Michelle Foster After five years on the City Council, Michelle Foster says she’s ready for more.

Foster filed her intent to run for reelection Feb. 2, saying it’s not too early to start thinking about a campaign even though the general municipal election is still eight months away. She said she wants to continue the good work the council has done during her time in office.

“I think there’s a great momentum going on in the city,” Foster said. “I think we’ve done a great job managing our fiscal responsibilities and putting in place the systems to make sure the city stays healthy and can provide the services residents need, and my hope is to continue being able to do that.”

The official nomination period begins July 12 and is scheduled to run through Aug. 6, but others have also gotten a jump start on the campaign season.

By filing her intent to run with the city clerk’s office, Foster has signed on to what is shaping up to be an interesting election cycle.

This year two council seats are up for grabs—Foster’s and Glen Becerra’s—as well as the mayoral post. Council members serve four-year terms and the mayor is elected for two years.

Becerra filed his intent to run for a fourth term in September. Newcomer Mitch Green, who works as an assistant city attorney for the city, filed a candidacy statement in October.

Foster was appointed to the council in December 2004 to fill Miller’s vacant seat when he was elected mayor. In November 2006, Foster went unchallenged in her bid for reelection

Although she’s sat at the dais for fewer years than the other current council members, Foster has no lack of community involvement. She is former director of the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce, a past president of the Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise and a past executive board member of the Simi Valley Education Foundation.

Born in Dallas, Foster was 2 years old when her family moved to Simi in 1964.

A graduate of Simi Valley High School, Foster has a bachelor of arts in liberal studies from Cal State Northridge. She and her husband, Craig, have raised two children in Simi, Heather and Michael.

Until last year, Foster was the owner of PrintMasters, a commercial printing company in Simi.

In December, Simi Valley Hospital hired the council member as its new director of marketing.

Though she was criticized in one letter to the Acorn for taking the high-profile job, Foster said her new position will have no impact on her ability to be an effective representative of the people of Simi Valley.

“One of the beautiful things about local government is your local officials aren’t full-time politicians,” she said. “We’re in the community and we are just (as much) a part of the community that we live and work in as anyone else.”