December 2015 Saratoga Councilmember Rishi Kumar Newsletter

d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 5 N E W S L E T T E R
WWW.RISHIKUMAR.COM || WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/VOTERISHI || RKUMAR<at>SARATOGA.CA.US
Dear friends,
My best wishes to you for a fantastic 2016 filled with great health, joy, smiles, love,
and incredible fun moments. 2016 is going to be a great year, specially with
Saratoga’s 60th
anniversary celebration. Check out my annual calendar of
community events listed at http://www.RishiKumar.com/events. Please mark
your calendar.
It is great to have friends like you in my life. I look forward to your
continued guidance and input towards a thriving, successful,
connected and informed community.
- Rishi
NEWSLETTER EDITOR: YOUTH INTERN SHAUNAK VAIDYA
MY MONTHLY OFFICE HOURS
ARE NOW AT THE BIG BASIN
CAFÉ – 1s t
SATURDAY OF
EVERY MONTH, 9AM-10AM

2
There has been an update to the
The Saratoga Village Specific Plan.
The update will affirm the
community's vision and goals for
the village to ensure the needs and
desires of its residents are reflected
in the community's policy
documents and regulations. To
learn more about the update or the
plan’s specifics, visit
saratogavillageplan.org
New Italian
Restaurant in
downtown
saratoga
Saratoga village
Specific plan
Update
C i t y u p d a t e
Some of you may have noticed
the work that has been going on
along Cox Avenue. In regards to
why this is happening, the water
pipelines that have been there in
the past were part of a study
done in 2014 by the San Jose
Water Company to get more
information about pipeline
infrastructure. The main
pipeline in this area had 5
recorded leaks, and is a key
transmission pipeline to deliver
water to those in Saratoga. This
project will help ensure safe and
reliable drinking water to our
citizens, and the project is
expected to be done around
March or February 2016. This
information was summarized in
a recent video that Saratoga city
staff rolled out with
Councilmember Kumar
speaking. contact the city staff
or email Councilmember
Kumar
Cox Avenue
construction
project
There is a new Italian restaurant
MIO VICINO "My neighbor" in
downtown Saratoga @ 14441 Big
Basin Way replacing the old
Ristorante De Mario. They serve
pizza and pasta, This is their 2nd
location - opened in Santa Clara
in 1992. http://miovicino-
santaclara.com/ Saratoga location
phone #408.741.1518. Go check
it out.
COUNCILMEMBER RISHI KUMAR NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2015 Page 2 of 14
Saratoga Public Works
Department has their on-call
crews all lined up for the furlough
period. If you discover any
weather related emergencies,
please call County
Communications at (408) 299-
2507 and they will contact our
on-call crew.
To access more information on the
ways to stay safe and protected in
the event of a flood, contact the
Santa Clara Water District.
Insurance before hand is key in
making sure that things stay the as
the same should we have a flood.
Flood
preparedness and
insurance
SARATOGA HIGH
SCHOOL AT
TOURNAMENT OF
ROSES
We have a lot to be proud of in
Saratoga....Saratoga High School
Marching Band and Color Guard
with 200+ talented kids, is one
of 20 bands invited this year to
the 2016 TOURNAMENT OF
ROSES parade. Watch the New
Year's day live telecast from
Pasadena - our band is #65 out of
92 - which starts at 8AM PST. To
check out the January 1st parade,
you can visit
www.ktla.com/roseparade on
your tablet, smart phone or
computers and watch our band
perform alongside the regular
broadcast. And you can stream
the regular parade on KTLA.com
beginning at 8 AM Pacific Time.
Enjoy!
COMMUNITY
CHOICE
AGGREGATION
MEETING
Community meeting on Thursday
January 14th
, Saratoga Senior Center,
Saunders Room 6pm to 9pm.
Community Choice Energy allows
city and county governments to pool
the electricity demand of their
communities to buy greener sources
of electricity on behalf of residents
and businesses in their jurisdictions.

3

4
City of Saratoga
Holiday and
Furlough Closure
Saratoga City Offices, including
the Joan Pisani Community
Center, will be closed from
Thursday, December 24, 2015 to
Sunday, January 3, 2016 for the
holidays and the City's annual
furlough. Residents may report
fallen trees, landslides and
flooding, on roads and public
property, by calling County
Communications at (408) 299-
2507. For additional information
on winter storm resources, visit
www.saratoga.ca.us/winterstorms.
• Saratoga Senior Center: Closed
December 24 through January 4,
• Saratoga Library: Closed
December 25 and January 1
• West Valley Collection and
Recycling: There will be no
garbage or recycling collection on
Christmas or New Year's Day.
Customers who normally receive
service on Fridays will have their
trash picked up on Saturday,
December 26, and Saturday,
January 2.
U P D A T E S F R O M L A S T M O N T H A N D
U P C O M I N G E V E N T S
There will be a presentation by
Julie Lythcott Haims. Please mark
your calendars for January 19th!
The seminar is entitled How to
Raise an Adult: Break Free of the
Overparenting Trap and Prepare
Your Kid for Success. It will be
hosted by Julie Lythcott Haims on
Tuesday, January 19, 2016. The
time will be 7:00pm – 8:30pm
McAfee Theatre, Saratoga High
Parents and students of grades 6-12
are welcome and admission is free
In this seminar one can learn:
• Ways to help children develop the
resilience, resourcefulness, and
inner determination necessary for
success
• How overparenting harms
children, stressed-out parents, and
society at large
• Practical alternative strategies that
underline the importance of
allowing children to make their
own mistakes
PARENTING SEMINAR
at Saratoga high
School
HIGH SPEED EV
STATION
A new Coffee shop in downtown
Saratoga. Specialty Coffee, Whole
Leaf Tea, Pastry, Dessert, AND
CERAMICS! 14655 Big Basin Way,
Saratoga CA 408) 202-8079
SUE’S GALLERY / CAFÉ
in DOWNTOWN.
In the meeting of November 18th
,
(then) Mayor Miller and
Councilmember Kumar asked for
the City to look at adding high
speed EV charging stations to the
Library or Downtown. Since then,
our City has found a grant available
for this task. In the City council
meeting of December 17th
, the
council unanimously authorized our
city manager to apply and accept
the TFCA Electric Vehicle Charging
Station Demonstration Project
Program and/or chase the
BAAQMD and also authorized
budget adjustment for a single high
speed EV charging station at the
library. Whether the grant is
approved or not approved, council
can once again review the funding
allocation to decide whether we
move forward or not. This is
moving fast. Stay tuned!
COUNCILMEMBER KUMAR’s
PERFORMANCE REVIEW
PROVIDE YOUR INPUT
http://www.tinyurl.com/CouncilmemberKumar
SARATOGA’s 1st
UNITY IN COMMUNITY DAY
Join Saratoga’s Unity in Community Day on January 17th
2015
Details at www.RishiKumar.com/events

5
FREE SAND BAGS
A S K C O U N C I L M E M B E R K U M A R
?
Q: I really want to have
competitive cable/high speed
service, and have options. Can the
city enable that?
A:Given our population, the
economics does not work well for
another company like Verizon to
jump in also - and compete with
AT&T, Comcast. There is
significant investment in
infrastructure needed and Verizon
(or any other company) would
focus on high population densities
first. With Google fiber, our city
did not have the financial prowess
to invest into Google fiber, that
some other cities were able to
make. Thus we did not make the
list the first time around. But we
will apply again at the soonest
opportunity and I think Google
Fiber would be great for our city. I
will let you know how things
progress
CABLE/ HIGH SPEED
INTERNET OPTIONS
READ DETAILED FLOOD PLAN
ht tp://w ww.slideshare .net/rishi 59/2015-resized -floodplai n-
mailer-fin al-10 231 5
Q: How can I be pro-active and
prepare myself for the El Nino
season that we are seemingly
bracing for?
A: You should see a video released
soon with detailed information
and links. Residents can report
fallen trees, landslides, and
flooding on roads and public
property in the following ways:
• Emergencies: Call 911
• Weekdays between 6 a.m. and
3:30 p.m.: City of Saratoga at
(408) 868-1245
• All other times: Santa Clara
County Communications at (408)
299-2507
Every citizen of Saratoga should be
signed-up with ALERTSCC to
receive alerts via email, phone
call, and/or text message. Sign up
at alertscc.com
STORM
PREPAREDNESS
Q: Where can I get free sand bags?
A: Looking for sandbags - cause
you believe in the scout motto "Be
Prepared"? Well just show up at
our Saratoga Corporation Yard,
19700 Allendale Ave where bags
and sand available anytime outside
the gate. This is at Saratoga's new
sandbag station which is now open
24/7 . This station is located just
outside the corporation yard
fence. There are bags, sand,
sandbag filler, and shovels for you
to create your own sandbags. You
would like filled sand bags?
We also have filled sandbags
available inside the corporation
yard fence for residents. These can
be picked up during normal
business hours.
Questions? Call (408) 868-1245,
after hours: County
Communications (408) 299-2507
Also, there are other locations in
the bay area where you can pick up
sand bags

6WATCH THE VIDE ON THE COX CONSTRUCTION PROJECT at
http://tinyurl.com/SaratogaCox

7
AT THE US-ASEAN ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE SYMPOSIUM – A LEARNING OPPORTUNITY
BEAUTIFUL SARATOGA -
THE VIEW FROM
COUNCILMEMBER
KUMAR’s NEW ‘OFFICE
SPACE FOR HIS
MONTHLY MEETING
WITH CITIZENS – BIG
BASIN CAFE

8
WORKING PARTNERSHIP
20th
ANNIVERSARY
CELEBRATION
COUNCILMEMBER KUMAR MET A CITIZENS GROUP FROM Saratoga that have been served CREEK
encroachment notice by the Santa Clara Valley Water district

9
At the VTA Highway 85 Policy Advisory monthly meeting –
attending as a citizen
After the Highway 85 PAC meeting, Councilmember Kumar joined the VTA inauguration of
innovative electric bikes w/solar charging stations. http://www.swiftmile.com/ Wouldn't
it be nice if we had this available in downtown Saratoga? Councilmember Kumar chatted
with Colin Roche, President/CEO of Swiftmile about the possibilities. SUBSEQUENTLY, A
MEETING WAS SETUP BETWEEN COLIN and Saratoga city manager

10
With the Saratoga Chamber Board member at their holiday
party
RAISING FUNDS FOR CHENNAI
FLOODS

11
Meeting saratogan donna frankel
at the assemblymember evan low
holiday party
at the APALI holiday party With
Santa Clara County Superintendent
of Schools Jon R Gundry -. THE
master of policy and budget Bob
Brownstein presented on
“Government Budgets: The Agony and
the Ecstasy”. Bob, Director of Policy
and Research, Working Partnership
Partnership spoke about
CITY OF SARATOGA
HOLIDAY PARTY

12
Councilmember kumar cheered HIS SON’s
Performance as part of the Saratoga
high school marching band at the los
Gatos parade
AT THE SARATOGA HIGH
SCHOOL
HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE
HELD ANNUALLY AT THE
MCAFEE CENTER
COUNCILMEMBER KUMAR
ATTENDING HIS SON’s
PERFORMANCE AS A UCLA
BRUIN at the fiesta farms
bowl game at levi’s
staidum MCAFEE CENTER

13
A DECEMBER VACATION IN HAWAII – THE FIRST VACATION OF THE YEAR
FOR COUNCILMEMBER KUMAR
IF YOU HANG OUT WITH THE GRINCH – YOU HAVE FUN?
AT the LOS GATOS PARADE

14

December 2015 Saratoga Councilmember Rishi Kumar Newsletter

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December 2015 Saratoga Councilmember Rishi Kumar Newsletter