Council Member Don Biddle and I serve on the City’s Economic Development sub-committee, and we had our most recent meeting on December 9^th. Two of our ongoing agenda items are about opportunities in the City and the status of our incentive program. For this meeting, we also discussed the development of a weekly Farmers Market, enhancements to our Business Recognition program, and the creation of a regular Business Visitation program.

We also spent a lot of time talking about the Downtown, including the ways we’re going to use “development pools” in each area to encourage commercial growth. Another topic related to the downtown was a discussion about the importance of the West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station to help spur activity. Council Member Biddle and I both expressed our frustration with the delays in the project, and we have scheduled a meeting for later this month with BART officials on addressing the issue and moving the project along much quicker.

Tags: Tim's Travels by mgong
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Preparations are well underway for the 20^th Annual Easter Seals Bay Area Tri-Valley Sports Hall of Fame dinner, which is scheduled for Thursday, April 29^th at the Palm Event Center. I am serving with Guy Houston as co-chair of the event, and although a lot of work has already been done we had our inaugural planning meeting with the entire committee on December 9^th.

Our primary focus is the same as always, which is to raise as much money as possible to support Easter Seals Kaleidescope in Dublin. However, there are some exciting new developments in store for this year. We are in the process of finding a permanent location to host an exhibit honoring all inductees of the Tri-Valley Sports Hall of Fame. In addition, we will be launching a permanent website to honor all recipients and to maintain updated year-round information about Easter Seals, Tri-Valley sports, and this event.
I will be posting more as the event draws closer, but in the meantime you can go to www.bayareaeasterseals.com for the most updated information.

Tags: Tim's Travels by Tim Sbranti
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I attended the Alameda County Mayors Conference at the IBEW/NECA Training Center in San Leandro on December 9th. Some topics of interest that were discussed included a report from PG&E’s Public Affairs representative Tom Guarino about their Smart Meter program to reduce utility bills for residents and businesses. Eric Figueroa from the League of California Cities gave an update on the state budget and the various propositions that impact local government, including our own measure to protect our revenue from state take-aways. We also discussed the various efforts at state constitutional reform and agreed to invite the East Bay’s delegation from the State Legislature to discuss the issues with us directly.

Interestingly, one of the final presentations of the night was from Reena Jadhav of Nu Alerts. Reena encouraged the Mayors in attendance to create networks to share information with their constituents. Her company has successfully created accounts for 2,200 businesses and individuals. The irony is that I was one of her very first customers. This website/blog was created by her company, as was my Nu Alert network where you can get text messages, e-mails, and other relevant City news and information directly from me as soon as it happens. She recognized me as a leader in her company’s efforts to change the way local elected officials communicate.

Tags: Tim's Travels by Tim Sbranti
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