The 2023 Los Altos Los Altos Hills State of the Cities will take place on Friday May 5th at the Fremont Hills Country Club. This event will take the place of the monthly Government Affairs Committee Meeting for May of 2023.

Stacy Banerjee
Chair Los Altos Complete Streets Commission

City of Los Altos Complete Streets Masterplan

Please join us for our April Government Affairs meeting with Stacy Banerjee, Chair of the Los Altos Complete Streets Commission.

On October 25 2022, the Los Altos City Council unanimously approved the Complete Streets Master Plan that establishes a long-term vision to design and operate city streets that prioritizes safety, comfort, and access to destinations for all modes of transportation in the city of Los Altos.

Anthony Carnesecca, City of Los Altos
Economic Development Administrator

Los Altos Outdoor Dining Program Overview and Feedback Session

Join us via Zoom for the Los Altos Chamber Government Affairs meeting with Anthony Carnesecca, Economic Development Administrator with the City of Los Altos.

The city of Los Altos is committed to providing quality outdoor dining opportunities for businesses and community members. Thus, City staff has worked on a proposal for an outdoor dining program that fits the needs of businesses and creates a new dining standard moving forward.

City staff will present the program to the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee on Wednesday, February 1 at 9 AM via Zoom and then host a direct Q&A feedback session with business representatives on Thursday, February 2 at 10 AM at Rustic House (295 Main Street Los Altos, CA 94022). We encourage all business representatives to attend the Thursday session to provide feedback directly to staff.

Nick Zornes, City of Los Altos
Development Services Director 

Join us via Zoom for the Los Altos Chamber Government Affairs meeting with Nick Zornes, Development Services Director with the City of Los Altos.

We will be discussing updates on the Housing Element and the future of Los Altos. 

Matt Jacobs, Kaiser Permanente
Community & Government Relations Manager

VOTE YES!   VOTE NO!
Are you confused by the State Ballot Measures?

Join us via Zoom for the Los Altos Chamber, Government Affairs meeting as we review the State propositions with Matthew Jacobs, Community and Government Relations Manager, Kaiser Permanente.

Angela Averiett, Los Altos Police Chief
Meet the new Los Altos police Chief

Chief Averiett assumed her position as Los Altos Police Chief on August 1st. Join us to meet and welcome Chief Averiett to our community. 

Sydnee Journel, Aurora Government Relations Manager
Aurora & Self Driving Technology in California

Join us for our August Government Affairs with Sydnee Journal, Government Relations Manager at Aurora. Sydnee will be giving an overview of Aurora as well as where self driving technology currently stands in California.

Larry Stone, Santa Clara County Assessor
COVID-19, Silicon Valley's Economy and Prospects for Recovery: Insights from Assessor Larry Stone

Assessor Larry Stone will delve into the post-pandemic economic health of Silicon Valley.  Leveraging his knowledge as Assessor and founder of a successful Bay Area real estate investment and development firm, Stone will share his thoughts on how the various real estate sectors have performed, the prospects of their future, and the implications as the Silicon Valley economy recovers.

Morgan Galli, Deputy Regional Director in Northern California
CALIFORNIA HIGH-SPEED RAIL PROJECT UPDATES

Please join Morgan Galli, Deputy Regional Director in Northern California to hear the latest about California High-Speed Rail, including project updates in the Bay Area and across the state, upcoming key dates and milestones, and ongoing outreach and ways to learn more about this transformative transportation project currently under construction.

Laura Simpson, Interim Community Development Director
LOS ALTOS HOUSING ELEMENT OVERVIEW & UPDATE

The Los Altos Housing Element is one of the required elements (chapters) of the City’s General Plan, and it is intended to provide a comprehensive strategy for promoting the production of safe, decent, and affordable housing within the community. Every eight years, cities must update their housing element and have it approved by the State.

Louie Pellegrini, Owner Mission Trail Waste Systems
WASTE MANAGEMENT, ITS CHALLENEGES AND THE FUTURE

Louie Pellegrini joins the Los Altos Chamber Government Affairs meeting this March to share information about Mission Trail Waste Systems with our business community.

Mr. Pellegrini has over 40 years of experience in the solid waste and recycling industry. Starting his career at Peninsula Sanitary Service in 1972, he branched out in the 90s and became a founder and the General Manager of GreenTeam of San José until 1998. Louie is an owner/manager of Alameda County Industries (Alameda, Castro Valley, San Leandro, San Ramon), Garden City Sanitation (San José), Livermore Sanitation, Milpitas Sanitation, and Mission Trail Waste Systems (Los Altos, Santa Clara). In addition to providing franchise collection services, these companies provide post-collection services including transfer and recyclable and organic material recovery processing. Louie is an expert in collection and processing system design and implementation, data flow and capture, and landfill diversion strategies. Louie is an active member of the California Refuse and Recycling Council (CRRC) and holds multiple patents.

Dennis Cima, Executive Director, Foothill - De Anza Foundation
FOOTHILL COLLEGE UPDATE AND STUDENT BASIC NEEDS INITIATIVE

Please join Dennis Cima, executive director of the Foothill-De Anza Foundation, to hear the latest news about Foothill College and the foundation's efforts to assist students in need.  Dennis will be joined by Kurt Hueg, Foothill College's Interim Vice-President of Instruction & Institutional Research, who will offer the latest information about the college's enrollment, educational programs during the pandemic, and the college's plans ahead.

Deanna Bolio, Public Communications Specialist with Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
VTA 101: TRANSPORTATION IN SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Covered in this meeting:

- VTA 101: Transportation in Santa Clara County

- VTA: Who We Are and What We Do - VTA's organizational structure

- Ways for the public to get involved - Project updates (with a focus on the Los Altos/Mountain View area)

- Climate and sustainability

- Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic

Neysa Fligor, Los Altos City Mayor
LOOKING FORWARD & LOOKING BACK 

Mayor Fligor will look back at how the city has partnered with the business community this past year and look ahead at how the city and the business community can continue to partner together.  Topics include COVID19, housing, Parklet program, and parking solutions.

Gabriel Engeland, Los Altos City Manager
MEET THE NEW CITY MANAGER

Like most California cities, Los Altos has a Council/Manager form of government. The City Council appoints the City Manager, who is the chief administrative officer of the City and is accountable to the City Council for the performance of the City organization. The City Manager appoints each department head and is responsible for ensuring the City's services are performed well and in accordance with City Council's policies.

Gabe Engeland joined the City of Los Altos as City Manager in June of this year. We have invited Gabe to meet the Los Altos business community during a virtual 'Meet & Greet.' 

Emiko Ancheta, Sustainability Coordinator, City of Los Altos
SOLID WASTE ORGANICS ORDINANCE (SB 1383) - PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS FOR BUSINESSES

SB 1383 - Beginning January 1, 2022, all businesses and multi-family complexes in California will be required to recycle organic waste. Senate Bill 1383 sets statewide goals to reduce organic waste disposal by 50% from the 2014 level by 2020, and 75% from the 2014 level by 2025.  It builds upon California's leading commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution statewide. The City of Los Altos has implemented an ordinance requiring that all businesses in Los Altos receive recycling and organics collection service. Joins us to learn more about the regulations. 

Steve Pratt, Business Development Manager, EAH Housing
AFFORDABLE HOUSING & DIVERSE COMMUNITIES

EAH has been selected by the County of Santa Clara as the developer for a property located at 330 Distel Circle, Los Altos. In the months ahead, EAH plans to hold a series of initial public forums that will invite the Los Altos community to participate in envisioning and creating the Distel Circle development. The community input that we receive will help to inform the formal project application that we will submit to the City of Los Altos Planning Dept. for entitlement processing and approval.

Lelan Anders, Program Manager, NOVAworks
LEARN ABOUT NOVAWORKS PROGRAMS

Lelan Anders, Program Manager with NOVAworks joined us to present information about the services that NOVAworks provides at no cost to businesses and job seekers, opportunities to connect with a talented pool of candidates, and an upcoming training series on inclusive Skills-Based Hiring design and implementation. 

Susan Cordone, Conservation Coordinator, California Water Service
LET'S TALK WATER CONSERVATION

California has a traditionally dry climate, making it important for us to make water conservation a way of life and use water wisely. Good conservation practices help ensure a reliable water supply into our future. This discussion will go into the basics of water conservation opportunities.  There are many ways individuals can save water by switching out old and inefficient devices for newer technologies.  We’ll cover the current rebates and incentives that are available to Cal Water customers.

Matthew Record PH.D. 
HOUSING MARKET DYNAMICS IN THE BAY AREA

As one of the most prosperous regions in the nation, the 9 counties that make up the Bay Area are the home to 7.7 million people, across 6,900 square miles with a total GDP of $531 billion. The 5 counties that make up New York City, for their part, are the home to 8.4 million people, across only 300 square miles with a GDP of over $1.5 trillion. Yet, the average rent in San Francisco is on average $200/month higher than in New York City with even larger disparities for outlying areas and suburbs. This necessarily begs the question, how is it possible that a city with a roughly similar population to the Bay, 3 times as much income chasing housing across a land area 20 times smaller actually ended up with lower average rent than the Bay?

The answer is a complex stew of overlapping regulatory entities, tax incentives and economic insecurities that have resulted in more than a generation of individuals forced to tie up their entire financial future with their home, with the generation behind them locked out of the housing market altogether. This talk will explore these issues and the causes before discussing the bold policy remedies that might be necessary to address them—and what could possibly happen if we don't.

Marc Berman
CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY MEMBER
An overview of the new reality of State budget and a legislation review. 

Asm. Berman will speak for 20-30 minutes and then begin QA discussion for the remaining time

The El Camino Healthcare District: What it is and its relationship to El Camino Health and El Camino Hospital
Wednesday, January 6th, 9:00-10:00 a.m.

For the first session of 2021, Chamber Boardmember and past Board Chair, Cindy Murphy will present
We look forward to seeing you and hope you can join us!

A Discussion for the Business Community
Wednesday, October 7, 9:00-10:00 a.m.

The Los Altos Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce its official candidate endorsements for the November 3, 2020 Los Altos City Council election.. The chamber is proud to endorse Kuljeet Kalkat, Sally Meadows, and Jonathan Weinberg.

Come join us at the Government Affairs meeting Wednesday, October 7 from 9-10 a.m. for discussion with these endorsed candidates. Topical focus will be City & Business Partnership, Leadership & Litigation, and Housing Strategies followed by Q&A.

A Discussion for the Business Community
Wednesday, September 2 9:00-10:00 a.m.

This is an opportunity for the Los Altos business community to meet the candidates for the three open Los Altos City Council seats. 
Each candidate will present for seven minutes to let us about themselves and their visions for Los Altos. 

This is a presentation only, there will not be a Q&A portion of this Government Affairs meeting, but we encourage you to reach out to the candidates after the presentation if you would like to continue the conversation. 

Recording is available on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHSeJF4ptPw&t=116s

Joe Simitian, Santa Clara County Supervisor

Update from Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian
Thursday, August 6th 9:00-10:00 a.m.

You can view the recording on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoKc2zdylic