The latest Sunnyvale Quarterly Report is now online, and it’s a great read.  This quarter’s issue focuses on a number of different topics:

• It discusses city employee pensions in great detail, showing the history of both state and Sunnyvale actions going back to 1999.  And it describes Sunnyvale’s pension reform efforts, starting in March 2010, a year after the current City Manager was hired, (and two months after I was elected, by the way – plug, plug, plug).  The net result of those efforts so far are very interesting.  It’s also just interesting reading the various actions and, in some cases, bad calls in the early 2000’s that led to the situation that required us to seriously address pension reform in the way that we’ve done so far.
• It talks about Sunnyvale’s passion for trees, and what our arborists do on a daily basis.  One of the accomplishments I’m most proud of is the restoration of Sunnyvale’s tree maintenance. now at service levels higher than at any point in the past decade.  And we’ve restored the liquidambar tree removal program, which should please many people.  Anyway, trees are a big deal to Sunnyvale, and we take it seriously – when other cities don’t.
• It discusses crime, and what you can do to prevent it.  A report out today ranks the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area #7 for stolen cars, up from #20 last year (not too surprising – eight of the top ten metros are in California).  But it does mean that we need to keep on our toes.  Law enforcement in any city will tell you that the single most effective residential crime prevention factor is an alert and active neighborhood.
• It talks about the amount of property redevelopment that’s happening in the city – businesses, industry, housing, and just home residential projects.  Things are easing off a bit this year, as people get over the enthusiasm from the economic recovery and catch their breath, which is a good thing.
• It provides two public artwork walking tours, which are really terrific for people who aren’t familiar with some of the more unusual or historic Sunnyvale locations.
• It talks about Sunnyvale’s Zero Waste efforts, with an interview with Don Eagleston from the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce (an avid green advocate) and tips for home waste handling.

Great stuff.  I encourage you to check it out.

Follow

Share