiesel's own campaign site (art4council.com): his stated 2026 platform (managed housing growth, fiscal responsibility, parks and recreation, infrastructure and levee protection, public safety) and an FPPC disclosure footer, 'Paid for by Art Kiesel for City Council 2026, FPPC #1491309.' and Phoebe Shin Venkat's own campaign site (phoebeshinvenkat.com): her stated 2026 platform (economic vibrancy and fiscal responsibility, community safety, senior and youth support, mental health, environmental sustainability, childcare, arts and placemaking, educator/workforce housing) and an FPPC disclosure footer, 'Paid for by Phoebe Shin Venkat for Foster City Council 2026, FPPC #1488099.' may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • smcacre.gov (opens in a new tab)San Mateo County ACRE -- Roster of Candidates, Qualified Candidates Only, November 3, 2026 General Election (CFMR009), dated 2026-08-25: confirms Foster City's Member, City Council, District 1 and District 2 are each 'On Ballot: Yes,' 'Vote for 1,' with District 1 drawing two qualified candidates (Art Kiesel, Phoebe Shin Venkat) and District 2 drawing one (Stacy Jimenez)
  • fostercity.org (opens in a new tab)City of Foster City -- official 'District Elections' page: states the City Council approved Resolution No. 2024-91 on September 3, 2024 declaring intent to move from at-large to five geographic council districts after a letter alleging California Voting Rights Act violations, adopted the final district map on December 2, 2024, and scheduled Districts 1 and 2 to elect in 2026 with Districts 3, 4, and 5 following in 2028
  • fostercity.org (opens in a new tab)City of Foster City -- official 'Elections' page: independently lists the identical November 2026 District 1 and District 2 candidates as the county roster, states the winners serve four-year terms ending in 2030, gives the August 7, 2026 filing deadline and September 7-October 20, 2026 write-in filing window, a League of Women Voters candidates forum set for October 8, 2026, and states campaign-finance statements must be e-filed through the city's NetFile portal
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia's Foster City, California article: a 2020 census population of 33,805 and, as of its December 2024 infobox, Stacy Jimenez as Mayor with Art Kiesel, Suzy Niederhofer, Patrick Sullivan, and Phoebe Venkat as the other councilmembers
  • fostercity.org (opens in a new tab)City of Foster City -- official council-bio page for Art Kiesel: names him the sitting Mayor with a term through December 2026 (his third mayoral term), and details his prior service (Information Technology Advisory Committee from 2000, 3.5 years on the Planning Commission, two prior Council terms totaling 8 years, two earlier terms as Mayor), 50+ years in software development/consulting and recent retirement as a CFO, U.S. Army service, and regional/civic roles (League of California Cities board, C/CAG, Foster City Lions Club)
  • art4council.com (opens in a new tab)Art Kiesel's own campaign site (art4council.com): his stated 2026 platform (managed housing growth, fiscal responsibility, parks and recreation, infrastructure and levee protection, public safety) and an FPPC disclosure footer, 'Paid for by Art Kiesel for City Council 2026, FPPC #1491309'
  • fostercity.org (opens in a new tab)City of Foster City -- official council-bio page for Phoebe Venkat: names her a sitting Councilmember with a term listed through December 2028, elected in November 2024 as the city's first renter, HOA resident, and Chinese woman council member, after serving on the Planning Commission from 2022-2024; also lists her professional background (Salesforce, Facebook/Meta, Okta, TripActions) and civic roles (CORA board vice chair, founding executive-board member of the San Mateo County AAPI Alliance)
  • phoebeshinvenkat.com (opens in a new tab)Phoebe Shin Venkat's own campaign site (phoebeshinvenkat.com): her stated 2026 platform (economic vibrancy and fiscal responsibility, community safety, senior and youth support, mental health, environmental sustainability, childcare, arts and placemaking, educator/workforce housing) and an FPPC disclosure footer, 'Paid for by Phoebe Shin Venkat for Foster City Council 2026, FPPC #1488099'

Last updated September 1, 2026.