This Week with the Mayor: Apr. 2 - Apr. 14

Who knew writing a weekly Blog required descipline?  After only one month, I missed a week.  Not that anybody noticed, but it gnawed at me all week.  So this weeks post will cover the past two weeks.

Lets do things a little differently and start with a review of the world of business and economic development here in Mountain View.  The City's Economic Develpment Team and I met with a number of Mountain View businesses to learn more about what they do, how they like being in Mountain View and whether there are any issues they have experienced doing business in our City.  We first met with SOAProjects, an accounting, CPA and auditing firm in the North Whisman area.  SOAProjects has a niche practice working with startups and VC funded companies.  It is a woman/minority owned business that has grown dramatically over the past two years and continues to do so.

The following day we me with Listia, another small internet based business located downtown.  Listia is a cross between Craigslist and Paypal, and provides its members an opportunity to share and swap items for free.  They recently outgrew their first office and were able to find expansion space next door.  The lack of space for small startups to grow is increasingly becoming a problem in the City.  We are finding that downtown is, not surprisingly, a very desireable location due to transit options, the number and variety of restaurants as well as the energy that is created by so many startups.

Later that afternoon, I attended a Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting at a new dance studio, For the Love of Dance on Old Middlefield Road.  Lesley, the owner of this energetic and lively new business has a great facility and some of her students performed for a crowd of well wishers and fellow business owners.

The Economic Development Team continued its work Friday with a visit to Newton Remmel, an established law firm on Grant Road.  This relatively small law firm has handled some major legal work over the years for a number of major companies.  They are active in the community and have played a role in the development of the Grant Road area.

Our corporate visits ended with a meeting with Mobius Photonics, a manufacturer of lasers.  It was a bit of a surprise to me that we have a relatively new manufacturer in Mountain View.  We tend to think our town is occupied by software and internet based businesses, along with our local businesses.  Mobius has developed groundbreaking laser technology that is used all over the world.  We did learn that laser technology touches almost everything we buy these days.  I am reminded of the line in "The Graduate", but rather than "plastics", the new line might well be "lasers!"

Finally, I attended the monthly Chamber Business Mixer at a long time favorite restaurant, Passage to India and then another Chamber Ribbon Cutting at Mathnasium, a new business in Mountain View that teaches math to children of all ages, and even helps grown ups brush up on their math skills for possible new careers. 

Of course, the past two weeks were not limited to corporate visits.  I met with the Audubon Society to talk about the proposed Google bridge over Stevens Creek Trail in the North Bayshore, attended the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County Investor Briefing to get an update on how the Housing Trust and helped thousands of people in Silicon Valley with thier housing needs and toured the newest and "greenest" new building in the federal inventory at NASA.

Not everything during the past two weeks happened locally.  I spent Monday in Sacramento at the State Capital, meeting with Speaker Perez and President Pro Tem Steinberg, as well as other members of the Legislature.  The main topic of discussion was a "cleanup" bill related to the state ordered termination of redevelopment agencies around the State.  The original bill was so hastily written is is full of problems which need to be corrected to legally and effectively wind down these programs.  Mountain View has a keen interest in these bills as we close our Downtown Revitalization Authority and figure out what we have to do  with several pieces of important downtown property that was slated for development to improve downtown.

Towards the end of the week, I was able to attend the Groundbreaking for the BART extension into Silicon Valley.  It is hard to believe the effort to bring BART has been going on for over 12 years.  We were reminded by a number of speakers including Senator Dianne Feinstein and former Governor Gray Davis that Santa Clara County voters have approved two tax increases during the period to bring BART to San Jose.  Well, it is finally happening and it should be running by 2017, which isn't that far off.

That about sums it up for the past two weeks.  Either that, or there is just too much to read.  Sunday April 15 is the next Mocha with the Mayor at the Starbucks at Rengstorff and Middlefield.