Affordabilitv

Prevention

Spirit

State of the County Address
Supervisor James T. Beall, Jr.

Chairman, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
January 31, 2001

Good evening.

Tonight, I m going to talk about what's happened in the past year.
I m also going to talk about what we should work on in the future.

Before I continue, I'd like to talk about my family.

(acknowledge Pat, introduce family members in attendance)
Tonight, I'm going to address an emerging issue that is affecting all of us

the

crisis of affordability in Santa Clara Valley.
I am going to describe four things that we can do to address this crisis. I'll talk

about Housing and Energy. And I'll talk about Prevention and our County
Workforce. I m going to start by talking about how my own family experienced a
housing crisis.

When I was fourteen, my family's house was damaged by fire. We couldn't find a
place where the entire family could stay. For three months we lived apart with
different friends and relatives. It was a difficult time. Although we had shelter, we
were homeless. We were fortunate to be able to afford to rebuild our home. That
was in 1966.

Today, as a family of 12, if our house burned down, I don't think we could afford
to rebuild here.

Our community has changed a lot.

Santa Clara County has led the nation through a period of extraordinary
economic growth. Prosperity has improved the lives of many in Santa Clara
Valley, but not all.

A lot of people struggle every month to pay their rent or their mortgage. The
median priced home in Santa Clara County is affordable to only 16% of our
residents. Housing is a precious commodity.

We have a crisis of affordability here in the valley, and it is directly or indirectly
affecting all of us. My nieces and nephews tell me how their favorite teachers

have moved away. Every city in the area is struggling to recruit for their police
and fire departments. At least one member of our Sheriff's department lives out

of his RV. because he can only afford to drive home to the Central Valley on the
weekends.

So tonight I am announcing that we're creating a Countywide Housing Action
Plan. We must take the next 180 days and work together as partners to prepare
a plan to address this crisis. We need to re-think the county's past role and
make changes. We need to build more affordable homes. That is the bottom
line. We need to build housing close to transit.

Many in the community are talking about the crisis of affordability and are doing
their part to tackle it. But it's like our efforts are different voices in a song. We're
not singing together. We need to bring together the Mayor Ron Gonzales'
Housing Production Team with the Council of Churches, ACORN, and others.

Together we must do what it takes to build more homes while preserving the
quality of life we all want.

We need to look at ways that County surplus property could be used to build

housing. We can iook at establishing a revolving land trust. The County several
years ago co-founded the Housing Trust Fund with the Silicon Valley

Manufacturing Group and others. Today we can do more by helping our Housing
Trust Fund reach our goais. I believe that my fellow board members will once
again support a contribution during the budget.

Whether we are talking about the cost of housing, or just trying to pay our energy
bill, we all have a story to tell.

How do our low-income seniors and families manage with the increasing cost of
electricity and gas? They're being forced to choose between nutrition and paying
their energy bills.

We can do something about this.

The Board of Supervisors should create an Energy Task Force charged with
writing a County Energy Plan to lead us into the next decade.

Conservation should be one of the key elements in our plan. Our County has 157
buildings. We can figure out ways of conserving power in all our County facilities
— at least ten percent. Implementation of some methods of conservation could

start immediately. Honestly, we need to look at ways of providing energy over the

long term for the whole county, including generating our own power and keeping
it clean. If the Cities of Palo Alto and Santa Clara can do it, then so can we. We
are preparing to step up to the challenge, together as a Board.

I d Iik6 to toll you a story that Dr. Martin Luthar King told about Lazarus. A
b699^'' namad Lazarus was passad by a rich man daily. Yat it was Lazarus who

andad up in haavan and tha rich man didn't. Wa should ramambar this story.
Navar turn our backs on thosa in our community who naad us. With all tha
aconomic waalth in this county, wa should ba abia to solva-thasa kinds of
problems, and not laava anybody out.

Wa naad to revive our community spirit. We naad to raspact aach othar. We
need to ramova stigmas that craata barriers to success.

We have a lot of people gatharad in this room who are trying to help. You do it
because you believe in tha spirit of hblping, You do it because you baliave in tha
community and want to make yours a batter place to live.

One of tha ways that wa help our community is through prevention.

Tha Board of Supervisors emphasizes prevention approaches to problems faced
by seniors, children, and families in our community. Supervisors Alvarado,
Gaga, McHugh, Simitian and myself have all invested, Lthink wisely, in
prevention programs.

I anticipate wa will continue to do so with newly elected Supervisor Liz Kniss.
Supervisor Kniss has a strong record of regional accomplishment, leadership,
and energy. We welcome her to the Board and look forward to her vision.

This year one of our major goals will be to carry out the Children's Health
Initiative. We as a Board will work with the Santa Clara Family Health

Foundation, PACT, Working Partnerships, and others to provide every child in
our County access to health insurance. By doing this we will prevent health
problems from developing in our kids.

Another major goal this year will be implementing Proposition 36. With the help of
District Attorney George Kennedy, Judge Steven Manley and the Department of
Drug and Alcohol Services, we will provide drug treatment to those suffering from
addiction. We can help prevent people from returning to crime and incarceration.

While investing in prevention, we have also achieved something unique in
California. The Board's wise financial management and the stewardship of our
County Executive Richard Wittenberg have enabled us to have the best bond

rating in the State of California. At the same time, we have built up our financial
reserves and we have continued to invest in our community. We will continue to
make sure that the County spends your money wisely.
Now, for a personal commitment for this year, I would like to engage our
community in a discussion on how to remove the stigmas placed on those

suffering from mental illnesses. We need to reconsider how we think of this
group of people. I hope to hear from you.

So far, I've talked about Housing, Energy, and Prevention. The last thing I'll talk
about tonight is our County workforce. Right now, out of sixteen thousand

positions, we have over thirty-four hundred vacancies in our County. This is the
same problem that many private businesses face here in Santa Clara Valley. We
need to find creative ways of attracting and retaining employees. We have to
ensure that all our employees who are so committed to public service are going
to be rewarded with the special treatment they deserve. We must make a

commitment to our employees for their lifelong personal and professional
development. We should focus on addressing some of the special concerns
created here by the high cost of living, with options like low interest home loans.

To make a career of public service attractive to young people in our community,
we could expand internships and scholarships in all departments in the county.
There is nothing I have found over my years in public service, nothing more
rewarding than to mentor a young person toward a career in Public Service. And

my commitment will always be to have interns in my office. I ask that all
departments follow my example.

As I close, I would like issue a challenge to all of you.

We have all seen prosperity in our Valley. We now need to make sure everyone
shares in our success.

Healthy children, a reliable power supply, and more affordable housing are the
top goals this year. I challenge-all of you
to make those goals a reality.
Thank you.