September 20 1 5 NEWSL ETTER

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LEADERSHIP Dear friends, Hope you are doing well. This year has been a blur; we are already planning Halloween and Thanksgiving! Ever since my election to the city council, as a community organizer my community engagement has increased exponentially with so many interesting community ideas coming at me from our citizens – just scroll down to see the community pictures. It has been a lot of hard work, learning and integrating myself into a new role at the service of our community, ensuring we don’t stop things we were already running for our community. Hard work, but has definitely been a fun experience, an opportunity to make a difference – and that definitely drives me to do my very best given the opportunity before me.

Last month, I experienced what it was like to meet a world leader and it was a wonderful learning opportunity. Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi was visiting Silicon Valley and it was a historic occasion for our Silicon Valley community. As an elected official and part of the organizing team, I had the inside scoop of a very successful visit.

PM Modi, who prides himself for his humble roots as the tea-seller at a train station, who rose up through the ranks of Indian society with sheer determination, grit focus, brute force hard work, exemplary ethics and strong execution had an air of humility around him, but deep wisdom as he interacted with Silicon Valley executives. When I got a chance to meet him, I couldn’t help but notice that he had the mark of a man with great intentions, a doer-ship that drove his behavior, a man of strong integrity, the ability to get things done. His impact on India is already making a difference. I seek to emulate him in many ways; applying technology to governance is a key component of his charter and I find many similarities in what I am seeking to accomplish in our city of Saratoga, provide services cheaper, faster and better.

I was also fortunate to find myself right by the stage watching PM Modi address the 18,000+ Silicon Valley crowd. Never have I seen an elected leader with such a smooth oratory that hit all the high notes, resonated and touched the depths of our heart, pushing and prodding to bring out the goodness, and reinforcing the value of what is right. India is lucky to have a phenomenal leader at the helm. I salute PM Modi!

PM Modi is an inspiration for many of us to apply service, ethical forthright behavior, hard work, commitment, make the tea, turn on the lights and without a self-driven agenda be at service. I salute such exemplary leaders and pray for the dawn of a peaceful world that thrives upon love, spirituality, and the spirit of always giving, instead of asking. That would by itself make a fabulous difference for our local community. I am honored and inspired with this opportunity to be of service.

As always, I would love to get your feedback and ideas. Sincerely, Rishi Kumar

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The extreme drought that California is currently experiencing is forcing residents and cities to cut back on water usage massively. The City has been helping out with tips and tools to save more water, like the Drought Forum and Legislative Update held on the 26th of September by Senator Jim Beall. Make sure to conserve as much as possible.

Cell phone antennas on

herriman Avenue

Saratoga distributed drought gear. Announcements were made on Nextdoor.com and the city facebook page. This distribution was resultant from a request that councilemember Kumar made to city staff and also to the Santa Clara Valley Water District – since other neighboring cities had distribution dates (back in July) and the idea was to have these drought gear available to Saratogans in our own city

Water conservation in

saratoga

C i t y c o u n c i l u p d a t e

You may recall the city council approved funding for a Village Vision plan under the Capital Improvement Project. The current goals of the Village Specific Plan are: · Preserving and enhancing the small scale, pedestrian character of the Village to make the area more inviting to potential shoppers and diners; · Preserving the architectural and landscape character of the area; · Improving parking and circulation; · Encouraging a traditional town center mix of specialty shops, restaurants, convenience shops, services and residences; and · Conserving historic structures That was on the agenda at our last city council meeting. Stay tuned for future community meetings to gather your feedback

Village specific plan update

Saratoga entertained the now hot-button issue of cell phone antennas on Herrimen Avenue in a meeting again on the 16th of September. However, like last time, the citizen appeal of the PC decision resulted in a denial, with one vote against the plan. You can read about it on the SJ Mercury News site

Minimum wage in Saratoga?

The City of San Jose will start a non-partisan study to support the exploration of the minimum wages impact on Santa Clara County and San Jose. The analysis will involve other cities as well, and Saratoga has decided to participate.

Drought gear availability

3

Saratoga Historical

Foundation fundraiser

The Saratoga Historical Foundation is holding a fundraising event on Oct. 18 with proceeds to benefit the construction of a blacksmith exhibit at the Saratoga Historical Park. Live music, food, a silent auction and even a free tour of the garden are all included in the agenda for the night. The event will be hosted at Hakone and run from 4:30 to 6:30

U p c o m i n g E V E N T S & H A P P E N I N G S

Saratoga’s Bollywood night

of fun!

Saratoga’s monthly Bollywood night of fun will be on the 2nd of October. This time the theme will be Silicon Valley’s got Bollywood. There already a full agenda planned for the exciting evening. Night will start out with a potluck at 7:00 PM. At 7:30, the karaoke starts, lasting until 10:00, when the fun dancing begins. IMPORTANT NOTE: Location has been changed to Saunders room or the Seniors Center room. Instead of Blue Rock Shoot. If you like to sing, do stand-up, dance – then please go ahead and perform. The event is a kids/ family friendly BOLLYWOOD based talent show, where anything and everything goes. We love songs, dances, stand-up comedy, musical performances etc. from all parts of the world. The atmosphere is a cozy and welcoming one, and you can mingle and make some new friends. You perform if you want to, or sit back and enjoy. Otherwise sit back and relax, enjoy the evening

Grand opening of Saratoga’s

Quarry-park

The City of Saratoga invites the public to a grand opening ceremony for the Saratoga Quarry Park, 22000 Congress Springs Road, on Saturday, October 31, 2015 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Guests will be able to hike into history as the park still shows remnants of its past as an operating quarry back in the early- to mid-1900s. Since parking is limited at the park, guests are asked to park in the Saratoga Village and use the free shuttle service available at the corner of Big Basin Way and Fourth Street. Shuttle service will run from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information about Quarry Park, visit www.saratoga.ca.us/quarrypark

1st annual youth technology day

On September 12th, the very first annual Saratoga Tech Day was held in the Joan Pisani Community Center. The event acted as an opportunity to let kids showcase apps and programming skills they acquired. It was a group of about 60 people, and accompanying the children were three panel sessions with real tech industry leaders. The entire event was organized by Sophomore Shivaum Kumar, and was a part of the Youth Coders Club, also founded by Shivaum.

DOCUMENTARY SCREENING

“COWSPIRACY”

This screening was hosted by: Santa Clara County Activists for Animals and Saratoga Hindu Temple. The documentary, directed by Kip Anderson and Keegan Kuhn discusses the merits of a vegan / vegetarian diet, an environmentally friendly choice. Over 200 people attended this one and enjoyed an intellectual environmentally conscious documentary over a delicious vegetarian lunch, followed by a “Meet the Director” panel discussion

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G l i m p s e s F R O M S e p t e m b e r

At THE ANNUAL ICC

BANQUET

With steve westley,

former controller of

California who is

running for

Governor in 2018

ENJOYING lunch with

mayor of san Jose Sam

liccardo and first lady

Jessica at the PM MODI

PRIVATE RECEPTION

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At the first annual

youth tech day with

three honored

panelists

A GROUP OF

STATE WIDE AND

LOCAL ELECTED

OFFICALS await

the opening of

the welcome

reception area

PRIOR TO PM

MODI’S ARRIVAL

AT SAP CENTER

FROM THE Saratoga has

talent annual

competition in August

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KICKING OFF the

COWSPIRACY

DOCUMENTARY

SCREENING in saratoga

Speaking AT the diva

motherhood EVENT IN

PALO ALTO

Speaking about the

merits and benefits of

West Valley Community

Services - COMPUTER

HISTORY MUSEUM TO AN

ELITE GROUP OF 500+k

SILICON VALLEY RESIDENTS

Listening to the Prime

Minister’s Speech at the

SAP center

A RELAXING

EVENING At the

silver creek

country club

Dignitaries and elected

Leaders on the floor

OF SAP CENTER awaiting

PRIME MINISTER MODI OF

INDIA

At the annual

icc banquet in

the india

community

center milpitas

AT THE CALIFORNIA

LEAGUE OF CITIES

CONFERENCE IN SAN JOSE

PANEL DISCUSSION AT

A national news

channel VISITING

FROM INDIA

(DOORDARSHAN

DDNEWS) about the

upcoming visit OF

PRIME MINISTER MODI

With Senator Jim

Beall and

Councilmember Ash

Kalra (San Jose) at

the SJWC BBQ IN LOS

GATOS

SOUTH BAY LABOR

COUNCIL BBQ

WITH

CONGRESSWOMAN

ZOE LOFGREN and

CONGRESSMAN

HONDA

Attending a play at a

local PALO ALTO

THEATER

Attending a play at a local PALO ALTO With the first

Indian American Miss AMERICA Nina Daluvuri. We had a

great conversation and many topics emerged. She

would specially like to be involved with WOMEN IN

TECHNOLOGY that we run to promote the

encouragement of girls with MSET - she will join one of

our upcoming events