Good evening and welcome to our beautiful community center, which is appropriately close to the center of our wonderful city! I’m Steve Tate and it is my honor to serve this city I love as mayor.
First, some introductions – and always first, I’d like to acknowledge my wife Jennifer who has supported me so very well for over 40 years now.
We have a great City Council. They all love Morgan Hill and are working hard to make it even better. They are: Mayor Pro Tem Larry Carr, Council member Greg Sellers, Council member Mark Grzan, and Council member Marby Lee.
Also here with us this evening are our elected City Treasurer Mike Roorda and our elected City Clerk Irma Torrez.
Next, our city staff are remarkably dedicated and talented, all of them. I’ll ask senior staff members to stand as I call their name, and ask that you hold the applause until all are introduced: City Manager Ed Tewes, Police Chief Bruce Cumming, Public Works Director Jim Ashcraft, Community Development Director Kathy Molloy Previsich, Business Assistance and Housing Director Garrett Toy, Human Resources Director Mary Kaye Fischer, Recreation and Community Services Director Steve Rymer.
In her other role, Council Services and Records Manager Irma Torrez. Another newcomer is assistant to the city manager Brian Stott, who I thank for his help in preparing this presentation, and thanks also to Lisa Lewis for setting everything up for this evening.
Thank you City Staff!
One final acknowledgment goes to Sherry Hemingway for her great editorial support – thank you Sherry!
Tonight we’ll cover what we accomplished in 2006. It was truly a phenomenal year. If there is a central theme for this evening, it is to use the foundation that is in place from 2006 to build our way into the future.
We need to know where we’re going to make sure we build properly to get there. So we’ll next look at our “vision” for Morgan Hill, a simple statement of where this community should be going.
Then, knowing where we want to go, we’ll talk about the steps we will be taking in 2007 to help get us there. We’ll share the goals and some of the policies and plans that are in place for the year ahead.
So let’s start with reviewing 2006. Who is saying it was a truly amazing year? None other than my good friend and mentor, a great community leader and my predecessor in this job – Dennis Kennedy!
Dennis Kennedy
It has been Morgan Hill’s good fortune to have had Dennis’ leadership for 16 years on the council and 11 (years) as mayor. He leaves a legacy for us that is truly fantastic! More than 10 years ago, Dennis got us all together and asked “what do you want for Morgan Hill”? We told him. And now we have what we asked for because Dennis’ leadership made it happen. I feel so very fortunate to be following Dennis. He has left us a solid foundation that we can build on.
Dennis, on behalf of the entire community, thank you so very much for your leadership over the years, and for the legacy you have left us. We – and I think I speak for the entire council – are committed to carrying forward with the same dedication and love that you used to get us here. (The year) 2006 was truly amazing … thanks to your leadership!
Highlights of 2006
Let’s now look at some of the extensive highlights of 2006.
Ballot
The Morgan Hill City election was a very positive experience. All candidates were respectful and focused on the issues. No one got into negative territory. And all candidates were extremely well qualified. With Dennis not running, we knew we were going to have a fresh face on the council – and it turned out to be new Councilmember Marby Lee. Marby has really been working hard to learn what she needs to know to effectively serve you. She is building relationships with all of us that will allow us to serve you collaboratively. We appreciate having her with us.
We’ve had a smooth transition to the “new” council because of the legacy Dennis left for us, because Marby is getting on board so quickly, and because this council is committed to a good working environment. Things are moving forward very nicely.
Janet Kern
One of our newer staff members, unable to be with us tonight, is our new City Attorney Janet Kern. The responsibility for hiring the city attorney rests with the council and we accomplished that early in 2006. Janet came to us in February from San Jose. Since then, we’ve been receiving a fairly regular stream of “good news” on legal actions involving the city. We’re definitely heading in the right direction! Janet says that she is most successful when she doesn’t say anything on the dais. How ironic – a lawyer that doesn’t want to talk! Janet brings her skill and a great sense of humor to the job. She’s fun to work with and we are fortunate to have her.
CRC
October saw the opening of the new Centennial Recreation Center. It is another great addition to Morgan Hill’s community facilities. In addition to the pool, gym, aerobics and workout facilities, it has great youth and senior activity wings. Youth and seniors are, indeed, interacting and the senior nutritional program is very successful in its new location. The facility is exceeding all its targets for participation and our operational partnership with the YMCA is definitely a success.
I had the opportunity to work with Mayor Pro Tem Larry Carr on the committee that researched and recommended the YMCA partnership. This was a fairly intense effort over several months requiring analysis and some careful thought about alternative approaches. I was very impressed with Larry’s ability to look at the entire picture and weigh potential risks and rewards in the joint venture. Thank you Larry for your leadership on this very significant effort!
On a Roll
When we opened the Centennial Recreation Center, we also opened the first segment of an adjoining “wildlife” trail that will grow to both the north and south in the future. Adjoining the trail is “Liberty,” the Evelyn Davis sculpture of a local species of bobcat. It is the first of what will be many public art pieces celebrating wildlife along the trail.
We also opened the Dog Park west of the Centennial Recreation Center and it is being very heavily utilized. Created in partnership with the Dog Ownership Group, it provides off-leash recreation to our canine companions.
We broke ground for our new 28,000-square-foot Morgan Hill library. It will be a true gem for our community as we break out of the current confining space. I love coming to City Hall every day and seeing the progress on this facility. It is on time, on budget and we are anxiously looking forward to the grand opening this summer!
We’ve recently given the go-ahead to start upgrading the current soccer fields on Condit Road for an Outdoor Sports Complex. We’ll be converting two of the fields to synthetic turf with lights. We’ll also pave the parking lot and add a facility with restrooms, a clubhouse and a snack bar. Our local sports teams will be able to use the fields during the week, including evenings.
Financial
The positive financial news is that we ended last year with a small budget surplus! We were very pleased to learn that our early forecast of a budget shortfall wasn’t going to happen. The council adopted a sustainable budget strategy in 2005. It called for two steps: cutting expenses first and then raising revenues. Our staff did a fantastic job the last two years on the expense side of the strategy, using many tools and techniques to keep things on track. Sales tax from auto dealerships and from rising gasoline prices provided the revenue, and the budget balanced in 2006. There’s a big caution here, though: There is insufficient future revenues projected to enhance city services. We’ll talk more on that later!
Conversation
Our sustainable budget strategy called for us to work with residents to determine if and how they would be willing to increase the city’s revenues. So we launched “Community Conversations” dialogues that I believe were very successful.
(A total of) 320 residents attended a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour session to learn about our budget and current service levels. They gave us informed feedback on alternatives for generating future revenue. They said that revenue from increased economic development was preferable to any increase in taxes. Many also said they would be open to taxes if they could be shown that the resulting service levels would be sufficiently beneficial to the community. This input will help us formulate our future financial planning steps.
Centennial
The 100th anniversary of our city was a tremendous celebration! We started with a New Year’s Eve gala here at the Community Center. We ended on Nov. 10 – the actual anniversary date, with the unveiling of the History Trail project on the property in front of the home of our founder, Hiram Morgan Hill. We look forward to the completion of that project and to the installation on Depot Street of the bronze “Waiting for the Train” sculpture. On Aug. 5, we had a fabulous Centennial barbecue which was a party for our own community. It was fantastic! I hope we’ll have more of these “just for us” events in the future. It is important for the community to come together and enjoy what we have here!
With the opening of the History Trail and the recent move of the Morgan Hill Museum to the Morgan Hill House site on Monterey Road, we are poised for the spring opening of a wonderful “History Park” where our community can honor its heritage.
Downtown
We moved forward with our plan to make downtown the vital heart of our community. In the election, Measure F passed, allowing 100 additional residential units to be constructed in the downtown without affecting the overall population cap established by Measure C. Measure F allows these units and 350 other downtown units approved under Measure C to be built as soon as possible. It will help attract more building that combines residential and commercial uses. That is smart growth!
Downtown property owners also approved a PBID, a Business Assessment District. Through annual assessments, the owners will help fund projects that will bolster the downtown. We are also about to complete the Depot Street upgrade project. It will have new curbs and gutters, utility undergrounding, lighting and landscaping for a generally spiffed up appearance.
For many years, Councilmember Greg Sellers has served as a voice for the downtown. He led the effort to develop the Downtown Plan and is now working hard to see that it is implemented right. He’s been involved in all the efforts I have described and continues to be the council’s ombudsman to downtown. Thank you, Greg, we really appreciate your efforts.
RDA Extension
The year 2006 marked the 25th anniversary of Morgan Hill’s Ojo de Agua Redevelopment Agency. We celebrated that milestone by extending the agency’s life, allowing it to collect an additional $333 million.
We also reduced the area that the RDA covers by eliminating some of the business parks where redevelopment is essentially complete. This will increase property tax revenue to our general fund by $800,000 a year and also increase revenue to other taxing agencies including Santa Clara County.
We’re changing the focus of the RDA away from construction of community facilities. We’ll now be more focused on downtown infrastructure and on specific economic redevelopment projects. We’ve already approved RDA funding for certain traffic congestion relief projects and sewer enhancements. Previously, we were funding those by collecting developer impact fees. Lowering the cost of development in Morgan Hill will attract additional economic investment.
It’s In Morgan Hill
For years residents have been clamoring for a Trader Joe’s in Morgan Hill. It’s here. Many youth have wanted the bowling alley to reopen to give them something to do. It’s open. We’ve wanted a brewpub. El Toro is (finally!) open. The need to leave town for many shopping needs will soon be obsolete. Both the DiNapoli Regional Center (on Cochrane east of the freeway) and Madrone Village (on Cochrane west of the Chevron Station) open this summer.
More and more, the opportunities you are looking for are right here in Morgan Hill.
Sister Cities
Building on our established Sister City relationships with San Cacciano in Italy and San Martin de Hidalgo in Mexico, we added two new Sister Cities in 2006. Dennis and Bernie Mulligan spent St. Patrick’s Day in Headford, Ireland, signing and celebrating a new relationship with them. Mizuho, Japan sent a large delegation to Morgan Hill for the July 4th festivities and a formal signing.
Perchlorate
Our final area of review for 2006 is the issue with the chemical perchlorate in our groundwater supply. After several years of working with the Regional Water Quality Control Board, we convinced them in December to declare the Olin Corporation responsible for the perchlorate contaminating city wells to the northwest of their site as well as the wells to the south. This bolsters our efforts to hold Olin responsible for returning our groundwater supply to its prior, pre-perchlorate-contamination status.
Councilmember Mark Grzan heads our Council Utilities and Environmental Committee and is a passionate supporter of a clean and healthy environment. He has been a strong advocate for protecting the public health regarding perchlorate. We appreciate his contributions in these efforts.
Where To?
Now let’s turn to our “vision” for Morgan Hill’s future; where we want to go. I really like this map showing Morgan Hill as the big guy. It reminds me of those T-shirts that said “New York – London – Paris – Morgan Hill.” It is not our vision to be the big guy or any sort of urban metropolis – Quite the opposite. We’ll discuss six aspects of the “vision.”
Sense of Place
People tell me they love living in Morgan Hill. They love its unique feel. I believe that our “small town atmosphere,” our neighborly friendliness, our sense of community and our “can do” attitude are attributes we strongly need to embrace and maintain. We must never lose this close feeling we have for our community.
Thriving Downtown
People’s love for Morgan Hill involves a strong affection for the downtown. We like it as it is, but see potential for a lot more. Our aim is to attract more people downtown, making it livelier, increasing vitality, and making things “happen.” Morgan Hill’s personality and identity will blossom from having lots of downtown residents, restaurants, entertainment, services and boutique shops.
Feels Safe Here
Safety is one of the most fundamental and essential roles of government. Simply said, any vision of our future must assure that we are kept as safe as possible. We need protection from accidents, crime, fire, and disasters, as well as competent help in medical emergencies. We need to always have a warm feeling that we are safe and protected.
Infrastructure
Essential to both safety and economic development is our infrastructure. This includes roads, street lighting, drainage, water and wastewater capacity. We tend to take infrastructure for granted. We assume it will be there when needed. But it takes good planning and sufficient financial resources to make sure our infrastructure is adequate.
Opportunities
We need to provide a wide array of opportunities to fulfill the wants and needs of our residents as well as those who work here and our local businesses. We need to broaden opportunities for businesses to either start, move or grow here, and to expand when they’re ready.
Fiscal Stability
Achieving our vision requires the ability to pay for all the services necessary to support it. Having sufficient financial resources is essential to success. However, the cost of services cannot exceed our revenues over the long haul. We can use reserves strategically to withstand shortfalls, but not for extended periods.
We may find that the level of service it will take to attain our goals will require additional revenues from residents. Should that happen, we must give voters a voice in deciding if and how to raise those revenues. If voters are unwilling to raise revenues, we’ll need to adjust our goals and vision accordingly.
Going on in 2007
We know where we are and where we want to be, so let’s now look at what we are going to do in 2007 to help take us in that direction.
Financial
Here’s some good news and some bad news. The chart shows the net of revenues less expenditures. It was great news that last year was positive after several negative years. It is also good to see that after this year, we are projecting being in a positive position into the future. In fact, the negative in 2007 is just about offset with the positive from 2006.
On the other side of the coin, though, is the fact the projections are all based on maintaining the current level of services with only one exception. That one increase in service will be for two more police officers that will be required when the new DiNapoli regional shopping center comes on line.
We are a growing community, growing at a controlled rate prescribed by ordinance. We are at 38,000 now and will get to 48,000 in 2020. So there is a big question about how long we can maintain services at the current level in the face of our growth. Of particular concern are safety services, which are already quite stretched. So we need to explore service requirements and seek public input on what specifically could justify a revenue measure, and what shape such a measure should take. We will pursue a process to engage our residents in a dialog where we can get informed direction from them.
Safety Services
Because public safety services are a concern, we plan to do in-depth studies to determine options for enhancing both police and fire services. While our police and fire personnel are absolutely top notch and very productive, we are concerned as our population grows about having enough of them and having them assigned correctly. Our Public Safety and Community Services Committee, which is myself and Larry Carr, will be leading this effort, with plans to report on police in May and Fire in September. The results of these studies will then be used in our public interaction efforts.
Economic Development
The emphasis of our economic development strategy for 2007 is fairly simple and straightforward. We want to increase jobs in Morgan Hill by encouraging development of remaining vacant industrial and commercial zoned properties, and by attracting tenants to vacant buildings.
In addition, we would like one to three more car dealerships to come to town, locating north of the current Ford dealership. New dealerships will be required to mitigate neighborhood impacts and be generally compatible with our community.
Downtown
We’ve made a great start toward achieving our Downtown Plan and need to continue our efforts in 2007. We’ve already declared our intent to direct $20 million of the new RDA funds toward downtown, and our Community and Economic Development Committee of Greg Sellers and Marby Lee will make recommendations to a council workshop in March on how these funds should be spent – potential areas are on the chart.
We want to start on the creation of the Third Street promenade early next year. We’ll be coordinating with property owners along Third Street that are upgrading their properties to optimize schedules and efforts on all these projects.
We’re putting a strong focus on the old Granada Theater. Most people want to revive the glory of yesterday by having the Granada live again! In some form – if not a theater, perhaps there is some other appropriate use. We are not making any absolute commitment that it will happen, but it is a definite focal point and the Community and Economic Development Committee will be making recommendations for redeveloping it in April.
Recreation and Services
In the past, we have stressed cost recovery for our facilities and perhaps tried too hard to set facility-specific targets. We have decided to shift the focus by setting an overall cost recovery goal for Recreation and Community Services of about 70 percent of costs. That is twice the national average for recreational services cost recovery. The aggressive goal is something our staff thinks they can achieve and may even be able to exceed. Any excess recovery will go to increasing community access to our facilities through scholarships and similar means.
The city owns two facilities on Wright Avenue, the Friendly Inn building at Galvan Park and the El Toro Youth Center building. The Friendly Inn is in desperate need of repair and remodeling. With the move of most of the YMCA functions and programming to the CRC, we need to determine the appropriate future uses of these structures in order to set a plan for them. We’ll conduct a workshop for this purpose prior to finalizing the 2007/2008 budget.
Schools
Mutual cooperation and coordination with the Morgan Hill Unified School District will assure that we support kids’ opportunities to succeed whenever possible. We can help by doing things like making our city and library computers provide easy navigation to school district resources and data bases. We can increase recreational opportunities by coordinating recreational facility scheduling. We can also help on facilities planning and assure student safety with our School Resource Officers and with well planned safe routes to schools.
I am pleased to report that we have already accomplished our goal of reestablishing the City/School Liaison Committee. Larry Carr, myself and Ed Tewes met with Board President Peter Mandel, Board Members Don Moody and Shelle Thomas and Superintendent Alan Nishino on Feb. 15, establishing an agenda and schedule for future meetings.
Footprint for the Future
About every 10 years, cities are asked to update their General Plans. We completed our last update in 1999, and since it takes about two years to go through the process, it is time to look at an update. We’ve decided to limit our update to land use and traffic circulation and will be preparing a plan to do the update in 2008.
There is growing emphasis on and support for the necessity to conserve our precious earth resources. We’re being strongly encouraged to take more of a leadership role in this arena. May 17 is the annual bike-to-work day, and I’ve accepted that challenge so will be tuning up my old bike to make the trek down – and back up the hill.
We’ve agreed to develop an environmental agenda for making Morgan Hill a “greener” community. We will build on the outstanding efforts of our Environmental Programs guru Tony Eulo. By summer, our Utilities and Environment Committee of Mark Grzan and Larry Carr will recommend what this agenda should look like. We will also be reviewing our Measure C points award criteria to make sure we are doing all we can to encourage “greenness” in our new residential units.
Policy Making
In order to emphasize the council’s commitment to our goals and policies for 2007, we are asking all of our committees and commissions to prepare work plans that specifically show how they will be supporting these goals. Our 2007-08 budget reviews will also emphasize support of council goals. And we’re asking for written progress reports on work plan status – not just from our commissions, but from our own council committees as well.
And so …
The year 2006 was phenomenally successful and set a great base to build on in 2007. Again, thanks to Dennis Kennedy for his leadership in making that happen. Our Morgan Hill city staff is simply terrific, and perhaps mainly because of their great support, we on the council and our supporting committees and commissions do a pretty darn good job for you as well. All of us, the council, our staff, our committees and commissions and all of you that choose to be involved in any way with this great city, will surely be successful in achieving our vision for Morgan Hill.
Thank You!
I appreciate your caring enough about our community to be here this evening. I hope you’ll stay involved and provide feedback that will enable us to better serve you and the community.
On behalf of the City Council, thank you so much for being here and sharing our accomplishments and plans. Good evening.
