rishi kumar saratoga city council q4 2016 newsletter

Q4 20 1 6 NEW SLETTER

WWW.RISHIKUMAR.COM || WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/VOTERISHI || RKUMAR<at>SARATOGA.CA.US

NEWSLETTER EDITOR: YOUTH INTERN SHAUNAK VAIDYA

Dear Friends, Happy Holidays to you and best wishes for a wonderful 2017

Hard to believe that a whole year has gone by.

It has been a busy, productive year on the city

council with new ordinances being introduced and new tasks launched. Here is a short summary:

- Our city council grappled with high water bill. You can see updates on this at www.RishiKumar.com/water and

www.Facebook.com/groups/SaratogaWater. Here you will find the joint letter to CPUC and San Jose Water Company

via the City of Saratoga, Campbell, Cupertino, Monte Sereno and Los Gatos. I am currently working on getting a few of

us commissioners from the Santa Clara Valley Water District to send a joint letter to the Santa Clara Valley Water

District board to remove the drought mandate. The Board members of Santa Clara Valley Water District will be making

a decision at their board meeting on January 24th. See the letter emailed by Board President Barbara Keegan to local

elected leaders (cities served by San Jose Water company) at the above Facebook link.

- Our city had a very successful neighborhood safety watch rollout in 2016 that has never happened before in Saratoga’s

60 years history. I conducted a total of 41 neighborhood meetings since June of 2016 and about35+ Neighborhood Safety

Watch programs were initiated. With each of these neighborhoods, we have established a communication framework

between the neighbors, identified neighborhood leaderhip and gotten the neighborhood certified with their

Neighborhood Safety Watch programs. Many neighborhoods have bran new signs installed and they are apply for the city

grant (see grant details in this newsletter). There are many more neighborhoods on track to get certified and we will

continue scheduling meetings in 2017. To see the complete list visit www.RishiKumar.com/nsw. I highly recommend

that you join the Safe Saratoga Citizen’s forum at: http://groups.google.com/group/SafeSaratoga

- Elections are over with! Congratulations to Manny Cappello and Howard Miller for their resounding win. After the re-

org meeting with Emily Low elected as our new mayor for 2017, our city council members are now back to business

looking to do the very best for our citizens, addressing their concerns and Saratoga’s challenges. In early December we

conducted a team building session at the Warren Hutton House. It is time to put the elections behind us and work

together and I believe we are all equally invested towards that. Looking forward to a fantastic 2017 on the council.

- Sincerely,

Rishi Kumar

2


C i t y C O U N C I L U P D A T E

Our annual Tree Lighting Ceremony in Saratoga Village on November 26th went well, though the weather would have you believe otherwise! Hundreds of Saratogans joined us in spite of the pouring rain.

It was an excellent community event, convergence and a celebration. The event included Christmas carols, tree lighting, hot chocolate, carriage rides and lots of shopping to help our Saratoga businesses!

You can see the tree in the Village all lit up for the holidays.

Annual tree lighting

ceremony in Saratoga

COUNCILMEMBER RISHI KUMAR NEWSLETTER Q4 2016 of 9

We had a full council agenda for our December 8th city council meeting that included: - Silicon Valley Clean Energy SVCE Authority Status update - Appeal of Design Review Approval for a new two-story residence at 14011 June Way - City code amendment to conform Secondary Dwelling unit - Proposed Urgency Interim ordinance extending a temporary moratorium on outdoor cultivation of Marijuana - SVCE Renewable Energy options for our city buildings - Highway 9 improvements - Discussion of Minimum Wage Ordinance - Use of Public Right of Way for Private Surveillance Cameras

It was a long evening that wrapped at 12:45AM and a few agenda items were moved to a different date

DEC 8th CITY

COUNCIL MEETING

The City of Saratoga Planning Commission and staff are developing and vetting updated Village development and land use policy addressing the areas of Village Vision, Parking & Circulation, Village Design & Character, and Opportunity Sites.

Village Policy Update Study Sessions are scheduled for December 2016 through September 2017.

For more information, visit saratogavillageplan.org

SARATOGA VILLAGE VISION CONTINUES

TO PROGRESS

At our annual joint meeting with Senator Beall, we discussed Saratoga issues with water and got Senator's perspective on the budget. Senator Jim Beall offered help on various fronts. He has budget approval to study safety issues with Highway 9, Highway 84. Budget approval for an open space initiative, stay tuned.

Annual CITY COUNCIL’S Joint

meeting with senator beall

APPLY FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH GRANT

Our city of Saratoga offers this neighborhood grant to registered Neighborhood Safety Watch programs. The purpose of the grant is to help launch and/or sustain Neighborhood Watch groups. Examples of how the grant may be used include annual block parties, flyers, or informational materials.

To request a Neighborhood Watch grant, visit www.saratoga.ca.us/stayingsafe

CITY OF SARATOGA PRESS RELEASES

Our city has a new Public Information Officer, Lauren Pettipiece. She has been actively posting pertinent articles on Nextdoor . A recent example is the “Package Thieves” article looking to address the theft of packages from Saratoga homes

3

C i t y h a p p e n i n g s a n d e v e n t s

Welcome to new businesses of Saratoga: Tribe (women's clothes) Dresses Veritas and Charlie’s Home Fashion (owner Esther Nazarov).

WELCOME TO NEW BUSINESSES


You may have read in Saratoga News that two Saratoga neighborhoods have been running a surveillance camera pilot initiated by the Safe Saratoga Citizens Committee. The pilot has been successful, and the Safe Saratoga Citizens Committee is in process of expanding the pilot to two more neighborhoods that have established Neighborhood Safety Watch programs.

Perhaps your neighborhood is interested to monitor the entrance(s) of your neighborhood with surveillance cameras? You can review the overview presentation of our solution ie. Who, What, Why, How at this link www.RishiKumar.com/pilot Getting feedback from your neighborhood and gauging interest to move forward with this is the first step

NEIGHBORHOOD SURVEILLANCE CAMERA PILOT We invite you to join us at the 2nd

annual Unity in Community Day in Saratoga. This theme this year is “Dealing with the Racism, Bigotry and unabashed Racism in America” This year, we have a panel discussion with elected leaders. Confirmed so far Senator Jim Beall, Assemblymember Kansen Chu, Assemblymember Ash Kalra, Supervisor Cindy Chavez, Councilmember Chappie Jones and many more still awaiting confirmation. WHEN: January 14th: 2:00pm to 4:30pm WHERE: Joan Pisani Community Center 19655 Allendale Avenue,

2nd ANNUAL UNITY IN COMMUNTY DAY

BLUE ROCK SHOOT PROJECT

The building permits for the Blue Rock Shoot and Grover House mixed-use project on Big Basin Way were issued in mid December by our city. This was approved by the Planning Commission in September. Blue Rock Shoot Building will include a restaurant, office space, and two residential apartments. The Grover House will include a wine bar/restaurant and one residential apartment.

UNITY SPEECH COMPETITION

As part of the 2nd annual Unity in Community Day, we are planning a “Unity Speech Competition” open for students of our community; winner takes a cash prize Competition details/ sign up

www.tinyurl.com/interested2Attend.

An opportunity for students to

deliver that powerful speech and

win the big prize

PACKAGE THEFT

If you have information on any package theft cases please contact the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office Detective Division at (408) 808-4500 or the anonymous tip line at (408) 808-4431. If you see someone casing your neighborhood, report suspicious activity to the Sheriff’s Office dispatch line at (408) 299-2311.

VACATION PATROL

Our city of Saratoga offers this free service. How about having our City of Saratoga Sheriff keep an eye on your home occasionally while you are out?

To request a vacation patrol you can call 408.868.6600 or visit www.sccgov.org/sites/sheriff/Pages/pcr.aspx and fill out a request form.

4

Saratoga Holiday exhibit

opens!


The City Council has made concerted efforts to reduce property crime in Saratoga.

Saratoga has recently adopted a locking mailbox ordinance. This made Saratoga the first city in California to proactively address mail theft by requiring locking mailboxes for new homes.

In addition to these efforts, the City Council recently established an annual Neighborhood Watch Grant Program and formed more than 35 Neighborhood Watch groups.

City council property Crime

updates Saratoga Holiday Exhibit Opens November 26, 2016

A new holiday exhibit and reception will be held Saturday November 26 at the Saratoga History Museum. Stop by to see the exhibit, listen to live music, and enjoy light refreshments from 1-5:30 PM.

The museum, historic 1850s McWilliams house and the one-room schoolhouse will be decorated for the holidays. The new exhibit, “What People Collect” will run from November 26 through the end of January. The exhibit features approximately 14 collections. Each collection will include information about the history of the item

The museum is open from 1 to 4 PM Friday and Sunday and 10 to 4 PM on Saturday. The museum is located at 20450 Saratoga-Los Gatos Road with free parking. For more information call 408-867-4311 or go up to www.saratogahistory.com.


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/…

Friends of the Saratoga Libraries

book-go-round

The Friends of the Saratoga Libraries Book-Go-Round presents an extensive collection of Good As New books for all ages & interests.

The Book-Go-Round is located in Saratoga’s first library building, at the corner of Oak Street and Saratoga-Los Gatos Rd, one block south of Big Basin Way.

Staffed by Friends volunteers; all proceeds benefit the Saratoga Library.

For information visit www.BookGoRound.com

C i t y h a p p e n i n g s a n d e v e n t s

To revisit the Saratoga happenings of 2016, please visit www.RishiKumar.com/newsletter

5

G L I M P S E S F R O M T H E L A S T F E W W E E K S


MEETING NEWLY ELECTED

CONGRESSMAN RO KHANNA

AT HIS TOWN HALL MEETING

EARLIER THIS MONTH

SWEARING-IN CEREMONY at SACRAMENTO

(ASSEMBLY FLOOR ABOVE AND

SENATE FLOOR)

FROM AN ELECTION NIGHT PARTY

(NOVEMBER 9th)

6

COUNCILMEMBER RISHI KUMAR NEWSLETTER Q3 2016 Page 7 of 18 COUNCILMEMBER RISHI KUMAR NEWSLETTER Q4 2016 of 9

NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY

WATCH CERTIFICATION

MEEING ON RONNIE WAY

NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING

AT THE SARATOGA HILLS

NEIGHBORHOOD

7


AT THE CALIFORNIA CRICKET ACADEMY AWARDS NIGHT

HANDING OUT MOVIE AWARDS

8


CITY OF SARATOGA EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION BREAKFAST

THANKFUL AND APPRECIATIVE OF OUR CITY EMPLOYEES FOR

THEIR DILIGENT WORK

AT THE TREE LIGHTING

Ceremony

9


HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE KUMAR FAMILY

rishi kumar saratoga city council q4 2016 newsletter

Government & Nonprofit