State of the City: 'as good as it could be' State of the City: 'as good as it could be' (September 02, 2005)

By Jon Wiener

Mayor Matt Neely highlighted several public projects under construction as well as private housing developments in the annual State of the City address, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.

A crowd of about 35 people, many of them representatives of the local business community, attended the presentation Aug. 25 at the Center for Performing Arts' smaller theater, known as "SecondStage."

Neely focused on five topics: capital projects, private development, housing, finances and other city accomplishments.

In the speech, the mayor frequently referred to the importance of having a good relationship with the business community, concluding by saying, "It's an honor to serve you."

Neely said businesses provide jobs for residents and create sales-tax revenues so that the city can afford services for its citizens. After several years of economic downturn, the city is showing signs of life, he said, including rebounding sales taxes, the expansion of Costco and the development of a commercial shopping center across the street at Charleston Plaza.

"The city financial picture is, I hope you'll agree, maybe not excellent, but as good as it could be."

He praised city staff and past council members for being fiscally prudent, particularly with respect to reserve funds, and earning a Triple-"A" bond rating for the city.

"Without naming names, a lot of agencies around us are not making good decisions about revenues and expenditures," he said. "I know that you can have a lot of confidence in how this city is doing financially." Parks get top billing

Neely started by highlighting two recently completed park projects, Rex Manor and San Veron. A number of others are in the planning stage, including Devonshire Park, the Permanente Creek Trail bicycle-pedestrian bridge, the Stevens Creek Trail extension and the Moffett Boulevard overcrossing.

He also praised the future additions to Rengstorff Park, which will include a city child care center, a city senior center, and a senior day health care center operated by Avenidas. He spoke proudly of Bay Area Parent magazine's recent reader poll that named Cuesta Park as the best park in the Bay Area.

Other projects mentioned included the efficiency studios project at San Antonio Circle, the downtown parking garage and the underground reservoir at Graham Middle School, which Neely jokingly called "a nice example of downward thinking."

Aaron Grossman, executive director of Friends of Stevens Creek Trail, asked about the schedule for completing the extension.

"Everything is starting in '05 and finishing in '06," answered Neely. "I get to do all the groundbreakings and Nick [Vice Mayor Nick Galiotto] gets to do all the ribbon cuttings."

On the subject of housing, Neely called for increasing density in a way that is acceptable to existing residents, and pointed to open-space requirements in the city's rowhouse guidelines as a good example of how to go about it. He said the council was working to make sure the Mayfield project is done correctly, and praised the idea of building shorter houses next to existing homes, working up to taller buildings in the center of the project -- a method he called "feathering."

City manager Kevin Duggan drew laughs with an introduction in which he joked about Neely -- vice principal at Mountain View High School -- trying to implement pep rallies and detention at City Hall since taking over as mayor in January.

Chamber of Commerce CEO Carol Olsen and County Supervisor Liz Kniss also spoke about what they said was Mountain View's business-friendly environment. City economic development director Ellis Berns showed off a promotional DVD the city and Chamber produced to introduce Mountain View to prospective companies.
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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