JUNE 2017 NEWSLETTER

ON MOBILE PHONE/TABLE, VIEW IN LANDSCAPE MODE NEWSLETTER EDITOR: YOUTH INTERN SHAUNAK VAIDYA

TOPICS COVERED IN THIS NEWSLETTER ­ click here to read

NOTE FROM RISHI

1. Wishing you a wonderful July 4th weekend...yes I am going to vent a bit CITY HAPPENINGS / INFO

1. Saratoga Budget summary 2. 10th consecutive Tree City Designation for Saratoga 3. Saratoga gets an A­grade 4. LED lights project in Saratoga 5. Saratoga Village project wins grant funding 6. National Park places a sign at Joe’s Trail 7. Annual Silicon Valley Tech Day ­ Smashing Success 8. Fireworks are illegal 9. International Yoga Day is recognized in Saratoga 10. Teen reading program at Saratoga Library

UPCOMING EVENTS

1. Happy 4th of July Celebration 2. Car Show is on July 16th 3. Lego Robotics Bootcamp in July 4. Hakone Gardens Free Entry Day ­ when is it? 5. Movie in the Park on July 21st 6. Saratoga Seniors Music and Dance night ­ A free event for

Seniors 7. Hakone Centennial Gala on September 17th

NEWS OF SARATOGA 1. Sheriff wants Saratogans to take burglaries seriously

2. Saratoga is the 14th safest city in California

3. DC Fast Chargers are now live at Saratoga Library

4. Saratoga has 2nd highest % of registered plug­in EV Q&A with Councilmember Kumar

What are county services available in a heat wave? Are dogs supposed to be in a leash?

How can my child join Councilmember Kumar’s internship program

GLIMPSES ­ A PICTORIAL VIEW Councilmember Kumar’s public events and activities from June Click here for details A NOTE FROM RISHI Wish you a wonderful July 4th weekend

Friends,

Enjoy this Independence Day with parades, fireworks, music and dance.

I am a proud citizen of America, I salute America and for all those before us who contributed in huge ways, and to many who lost their life in making our nation a great world power. Wishing you a very Happy 4th of July!

Scroll down to find topics covered in this month’s newsletter, that includes details on our July 4th celebration; Kevin Moran Park ­ 9:30AM. Remember, fireworks are illegal in Santa Clara County and dangerous.

I am furious: It is not appropriate for this wonderful weekend, but I am going to vent a bit. I am furious at San Jose Water company’s 200% increase in income in 6 years . If SJWC has their way, they will have increased our water rates 18.05% in just 6 months of 2017. CPUC has already approved them for 12.3%. This is not working well for us customers. And the situation is exacerbated with the continual rate increases.

But here is the good news! Our protests are sort of working. Did you see the response from CPUC to our protests regarding AL510. They have suspended the request from SJWC to issue us ridiculously low surcharge refund. CPUC

will review it further to determine the best course of action, hopefully we will see much higher credit back in our water bill.

Please engage, here are a few suggestions:

#1 File your protest letters with CPUC. Copy and paste the word doc or google doc at http://www.RishiKumar.com/water Enough is enough...Do we want SJWC to continue with their rate increases without having our say on this topic? Please take 2 minutes to send your emails. Every protest email will demonstrate to CPUC to take a closer look at these rate increases and pay heed to the citizens of California who it serves.

#2 Post on NextDoor, and email /engage your friends from the cities of San Jose, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Campbell, Monte Sereno, Cupertino and unincorporated SC County where SJWC provides water service to. CPUC should hear from every neighborhood that is served by SJWC.

#3 Join the Water Oversight Committee

We have decided to form a non­profit group Water Oversight Committee to collaborate on this water problem. Why? Instead of after­the­fact protests, we will seek to have a seat on the table at CPUC and be an Intervener to every proposal by SJWC that is presented to CPUC.

Interested to join? Submit your info here http://tinyurl.com/wateroversight we need your help

We do have a challenge on hand. Love to see every city represented on this group ­ San Jose, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Cupertino, Campbell, Los Gatos and Unincorporated Santa Clara

We got to collectively put together a concerted plan that is not reactive, but looks to take some strategic action, making sure we have our say before the fact

#4 There was a petition created in January to condemn SJWC and have the county take control http://tinyurl.com/CondemnedSJWC ­ please review it Take a look at the datapoint in the petition…some very interesting perspective. You may know, we have an alternate to PG&E with Silicon Valley Clean Energy Why not with water?

#5 Subscribe to the water group http://groups.google.com/group/saratogawater

CPUC reform is needed too. It is imperative that CPUC be completely bereft of absolutely any kind of influence from the private utility companies.

We will continue pushing back with our protests and it is being heard by CPUC to some extent with the AL501 rejection and now with the suspension of AL510.

Let us continue the push back…together!

Best regards

­ Rishi

408 805 5993

CITY HAPPENINGS

1 Saratoga’s Budget for the Fiscal Year Saratoga’s proposed $41.73 million budget sets aside money to initiate the extension of a popular hiking trail, make safety improvements to the Prospect Road/Saratoga Avenue corridor, rehabilitate Village crosswalks and sidewalks and add a deputy city manager position. The budget also highlighted an initiative to revitalize and refurbish the famous Koi Ponds of the Hakone Gardens.

An increase in traffic safety requests over the past two years led the Saratoga City Council June 7 to adopt a resolution to allocate $35,000 from last year’s budget to hire a city traffic consultant and add $20,000 for a traffic engineer to the the 2017­18 budget. City staff noted that, based on complaints, their focus is a complete review of speeding on Sobey Road; traffic circulation at Marshall Lane Elementary; and adding lighted crosswalks at Cox and the railroad tracks, in front of the tennis court at West Valley, and at Lexington and Herriman in front of Saratoga High.

Read more about it here: here and here

2 Tree City Designation for Saratoga for the 10th Year in a Row! The Arbor Day foundation has named Saratoga a Tree City for the 10th consecutive year. This means that the city has demonstrated a long term commitment to the health and wellness of the trees that reside inside it. Trees are a vital part of the City’s infrastructure and provide many environmental, social, and economic benefits to our community. The honor is one Saratoga takes pride in, as demonstrated by the sign marking our achievement seen when entering the city.

3 Saratoga gets an A­grade in 2017 State of Tobacco Control report Saratoga prides itself on providing a safe and friendly environment in all aspects of life, including air quality. A few years ago, this was not the case with Saratoga Air, but we have progressed far in our pursuit of clean air. City officials and air quality experts have worked together to gage the exact position that Saratoga is in. Take a look at this infographic put together by the Bay Area Breath of Fresh Air

4 LED lights in Saratoga All city owned street sodium lights are being replaced with LED lights; thanks to interest free financing by PG&E. $38k payback in 4.16 year. You can read the SJM article here Replacement of existing street lights with energy efficient light emitting diode (LED) fixtures is a positive move towards the efficient use of energy resources. LED streetlights use 50­75% less energy than the current High Pressure Sodium Vapor (HPSV) bulbs.

Last year, PG&E replaced all non­decorative street lights they own within the City limits. PG&E will now assist with LED conversion of street lights owned by the City. The service they offer is a “turnkey” service that includes all components of the project, filing of PG&E rebate application, rate change processing, and disposal of removed street light fixtures. PG&E will also update GIS data and provide one­year installation warranty. Decorative street lights in the Village are not part of this project. PG&E will finance the project, and the City will pay the loan – interest­free – through monthly utility bills. The payback period for

the estimated $38,559 project cost is approximately 4.16 years. After that period of time, City’s bill for the street light will be significantly lowered.

5 City of Saratoga gets funding for Village project #One Bay Area grant Cycle 2 funding of $338k along with city of Saratoga contribution of $44k i.e. 11.47% will help install cut outs and cross walk in Sarstoga Village. Approved project now You can read about it here 6 National Park to place a sign at Joe’s Trail

Saratoga is on the National Park map. How so? Saratoga’s Joe’s Trail is located within the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail corridor and will now be part of a historic trail. Saratoga will make an appearance on a National Park handout. Historic documents show Juan Bautista de Anza expedition traversed Santa Clara County enroute from Monterey to San Francisco and camped at Arroyo of San Joseph Cupertino on March 25, 1776. The site is marked as Campsite 93 by National Park Service and is nearly adjacent to Joe’s trail trailhead at Saratoga­Sunnyvale Road.

National Park Service (NPS) is offering trail certification program to trail segments open to public located within the historic route corridor. Benefits of the certification include NPS assistance in research, potential preferred project funding when available and assistance in competing for outside funding. City Council approved the certification and now NPS will provide an interpretive sign and smaller trail insignia for Joe’s trail.

7 Annual Silicon Valley Tech Day Is a huge Success Another fabulous Silicon Valley Youth Tech Day, after a long semester came to a screeching halt last Saturday. Elation and some disappointment…but the learning was tremendous. This effort started in Saratoga back in 2015 and has grown tremendously in just 2 years. Over 250 students at 8 California locations got trained with the A,B,Cs of entrepreneurship. They all converged for our 3rd annual Silicon Valley Tech Day…. good day of learning, teaming and collaboration for many middle and high school students who joined us.

Mayor Sam Liccardo (San Jose) was our keynote speaker. Our panel discussion had some well known executives and dignitaries, providing their perspective to the gathered students and youth of SIlicon Valley. You missed it? Videos and pictures have been posted here or visit www.siliconvalleycoders.org/youth­tech­day­2017 Congratulations to all the 10 teams that were picked to present ­ every startup project was impressive and executed with so much intelligence, passion and energy by young middle school and high school students. Here are the winners 1st place winners “SolarClean”(Fremont) Members Jinwoo Park, Sriya Bairy, Daniel Binoy, Francis Indaheng Solar Clean Project Summary: Dust and debris reduce the efficiency of household solar panels by up to 30 percent. While manual cleaning services are available to clean the solar panels, they burden the house owners with the expensive cost and inconvenience. Our product is a mechanized solar panel cleaner that brings back the efficiency to its full potential by utilizing technologies developed for industrial purposes. 2nd place winners .Team name : B­key (Saratoga) Members Grace Boulos,Elena Boulos and Reva Gupta Realtor solution Summary: B­key is a solution for realtors, AirBnB hosts, and homeowners that replaces traditional key lockboxes with a smartphone app, biometric sensor, physical lockbox, and a powerful backend analytics engine. We are doing to lockboxes what Nest did to thermostats – bring them to the modern age! 3rd place winners: Team N ame: JRH Members (Saratoga): Joshua Rayan, Hannah Rayan, Rhema Dadala CallNow description: Since there are 1.6 million accidents caused by phone usage while driving, according to the National Safety Council, we built CallNow, an app that promotes safe calling for all and accelerated daily follow up calls for salespeople. NOTE: Silicon Valley Coders club www.siliconvalleycoders.org will repeat this program again in Fall at many locations 8 Fireworks are illegal Santa Clara County Fire Department shared a video message as a reminder to stay safe this Fourth of July. Even "safe and sane" fireworks can be dangerous and are illegal in Santa Clara County, so please enjoy fireworks from a safe distance by attending one of the organized public displays throughout the County instead. Take a moment to watch the video at https://vimeo.com/223186338 and visit www.sccfd.org for more information.

9 International Yoga Day is recognized in Saratoga We recognized International Yoga Day at the Saratoga City Council. The Saratoga Hindu Temple started free Yoga classes back in 2012 led by saratoga Senior Neeta Dharwadkar and it still continues today, open to all and very inclusive. Free Yoga classes are now conducted at Saratoga Library on the 4th Monday of each month at 7:30pm

10 Teen Reading program and party June 1 – July 31, 2017: Teen Summer Reading Club Teens, join the summer reading club at Saratoga Library by signing up here: www.sccl.org/summer 2017 on or after June 1 st . Receive a free book as a sign up prize (come to the library to get it!), win movie tickets in our bi­weekly drawings and get a Starbucks gift card when you finish the program. All you

have to do is read five books during June/July. Reading isn’t just a joyful activity. It also keeps the mind fresh and helps to prohibit the summer slide, therefore making sure that you will be better prepared when you go back to school. please email bspring@sccl.org with questions

UPCOMING EVENTS 1 Happy 4th of July Celebration 4th of July Celebration is set for 9:30 at Kevin Moran Park. Join this Patriotic Celebration­ Flags! Ice Cream! Speeches! And so much more. Details at www.saratogaJuly4.com

2 Car Show is on July 16th The Annual Saratoga Classic Car show is on Sunday July 16th. Come out and enjoy the festivities and amazing classic cars lined up through the streets of Saratoga

.

3 Lego Robotics Bootcamp in July Would you like your child to learn the fundamentals of Lego Robotics design, programing and more? Become a coach and start a team, by getting trained at our Coaches bootcamp Saratoga Lego Robotics club is conducting a bootcamp for coaches and students starting Sunday July 9th­ primarily catering to new teams that were formed at our Team Formation Day We invite coaches as well as students to join this bootcamp Four sessions for no charge 2:30pm to 4:30pm: Sunday July 9th, July 16th, July 23rd, July 30th 2:30pm to 3:30pm WHERE: Saratoga Community Center Multi Purpose room Address: 19655 Allendale Avenue, Saratoga CA RSVP: tinyurl.com/siliconvalleysteam Please join us every Sunday at 2:20pm ­ so that we can start on time Saratoga Lego Robotics club is open to every child (9 years to 14 years old ­ Jan 1st of the following year) interested in FLL Robotics (and their parents) <<FAQ>>Check out our FAQ@ Facebook.com/SaratogaRobotics <<HOME PAGE>> http://saratogalegorobotics.weebly.com/ 4 Hakone free entry ­ did you know?

Trivia fact on Hakone Gardens in Saratoga. Did you know? First Tuesday of each month is free entry into Hakone for Saratoga residents 5 Movie in the Park: July 21st Movie night is always on the 3rd Friday every summer i.e June, July and August. The Saratoga Parks & Recreation Commission is hosting the 2nd event of the Movie Nights series at sunset on Friday, July 21st. The feature presentation will be The Secret Life of Pets.

6 Saratoga Seniors Music and Dance night ­ A free event for Seniors

We invite all the Saratoga Seniors for an evening of music and dance WHEN: August 4th 2017 6pm to 10pm WHERE: Saratoga community Center DINNER: Gourmet dinner from Mynt Indian restaurant RSVP is required by all seniors http://tinyurl.com/Anandvan Live band with the “Bollywood Geetanjali band” of Rama and Minnie Shukla on August 4th at the Saratoga Community Center

Catered dinner This event is free for our seniors Seniors get to dress like their favorite movie stars

Lots of dancing, food, music, and the best part, we would love to see every Senior participate and have a fantastic time! THEME “BE THE STAR” Seniors get to dress like their favorite movie stars. 7 Hakone Centennial Gala Finale on September 17th

NEWS OF SARATOGA

1 Sheriff wants Saratogans to take burglaries seriously

Here is the presentation by our Sheriff at the June 7th meeting with the HOAs

Here is the coverage in Saratoga News and below is a summary Are you planning a summer vacation? You will find some interesting tips and measures to take before you leave here Please take steps to place deterrents in and around your home. You can review safety tips at www.RishiKumar.com/tips . Please take action now, adopt some protective measures to protect

your home

2 Saratoga is the 14th safest city in California

Saratoga is #14 Safest City of California. We have seemingly lost our #1 spot from 2013, but still pretty good. Only Foster City, Hillsborough and Los Altos locally do better than Saratoga https://www.safewise.com/blog/safest­cities­california/

3 DC Fast Chargers are now live at Saratoga Library

D.C. fast charge stations are now live at Saratoga Library. Park, charge while you browse, pick up books etc from the library.

4 Saratoga has 2nd highest % of registered plug­in EV Saratoga has the second highest percentage of registered plug­in electric vehicles in Santa Clara County. BEV = A battery electric vehicle (BEV), battery­only electric vehicle (BOEV) or all­electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs. BEVs use electric motors and motor controllers instead of internal combustion engines (ICEs) for propulsion.

PEV = A plug­in electric vehicle (PEV) is any motor vehicle that can be recharged from an external source of electricity, such as wall sockets, and the electricity stored in the rechargeable battery packs drives or contributes to drive the wheels. PHEV == Plug­in hybrid electric vehicles–known as PHEVs–combine a gasoline or diesel engine with an electric motor and a large rechargeable battery. Unlike conventional hybrids, PHEVS can be plugged­in and recharged from an outlet, allowing them to drive extended distances using just electricity.

Q& A WITH COUNCILMEMBER KUMAR

Visit www.RishiKumar.com/faq for the complete list

1 What are county services available during a heat wave?

Urgent: Dangerous Heat Wave in Santa Clara County peaking on Thursday, June 22. See list of Cooling Centers at: http://bit.ly/1PZMzub or call 2­1­1 or click here

Vulnerable populations including young children, the elderly, those with chronic diseases or disabilities, pregnant women and people who are socially isolated are at substantial risk.

In addition, pets, crops, and livestock may demand extra care through the hot and dry weather. Pets require shade and extra water and should never be left in a closed, parked car.

The community has created a list of places to cool down at in the summer heat, as well as more safety tips. Find them here: http://bit.ly/1PZMzub

2 Are dogs supposed to be in a leash?

3 How can my child join Councilmember Kumar’s internship program

Councilmember RIshi Kumar’s summer interns A meeting was held in June with Councilmember Kumar’s summer interns. We currently have 3 college students (USC, U of Chicago, U of Portland), and many high school and middle school students from all parts of Silicon Valley. Some of my interns started in early 2015 and are still part of the team. Here is his social media posting on this topic “ Today, 23 of my summer interns were gathered, presenting ideas on various community perspectives and issues. This is the annual opportunity to get the interns started with the program, get them integrated into our internship offering. All of these young students present today, applied through my website rishikumar.com/intern link, got accepted and were invited to join the summer internship kick­off meeting today. This internship program has been running since March 2015 when I got elected...many have already gone through the program Today, 23 of my summer interns were gathered, presenting ideas on various community perspectives

and issues. This is the annual opportunity to get the interns started with the program, get them integrated into our internship offering. All of these young students present today, applied through my website rishikumar.com/intern link, got accepted and were invited to join the summer internship kick­off meeting today. This internship program has been running since March 2015 when I got elected...many have already gone through the program”

GLIMPSES ­ PICTORIAL VIEW

At a Washington DC community reception welcoming India’s Prime Minister to a

meeting with President Trump

With Congressman Ro Khanna and Congressman Raja Krishnamurthi at their

Washington DC office

With Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal at a Washington DC backyard

Mayor Sam Liccardo visiting Silicon Valley Youth Tech Day

With Community Activist Olga Talamante

With Former Cisco CEO John Chambers at the 42nd USIBC in

Washington DC

On the Elected Leaders Panel ­ 3rd annual Silicon Valley Youth Tech Day

Afternoon coffee with Saratoga friends ­ solving all the

problems of the world

Bob Cancellieri ­ always missed. Wonderful Saratogan

Joining the APAPA Civic Leadership forum

Strolling around Capitol Hill

At "Pragati Ki Oar" ­ Santa Clara Convention Center with

NrityaShiromoni Guru Bandana Sen

At "Tridhara” lighting the inaugural lamp

At a League of California Cities discussion about Autonomous

Driving

2nd place winners (Team Saratoga) at the 3rd annual Silicon

Valley Youth Tech Day

1st place winners (Team San Jose) at the 3rd annual Silicon

Valley Youth Tech Day

Paatasala annual Day at the Sunnyvale Temple ­ with Vijaya Asuri, Councilmember Larry Klein and Trustee Teresa Cox

One of my summer interns Anusha Kondiparti hosted a charity

Show for Special needs Children Educational Program

Join me Saturdays to chat about Saratoga's issues and

challenges; about water, about safety, about roads or anything else top on your mind.

Visit facebook.com/VoteRishi for the latest schedule