Year in Review - The Spectrum Magazine - Redwood City's Monthly ...

A Year Filled With Conflict, Challenges and Foust
From plane crashes to jail-site wars to
the District Attorney’s Office getting its
hand slapped by the Court of Appeals
and the Supreme Court to the bayfront
development to an iPhone being
“found,” 2010 proved to be an eventful
year for our community and especially
for Councilwoman Rosanne Foust.
Foust was named the Person of the
Year by the Chamber of Commerce,
led the successful fight against a
new jail in the downtown area, was
named president of SAMCEDA, was
complained about to the Fair Political
Practices Commission, was found
to be in conflict when voting on
anything related to the Cargill Salt
development and is gearing up for a
re-election campaign next year.
Let’s look back on some of those eventful
moments as we look ahead to 2011.
January 2010
Foust named person of the year
The Redwood City–San Mateo County
Chamber of Commerce named Redwood City
Councilwoman Rosanne Foust its 2009 Person
of the Year, noting her commitment to the group
while juggling her duties with the city and as vice
president of SAMCEDA.
Foust, who served as Redwood City mayor
during 2009, was selected by that year’s Chamber
Chair Glenna Vaskelis, president and CEO of
Sequoia Hospital.
Orozco trial headed for second round
San Mateo County prosecutors announced they
would retry a Redwood City teenager on murder
and gang charges after the jury deadlocked on
whether the youngest person ever charged as an
adult murder defendant in San Mateo County was
guilty of fatally shooting a Redwood City man to
earn respect from fellow gang members.
In December 2009, jurors split almost evenly
between guilt and innocence for 19-year-old Josue
Raul Orozco, who is charged in the July 2005
fatal shooting of Francisco Rodriguez, 21.
Orozco’s trial — and the entire case since his
arrest — drew attention because, at 14 years old,
he was the youngest adult murder defendant in
county history. Two years later, he became the
first ward to escape from the county’s recently
opened juvenile hall.
Saltworks project passed initial review
It was determined there would be enough water
and sufficient traffic circulation within the project
area to make it feasible to build thousands of
homes on salt ponds in Redwood City.
The DMB Cargill plan to build up to 12,000
units of mixed-use housing will now face
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California Environmental Quality Act review
after undergoing the city’s tier-1 review.
Redwood City hired a consulting firm, Hart/
Howerton, in September 2009 to review Cargill’s
plan to see if the city had jurisdiction over the bay
property, whether enough water could be secured
for the project and how well traffic would flow in
and out of the 1,436-acre bayside property. DMB
Cargill paid for the consultants.
February 2010
SAMCEDA shook up its leadership
City Councilwoman Rosanne Foust, vice
president of the San Mateo County Economic
Development Association, took over as acting
president and CEO while Dan Cruey recovered
from a motorcycle accident. The board of
directors appointed Foust to fill in while the
executive search committee looked for a full-time
replacement. She was eventually named president.
Harris crowned Miss Redwood City
Redwood City residents had a great reason to
catch Miss America fever: Redwood City’s
own Jackie Harris was crowned Miss Redwood
City. Redwood City held the Miss Redwood
City pageant, along with Miss San Mateo
County and Miss Redwood City–San Mateo
County Outstanding Teen, to a packed house
at the Cañada College Theater. The Spectrum
Magazine’s owner and publisher, Steve Penna,
was the master of ceremonies. The competition
included an interview, swimsuit competition,
talent competition and evening gown competition.
March 2010
Supreme Court declined to intervene
in Biletnikoff murder retrial
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene in
a lower court decision requiring a new trial for
a man accused of murdering the daughter of an
Oakland Raiders football player in 1999.
The high court action meant that San
Mateo County prosecutors must either release
Mohammed Haroon Ali, 34, or retry him for the
strangulation murder of Tracey Biletnikoff, 20,
whose body was found in Redwood City.
Biletnikoff was the daughter of former Oakland
Raiders wide receiver and Pro Football Hall of Fame
member Fred Biletnikoff. Chief Deputy San Mateo
County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said
that prosecutors would go ahead with a retrial.
In his first trial, Ali was found guilty in San Mateo
County Superior Court in 2001 of first-degree
murder and sentenced to 55 years to life in prison.
Last year, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
in San Francisco overturned the conviction, saying
that prosecutors had dismissed at least one and
possibly two black jury candidates from the jury pool
for improper reasons of racial discrimination.
District named new superintendent
The Sequoia Union High School District looked
inward to elevate assistant superintendent and
chief business officer Dr. James Lianides to head
the 8,200-student district. Lianides began his
new job as superintendent July 1. He replaced
superintendent Pat Gemma, who retired June 30
after seven years in the position.
Redwood City began fight against
new jail downtown
Redwood City, facing rising costs and reduced
revenue like many Peninsula cities, proposed an 8
percent reduction in its budget with the possibility
of eliminating 45 positions — 13 vacant and 32
filled. Still, the City Council decided to allocate
$310,000 for a consultant to embark on a public
relations campaign to somehow convince the
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and
the Sheriff’s Office not to proceed with plans to
construct a replacement jail at the motor pool
site on the county campus adjacent to the current
facility at 300 Bradford St.
Bacteria forced sand removal at two parks
Redwood City completely removed sand areas
from two of its parks because workers had not been able
to prevent the bacteria E. coli from contaminating
them. After a year in which the sand play areas
of Stafford and Maddux parks were periodically
closed because of the bacteria, officials said
they were unable to keep it from happening and
wanted to instead replace the sand entirely.
Fox Theatre up for sale
The historic Fox Theatre on Broadway in downtown
Redwood City was listed for sale. The listing “associate”
for the property was Steve Divney with Colliers
International.
Colliers International is a worldwide affiliate
of independently owned and operated companies
specializing in commercial real estate services.
iPhone and a Redwood City bar
A next-generation iPhone prototype was found at
a Redwood City bar on March 18. Brian Hogan,
21, was at the bar when another customer handed
him the phone after finding it on a bar stool,
according to Hogan’s attorney, Jeffrey Bornstein.
Hogan later sold the phone to the technology blog
Gizmodo for $5,000, thinking the blog was only going
to review the phone, according to Bornstein.
A search warrant was served by a joint police task
force at the Fremont home of the Gizmodo editor
who had purchased the iPhone, disassembled the
phone and posted details of it on the blog.
April 2010
Redwood City launched online anti-jail effort
A flurry of online efforts launched to oppose
construction of a new county jail near downtown
Redwood City was the first step of a consulting
group hired by the City Council. But while