True to form, we did in fact have a great, but short summer last week. It sure seems as though our summers have gotten even milder than usual. That aside, it was a busy week here in Mountain View, with lots going on, so I thought I would try and get back to a weekly post, if at all possible.
It is probably no surprise that there has been a lot of activity surrounding the City Council Election. There were four separate activities this week, including a neighborhood forum in the Whisman Station/Wagon Wheel area, a forum for the Mountain View Rotary Club, interviews with the Voice and the League of Women Voters Forum at Google, which drew by far the largest crowd yet. Google is known for bringing candidates from all levels of government to the campus so I guess it was only natural for them to invite candidates from their home town. The "set" rivaled the set for the Presidential Debate, and the League's moderator did much better than Jim Lehrer.
During the course of the week I also had the opportunity to attend events at two of our stellar non-profits, the Community School of Music and Arts and Avenidas. Both events were to recognize the support of donors, without which these, and most non-profits, would not exist. It is sobering to think about the commitment individuals in our community make to financially supporting organizations we often take for granted but whose services so enrich our daily life.
Thursday turned out to be devoted to transportation, starting with a North Bayshore Transportation Charrette sponsored by Sustainable Silicon Valley. There were very interesting presentations by a number of agencies and companies, including Google, which described some of the inner workings of their bus and shuttle system. Later in the day saw me at more meetings with SkyTran and another potential partner.
As the week drew to an end, I joined a number of local officials at Santa Clara University's Markkula Center for Applied Ethics for an interesting presentation and discussion with the Chair of the Fair Political Practices Commission. It was observed that while the goal of ethics regulations is increased trust in government, the outcome seems to be just the opposite. As new rules are developed to curb specific conduct, it becomes easier for well intentioned public officials to make innocent mistakes, which then get blasted in the headlines. While there are no easy answers, the system does not seem to be having the desired effect.
Later in the day, I visited the Castro School Walk-a-thon. What a spectacular event! Literally hundreds of kids walking laps all afternoon to raise money for the school. There is great food for sale and the level of energy was unbelievable. It is amazing to see how Castro School has turned itself around and how proud the kids and parents are of their school. As the afternoon drew to a close, it was off to San Francisco for a Fleet Week event to honor the men and women in uniform who serve our Country.
On Saturday, I attended the Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting for the first Dollar Tree store in Mountain View. Dollar Tree is on Middlefield Road near Whisman and everything in the store sells for $1 or less. I will admit to being a little skeptical, but as I walked through the store I was amazed by how many things they sold at that price that one would normally get the supermarket: everything from Halloween supplies, to groceries, clothing and bath products. Dollar Tree should bring some much needed activity to the shopping center.
Finally, it was up at the crack of dawn on Sunday to be the "official starter" for the Mountain View High School Golf Tournament at Shoreline Golf Course. The sun was just coming up at 7:30 AM when over 70 golfers hit the links.
That about wraps up another week. As the election draws near, you can expect to receive your ballot this week if you vote by mail. There are still a number of election forums and debates from the Vice Presidential debate to the City Council Forum on KMVT Wednesday evening at 7:30 PM.
