The City of Dublin hosted its annual Volunteer Recognition Program at the Shannon Community Center on February 19th. We honored all of those who serve on City Commissions and Committees, as well as those who volunteer within the City. The winners for Youth Citizen of the Year, Citizen of the Year, Organization of the Year, and Mayor’s Award were also announced. A record number of people were nominated, the room was packed with attendees.

Dublin High Senior Justin Minor was named Youth Citizen of the Year for his work on the Tri-Valley Adolescent Health Initiative, Dublin High Leadership, City of Dublin Youth Advisory Committee, and the Boy Scouts. Matt Troiano was named Citizen of the Year for his work leading the Knights of Columbus volunteer efforts in the community. DPIE was awarded the Organization of the Year honors for their efforts raising money and expanding partnerships to assist our schools. Ted Hoffman Jr. was given the Mayor’s Award for his work bringing the PBA to Dublin as well as being a great “business citizen” through his work in Rotary, DPIE, and the Chamber of Commerce.

A complete summary of the accomplishments for all of our nominees and winners can be found on the City of Dublin’s website www.ci.dublin.ca.us. In addition, there are displays for each nominee in the lobby of the Dublin Civic Center.

Tags: Tim's Travels by Tim Sbranti
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I was pleased to welcome the Mayor of Bray, Ireland (one of our two sister cities) to Dublin for a special visit late last week. Mayor John Ryan is actually in the Bay Area on business, but he took time from his busy schedule for a special trip to Dublin. Mayor Ryan met with myself, City Manager Joni Pattillo, Assistant City Manager Chris Foss, and Community Development Director Jeri Ram to share ideas on governance, budgeting, economic development, communications, and planning. More significantly, we had a serious conversation on joint business opportunities and trade between companies in our two cities. We also discussed ways to grow the Sister City partnership between our two cities and involve more people.

After our meeting, Mayor Ryan attended a special reception at the home of Steve and Janet Lockhart. Janet (our former Mayor) is currently the president of the Dublin Sister City Association. There were many people from the DSCA in attendance to greet our special guest from Bray. The Sister City Association is currently very busy planning the Green and White Gala, which is the annual kickoff to the St. Patrick’s Weekend festivities. This year they are promising more “Irish entertainment” than ever before. In addition, they are working on planning a trip to either Jinhua, China (Dublin’s other Sister City) or Bray for 2011. The DSCA is also working on hosting a soccer tournament for youth teams from both sister cities to compete in Dublin for 2011.

Tags: Tim's Travels by Tim Sbranti
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I joined with Mayors Wilson (San Ramon), Kamena (Livermore), and Hosterman (Pleasanton) for a four hour summit on the future of Tri-Valley Community Teleivision (TV30). One of the biggest problems facing the station is DIVCA, which was an act passed by Congress in 2006 that prevents cities from using their franchise fees for operational expenses of community television stations. Franchise revenue can only be used for capital expenses. This has a severe impact locally, as the vast majority of the station’s operating revenue comes from the franchise. We discussed ways to participate in lobbying efforts to overturn DIVCA, along with alternative revenue sources and ways to manage the operations both with and without constraints caused by DIVCA. Expanded programming, web streaming and enhancements, and the development of a capital plan were other points of discussion.

In addition, we discussed the station’s governance structure. Previously, the station was governed by a Board of Directors consisting of community volunteers appointed by the mayors. When the station ran into some major financial problems in 2008, the Mayors took over the Board. It was decided that due to the uncertain economic climate and a number of issues that still need to be resolved regarding the future of the station, that the Mayors would retain their position as the Board of Directors for at least another six months until we revisit the issue.

Tags: Tim's Travels by Tim Sbranti
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