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2008 Redwood City "State of the City" Address
Presented January 10 and January 30, 2008
The Past Year In Review
by Vice Mayor Diane Howard
Thank you so much. It is such an honor and a pleasure to be here with you again.
It is so great to be here this morning, talking about our wonderful City. I know there has been a lot of rain lately, but let me assure you, we stand by our motto, Climate is Best By Government Test, just not this week.
When we first moved to Redwood City, my husband, the Doctor – who often refers to himself as Mr. Diane – but that’s another story…anyway, when he first made rounds at Mills Hospital, the first question the other doctors would ask him was, “Where in Hillsborough do you live?” When he told them he lived in Redwood City, they asked “Why? There’s not much going on in Redwood City.”
Well, the other night while we were waiting for a table in a packed Redwood City restaurant, I overheard 2 out-of-towners talking about how exciting Redwood City has become.
The most important and wonderful thing that has changed in Redwood City is PERCEPTION. Nobody asks my husband anymore, why he lives in Redwood City.
Now, I could probably stop here, but I love talking about our City, SO… I’ll keep talking until the Mayor gives me the hook!
Before I speak about our many accomplishments, I want to mention something I am very proud of, and that is how little adverse press coverage we’ve been getting. It seems almost daily we read about economic calamities befalling other communities, about people being laid off, about services being cut…….
But because of the economic foresight of our Council and Staff, you do not read about those things happening in Redwood City.
We have maintained our services and staffing because we were wise enough, in spite of a lot of criticism, to maintain very healthy reserves when times were good. We realized the need to save something for a rainy day and for awhile, it was raining pretty hard.
But the sun is starting to come out, and our City is ready to blossom!
And now for the Good Stuff!
It would be hard not to start with our magnificent Courthouse Square.
It was the result of the Singular Vision of Many….our Council, Staff, the San Mateo County History Museum, the County, AND many community members who contributed countless hours, actually years, of hard work to create our Outdoor Living Room in the Heart of Our Downtown.
As spectacular as it is to look at, it is rapidly becoming the Central Gathering Place for our Community. Thanks to the Leadership of Our Parks & Community Development Departments, our Plaza has become the Home for:
*Friday night concerts
* Art shows
* Dancing events
* Lunchtime music
* Outdoor movies AND even a little Shakespeare.
And this past month, Redwood City was given the Diamond Award by the San Mateo Peninsula Arts Council in recognition of our Plaza and our dedication to promoting cultural and art activities in our Downtown.
Along with our new Downtown Movie theater, and the live performances at the Big and Little Fox theaters, Redwood City is rapidly becoming the Entertainment Hub of the Peninsula!
With the influx of new restaurants, businesses, and investors, it is important that we have a comprehensive plan as to how we want our Community to develop as we move forward.
We have recently completed our Downtown Precise Plan, which will include housing, retail, restaurants & Downtown entertainment. This Precise Plan, which is the Blueprint for our Downtown’s future, has already gained a national award for its innovation.
Now we on the City Council have gotten a lot of feedback about problems with our Downtown parking meters & the old and new movie theater. I wanted you to know, we will not be ignoring these concerns. They do need to be resolved and I want to assure you that we will be working very hard this coming year to do just that.
Rebuilding our Downtown has been a huge undertaking, and we recognize everything is not 100%. We are still a Work in Progress. In the meantime, I encourage you to support your Downtown. Come shop, eat, and see great movies, all in one location!
Now I would like to highlight just some of the many accomplishments our Council and Staff are so very proud of this past year.
IN FINANCE- this department has kept our ship sailing smoothly through rough waters. They are so good that surrounding communities have begun to hire our services and expertise. In 2007, Atherton, East Palo Alto, Los Altos Hills & Saratoga, ALL have just signed contracts to use our Information Technology & Finance Staff.
FIRE AND POLICE- continue to make Redwood City a safe place to live.
- Over 200 community members were trained in our Community Emergency Response Team and the Are You Ready? Disaster Preparedness programs.
- 43 youth participated in the Junior Fire Academy.
- A new phone notification system called Code Red was put into place which can notify 1000’s of residents per minute in the event of a disaster.
- The Police were right there when we unveiled our new Downtown, to ensure that all ran smoothly.
- In 2007, we had a huge reduction in Gang related crime, cutting it by more than half, AND there was only 1 Homicide in 2007.
OUR LIBRARY- This system is one of the Best on the Peninsula.
- A record number of kids accessed on-line homework through the Library’s Website.
- When the last Harry Potter book came out, we had a big celebration at our Main Library and over 500 copies were given away.
- A Key Accomplishment- the creation of “ Redwood City: A Hometown History” written by community members and staff with historic photos from our Archives, was released this year.
- And I will let Our Mayor give you the great news about our new Redwood Shores Library.
I feel it is so important to emphasize that Our City Staff is always looking for ways to improve the way we deliver quality customer service to our Community.
IN OUR PUBLIC WORKS & ENGINEERING DEPARTMENTS
You will notice that many of our most significant accomplishments have occurred with improvements in our City infrastructure.
Those of you around in the 1980’s remember the extreme flooding that occurred each year in the Friendly Acres community. Eight years ago, our City Council committed the money & resources to resolve this problem. Public Works, in conjunction with Engineering, have completed Stage 1 & 2 improvements with Stage 3 & 4 to come, but already there have been substantial improvements in flood prevention to that neighborhood & our community.
Additionally,
- We have recognized the importance of water conservation. In 2007, we installed over 2400 low-flow toilets, bringing the total to 7,737 toilets that have been installed over the past 3 years.
- Over 400 high efficiency washer customers received rebates.
- 10 miles of new pipe were installed for our recycled water project. This project was awarded the 2007 Large Project of the Year by the Water Reuse Association and has set the standard for surrounding communities.
IN OUR CITY CLERK DEPARTMENT – Along with the many internal responsibilities they already have, like keeping our Council and Staff organized and on point,
They have now offered a new service to the public - processing over 150 passport applications this first year. Well, I say we all get ready to do some traveling.
OUR HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT– They have created a Supervisor Academy Program to help existing employees improve their skills and help identify and develop those skills necessary for them to become effective managers in our organization.
OUR PORT – The Port of Redwood City has been an indispensable and unique industrial asset for Redwood City. Besides being the Bay Area’s largest Recycling Center and the only deepwater working port in the southern part of the bay, 870 passengers enjoyed cruising from Redwood City to the wine country and the Delta on The Spirit of Yorktown in 2007. No passport required!
Now I would like tell you about our efforts this year in BUILDING A STRONG COMMUNITY TOGETHER!
This Council has always believed that Communication with our citizens is crucial in order to develop effective programs and policy.
I am very proud of the efforts our Staff has made to bring the public into the decision-making process.
Community Building has been the heart & focus of our City Manager’s office under the Leadership of our retired City Manager, Ed Everett, and has become the Standard for the Way We Do Business. Some examples are:
- Several Neighborhood liaison training sessions were held to help neighborhoods understand and get organized around city issues.
- A Climate Protection Program was launched, partnering with the community to secure $100,000 dollars in grant funding, to begin proactive energy and conservation efforts, e.g. giving away over 2,000 low-energy CFL light bulbs at neighborhood events using community volunteers.
- This past year, over 1200 community volunteers gave the Library over 130,000 hours of their time.
- In our Veterans Senior Center, our senior volunteers contributed over 30,000 hours this past year.
- And our Park, Recreation & Community Services Department, as well as being a Leader in our Downtown activities and many recreational programs throughout our City, worked with our Park & Recreation Commission and many members of our community, to produce a Strategic Plan, which included their recommendation for a Park Ordinance, which will ensure that as new development occurs funding for new parks will always be provided.
Ed Everett and his passion for Community Building will be difficult to replace but we will look to our next City Manager to continue Community Building as one of his or her priorities.
I would be remiss if I did not mention two projects near and dear to my heart:
- In April, we inaugurated our Commuter Shuttle, which provides participating Redwood City employers service to and from the Caltrain Station. Our next step is a Community Shuttle, a Pilot program, which will take riders throughout our community. This will be presented to Council in March, and with their approval will start this summer.
- And the prospect of taking a ferry from Redwood City to see a Giants game is a little bit closer! I have been involved with this project since 1997. And with the work done this past year, a site for our ferry terminal has been chosen and the port is ready to begin the Environmental Impact Report.
2007 has been very Productive and Exciting! And what I have told you is just the tip of the iceberg. I hope you have enjoyed hearing about all we have accomplished this past year as much as I have enjoyed being here talking with you today.
And now, I would like to introduce a woman who I can truly call a friend and honored to call a colleague.I am very excited to be working with her these next two years.I would like to introduce Your Mayor, My Mayor - The Mayor of Redwood City - Rosanne Faust
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