Author: Daniel Howard

Sunday: Affordable Housing Community Meeting

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Sunday, June 25, the Faith and Action Committee from St. Cyprian are hosting a community meeting to review what is going on with affordable housing. Sunnyvale City Council Officials will be present for this Community Meeting.

Attend this meeting in order to:

  1. Express the need to protect Renters
  2. Learn what is the plan for Housing in the City of Sunnyvale
  3. Share the results of the St. Cyprian Parish Survey focused on Housing
  4. Establish a direct relationship with Sunnyvale City Officials and with allies from our community.

Sunday, June 25, 2017 at 1:00pm – 2:30pm
St. Cyprian’s Parish Hall
1133 W Washington Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94086

For more information, call 408-442-4190

 

Saturday: LinkedIn Neighborhood Project Preview

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(Via Adina Levin)

On Saturday morning, LinkedIn is hosting a project preview/open house for the new LinkedIn buildings at 700 Middlefield Road Mountain View, which in an early stage of the development application process.

LinkedIn_Site_Plan.jpg

LinkedIn is proposing an open and permeable campus that creates cyclist cut throughs for commuters. LinkedIn will also be sharing their transportation program with attendees so they see the many ways employees get to work using alternatives to single occupancy vehicles.

All are welcome, pre-registration appreciated so they can plan for food.

Saturday, June 17, 10:00-11:30 a.m.
950 W Maude Ave Sunnyvale
Unity Conference Room, 1st floor

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/neighborhood-project-preview-june-17-2017-1000-am-tickets-34585939476

May 31: Learn About Electric Heat Pumps

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The City of Sunnyvale and Sunnyvale Sustainability Commission are hosting their first speaker of 2017 on May 31, at 7 pm, in the City Council Chambers.

heatpumpdiagram06

Heat Pump Diagram, via Salt River Project

Pierre Delforge of the Natural Resources Defense Council will share why and how to convert to electric heat pumps for water and space heating in homes and businesses. With carbon-free electricity coming to Sunnyvale, switching to electricity instead of natural gas–a fossil fuel–for major heating appliances can save money and protect the climate.

Refreshments served at 6:30 p.m. Event commences at 7:00 p.m. Register for free at Eventbrite.

Pierre Delforge is the Director of Energy Efficiency in the High Tech Sector at the Natural Resources Defense Council. At NRDC, he focuses mainly on reducing the consumption of electricity by the rapidly growing I.T. and consumer electronics sectors. Previously, Delforge was lead energy and climate strategist for Hewlett-Packard’s sustainability group. He began his career in the United Kingdom and France before moving to Silicon Valley in 2004. He holds degrees in computer science from Cambridge University and L’Ecole Centrale Paris. He is based in San Francisco.

This Saturday, May 20: Children’s Arts Festival

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HOTA2012-118Hands on the Arts is an all-day children’s art festival, held annually the third Saturday in May. The event features more than 30 workshop booths where children can try their hands at different art forms. Professional artists lead workshops using a wide variety of arts and craft materials and techniques, as well as music and dance. Many of the workshops introduce children to unique art forms from different cultures, such as Indian rangoli, Chinese silk knotting, Japanese brush painting and Mexican folklorico dancing. All supplies are included in the $10 per child admission fee. (Adults and non-participating children are welcome at no charge.)

Who: Recommended for children 2 years and older

What:

  • Access to explore 30+ music, dance and art workshops
  • All arts supplies and artist instruction
  • A Hands on the Arts Festival souvenir bag

When: May 20, 2017 (rain or shine) 10am to 4pm

Where: Sunnyvale Community Center
550 East Remington Dr.
Sunnyvale CA 94087

The 2017 Hands on the Arts Festival, which will be the 32nd annual, will focus on supporting the City’s “STEM to STEAM” initiative. Some of the workshops at the festival will integrate science, technology, engineering and mathematics with art, as maker projects.

Sunnyvale Community Award Nominations due June 16

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[Via Alisha Rodrigues, Community Services Coordinator for the City of Sunnyvale]

Each year, the City of Sunnyvale presents Community Awards to recognize and honor the outstanding contributions of Sunnyvale community members. These awards are conferred at the annual State of the City, scheduled for July 29, 2017. Award categories include:

  • Distinguished Resident of the Year
  • High School Senior of the Year
  • Businessperson of the Year
  • Outstanding Contribution to the Arts
  • Educator of the Year
  • Outstanding Environmental Achievement
  • Community Volunteer of the Year

Please help us acknowledge individuals, groups or businesses that stand out in the Sunnyvale community by submitting a nomination(s).

Nominations are due by Friday, June 16, 2017, by 5 p.m. Information about each award criteria and nomination requirements can be found on the Community Awards Nomination Form.  All nominations will be reviewed by a committee and award decisions will be shared with all nominators by the end of June.

A list of past award recipients is posted on the city’s web site.

Strike Called Off; City and SEA Reach Last Minute Deal

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The strike by city workers called for today, May 1, has been called off, due to a last-minute agreement between the Sunnyvale Employees Association (SEA) and Sunnyvale City Council. Details of the settlement have not yet been announced.

Via the Mercury News:

The SEA announced the tentative agreement in an e-mail at 3:18 a.m. Monday, saying its members have canceled the strike. Details surrounding the agreement were not immediately made public; union leaders are waiting to present the details to workers.

In an e-mailed statement, Sunnyvale Mayor Glenn Hendricks said: “We are extremely proud of the work our employees do every day and believe our city services are second to none. This agreement means those services won’t be unnecessarily interrupted during work stoppages. We are also very grateful to Supervisor Chavez for getting the two sides together to facilitate the deal.”

Sunnyvale Employees to Strike May 1

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The City of Sunnyvale has issued a Press Release confirming that city staff affiliated with the Sunnyvale Employees Union (SEA) will be on strike May 1.

Key takeaways:

  • Police, Fire, Garbage Services are not impacted
  • Parks, Library, Recreational, and Development Services will be limited or unavailable

During a strike, police, fire, dispatcher and EMT services will not be impacted; garbage collection also will not be interrupted. But many other services will not be available or limited to weekend-level staffing. Services at the Library, Community Center and Senior Center will be limited for the duration of the strike. There will be no counter service for City departments, including the City’s One-Stop Permit Center. Regular road service crews will not be in service, but emergency crews will be on standby and be available on an as-needed basis.

Labor negotiations have been ongoing since 2015, and a strike was authorized by union membership this Tuesday, April 25. Residents are advised to visit the city’s website for additional updates: http://sunnyvale.ca.gov/

Sunnyvale City Employees Vote to Strike

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The Sunnyvale Employees Association (SEA) is a labor union representing about 485 city employees.  The union has been in contract negotiations with the City of Sunnyvale since their previous contract expired in 2015. Negotiations have been at an impasse since June 2016, when the City issued its “final offer” of a 10% wage increase over 15 months. The union seeks a 17% increase, 4% of which would be retroactive while offering to increase employee retirement contributions.

SEA Strike Vote

Strike Vote and ballot.
Source: Kori Thompson

On Tuesday, 98% of union members voted to strike. On Wednesday, the city requested a court injunction to require essential workers to stay on the job, including water pollution control plant operators, environmental chemists, water and sewer plant crew leaders, landfill technicians, public safety records specialists and fire department fleet mechanics.

The SEA represents blue-collar and white-collar employees, including planners, engineers, mechanics, clerks, accountants, and technicians. Public safety, teachers, and solid waste collection would not be impacted by a strike.

UPDATE: there are conflicting media reports as to what the union in asking, ranging from 14% to 17%. This article has been revised to cite figures from The Mercury News.

Silicon Valley Report Card: economy booming, housing shortage and commute time worse

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The San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association, commonly known as SPUR, have updated their Silicon Valley Indicators for 2017. Some key takeaways:

  • The regional economy continues to grow … but at a slower rate
  • Unemployment is under 4%
  • Home prices continue to outpace income growth
  • Last year added 115,000 jobs … but only 6,000 homes
  • The median home price in Santa Clara County is now $1,080,000
  • Fewer than 30% of residents can qualify for a mortgage at that price

On infrastructure, jobs/housing balance, and commute times SPUR reports:

It comes as no surprise that the physical infrastructure of Silicon Valley is experiencing a lot of strain. What’s worse, we haven’t been making very good decisions to actually improve it. Despite adding more than 115,000 jobs last year, the region only approved 6,000 housing units.

Less than half of the new commercial space approved last year (and about a third in 2014 and 2015) were near transit — meaning that we’re still putting jobs in places where driving is the default transportation option.

Most commuters in Silicon Valley know this problem intimately, as their travel times have gotten longer and longer. The Index reports that the average commute in Silicon Valley has gotten about 17 percent longer in the last ten years.

Sunnyvale City Council Passes General Plan Revision

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NOTE: originally posted by Adina Levin at greencaltrain.com. Republished with permission.

Earlier this month, Sunnyvale City Council passed an update of the Land Use and Transportation Element of its General Plan, by a 6:1 vote. The plan anticipates adding commercial space for 42,000 jobs and 15,000 housing units through 2035, worsening the jobs/housing balance from 1.44 to 1.73.

At the same time, City Council passed a motion to support further study of additional tools that could improve the jobs/housing balance, due to concern about the housing shortage and affordability. Most community comments at the meeting supported the growth in the plan but wanted to see more housing and an improved jobs/housing balance.

The City Council maintained a policy to create “village centers” – walkable, mixed-use areas which had drawn mixed community response. Some valued opportunities for more housing in increasingly walkable places, while others were concerned about density and traffic. Council supported a requirement that proposed Village Center proposals have community outreach before review by the Planning Commission. Council also added consideration of the southwest corner of Sunnyvale/Saratoga as a village center which would be served by the new, frequent VTA 523 service.

Overall, the plan envisions to have growth concentrated in focused areas such as the Downtown, Lawrence Station Area, and some growth in the Village Centers. Over time, Sunnyvale has been strengthening its goals to have more sustainable transportation and fewer car trips in its change areas, including a new policy in an early adoption phase to have transportation demand management for residential developments.