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Ken Nordhoff - City Manager ken.nordhoff@cityofsanrafael.org

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Thursday, November 20, 2008 November 20, 2008 Posted by: Ken Nordhoff at 5:28:43 PM Marin Clean Energy Final Meetings It has come down to the final stages of the City Council’s decision on whether to become part of the Marin Energy Authority (MEA) and the related Marin Clean Energy (MCE) program. We have set two upcoming meetings to finalize the process that began last June with a proposal from the County on MCE. This is an important policy decision that will impact San Rafael rate payers in that it changes how and at what level and cost renewable energy can be purchased. All 11 Marin cities and the County are being asked to consider joining MEA. On Monday, November 24, 7 p.m. at the City Council Chambers, the public is invited to hear a series of final presentations that will provide an overview of the proposed program ordinance and agreement, an alternative plan being put forth by PG&E, and the next steps in the process. This meeting will not focus on the (MCE) business plan that has already been discussed in detail at a series of neighborhood meetings hosted by San Rafael. On Monday, December 1, 8 p.m., the City Council will hold a public hearing at its regular meeting. Your thoughts, opinions, questions and concerns are welcome before Councilmembers make their final decision on whether the City should get into the power procurement business. Please click here for more information about the upcoming meetings and to get background information on the program. Voting Behavior During Hard Times When it comes to taking a snapshot of economic trends in cities across California, I’ve found Californiacitynews.org (put out by the League of California Cities) to be a great resource. I’m still fascinated by the fact that voters passed so many local revenue measures in the last election. If you’re interested, here’s more analysis on why Californians said yes to so many measures during our economic downturn. Mt. Tam Cemetery The owners of the Mt. Tam Cemetery have made an application to the City, including annexation into San Rafael, additional mausoleums and other amenities. This project has made its way through the Planning Commission, and will now be heard by the City Council at its meeting of December 1. For more information on this project, please call Paul Jensen at 485.5064. A report on the project will be available next Tuesday at www.cityofsanrafael.org. Safety for a Happy Thanksgiving As we reflect on all that we are thankful for this holiday season, it’s a good time to think about our loved ones and keeping them safe in their homes this Thanksgiving. Fire Chief Christopher Gray offers some helpful advice as you enjoy spending time with friends and family over the holiday weekend: Everyone is familiar with the traditional meal of turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings for Thanksgiving. The kitchen is bound to heat up after a full day of cooking, so be sure to keep children away from ovens and stovetops as well as hot pots, pans and casseroles. In the event of a burn, run cool tap water over the affected area to soothe the skin. Then, cover the burn with a sterile dressing or clean cloth. This will greatly reduce the chances of infection. If the burn is severe and blistering occurs, seek medical attention or call 9-1-1 for more assistance. The comforting glow of candles around the home may invoke the warm holiday spirit, but they are a significant fire hazard. If you choose to set the mood with candles, never leave them burning unattended. Take extra care to supervise children (and pets) if candles grace your holiday table and extinguish them when you leave the room, even for a minute—candles left unattended are the cause of many structure fires. Prepare for Winter Weather It’s that wonderful time of the year. To plan ahead for winter weather, our Office of Emergency Services (OES) has put together this handy pamphlet of information available on our OES webpage. If you would like a copy, please contact the Department at 485.3111. Community Events and Reminders Business License Renewal Business license renewal season is here. Beginning in November, renewal notices started going out to all businesses with active licenses. The license renewal is due January 1, 2009. Payments received after February 17, 2009, will be considered past due, and penalties will be levied. Payments may be made with a Visa or MasterCard, and as of January 1, 2009, most renewals may be transacted online at Business Licenses. If you have not received your renewal notice by the end of December, or if you have further questions about a business license or renewal, please contact the Business License Division at (415) 485-3051. San Rafael General Plan Meeting It is hard to believe, but General Plan 2020 is now over four years under way. The General Plan is the comprehensive land use, policy and program document that identifies what many hope our community becomes over the next 12 years. The General Plan was developed with thousands of hours and through many community meetings. Hundreds of residents and other stakeholders in our City helped shape this Plan. We have reached a juncture where we must report on our progress, including a State mandated housing element update. You can help give valuable input on this General Plan 2020 report card. On Tuesday, December 2 (3 to 5 p.m. or 7 to 9 p.m.) at City Hall, please join us for a community meeting on the review of the City’s General Plan 2020. Please click here to download a flyer. For more information, please call 485.3067 Parade of Lights Downtown San Rafael will start the Holiday Season off with the Parade of Lights, Winter Wonderland, and the special Holiday Market on Friday, November 28. This will be the 28th Annual Parade of Lights in Downtown San Rafael, and the 18th straight year of free snow sledding on A Street. Sledding will continue on Saturday, November 29th, snow conditions permitting. For more information, contact Steven Restivo at 800-310-6563, or click here for more information. Art Talk on Yves Saint Laurent Docent and lecturer Julia Geist presents an illustrated talk on French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent at 1 p.m., Wednesday, December 3, in the San Rafael City Council Chambers, 1400 Fifth Ave. Her talk is based on a current exhibit at the de Young Museum. This free event is sponsored by the Friends of the San Rafael Library. For more information, call 485-3321. City Offices Closed for Thanksgiving City offices will be closed Thursday, November 27 and Friday November 28 in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. In addition, I will be spending time with family and friends during this time and will be taking the week off from writing Snapshot. Happy Thanksgiving.
Friday, November 14, 2008 November 13, 2008 Posted by: Ken Nordhoff at 10:02:08 AM Rock n’ Roll History Museum Moves Forward On Wednesday night the Planning Commission approved the Marin History Museum’s proposal to open a new museum space in the Masonic Building located Downtown on Fourth and Lootens Streets. The new space will be occupied by an exhibit called “Marin Rocks!” This will be an exhibit highlighting the history of rock n’ roll in Marin County, starting with the 1960’s sounds of bands such as the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane and extending to the lively music scene of today. Part of the exhibit will include state of the art audio equipment to give an exciting audio experience! Opening in the spring, the Museum will be a great addition to the multitude of things to see and do Downtown. Voters Support Local Revenue Measures Little was known about how cities would fare when voters were asked to approve numerous revenue generating measures in the November election. There was talk that the economy would scare Californians away from voting in favor of taxes, fees and bonds, but that wasn’t the case. I must admit, I’m a bit of a finance geek, but I thought you might be interested in seeing this city by city breakdown of what measures passed and why. Click here for the analysis put together by the League of California Cities. Museum Reveals San Rafael’s Past Did you know that San Rafael is a city of firsts? It was the first city in Marin County to incorporate, the first to build a railroad, and the first to build a luxury hotel. All these interesting facts and figures are captured in a new book from the Marin History Museum, Early San Rafael. Historians/Authors Jocelyn Moss and Judy Coy were recently honored by the City Council for their remarkable work on documenting and capturing the details of our City’s past. You can pick up a copy of Early San Rafael at area bookstores or online at Arcadia Publishing www.arcadiapublishing.com. Literacy Tutor Featured in Article I wanted to share with you some excellent coverage the Marin Literacy Program has been getting in the Marin IJ. It also demonstrates the difference volunteers can make when they use their passion for the good of others. Click here to read the full story. Community Events and Reminders HOV Lane Opens to Traffic The Highway 101 HOV Lane Gap Closure Project in Marin County reached a significant milestone this week. A one-mile long segment of the new southbound HOV lane opened to traffic this morning in time for the morning commute. The segment starts at the Central San Rafael on ramp, and runs south to the 101/580 interchange. From there, it joins the existing HOV lane, and runs south to the 101/1 interchange. West End Village Celebration The West End Village has a new look. Now that the rehabilitation is complete, the time is right for us to celebrate. The all day event gets underway Sunday, November 16, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. We will be closing Fourth Street between F and G streets where there will be live music, food and family entertainment. The ribbon cutting takes place at 11:00, followed by music, food and festivities.
Friday, November 07, 2008 November 6, 2008 Posted by: Ken Nordhoff at 9:47:09 AM West End Village Prepares for Celebration It’s great to be at the other end of a project, to see how the months and months of hard work and sacrifice have paid off. In this case, it’s an improved West End Village shopping district, complete with 121 recently planted trees, new sidewalks with bike racks, ADA improvements, new sewer lines, and a repaired and surfaced Fourth Street roadway. Now it’s time to celebrate in the streets. Specifically, Fourth Street, from F to G Streets, will be closed off for our Sunday, November 16 day-long celebration sponsored by the West End Merchants. The celebration will begin with an 11 a.m. ribbon cutting followed by food, music and family entertainment that goes into the early evening hours. I am particularly pleased to see that Ghilotti Construction, with input from merchants, residents and City staff, was able to keep the $5.2 million project under budget and months ahead of schedule. There is no doubt there were challenging times during the seven month construction period, but the two year collaborative planning effort with the businesses and residents resulted in a better project and better communication during the construction. In the end, we all benefit from having a safe and attractive shopping district that is easily accessible to all. We hope you will join us for this fun, festive well deserved celebration. Please click here to view a postcard invitation to the event. Budget Reality Time Now that the election is over, it’s critical that our legislators begin the real work of getting the State budget back on track. The Governor has called the legislature back into session in order to deal with a mounting budget deficit. This is an economic reality that was ignored when lawmakers passed a “balanced” budget last September. Our senate leaders are saying that the shortfall is too much to make up with cuts alone and that lawmakers will have to consider raising taxes or restoring old ones, such as the Vehicle License Fee. Today the Governor called for a combination of cuts and revenue increases to solve California's budget shortfall which has now reached $11.2 billion. The actions prescribed by the Governor must be taken up as quickly as possible in order to prevent a cash crisis that will jeopardize vital State services. Governor Schwarzenegger's proposal requests a temporary state sales tax increase, from the current 5 percent to 6.5 percent. This increase is projected to create additional sales tax revenues of $3.219 billion in 2008-09 and more than double that the following two years. The purpose of this tax is to protect the majority of education funding. I have mentioned in previous writings that San Rafael faces its own financial uncertainties with declines in sales tax revenues, the construction industry, and most recently a loss of jobs. At the City level, we are taking a hard look at keeping our budget balanced while maintaining our current levels of service. We are preparing for tough times ahead by taking a close look at our options and priorities now. The Governor and Legislature must work diligently each and every day going forward in order to offer a real solution. I will continue to update you on the City’s finances as we get the latest facts and figures. Get Validated this Holiday Season The City is gearing up for its annual parking program to help businesses spread the cheer this holiday season. It’s our Holiday Validation program which provides Downtown merchants the opportunity to give their customers free parking validations, good for three hours. The great news is there’s never any chance of getting cited for an expired parking meter when you park in a garage. You can use the validations at the garages located at Third & A Streets and at Third and C Streets. You can also park for free up to three hours in the lot located at West End Village at 1550 Fourth Street. Our Parking Services staff will be passing out the validations to participating businesses just before Thanksgiving. When you see this green and red sticker in their windows, just go inside to redeem your validation. Last year 137 businesses passed out validations to more than 2,300 customers. The program will run from Thanksgiving Day through December 31^st. For more information, please call the City’s Parking Services Division at 458.5333. Community Events and Reminders Marin Clean Energy Meetings We are in the process of deciding whether to become part of the Marin Energy Authority (MEA) and the related Marin Clean Energy (MCE) program. Two important dates have been set to make the final decision on this important policy decision. On Monday, November 24, 7 p.m. at the City Council Chambers, the public is invited to hear a series of final presentations that will provide an overview of the proposed program ordinance and agreement, an alternative plan being put forth by PG&E, and the next steps in the process. On Monday, December 1, 8 p.m., there will be a public hearing at the regular City Council meeting. Book Sale Books are always a great gift to give yourself or others this holiday season. Our library’s November Book Sale will take place Saturday, November 8 at the First Presbyterian Church hall across the street from the downtown library. There will be a preview for City staff and for members of the Friends on Friday afternoon (Nov. 7), followed by a full day’s sale on Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lots of excellent books in great condition await your perusal and purchase. Craft Fair If you want to get an early start on your holiday shopping, there will be lots to choose from at the San Rafael Community Center craft fair on Friday, November 7, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. There will be crafts for sale from over 60 vendors (glassware, candles, jewelry, etc.). Please click here to see a flyer for the event or call 485.3333 for more information. Veterans Day City offices will be closed on Tuesday, November 11 in observance of Veterans Day.
Thursday, October 30, 2008 October 30, 2008 Posted by: Ken Nordhoff at 5:45:27 PM West End Village Nears Completion The trees are going in along Fourth Street as work is about to wrap up on the West End Village construction project. From now until November 10 crews will be busy planting more than 100 trees between D and Second Streets as part of the final phase of the $5.2 million project. Construction is months ahead of schedule and will be finished following the planting, landscaping and replacing of street lights, by Thanksgiving. We realize that the three year time frame it took to put in new sewer lines, sidewalks, ADA improvements and trees were an inconvenience to businesses and residents. The good news is that we can finally celebrate the end of construction and the beginning of an improved shopping district that is safe and easily accessible to all. We hope merchants, residents and visitors will join us on Sunday, November 16, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. as we will be closing Fourth Street from F to G Streets for our West End Village Celebration. I will give you an update about this event in the November 6 edition of Snapshot. Medway/Canal Project While we’re on the subject of streets and improvements, let me give you a quick update on the Medway/Canal Neighborhood Enhancement Project. We are waiting for two final steps before this project is completed. Street crews will be placing the final layer of asphalt on Medway between Francisco Blvd East and Canal Street in the coming weeks. In addition, AT&T will be installing underground lines which will be finished by Christmas. To see more information on this project, please click here to view our Public Work’s webpage. Parking Structure Update The work continues on the safety improvements of our Downtown parking facilities. For the next week the upper levels of the 3^rd and Lootens and 5^th and C parking structures will be closed for repairs. You may also notice some construction taking place at the 3^rd & A Street facility where crews will be working until November 14. Those who park in this location may notice some minor disruptions as some of the spaces may not be accessible while work is in progress. For more information about this project, please visit our project website or contact the Parking Services Division at 458-5335. Voting Made Easy If you want to get voting out of the way this weekend you can go to the County election’s office from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at the Marin Civic Center. Those who are going to the polls on Tuesday may want to do a little homework between now and then. To find an easy voter guide to the statewide ballot measures and candidates click here. If you’re not sure where your polling place is located, click here to do a quick lookup. Remember all your votes count in making critical decisions on issues and people that will have a direct impact on our lives. San Rafael Fire Department Halloween Safety Tips It’s expected to be a cool and wet Halloween evening for our little trick-or-treaters. To make sure they stay safe and have fun, here are just a few safety tips from our Fire Department: Teach children their home phone number and to how call 911. Remind all household drivers to remain cautious and drive slowly throughout the community. Always keep jack o' lanterns and hot electric lamps far away from drapes and decorations. Visit one of your six neighborhood fire stations to trick or treat with San Rafael Firefighters. For more information, please contact the San Rafael Fire Department at 485-3091. Community Events and Reminders Remember to Fall Back Say goodbye to Daylight Savings time on Sunday, November 2. Don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour, also a good time to check you fire alarm batteries. This year our fire officials are asking for your participation in a home fire safety program called “Change Your Clock Change Your Battery.” The simple replacement of your smoke alarm batteries will increase your family’s chances of surviving a fire in your home. Click here for more smoke alarm facts. Day of the Dead Come join us at Pickleweek Park Community Center on November 1, 4 to 8 p.m. for the Day of the Dead Community Celebration. This is the 20^th Anniversary of Dia de los Muertos so big activities are planned for the evening. There will be art, refreshments and cultural entertainment. We also encourage you to bring your favorite musical instruments to join in on the traditional songs of the Day. Click here for a poster of the event or call 485.3077 for more information. Heart of Marin Awards It’s time to nominate your favorite nonprofit organization or an individual that has performed outstanding work over the past year. The Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership along with Tamalpias Bank will sponsor the Heart of Marin Awards. This prestigious honor recognizes outstanding Marin nonprofits and the committed individuals who serve them. You can download a nomination packet here or call 479.5710 for more information. The deadline for applications is Friday, November 7. Art Talk on Treasures from Berlin Docent and lecturer Julia Geist presents an illustrated talk on “The State Museums of Berlin and the Legacy of James Simon” at 1 p.m., Wednesday, November 5, in the San Rafael City Council Chambers, 1400 Fifth Ave. Her talk is based on a current exhibit at the Legion of Honor. Geist will introduce her audience to a potpourri of treasures in an engaging lecture. This free event is sponsored by the Friends of the San Rafael Library. For more information, call 485-3321.