# Foster City Council, District 1

Compare records and positions simply between Art Kiesel or Phoebe Shin Venkat for Foster City Council, District 1 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would hold one of five district seats on Foster City's council-manager government. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. Foster City is a roughly 33,800-resident San Mateo County city. It is built on filled Bay land. The term is four years. This is Foster City's first-ever district election. The city moved off an at-large system in 2024. This followed a California Voting Rights Act demand letter. It created five geographic districts. Districts 1 and 2 elect in 2026. Districts 3, 4, and 5 follow in 2028. The Council chooses a Mayor from its own members each year. Voters do not elect the office directly.

- Jurisdiction: City of Foster City
- Election: November 3, 2026 California general election
- Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements.
- Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/foster-city-council-1
- Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/
- Sources last retrieved: September 1, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 81 out of 100 (Strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Art Kiesel** — Mayor · Incumbent
- **Phoebe Shin Venkat** — Nonprofit Executive / Councilmember · Incumbent

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

Two of Foster City’s own sitting councilmembers face each other for the District 1 seat. Mayor Art Kiesel is back for a third mayoral term. Kiesel faces 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

Art Kiesel is the sitting Mayor, in their third term holding that rotating title. They are in their second stint on the Council, roughly 8 years across two elected terms. They also served 3.5 years on the Planning Commission. Their earlier service on the city’s Information Technology Advisory Committee dates to 2000. They are a 30-plus-year Foster City resident and a third-generation San Franciscan. They were drafted into the U.S. Army. They spent more than 50 years in software development and consulting. They recently retired as CFO of a privately held company. That company does roughly $15 million a year in government and military contracting. They have also served on the League of California Cities board. They represented Foster City on the C/CAG board for four years. That is the City and County Association of Governments. They belong to the Foster City Lions Club, a member since 2004 and a past president. Their stated 2026 priorities are managed housing growth within the city’s roughly four-square-mile footprint. They also name fiscal discipline and reserves. They want to protect parks and recreation assets from development pressure. They name infrastructure and levee maintenance. They also name public safety, including cybersecurity resilience.

**Strengths:** Foster City’s most tenured sitting official, with two Council terms, three mayoral terms, and Planning Commission service. That is direct experience in the office they are asking voters to keep.

**Trade-offs:** A long incumbency raises the ordinary question of continuity against a fresh voice. No independent, non-campaign reporting evaluating their recent term was found.

**Keep in mind:** Kiesel and Venkat are both current councilmembers. They are running against each other only because district lines placed both their homes in District 1. Neither is challenging an outsider.

## Phoebe Shin Venkat

Phoebe Shin Venkat is a sitting Councilmember, elected citywide in November 2024. By the city’s own account, they are Foster City’s first renter and first HOA resident. They are also its first Chinese woman on the Council. They served on the Planning Commission from 2022 to 2024 before that. Their professional background spans Salesforce, Facebook, also known as Meta, Okta, and TripActions. They have also done broader strategic-consulting work across tech, pharma, and finance. They hold a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and were the first in their family to attend college. They serve as vice chair of CORA, or Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse. They are a founding executive-board member of the San Mateo County Asian American Pacific Islander Alliance. Their stated 2026 priorities are economic vibrancy and fiscal responsibility, community safety, and support for seniors and youth. They also name mental-health resources, environmental sustainability, and childcare and early-childhood education. They name arts and placemaking, plus educator and workforce housing.

**Strengths:** Sitting Council and prior Planning Commission experience. Venkat also brings a private-sector tech and strategic-consulting background distinct from Kiesel’s finance and public-administration track.

**Trade-offs:** Their official bio lists their current term running through December 2028, two years past this election. No source found here explains why they are a candidate for this seat two years early.

**Keep in mind:** That term discrepancy is an open question. It could be a resequenced term from the district transition. It could be their own choice to run early, or a stale bio page. All are plausible but unconfirmed.

## Review notes

- 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.

## Sources

1. [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)](https://smcacre.gov/system/files/2026-08/52_candidateroster0825.pdf)
2. [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](https://www.fostercity.org/195/District-Elections)
3. [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](https://www.fostercity.org/362/Elections)
4. [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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foster_City,_California)
5. [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)](https://www.fostercity.org/1228/Art-Kiesel)
6. [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'](https://art4council.com)
7. [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)](https://www.fostercity.org/1233/Phoebe-Venkat)
8. [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'](https://www.phoebeshinvenkat.com)

## The rest of the ballot

Foster City Council, District 1 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/

## How to cite this page

Vote or Else, "Foster City Council, District 1 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/foster-city-council-1 (sources last retrieved September 1, 2026).

Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.