Minutes 2019 0325 State of the City Address

Home

3 former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, with the goal being to help cities engage with their residents. With their assistance, San Leandro has launched several programs you’ve likely heard of, including our Adopt-A-Drain where residents can volunteer to “care” for a local drain. We were recently awarded $10,000 from the National League of Cities to expand community engagement around climate resilience. Through this grant and our partnership with them, I have met with mayors from across the country, and learned many new ideas about how we can address this issue. This work also provides me an opportunity to bring national attention to our City and all the innovative programs we are working on. Here in San Leandro, we hosted a first-ever Resilient San Leandro Forum last October. The event was very well-attended by the community, and offered an opportunity for public education and engagement around climate change. Another big change for San Leandro residents comes from East Bay Community Energy. As of November 2018, they became the official electricity provider for San Leandro, and for 11 other cities in Alameda County. For us, this venture provides greater opportunities for carbon-free electricity. While there was a bit of confusion at first, we are well on our way to providing cleaner energy at lower rates to our residents. We are also actively working with their staff to help the public better understand these new services. I also serve on the Board of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, or BAAQMD for short. Through this role, I am helping to steer regional efforts to reduce air pollution, making sure San Leandro has a seat at the table when making new policy. As you are hearing tonight, partnerships are valuable and I invite each of you to get more involved. It takes this type of community effort for our city to prosper and thrive. Infrastructure Sustainability Many may have noticed the amount of construction going on throughout San Leandro. This is not only a function of private development, but also the amount of work the City is directly investing into our facilities, roads, and infrastructure. We have embarked on a historic capital improvement program that will carry our city far into the future. Over the last two years, we have set aside $54M for capital projects, plus $21M in street maintenance. We are also putting significant effort into improving the bike and pedestrian environment. Crosswalks at Teagarden, Estudillo, Bancroft, Wicks and Doolittle are now under construction.