Mayor’s Year in Review

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Greetings and best wishes for the New Year.  As 2012 begins, I'd like to look back at the first year of my mayorship and take note of several key issues I worked on, along with major developments in our city.  From the job-creating Lit San Leandro project to a new Kaiser Hospital, I see a bright future ahead for our City.  

You may also find of interest a comprehensive Year in Review from our City Manager’s office online at http://www.sanleandro.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=10066

Should you have any feedback, questions, or concerns on civic matters please feel free to contact me at scassidy@sanleandro.org or 510-577-3355.

Thank you for entrusting me with the honor of serving as your Mayor.

Stephen Cassidy
Mayor

City of San Leandro

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Mayor’s Year in Review

• Transparency
• Fiscal Accountability
• Business Development
• Public Safety
• City/School Partnership
• Disaster Preparedness
• Community Engagement
• New Facilities and Programs
• Communications

Transparency

One of my goals as Mayor is to make the work of our city more accessible and transparent to the community.

In 2010, if you could not attend a City Council meeting in person, there was no way to listen to your local government at work unless you submitted a public records request, paid a fee and waited until an audio cassette copy of the recording of the meeting was made by the City Clerk. Or you had to sit at City Hall and listen to the audio cassette.

Today, City Council meetings are digitally recorded and can be heard live.  The recordings are available on the city website.  In addition, recordings of the City Council Rules and Communications and Finance Committees, along with meetings of the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Adjustments, are posted on the city website at www.sanleandro.org. 

Fiscal Accountability

Over the course of the recession, revenue collected by the city fell substantially.  City employees have made significant sacrifices and positions were eliminated.  At the same time, the City Council adopted budgets that contained large operating deficits.  The city depended upon transfers from reserves and special funds – all one-time only monies – to pay for ongoing expenses and to balance its budget.  Whether for a household or city government, this type of budgeting is unsustainable.

Last June, we adopted a budget that projects a small surplus without transfers from reserves, representing a substantial turnaround in the city’s fiscal well being. The budget is based on cautious revenue assumptions.

The process for developing the budget for fiscal year 2012-13, which commences on July 1, 2012, has begun.  My overriding goal, which I am confident will be achieved, is another budget that is balanced without drawing upon reserves.   

However, for fiscal year 2013-14 and beyond, projections show deficits reappearing due to the expiration of a federal grant for five police officer positions and rising charges for employee health care and pension (CalPERS) benefits.  In 2012, the city will be meeting with our employee groups ahead of the expiration of their collective bargaining agreements on December 31, 2012, to discuss strategies for addressing these costs. 

Business Development

Creating quality jobs is one of my top priorities.  The city can help get San Leandrans back to work by promoting sound and innovative business development, facilitating the opening of new businesses, and supporting existing businesses. 

On my first day in office as Mayor, I met with Dr. Patrick Kennedy of OSIsoft, Inc., the largest private employer by payroll in San Leandro.  He outlined a plan to build a , using conduit that the city had already installed.  The cost of installing the fiber would be paid by OSIsoft.  A portion of the fiber would be given to the city and the remainder would be used to attract a new set of businesses to San Leandro and help them become industry leaders in the data revolution.

My response was an enthusiastic “Yes, let’s move forward.”  Staff reviewed and analyzed the proposal over several months and recommended that the City Council adopt it, which .  Once the fiber loop is completed, San Leandro will join Palo Alto and Santa Clara as the only cities in Northern California with city-wide, high speed fiber optic networks.  You can learn more about this project, referred to as Lit San Leandro,  at http://www.litsanleandro.com/

Based upon connections I developed while attending the U.S. Mayors’ Conference winter meeting in Washington, D.C., San Leandro hosted a workshop in May called the “Global Access Forum” for local and regional businesses.  The forum brought together professionals from the Export-Import Bank and U.S. Department of Commerce to educate companies on programs offered by the federal government to increase exports.  I would like to thank the Chamber of Commerce for their hosting of events, such as San Leandro by Design, that offer creative approaches to economic growth in our city.

Other significant projects that advanced in 2011 were the new, seismically-safe City Parking Garage at Estudillo and Callan.  Construction is slated for completion this summer and will provide expanded parking for our downtown businesses and retail shops. 

The Village Marketplace will be located at the former Albertson site on East 14th Street.  It will consist of a Fresh and Easy market, a Peet’s Coffee, two restaurants and two retail shops.  There will be outdoor dining, and a plaza with a fountain and public art.  The final development plan will be reviewed and voted upon by the City Council in the coming months.

The San Leandro Kaiser Permanente Medical Center is scheduled to be completed in 2013 and operational in 2014.  When open, the state-of-the art medical facility will be the largest employer in San Leandro.

Plans for development along the San Leandro shoreline also progressed in 2011.  The Shoreline Development Citizens Advisory Committee recommended a conceptual master plan for land and shoreline development.  The plan includes a hotel and conference center, restaurants, office, retail, housing, a pedestrian walkway around the perimeter, along with kayak and bike rentals. 

Development will occur on an approximately 40-acre portion of the 1,800 acre publicly-owned shoreline, including where the former Blue Dolphin and former Boat Works were located.  Marina Park, the par course, the Monarch Bay championship golf course, the shoreline trail, and marshes will remain as currently developed.

The Citizens Advisory Committee also recommended that the boat harbor remain as long as financially possible and then converted into an aquatic park.  Unfortunately, the federal government no longer pays for dredging recreational marinas and the marina itself does not generate sufficient funds for dredging.

Planning for the shoreline development is a multi-year process.  Next steps include the developer, Cal Coast, submitting a formal planning application and preparing an environmental impact report.  For more information on the shoreline development, including answers to common questions, please visit http://www.sanleandro.org/depts/cd/shoreline/default.asp 

Public Safety

Based upon a November 2010 to November 2011 comparison (data for December 2011 is not yet available), the number of serious crimes in San Leandro increased by 4% in 2011 over 2010.  Crime fluctuates from year to year and 2010 was a historic low for crime in San Leandro.  The number of serious crimes in 2011 was less the annual amount in 2007 through 2009. 

If you are the victim, however, one serious crime a year is too many.  Everyone can play a role in making San Leandro a safe community.  We all need to work together and be the eyes and ears of our police department as even during peak periods there are only about 15 police officers assigned to patrol San Leandro (more can be deployed in an emergency). 

One of my goals as Mayor is to work to maintain the trust and confidence of San Leandrans in our police department.  Where there is a high level of trust in law enforcement, residents are more likely to report crimes or suspicious activity, serving to reduce crime. 

I believe I can help maintain the public’s trust in our police department by recognizing outstanding work by our police officers, supporting community outreach efforts by the department, upholding standards and insisting upon accountability when standards are not met, and ensuring equal opportunity in employment decisions within the department. 

In November, Police Chief Sandra Spagnoli provided a Year in Review presentation to the City Council which is available at http://www.sanleandro.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=9935. 

As noted in the presentation, Chief Spagnoli has worked to improve the professionalism within the department by reviewing policies to ensure that they are consistent with best policing and management practices, bringing in independent auditors to review the department’s vice operations and crime evidence handling procedures, raising the educational requirements for new officers, and formalizing the testing process for certain assignments. 

Chief Spagnoli initiated the successful “Coffee with the Cops” program at sites across San Leandro once a month.  She has worked closely with school officials to improve safety at our schools and developed a summer academy for teens to learn about policing. 

The police department also publishes a crime prevention tips and a quarterly newsletter at http://www.sanleandro.org/depts/pd/prevention/programs.asp

City/School Partnership

The interests of the children of San Leandro are a shared responsibility of the city and our schools.  The city undertook several initiatives this year to build a more solid partnership with our schools, including:

• Providing a third police officer assigned to the school district for high school campus safety and security;
• Sharing in half the cost of crossing guards at all public elementary schools in San Leandro, with the schools paying for the other half;
• Negotiating with Waste Management to provide free trash and recycling services to our public schools in its new contract with the Oro Loma Sanitary District, saving the schools over $80,000 annually;
• Collaborating with the San Leandro Unified School District in the design and renovation of the Pacific Sports Complex (Burrell Field and nearby fields) and San Leandro High School pool and fields as part of the Measure M local school facilities bond; and
• Conducting a joint meeting of the full San Leandro and San Lorenzo School Boards and City Council, the first such meeting in over a decade, to discuss areas of common benefit and interest, such the health and fitness of San Leandro youth.

On Saturday, April 21, 2012, the city will co-sponsor with our school districts a forum on children at the main library.  The event will be free to the public and cover a wide range of topics for parents and youth, centered on the theme of how can San Leandro become a more child friendly city. 

Disaster Preparedness

The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was successfully relocated to the new Senior Community Center.  In a drill scheduled for March 2012, we will test the city’s capability to activate the EOC in an emergency.

The City Disaster Council, chaired by the Mayor, coordinates and oversees San Leandro emergency preparedness planning and activities.  From 2007 through 2010, the Disaster Council met only twice.  It should meet, at a minimum, on a quarterly basis, and is now doing so under my direction. 

For the first time in several years, the city allocated funds for the services of an Emergency Services Coordinator and disaster preparedness programs offered by the Alameda County Fire Department (ACFD), which through a contract provides fire and emergency medical services for San Leandro.

Starting on January 19, 2012, the ACFD will offer a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) class at the main library.  The multi-week class trains people to take care of themselves, their families and their neighbors in the event of a disaster.  Trainings are available throughout the area to San Leandro residents; there is no cost for this training. 

I encourage everyone with an interest in disaster preparedness to attend. Visit http://www.acfdcert.eventbrite.com/ to register for the class.

Community Engagement

In 2011, I hosted multiple “Coffees with the Mayor,” including, for the first time, separate coffees for our Spanish and Chinese speaking communities with translators.  With my City Council colleagues, we held District town hall meetings citywide.  Further, Town Halls were conducted on such specific issues as the proposed redistricting of City Council Districts, the recruitment of a new City Manager, and on . 

I spoke and answered questions at the annual meetings of several homeowner associations and before numerous San Leandro civic organizations.  I visited San Leandro High School and answered student questions, and participated in the career day sponsored by the African American and Latino Business Councils.

As part of the recruitment process for the City Manager, we created an online survey to obtain input on the qualities the community wishes to see in our new City Manager and on the top issues facing San Leandro.  Over 85 responses were received.  The survey results were used in formulating the City Council’s questions to the City Manager candidates.  The survey results will also be provided to the new City Manager. 

One the most enjoyable aspects of being Mayor is the ability to recognize outstanding San Leandrans by commemorating a day in our city in their honor.  Among those honored in 2011 were entertainer Brian Copeland, power soccer World Cup champion coach Chris Finn, and former City Commissioner Alice Sarafian.  We also honored Lucille Kline and Martin Francis, both of whom made lifetime contributions to our city and sadly passed away last year. 

Highlighting the diversity of San Leandro, I was the first Mayor to recognize our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community with a proclamation and participated in the San Francisco Pride Parade with a contingent from the San Leandro Unified School District.  In October, I recognized our strong and active Filipino American community.

New Facilities and Programs

On April 2, 2011, the San Leandro Senior Community Center opened to the public.  Our Senior Services Program promotes healthy independent living, enhances quality of life, and builds a sense of belonging and community among older adults, caregivers and families. 

The new 20,000 square-foot center features a main meeting hall, smaller meeting rooms, a kitchen and rooms for other services, including a computer lab, an exercise room, and a crafts room.  Most of the programs offered at the Marina Community Center have been transferred to the Senior Community Center, and attendance in these programs has increased substantially.

With much barking and excitement, the San Leandro Dog Park immediately south of Marina Park was opened for four and two-legged visitors on September 24. 2011.  Consisting of over 1.3 acres of open space, the park is divided between small and large dog areas, and offers shade structures with picnic tables, water faucets, and benches along with a spectacular view of the San Francisco Bay. 

On the same day the Dog Park opened, we dedicated the nearby Luster Knight Memorial.  A culmination of three years of planning and fundraising by the Recreation and Park Commission, Alameda County Firefighters, Davis Street Family Resource Center and Leadership San Leandro, the Memorial commemorates the life of caring, giving, and community involvement by former firefighter and Park and Recreation commissioner Luster Knight.

Our library now offers eBooks and audio books for download to variety of devices, including iPod, iPad, Sony Reader, and Kindle.  Titles automatically expire at the end of the lending period, so there are never any late fees.  The new collection was made possible through a collaboration with the San Leandro Library Foundation. Library patrons can visit http://sanleandrolibrary.lib.overdrive.com to get started.

Communications

The City Council and I strongly value open communication with the members of our community.  In 2011, the city newsletter was revived, and is now produced monthly and posted on the city website.  It summarizes the latest news, the month’s activities, and project updates. 

In the past, the City Manager wrote a Weekly Update on City Hall news and sent it by email to only the City Council and a few members of the community.  Now, under the leadership of our Interim City Manager Lianne Marshall anyone with access to the Internet can read the Weekly Update.  It is posted on city website as soon as it is transmitted to the City Council.

You can receive email messages notifying you of the publication of these documents by signing up with the E-Notify system on the city website.

I want to emphasize how much the City Council values community input, participation and communication.  We made these and other changes to make City Hall more transparent and accessible.

Along with traditional means of reaching out to the community, I have sought to engage the community through the Internet by submitting articles to San Leandro Patch, using Twitter, and posting a “Mayor Cassidy” Facebook page.  I hope to use technology to receive feedback and broaden everyone’s participation in government. 

Conclusion

I would like to thank our City Commissioners and the many volunteers in our community for their service and commitment that it takes to make positive change.  I also thank my colleagues on the City Council for their commitment to work together as a team in the best interests of our city.  For me, it’s been a year to listen and learn, a year to plan and build, and I have renewed faith in the future of San Leandro.

Are there other ways we should be communicating or steps we should be taking to better address the needs of San Leandrans?  I welcome your input.  Again, please contact me at scassidy@sanleandro.org or 510-577-3355.