Saturday, April 9th at 2:00 pm
Marlin Park – Main Playground Area
The play features at Marlin Park are being replaced after many years of service. The project is part of the City’s Play Equipment Replacement Program, and it is time to renovate Marlin Park’s playgrounds.
If you have any questions, please contact the Redwood City Parks, Recreation and Community Services at 780-7250.
I’m sure the entire community is aware of Redwood City’s serious budget difficulties. Skyrocketing pension and benefit costs; steady increases in operating expenses; flat revenues; a stagnant economy; and the necessity for significant reductions in expenditures. One result is a Redwood City organization with far fewer staff than we had ten years ago. Even while working to generate new revenues and improve efficiencies, we have to address the underlying structural problems with our budget to ensure we’re creating a sustainable fiscal foundation.
A big part of the solution is permanently reducing costs. Using “smoke and mirrors” (think: California) won’t provide long-term financial stability. Temporary fixes are just that – temporary. Using one-time funds, such as reserves or gifts, only delays the need for real fiscal reform.
If we were to use reserves to balance our budget, at the end of three years those funds would be exhausted and we’d still be facing a deficit in the following years. We’ve utilized reserves in the past – under specific circumstances to endure temporary revenue losses, to buy time as the financial tide turned. But today’s situation is different. The “new normal” of the fiscal environment requires significant, permanent structural change in our expenditures.
In the same manner, using bequeaths or other one-time funds for ongoing operations merely postpones the inevitable. Once those funds are gone, they’re gone – but our day to day services must continue.
Such use of reserves or one-time funds doesn’t provide for a solid, sustainable financial structure. It creates a short-term dependence that will unquestionably be followed by a collapse when the dollars run out and we’re left with providing services we can’t continue to fund. That path is simply not sustainable. A permanent reduction in expenditures is the only viable way to lay the foundation for a more prosperous future.
In fact, the use of reserves to support long-term ongoing operations is the kind of fiscal course that could lead to bankruptcy in cities like ours. It’s far more prudent to make the tough decisions now, in order to build for tomorrow. Every Redwood City department, at all levels, is making difficult choices right now. There are no easy answers, but in the long run it’s precisely those tough decisions that will lead toward fiscal stability.
I’m proud and gratified that the Police Officers Association, Police Sergeants Association, and Executive Management Team have made those tough decisions and come to agreements on concessions that will help our long-term finances. They are leading the way, and are good examples of the City moving in the right direction.
These difficult times illustrate the value of giving back to the community. This is the time to work together, get involved, find a passion and interest in the community, and take action: volunteer with a non-profit, help out with a league sports activity, help our Library, or a school, or service club – there are many volunteer opportunities online at www.redwoodcity.org/calendar (sort by “Volunteering”) and at www.redwoodcity.org/opportunities
Thank you,
— Jeff Ira, Mayor
The City Council is pleased to announce the appointment of Robert (Bob) Bell to the position of City Manager. Bob has served in the interim position since November of 2010. Since serving in this role, Bob has demonstrated strong leadership by working with City’s labor groups and department head team in restructuring benefit and pension programs to reduce costs. Bob is also spearheading an organizational analysis to streamline and add efficiencies to government operations.
The City Council had initially embarked on recruitment for the City Manager position but as Bob served in the interim role it became clear that his leadership ability was producing the necessary results for the organization and community.
Mayor Ira stated, “The City Council, department head team, employees and community members have been very complimentary of Bob in the position of interim City Manager. The City Council decided it was in the best interests of the City to maintain stability with a leader who was already proving his effectiveness in leading and developing the organization in the right direction.”
Bob has been with Redwood City for over five years serving as the City’s Human Resources Director and was also in the rotational assignment of Assistant City Manager for over two years. Bob articulated a strong vision for the organization to the City Council based on principles of customer service, efficient service delivery, and responsiveness to community needs. He described it to the Council as “Government Best by Climate Test” and Bob is committed to leading an organization that is responsive and accountable. Prior to coming to Redwood City, Bob was the Human Resource Director for Burlingame. Bob has a doctorate in organizational leadership from the University of San Francisco and he holds a master’s degree in public administration from California State University, Northridge. Bob was the 2005 recipient of the career leadership award from the League of California Cities.
Vice Mayor Aguirre summed up, “The Council is excited to have Bob as our next city manager and have him take the organization to the next level.”
While the tragic earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan have not had a significant effect on the west coast or the interior shoreline of San Francisco Bay, this event serves as a blunt reminder to the Bay Area that a disaster can strike quickly, without warning, and with devastating consequences. The Redwood City Fire Department wants to remind our community that preparing one’s family and home for a possible disaster – earthquake, flood, or fire, for example – can make a life-or-death difference.
The Redwood City Fire Department offers information and tips for disaster preparedness on its web page located at www.redwoodcity.org/fire. In the event of a major disaster, homes, neighborhoods, or entire areas may be without basic services like water, gas, electricity, and telephones, or access to stores and other services for several hours or days. While public safety personnel will be on the scene after a disaster, they cannot reach everyone right away. Therefore, the best way to ensure the safety of family and home is to be well-prepared before disaster strikes.
The Fire Department encourages Redwood City residents and businesses to do their part to prepare for disaster – and offers these links to get started (all of these are also on the Fire Department’s website):
And, even though the tsunami resulting from the Japan earthquake has not significantly affected the waters here in the Bay Area, it’s important for anyone living near our coastline to have information about tsunamis.
Visit Redwood City’s award-winning website at www.redwoodcity.org for information about the City and its services, the community, recreation programs, education, and local business. Subscribe to Redwood City’s email newsletter and other City documents by visiting www.redwoodcity.org/egov .
The recent devastation in Japan prompted the children of the Sandpiper Youth Club, lead by the City’s staff person Telisha Brent, to put together a fundraising bake sale to help. Armed with homemade flyers and great enthusiasm, the staff and children promoted their “Bake Sale for Tsunami/Earthquake Relief” — they informed the community and the school, and asked for donations of baked goods or cash to support their endeavor. City Parks staff also agreed to bake cookies, cupcakes, brownies, and other goodies on their own time, in the name of charity.
Over 25 parents brought baked goods from home and got others donated…in fact, they had over 500 cupcakes and lots of other stuff ready to be sold for a good cause. The bake sale took place last Friday March 18 – you might remember that day had a lot of weather, including a tornado warning (!). Despite the weather, an estimated 300 people purchased baked goods, or just made a donation to the cause. That says a lot about the Redwood City community, and about these Sandpiper students!
These amazing kids raised a whopping $1,042 for Japan relief efforts. And through their actions, they also gained a sense of compassion and caring, and a strong feeling that they have made a difference.
To read more and see pictures, please visit http://redwoodcityparksblog.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/sandpiper-kids-bake-for-a-cause/
The Sandpiper Youth Club is a program of the Redwood City Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department. It’s a fun after school club run by City Parks staff, offering play games, sports, crafts, teaching of life skills, movies, special visitors and presentations, and more! Kids also have homework time during the program. You might want to visit the Parks web page at www.redwoodcity.org/parks .
Redwood Shores has experienced a massive power outage that has affected communities including residents of Marlin Shores, Dolphin Park, Mariner Park, and the Sunrise and Hastings complexes, as well as the Nob Hill shopping center.
UPDATE: As of 9PM on Friday the 25th, PG&E has restored power
to all 2,000 affected homes in Redwood Shores.
Those who have questions about the safety of defrosted food in the fridge
should call the USDA at 1-888-674-6854 for advisement.
PREVIOUS INFO (as of Friday at 9AM:)
Power was lost on Thursday night at approximately 10PM. PG&E is currently working on the situation but does not have an expected time of repair at this time. Redwood City has been alerted to the situation, and RSCA will also be following up with the city as far as the unexpected outage of street lamp and stoplights in the neighborhood.
For more information please call PG&E’s automated power outage phone service at 1-800-743-5002. The main PG&E phoneline is 1-800-743-5000.
PREVIOUS INFO (as of Friday at 11AM:)
Every couple of years, the City conducts a satisfaction survey of our residents. In November 2010, over 400 residents were surveyed on the phone, and asked a number of questions related to our Quality of Life in Redwood City. This is not just a one time, survey — by repeating the survey on a regular basis, we are able to track and review results.
What the 2010 Satisfaction survey revealed is that over 90% of our residents feel very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the overall quality of life in Redwood City. These results were particularly high in Redwood Shores. Other notable categories that received high marks from Redwood Shores residents included our satisfaction with city services, and public safety.
And how can we not be satisfied here in Redwood Shores? We have a great library that was supported by our community, a new school, books for both the new school library and the library, levees that are now certifiable, restored bay wetlands at no direct tax payer expense, and a community that enjoys the opportunities to be outside! The weedwhacker makes its annual visit to the lagoons, and last year, for the first time, parts of the lagoon were dredged. For those that continue to say “Redwood City does not pay attention to the Shores” — Not True! Building on the foundation that Councilmember Foust laid when she was first elected, I can assure you that Redwood Shores is part of Redwood City.
As life happens in its own way, things do happen that we need to address. Last year we had the sewer line break at Lighthouse Cove. Several homes suffered damaged and several gallons of sewage spilled into the lagoon. Our city staff responded wonderfully, and many cities on the Peninsula offered their help. Marilyn Harang, the Interim Director of Public Works Services led our response Team, and Evan Boyd, our new Director of Public Works Services arrived in time for all of the post-event paperwork.
Evan and his staff are working hard to make sure that street lights and signals are working properly out here n the Shores. During repairs, they have discovered crushed conduits, broken fixtures, and in some cases, missing copper wiring — probably removed by those seeking its recycling value. I can assure you that functioning traffic signals and street lights are receiving attention from Evan and his staff.
Another area of the Shores that is also receiving attention is Marlin Park. Chris Beth, our Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Services and his Team are working with our residents on plans for the renovation of Marlin Park. They are looking for your ideas about what you want our “new” Marlin Park to be.
Justin Ezell, Superintendent, is working with an additional 15 HOA’s that want to use recycled water for landscape irrigation. As the President of my HOA, I can attest that the financial savings of recycled water are definitely positive. We are not using recycled water where children can come into regular contact with it, and our landscape has not suffered.
The challenge ahead for all of us is “what do we need to do to maintain the Quality of Life we enjoy in Redwood Shores”. In partnership with our staff, department heads, executive Team and labor groups, we are working hard towards achieving financial sustainability for our City. But what about our greatest asset in the Shores — our lagoons? The GID fund is basically gone, and we will have on-going maintenance and repair needs for our lagoons (e.g., dredging) and for maintenance of the levees. How do we fund these improvements and others?
There are a number of choices that need to be made on these issues and others. Whatever choices are made, all of us need to be informed. I ask that you stay engaged and involved, and let me know what’s on your mind.
— Jeff Gee, Redwood City Councilperson
San Mateo County is announcing that its new 211 service is starting. It’s a service that can help people find food, housing, health care, senior services, child care, legal aid and more. United Way partners with San Mateo County’s Community Information Program (CIP) to update and maintain the 211 San Mateo database.
Visit http://211bayarea.org/san-mateo to see what it’s all about, or call 2-1-1.
I thought it might be beneficial to have a “be prepared” list to help your pet sitter do their job more efficiently.
Your sitter will thank you for remembering the above items. And, the less time your sitter has to spend looking for these items, the more time we can devote to giving your fur kids our undivided attention.
Did you know that March 6 to 12th is Professional Pet Sitters Week? Take a moment to tell your pet sitter how much you appreciate them — you will make their day!
–Jan Brown
Jan is the Owner of Jan’s Pet Sitting and is a Pet Tech Pet First Aid Instructor.
Redwood City’s Community Preservation Volunteer program is now in its third successful year! In that time this volunteer program has resulted in numerous trained volunteers dedicating a total of over 1,000 hours helping Redwood City’s Building and Inspection division with community preservation projects. The City is seeking additional interested and committed community members to help beautify and improve neighborhoods and business areas. Applications for this very helpful volunteer opportunity are available from Code Enforcement Officer Steven Solorio at (650) 780-7351 or by emailing .
Volunteer training and program implementation will take place from April to September, and the deadline to apply for participation is Wednesday, April 6th.
The program has also gained a reputation, becoming a model program for the California Code Enforcement Association and for other city and county code enforcement jurisdictions.
Volunteer training includes riding along with Building and Inspection staff, and developing an understanding of the policy and procedure manuals for the department. After training, volunteers help Code Enforcement officers with specific case work and participate in outreach to the community. Their volunteer duties include responding to inquiries regarding abandoned cars and rubbish clean up, participating with an officer on sign ordinance enforcement for business owners, or performing important clerical and office related duties. These valued volunteers can also assist at the front counter at City Hall, provide follow-up to code enforcement cases and complaints, assist officers with preliminary investigations of non-health and safety code violations, and handle graffiti reporting, abandoned shopping cart reporting, and special community projects.
“This is a great way for community members to get involved and help supplement services that otherwise would be delayed or deferred due to the City’s budget problems,” said Redwood City Mayor Jeff Ira. “My call to action to our community is for everyone to find some organization they can volunteer with – whether it’s a non-profit, a sports activity, a library, or as a Community Preservation Volunteer with Redwood City. Everyone can and should do their part to help their community during this tough economy.”
For volunteers or those community members who would simply like to learn more about how Redwood City’s Code Enforcement program works, the City will be conducting quarterly information/education workshops on subjects such as the City’s business sign ordinance, nuisance trash, and more. Scheduling information will be available online at www.redwoodcity.org.
Visit Redwood City’s award-winning website at www.redwoodcity.org for information about the City and its services, the community, recreation programs, education, and local business. Subscribe to Redwood City’s email newsletter and other City documents by visiting www.redwoodcity.org/egov.
— Steven Solorio
— Redwood City Code Enforcement
— 650-780-7351