On the Road to City Council

From 1996 “Realtor of the year” to 2018 city council candidate, San Jose resident Pam Foley has created an extensive resume of dedication to her city. The largest city in the Silicon Valley has been home to regular volunteer Foley for about thirty years. After graduating from the University of San Francisco, Foley decided to stay in the Bay Area, rather than going home to Portland, Oregon, once she fell in love with not only the city, but also husband Mike. Decades and countless hours of community work later, Foley is running for a seat on the city council, and with a resume like hers, is almost guaranteed a spot.

For years, Foley had planned to move back to Portland. It was where her mother, three of her four siblings, and the majority of her cousins lived. But, once her daughter Katelin was born and as she grew, Foley became more active in a wider group of people and developed deep friendships with the parents of her daughter’s friends. “Now, I cannot imagine living anywhere but San Jose.”

“Having a daughter changed everything.” While Foley always volunteered in her community, having a daughter changed her career focus dramatically. If it wasn’t for daughter, Katelin, and her elementary school, Hacienda Science Magnet, Foley would never have become a school board member, and therefore would never have pursued her quest to become a city council member. Prior to Katelin, Foley was active in a non-profit called WATCH (Women and Their Children’s’ Housing), a program that provided transitional housing for victims of domestic violence and their children, and from 1990-1996 was a board member and President. Additionally, she was active with the local Realtor Association and the Women’s Council of Realtors. At this point during the early 90s, Foley was mainly driven in business focused volunteerism. However, after her daughter’s birth in 1996, her focus shifted to volunteering with Katelin’s various activities: swimming, theater, Girl Scouts, and church. “I run for city council, in part, to show her that she can pursue her dreams…whatever they may be.”

Then, from 2004 to 2017, Foley served as an elected Board member for the San Jose Unified School District, with her final three years as President of the Board. “It has helped me to understand the role of organized labor within a business.” Simultaneously, Foley ran her small mortgage business, both of which definitely influenced the platform of her campaign. “City council needs the voice of a small business owner—someone who knows what it means to meet payroll and how tough a decision is to reduce your staff during the recession.” Fortunately, Foley did not have to let anyone go during the dark years of the 2008 recession. She ended up balancing her budget by reducing the salaries of the two owners, which were her and her husband. She had worked through good financial times and bad economic times as a member of the school board as well. “Mostly, it has prepared me to run for city council.” With 14 years of experience working with a large budget of nearly $500,000,000 at SJUSD and negotiating with community members, staff and administration, she developed the skills to be a thoughtful and successful city council member.

Foley admitted that many people ask if she has any hobbies since it seems like her entire life is just her work. “Giving back to my community is my hobby. There is nothing more enjoyable than watching a musical theater performance of middle school students and the delight they get from being on stage and knowing that I helped bring that to a school.” Foley brought a prestigious Bay Area performing arts program, Starting Arts, to Willow Glen Middle School after she realized that the school run program was suffering, and her daughter showed interest in theater and the performing arts. “Contributing to my community is what motivates me.”

Foley’s friendships made through her daughter’s childhood are proving worthwhile. Many of her friends will be hosting “Neighborhood coffee for Pam” to gather support from the neighborhoods Foley will be representing. One of these coffee hosts is family friend Margaret, whose son Cooper went to school with Foley’s daughter Katelin for all 13 years of their education. “It’s amazing to see Pam running for city council because she is so deserving of the voice and influence that an official seat on the council can give her. She already is such a positive influence in San Jose, so why not make it official.” After years and years of non-stop work, Foley admits “it would be nice to have a retreat at the beach or in the mountains.” However, now that Foley’s daughter is off at college and she lightened her volunteer load, she gets somewhat of a break in just focusing on city council. For now Foley is in campaign mode, with her sole focus on the city council elections later this year.