Happy Holidays!
Tuesday night we had the last City Council meeting for the year. I feel like a kid who has just gotten out of school for break. We don’t go back until January 11th.
The first time the Council met in person this year was at the Tree Lighting on December 6th! ALL of the previous Council meetings were held by Zoom this year and that will go on for at least another month. Our Mayor for 2021, Ellen Kamei, did preside from the Council Chambers on December 14th, but the rest of us joined from our homes. Many thanks to Ellen for all the work she has done as Mayor.
North Bayshore (NBS)
At the December 7th meeting we approved the Gateway Master Plan and the NBS Circulation Plan. Then on December 14th, we had a long Study Session on Google’s NBS Master Plan. Everyone is very supportive, but there are lots of details to work out. It’s expected that the final documents will come back to Council in December 2023. After that, construction! It’s a long process, but I am determined to work through every detail, because as I have said many times Nobody can sleep in a plan!
Mountain View Shuttle hours are expanding!
Starting on January 3rd, the Shuttle will run from 7AM to 7PM. The hope is that this will make the Shuttle much more useful. For instance, students may use it as a way to get to school now. It’s thought this will be especially helpful for Graham and Crittenden students. Thanks to Google who got the Shuttle going for our community in 2015 and has been paying for it’s operation. Now the City is taking over.
Salt Pond Restoration
Restoring the old salt ponds to marshes is one of the best things that can be done to protect Mountain View from sea level rise. On December 14th, the City Manager was given authority to execute several legal documents that will allow the restoration on Pond A2W (it’s the one just west of Permanente Creek) to start very soon. This is an important part of Mountain View’s plan to protect against sea level rise. Getting to this point has been a very complex process and we owe a debt of gratitude to all the staff who pulled together to make that happen. The agencies who are most involved are the City of Mountain View; the US Fish & Wildlife Service, who owns the ponds; and the California Coastal Conservancy, who runs the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Program.
Upcoming Housing Report
The Santa Clara Civil Grand Jury has produced a report called Affordable Housing: Tale of Two Cities. It will be released on December 16th. The two cities are Mountain View and Palo Alto. Advocates have been constantly educating and electing leaders in Mountain View since the 1990’s. The difference in production of affordable housing in our two communities demonstrates how important that advocacy has been. Thanks to each and every one of you for your voice and your vote on this issue.
Need help with rent?
If you or someone you know needs help with rent, there is on-going assistance available. Benefit request forms along with help filling them out are available at the Mountain View Library.
Happy Holidays to All! Wishing you, your friends and family good health, happiness and prosperity for the new year. |
