City Manager Weekly Update - November 4, 2016
Annual Report Coming Soon
The City of Los Altos’ 2015/16 Annual Report is currently being printed and should be arriving in your mailbox very soon. Be sure to take a look to learn more about the many projects completed over the last fiscal year and get a sneak peek at what’s still to come. Expect to receive the annual report in your mailbox in the next week or so.
Assistant City Manager
Aircraft Noise Update
The Select Committee on South Bay Arrivals met on Thursday, November 3 to hear public comment and discussion of the draft recommendations that were published on October 20, 2016. The Select Committee will meet again on November 17 where they will continue to discuss and are expected to adopt the final recommendations which will be presented to Congress members Eshoo, Farr and Speier. For more information regarding this topic, visit Congressmember Eshoo’s website.
City Clerk
Early Voting
The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters encourages those with absentee or permanent vote by mail ballots to vote early. Several convenient ballot drop-off locations are available across the County. Additionally, ballot drop boxes are available at City Hall during office hours, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The deadline to drop off ballots at City Hall is 5:00 p.m. on Election Day, November 8. Additionally, 24-hour ballot drop boxes are located outside the two County libraries in Los Altos: 1) Los Altos Main Library located at 13 S San Antonio Road, and 2) Woodland Branch Library located at 1975 Grant Road. You may drop your ballot in either of the 24-hour drop boxes until 8:00 p.m. on Election Day.
Artistic Bike Rack Design Competition
The public is invited to submit entries into the City’s second Artistic Bicycle Rack Design Competition. Entries should be submitted to the City no later than November 21, 2016. For more information, click here.
Administrative Services
End of Year Audit
During this month of October, the City’s auditing firm Maze & Associates conducted a review of the City’s financials. The City anticipates once again receiving a clean audit. The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, which contains the final, audited numbers, is anticipated to be completed and presented to the City Council in December 2016. You may sign up to receive an email notice when the report is available by subscribing to the Budget & Financial reports email list at losaltosca.gov/enotify.
New Administrative Services Director
The City is pleased to announce Sharif Etman will join the City as its new Administrative Services Director. Sharif will begin his new role on November 14, 2016 where he will oversee the City’s Finance, Human Resources and Information Technology divisions. He comes to the City from Campbell where he served as that City’s Finance Manager since 2014. He is credited with upgrading Campbell’s financial system, a project Los Altos will soon take on as well. Prior to his time in Campbell, Etman served as San Mateo County’s Director of Financial Services from 2007 to 2012. There he oversaw an annual budget of over $200 million and led the finance team of 40 staff to achieve National Accreditation for Department and Agency. The City selected executive search firm Ralph Anderson & Associates to conduct the recruitment following the resignation of prior Administrative Services Director, Kim Juran-Karageorgiou in May.
Community Development
Data Collection for Downtown Vision Effort
Staff has been collecting data for the Downtown Vision Effort so that the RRM Design Group has a full understanding of past planning efforts in the Downtown. This includes collecting the maps and diagrams that will serve as basis for the visual aids used in outreach efforts and provide the community with a visual reference to current land use rules and policies.
Los Altos Community Investments Open House
Staff attended the Community Open House sponsored by Los Altos Community Investments this week. It provided an opportunity to see and learn about ideas from members of the community regarding the public park proposal. Los Altos Community Investment staff will be sharing the results of this input, which will be useful to staff as it reviews and considers proposals that come forward in the future.
Planning and Transportation Commission Field Trip
At a special meeting of the Planning and Transportation Commission (PTC) in the near future (a day in November to be finalized), the PTC will take a tour of Los Altos to review projects that it has reviewed in the past. This tour will provide the Commissioners an opportunity to see if the projects turned out as proposed and envisioned. It also gives them some insight on how to evaluate projects that come before them in the future. A recent similar tour by the Design Review Commission proved beneficial, and staff expects that the PTC will receive equal benefits from taking a look at completed projects so that they can hone their evaluation skills for the future.
Police
Pumpkin Carving with a Cop
This past Saturday the Los Altos Police Department hosted the first ever Pumpkin Carving with a Cop event at the Los Altos Youth Center. Police Officers, Reserve Officers, Dispatchers, Community Service Officers and even Police Captain Galea joined several young people in rolling up the sleeves before emptying the slimy contents of the pumpkins in preparation for the final sculpting. The event was well attended, with approximately 100 Los Altos residents sharing their afternoon with Police Department staff.
We carved pumpkins, enjoyed tasty treats (no tricks), and sipped some coffee, along with hot cocoa and marshmallows. Pumpkins of all shapes and sizes were transformed into artistic Jack O’ Lanterns, fit for lighted displays on porches all across town. The event was full of excitement and culminated with photo opportunities with uniformed personnel for the participants. Thank you to all who attended the event. We hope to make this an annual tradition with the Los Altos Police Department.
Public Works
Loyola Corners Signal Operation and Traffic Study
Data collection has begun for a traffic study for circulation improvements at Loyola Corners, which is a part of the larger Loyola Corners Specific Plan process. The study will examine existing safety, efficiency, and circulation for pedestrian, cyclists, and motorists as they pass through streets and intersections in the Loyola Corners Area for the existing road configuration and proposed road configurations. An analysis of parking utilization is also included in this study.
City traffic engineers continue to monitor and adjust signal timing during the traffic study to optimize traffic flow. A new signal timing plan is being implemented this week to reduce wait time at the intersections during non-commute hours.
Mandatory Recycling and Organics
Assembly Bills 341 and 1826 and the City of Los Altos Municipal Code require commercial businesses and multi-family residences of certain sizes to provide recycling and organics collection. These services are provided free of charge from the City’s franchise garbage hauler, Mission Trail Waste Systems (MTWS). Over the next 2 weeks, letters will be issued to non-compliant businesses/landowner’s with instructions of how to begin service collection. If you feel your business or property may not be in compliance, please contact MTWS at (650) 473-1400 to get additional information.
Call Before You Dig 811
811 is the phone number you call before digging to protect yourself and others from unintentionally hitting underground utility lines. There are millions of miles of buried utilities beneath the surface of the earth that are vital to everyday living like water, electricity and natural gas.
811 is the federally designated call before you dig number that helps homeowners and professionals avoid damaging these vital utilities. When you make the free call to 811 a few days before you dig, you'll help prevent unintended consequences such as injury to you or your family, damage to your property, utility service outages to the entire neighborhood and potential fines and repair costs.
Maintenance Updates
This week, in addition to routine maintenance, the Facilities Maintenance crews prepared for the Festival of Lights event and responded to concerns related to street lights. The Parks Maintenance crews conducted after-storm cleanup, repaired playground equipment and tennis courts, and performed tree maintenance at Downtown, Village Park, and along El Camino Real and Fremont Avenue. The Sewer Maintenance crew performed scheduled maintenance and responded to a higher volume of Underground Services Alert (811) calls to mark city-owned underground utilities. The Street Maintenance crew continued to inspect and clean storm drain inlets and supported the Spooktacular event in Downtown.
Recreation & Community Services
Halloween Window Painting
The results are in and the talent is undeniable! We are so pleased to announce the winners of our 53rd Annual Halloween Window Painting Contest online here. Each of the winners and contestants will receive recognition at the November 9, 2016 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting in the Community Meeting Chambers at City Hall.
Gingerbread House Exhibit Registration Now Open
Have fun making a Gingerbread House with family and friends and then bring it to share with the Los Altos Community at our Annual Gingerbread House Exhibit! Display space is limited, so be sure to register soon. Registration will close when the exhibit is full or by November 18, 2016 (whichever comes first). This is a FREE event that is open to all ages! The exhibit will be held November 28 through December 6 at the Hillview Community Center, Room 2. Applications and guidelines are available in the Recreation & Community Services Front Office and online here.
LAYC Dance
Get your cowboy hats and boots ready for our Western themed LAYC Dance on Friday, November 4, 2016. Memberships can be purchased at the Hillview Community Center during business hours which are Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Come have some fun and be a part of this Los Altos tradition!
