The Key piionties are stopping crime
Ixiilcling partnerships, and health care and welfare solutions

hdifor's note: Jhis is a roinii. usr'd rcr-

Slim of lltc S/iilr of(hr ('otnth/ s/irri h drlirrrrd hi/ .fhn [h idl 'J'lirsdiii/ ci <•/////^/,
irhrii hr (inik on r as chair of(In- Saula
('(lira (hmnlij Hoard if Sniirrrlsors.
I’.v Ji.\i IJk.m.i,

S^^ONMGHT represents a new begin-

^
ning for Santa Clara County. And jis
to we begin, we have much to be

proud of.

Whether in technology or innovative
public policy, Santa Clara County is push
ing the enveloiie. We are literally redefm-

i’.ig the cutting edge.
In 1097, our challenge will be to be even

more innovative
and creative. We
have to ensure

lence.

A third [)noiity arc pnhiic/private part
nerships for a healthy .Santa Clara Valley.

Today 200,000 hard-working, liottost

county residents arc without itealth insur
ance. W'e usually see Lheni when they be
come seriously ill and come to the county
hos|)ital. a cost of -$00 million to the coun
ty last yetir.

challenge of providing health care to all of
our conuminity. Every employer needs to
W

every family in San
ta Clara County.

offer basic health insurance to its workers.

I will convene, not a “round" but “oper
ating" table of businesses, hospitals, mmprolUs and local government leaders to
develop some options.

I see two linked

es emerging

Another key priority will be welfare.

year:

This is perhaps our biggest challenge.
How do we cope with cuts in funding for

The fiist is part

cal. slate ai^d fe(.It'ral government lead

nniuily-hiLst'tl el'foils to rediiee and t)reveni violence, efforts to combai giin vio
lence, and prcvcitLing \vork[)lace vio

.get t(» the fiscal ER, we need to meet the
V %

art- available to

nership: With the
community, with lo

ehidini' Sania Clara Covinly residenl.s in
oveiy juspecT of llio plan.
This plan nnist incliKle sclu;ol anti com-

lieforc we have lt> lake the county hud-

pros|)erily and
work opportunities

I..

mcuii i(j (k'velo[) a ccjmnuiiiity aclioii plan
loi V iolonce prevention. This mean.s in-

poor families, the elderly and disabled in a
practical and comimssionate way?

Jim Beall

As usual. Santa Clara is a step ahead of

other counties in developing solutions.

ers. and with businc,sses.

The second theme is prevention, frevenlion activities not only improve the
quality of life, but arc the moadly and fis
cally sound way to govern.
W hat I’d like to do hero is touch on fi ve

priorities for the county this year:

Starting a year ago. a cross section of our
community came together to develop the
Employment .Sin)port Initiative.
W'e will also launch a new. e.x|)anded
Housing Tnist to help meet the need for
affordable housing.
.As I listened to Gov. Pete Wilsons Slate

The fi rst is transiiortation.

the key to our continued eco

nomic success. Our tran.sportation systems must run as effi

ciently and quickly as the mi-

cro[noccssors that we design
for the world.

Twelve years ago, voters en

trusted us with more than S1.2

billion for transportation pro-

iv'cts. I am proud that we
brought those projects in on
lime and on budget.
With the passage of Measure
15. the county has additional fi

The fust “T" is transjjorlalion funding.
The .state i'udgel lacks adequate funding

to ensure that |>eople can get to lheir.jv)bs.

The second “'f is training. The gover

nors ljuilget doesn't begin to fund job
Ir.iining needs.'I'oday we hav«' a waiting

list ot lO.OUU people on welfare who want

.joli training and want to go back to work.
Vet the governor’s budget only provides
fumling to train 1.500 adilitional people.
Thi.s makes no sense.

The third "T is toddler ami child care,

ruder the governors budget, we're at

least $10 million short of what’s needed.

I am plea.sed that the governor doesn’t
want to eliminate benefits to legal inunigrant.s. However, the budget will cut home

support sen ices to 1,500 elderly and dis-

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that let them remain in their own homes

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nursing homes.

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instead of warehousing them in expensive

BART service.

Another key priority is crime preven

tion. People deseive to feel safe. The con

tinued rise of violence, especially among

young pcoi)lc, is veiy disturbing.
Stopping crime and violence requires a
collaborative api)roach by law enforce-

of the State si)cech last week and re
viewed the state budget, I became increas
ingly concerned about how we will ensure
that the elderly, children and the disabled

are protected. I am concerned about how

we will help adults prepare to return to

the workforce.

1 give the governor credit for commit-

iLng to give counties the flexibility to de
sign welfare to work programs that will fi t

\

W hat does it say about our values if vve

cut lifeline semces to them? Welt, we're

not that kind of community.

The Slate has to fuml us to do a good
job with transpvirtation, training and tod

dler :md ehiki care. I ask each of you to
work with me to lobby the Legislature on
these is.sui's.

I

Tliis y ear we’ll work hard to bring the

county to the people. I will recuiumend

that we hold some board meetings at

night and others in the neigliborhoods. 1
am also pleased that board agendas and
materials will soon be available free on

the Internet.

iNow. prov iding good seivices is only

part of the equation. We must maintain

our good credit and our fiscal solvency.
This means meeting our
obligations to pay for Retiree
Health and Workers Compen

and want to go back to work. Yet the gover
nor’s budget only provides funding to train
1,500 additional people. This makes no sense.

al fund. Wc have authorized bonds to benprovements along Highway 87, fi x
|. ..oles and plan for a connection to

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allied jicople in our county — semces

The governor’s budget doesn’t begin to fund job
training needs. Today we have a waiting list of
10,000 people on welfare who want job training

nancial resources in our gener

Copyrighted material reprinted with permission. For educational use only.

)

sation, rather tlian going into
debt as we have in the i)usl.

When I wiis fi rst elected two

years ago, this was one of the
fi rst projects Blanca Alvarado

and I took on. and I am

plea.scd that we have reduced

ov erhead despite shrinking
budgets. Uy keeping our fi nanrial house in order, we

can increase our bond ratings
and retain the trust of taxpayers.

At the beginning of my presentation, I
mentioned that Santa Clara County was

on the cutting edge of the world. I want to

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leave us with a thought on why we are so

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who work with us in the county to work
harrier than the peo[)le we seive, to work

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phenontenally successful. Our secret is
because we work hard. Really hard.
I challenge the fi ne men and women
loneer that those in S.arramento and

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