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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Sheriff Laurie Smith, left, and new Chamber of Commerce President Bill Sullivan, right, present Deputy Robert Bosworth with a plaque honoring him as Deputy of the Year. Deputy Bosworth has been on the police force for 21 years.
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James reports on State of the City
Encourages creating partnerships with the local businesses
By KEVIN FAYLE
Mayor Sandra James delivered the annual State of the City address to a packed house at the Quinlan Community Center on Jan. 31. James' speech, which followed a banquet lunch, focused on the benefits the city has achieved for its residents through partnerships with local organizations and corporations.
Ideally, James said, the entire community works together to provide the kind of community everyone desires. "Partnerships are what we [in Cupertino] are all about," she said.
James touched on the recent events at De Anza Community College, beginning her address by recapping the events of Jan. 30, and expressed her great relief and gratitude toward law enforcement officials who thwarted the attack. James' son currently attends De Anza. She then invited Sheriff Laurie Smith to the podium to speak for a moment.
Smith gave her thanks to Kelly Bennett, the 18-year-old Longs clerk who alerted police to Al DeGuzman's activities, and for the efforts of the San Jose Police Department in uncovering his alleged plans to assault De Anza College. "There are many heroes in this," she said, before deferring back to James.
James further stressed the importance of reaching out to young people to ensure that they do not become alienated from society. She emphasized Bennett and DeGuzman represented two extremes on the scale of the youth experience in society, with one a conscientious citizen who prevented death and destruction, and the other a troubled individual who allegedly pursued it. James reiterated her call to include Cupertino's youth in all aspects of life in the city, saying, "these are the people that we don't serve as well as we should."
During the address James listed important projects in the city, emphasizing how the partnerships involved in each improved the projects, and allowed them to offer more for the community.
The new Senior Center topped her list, noting much of the furniture for the center came from private donors, such as Apple Computer. Apple will also donate nine iMac computers to the center. Next, she spoke about the Civic Center, and how the developing firm of Hunter Storm Properties and the city have come together to attempt to provide a community gathering point, with the new library as its focus.
Developers, James said, do not represent hostile forces within the city, and can provide great benefits for the city if they can work together. She illustrated her point by describing the Kimpton Hotel project, with which the city has worked closely. James emphasized the hotel will provide tax revenue from each room rental, as well as providing the community with an accessible restaurant.
James added the city proved its commitment to providing a walking environment in discussions with the developers, as well as with the Prometheus Group, a developer planning to construct an apartment complex adjacent to the Kimpton hotel. As a result, the two developers worked with the city to provide for pedestrian access to both sites.
James also touched on housing issues, and brought up the Cupertino Community Services affordable housing development, recently approved by the city council, as "an example of partnerships that really work." She reminded the audience that Cupertino National Bank and the city of Cupertino both contributed to the project, representing cooperation between the private, public, and social service sectors of Cupertino.
James then described the compromise struck between Compaq computers and the city. Compaq has long desired to build a campus in Cupertino, but the city asked that the company include housing in its plans. "Corporate America needs to step up and help us with the housing/jobs imbalance," James said. Thanks to the city's requests, she stated, Compaq submitted plans with a large housing element.
James closed her address with the announcement that the proposed skate park, long tied up in discussions concerning its location, had finally found a home. Compaq had agreed to place the skatepark next to its campus, donating half an acre of land for the recreational facility. Pinn Brothers, a building firm, agreed to build the park, and Hanson Permanente will donate cement to the project.
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
