Shai Agassi looks up and down the massive rectangular table in the Ritz-Carlton ballroom and begins to worry. He knows he’s out of his league here. For the last day and a half, he’s been listening to an elite corps of Israeli and US politicians, businesspeople, and intellectuals debate the state of the world. Agassi is just one of 60 sequestered in a Washington, DC, hotel for a conference run by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy. Among the participants: Bill Clinton, former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres, Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer, and two past directors of the CIA.

It’s December 2006. Scheduled to speak in a few minutes, Agassi gets nudged by the Israeli minister of education: “Be optimistic,” she tells him. “We’ve got to close with an upbeat tone.” Agassi thanks her. Optimism won’t be a problem.

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Dear Friend,

I want to update you on the City’s fiscal situation and the results of our recent community outreach effort. As you may know, the City of Campbell sought to gather input on citizens’ priorities and provide information on our fiscal situation. The outreach effort consisted of the following components:

· A Citizens Budget Task Force

· A citywide mailing

· Newsletter and newspaper articles

· Four public forums

· More than a dozen presentations to community groups

· An information table at community events

· Information on the City’s website and cable channel

· Update letters (such as this)

· Community Surveys/Feedback Forms:

More than 330 responses were received. “Maintaining current levels of public safety” garnered the most support, as the #1 priority of 45% of responses, while “increasing neighborhood crime prevention” and “repairing and maintaining City streets” ranked second and third as people’s top priority (13% and 9%, respectively). Overall, the comments were generally supportive of maintaining City service levels.

On July 29th, the City Council held a special meeting to discuss the input from the community outreach efforts as well as polling data, examine the implications of further cuts to the City’s budget, and take in comments from members of the public.

As a result, and to address our fiscal challenges, the Campbell City Council unanimously voted to introduce an ordinance putting the Campbell Vital City Services Protection Measure before the voters in November 2008. At their August 5th meeting, the Council formally approved the measure.

The measure, titled Measure O on the November 4th ballot, is a small increase in the sales tax. It would generate local funds for local needs, and no money will go to other communities or the State.

For more information on the City’s fiscal situation or for the full text of the ballot measure, please visit http://www.cityofcampbell.com.

Sincerely,

Daniel Rich
City Manager

Please remember to make a donation online to help us cover the costs of the Carol of Lights and fund future events. For more information about how you can make a tax-deductable donation to the Carol of Lights, click on the “Donations” button on our website.

Thanks and we hope you enjoy this year’s Carol of Lights! See you Sunday!

The Carol of Lights Committee
http://www.caroloflights.org