Rod Foster new Rialto city administrator

The Rialto City Council on Tuesday night unanimously selected Rod Foster as new City Administrator, effective June 17.

Foster, who previously served as City Manager in Laguna Niguel and Colton, brings more than 35 years of professional management experience, including 27 years in the Inland Empire. In addition to his work in Laguna Niguel and Colton, Foster was Upland’s assistant city manager for nearly five years, and spent seven years in Hesperia, as assistant city manager and interim city manager. Most recently, Foster served as chief of parish operations at St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Dana Point.

His hiring was approved by the Council following a more than year-long search. He succeeds Mike Story, who retired as City Administrator in December 2017.

“We are thrilled to have Rod lead our extraordinary City Hall team and build on the momentum we have created over the past several years,” said Mayor Deborah Robertson. “His experience and local knowledge are ideally suited for the opportunities – and challenges – we face moving forward.”

With a population of more than 100,000, Rialto is the seventh largest city in San Bernardino County, and in recent years has earned national recognition for its innovative approaches, including the use of police body cameras, public-private partnerships to help fund essential services and development of the largest food waste digester in North America. The latter will convert 700 tons of food waste and 300 tones of biosolids every day into renewable natural gas, renewable electricity and organic fertilizer.

The City currently is planning a state-of-the-art research and traffic management center that will help define the future of mobility, improve air quality and community health, and create additional economic opportunities for the region as a whole.

“I am honored by the privilege to serve the City of Rialto as City Administrator,” Foster said. “I look forward to working, as partners, with the Council, community, and staff in order to take Rialto to even higher levels of accomplishment.”

Foster earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of La Verne. He also has studied in the Executive Program at the University of California-Berkeley, where he earned a Certificate in the Strategic Management of Public Organizations.

Foster and his wife of 28 years, Kelleigh, have an 18-year old son, Kyle, who is graduating from Junipero Serra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano and will attend college at Louisiana State University (LSU).