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Redwood City E-News
Building a Great Community Together
Issue #63 ~ November, 2008
(Back to index of all issues)
IN THIS ISSUE:
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12th Annual International Latino Film Festival in Redwood City
For the third year in a row, Redwood City and the Latino Leadership Council are proud to host four spectacular nights of the renowned International Latino Film Festival, including a gala opening reception on November 13, and three nights of film screenings on November 14 - 16.
November 13 - Redwood City and the Latino Leadership Council are hosting our community's opening event, Noche Mexicana at the San Mateo County History Museum (tickets are $30/25). Our party will kick off Redwood City's portion of this renowned film festival.
The Festival's 2008 New Vision Award will be presented at the Noche Mexicana event to Alex Rivera, director of the film, Sleep Dealer.
November 14, 15, and 16 - seven great Latino films at the Downtown Century 20 Theatre.
Get more information, view the schedule and descriptions of the seven films featured in Redwood City (also four FREE films at community college campuses!) and get tickets. Many thanks to the local sponsors of Redwood City's portion of the International Latino Film Festival
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Community Invited to Discuss "Smoke-Free Parks" Proposal
At its meeting on Wednesday, November 19th the Redwood City Parks & Recreation Commission will be considering a proposal to make all Redwood City parks completely smoke-free. The meeting will begin at 7:30 pm at the Community Activities Building, 1400 Roosevelt Avenue. At this meeting the Commission will discuss the proposed ordinance, gather comments from the community, and consider a recommendation to the City Council.
The community is invited and encouraged to participate in this important discussion about our parks, to talk about the effects of this proposed ordinance, examine the impacts, and provide opinions to the Commission on whether this proposal should move forward.
The City ordinance currently states that it is prohibited to smoke within 20 feet of main entrances, exits, and operable windows of any park facility, restroom, or within 25 feet of a Playground, Tot Lot, or Recreational Area. The proposed ordinance will replace the existing language to prohibit smoking entirely with the boundaries of all City parks:
No person shall, within any City park: Smoke, light or carry a lighted pipe, cigar, cigarette or other smoking device of any kind. “No Smoking” signs shall be posted in every City park.
Earlier this year, a sub-committee of the Commission began exploring a possible ordinance change to prohibit smoking within the boundaries of all Redwood City parks. Over 300 people responded to a survey on this issue, in which 86% of respondents agreed that such an ordinance should be implemented. The sub-committee also held a special public workshop in late October to solicit additional community comment on the proposal.
If the Parks and Recreation Commission decides to recommend to the City Council that this ordinance be implemented, it would likely come before the Council in December or January.
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Workshop on Budget Based Water Rates for Irrigation Customers
Redwood City's new Budget-Based Rates Project is designed to reward property managers, homeowner associations, and other businesses with irrigation meters for using water efficiently in their landscape, while providing incentives for those who do not use water as wisely. Irrigation customers who have potable landscape irrigation accounts, such as commercial properties and home owner associations, will receive a water budget, and their goal is to try to stay within that budget.
To encourage customers to stay within budget, customers will pay a significantly less amount for water used within the budget than for water used outside of the budget. The budget, prepared by the City, is based on specific site characteristics such as landscape area and landscape type, and they will change each billing period to reflect actual weather conditions for that period. The budgets are calculated to reflect the ideal amount of water to be applied to the site to maintain a healthy, vibrant landscape.
To help irrigation customers better understand the need for and details of the program the City has scheduled a special Irrigation Workshop: Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 9 am to noon, at the City Hall Council Chamber located at 1017 Middlefield Road .
In addition to the workshop, a Public Hearing on the proposed landscape irrigation rates will be held at the City Hall Council Chamber located at 1017 Middlefield Road on November 24, 2008 at 7:00 pm.
For more information please contact Public Works Superintendent Justin Ezell at 650-780-7474.
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Beautify Redwood City - Volunteer for Code Enforcement!
Becoming a Code Enforcement Volunteer is a great way to improve our community and make Redwood City cleaner, more attractive, and a better place for our families to live, work, and play.
Code Enforcement Volunteers will visually survey assigned areas of our community, and let our Code Enforcement office know about:
- Inoperative vehicles parked on lawns, driveways, or streets
- Commercial/oversized vehicles parked in residential neighborhoods
- Excessive accumulation of trash in areas visible to the public
- Auto repair or other un-permitted business activities in neighborhoods
- Weeds and overgrown vegetation, which are health and fire hazards
- Possible illegal living units or garage conversions
- Illegal signs
Volunteers will not be surveying their own neighborhoods, or doing interior inspections. No contact with property or business owners will be made. Volunteers must participate in a short training session.
Code Enforcement Volunteers may also assist in office duties so our Code Enforcement Officers can focus on enforcement in the field. Students are welcome – good for community service credit!
Interested in this important volunteer opportunity? Contact Jerry Schnell, Redwood City Senior Building Inspector, (650) 780-7357 or jschnell@redwoodcity.org.
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Second Free Workshop for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure
Last month, a partnership of Redwood City, the East Palo Alto Community Alliance and Neighborhood Development Organization (EPA CAN DO) and Community Legal Services of East Palo Alto held a free workshop in Redwood City for homeowners facing foreclosure. Nearly 100 people attended the workshop, many of whom have now met with certified Foreclosure Intervention Counselors for help.
On Saturday November 15th from 1 – 4 pm a second Foreclosure Intervention/ Prevention workshop is scheduled, this time in Daly City. Anyone in San Mateo County is welcome to attend.
This workshop will be held at 145 Lake Merced Blvd. in the Merced Room. The community is welcome to attend without appointment or RSVP (although RSVPs are appreciated). Those wishing to attend are invited to contact EPA CAN DO at 650-473-9838 for more details.
The purpose of these workshops is to assist homeowners who are near to or currently in foreclosure. The workshop will focus on various issues related to foreclosure such as the realities of the current real estate market, working with lenders to modify your loan, legal issues involved in foreclosure, short sales, and rebuilding post-foreclosure credit.
Visit Community Legal Services of East Palo Alto’s website is www.clsepa.org.
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Winners of the Redwood City Salsa Competition!
Redwood City's Salsa Festival on September 20 was a huge success, with thousands of people flooding Downtown and Courthouse Square for food, fun, dancing, music, kids' activities, and our now-famous Salsa Competition! Here are the winners of this new competition that is putting Redwood City on the Salsa map:
Congratulations to the Winners, and thanks to all who entered!
| Best Medium |
Zepeda's Foods, Tracy |
| Best Hot |
The Spaniard, Redwood City |
| Best Fruit |
Whole Foods Market, Redwood City |
| Best Decorated |
Redwood City Parks, Recreation & Community Services |
| Most Creative |
Hellbent Marketing, Redwood City |
| Best Green |
Christina Zarzana, Redwood City |
| People's Choice |
Zepeda's Foods, Tracy |
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Move Your Cars for Street Sweeping
Did you know that each year, on a city-wide basis, our street sweepers are unable to gather an estimated 150 cubic yards, or 30 full dump truck loads, of debris from our city streets. This means lot of debris is left in our gutters and on our neighborhood roadways. Not only does this look unappealing, but the winter rainfall then washes all of that debris, along with pollutants, down the storm drains and into our bay.
This problem occurs when residents don’t move their cars on their street’s scheduled sweeping day. The simple act of moving your car from the street on that one day a month can obviously have a dramatic effect on the quality of our street sweeping work.
Last summer a pilot project was implemented on two streets, so we can enforce new parking restrictions to improve street sweeping. Douglas Avenue (from Spring Street to Middlefield Road) and on Marshall Street (from Chestnut Street to Maple Street) are signed for “No Parking” on the last Friday of each month from 7 am to noon (except holidays), in order to clear the street of vehicles so City street sweepers can do their job.
So far, the pilot program has met with success as more people are moving their cars off the street on their street sweeping days, thus allowing the street sweepers to do a better job. The City is still collecting data on this pilot program, and will report back to the City Council by the end of the year. Later, the Council will decide if the program warrants expansion into other areas of the City.
Please do your part for the environment, one car at a time, by moving your vehicles off the street just once a month on your street’s scheduled street sweeping day. Not sure when that is? Go online to look up the street sweeper schedule, or call Redwood City Public Works Services at (650) 780-7464.
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General Plan Outreach Continues in November/December
City staff is continuing its unprecedented outreach efforts and activities to engage the community in creating Redwood City's New General Plan.
In late September, a unique and thought-provoking community workshop was held at the San Mateo County History Museum and Courthouse Square, where over 300 people attended and participated. The event featured interactive exercises, discussions, presentations, refreshments, displays, activities, prizes and even kids’ activities on Courthouse Square.
This workshop was one of Redwood City’s creative ways of engaging the community to learn what people think about alternative land uses around El Camino Real, the Bayfront, Woodside Road, and neighborhood areas – as well as get their opinions, thoughts, and preferences on many other General Plan issues, like transportation, housing, parks, historic resources, and more. A great many comments and suggestions were received, which will be incorporated into the preparation of the New General Plan.
There are many other meetings and workshops planned for November and December - for a complete schedule, visit www.redwoodcity.org/generalplan. Of particular interest are a City Council meeting on November 24th featuring two guest speakers to talk about climate change in the context of the New General Plan, and a joint meeting of the Planning Commission and the Port Commission about the economics of land use issues on the Bayfront, taking place on November 25th. Be sure to check the General Plan website for neighborhood workshops and other meetings.
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Hometown Holidays is Saturday, December 6
Save the date - December 6 is Hometown Holidays!
Downtown Redwood City is THE place to be for families during the holidays! In addition to our great shopping, exceptional dining, and variety of entertainment, the Hometown Holidays celebration on December 6th brings “imported” snow for kids to enjoy, a wonderful children’s parade, Santa, spectacular fireworks, a fun outdoor movie, incredible ice sculpting, traditional tree-lighting – it’s just good old-fashioned fun.
As part of this great family entertainment day, the Fox Theatre features two performances of the holiday classic The Nutcracker, performed by Ballet America, and Caltrain's famous Holiday Train, complete with thousands of lights, decorations, and live music, will stop at Redwood City's Caltrain station at 6:15 - be sure to bring a toy for the toy drive..
During the holidays Downtown and Courthouse Square are filled with a hometown festive atmosphere, and there’s simply no shortage of fun, exciting, and entertaining things to do. The family fun is second to none! Visit www.hometownholidays.org for information on this wonderful Downtown tradition.
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