The following transcript is provided for your convenience, but does not represent the official record of this meeting. The transcript is provided by the firm that provides closed captioning services to the City. Because this service is created in real-time as the meeting progresses, it may contain errors and gaps, but is nevertheless very helpful in determining the gist of what occurred during this meeting. 1 The 2013 State of the City Address >> Brian: Before we begin our program, we would like to acknowledge the many elected officials attending this evening's event. From the County of Santa Clara, please welcome: Supervisors Dave Cortese, George Shirakawa, Joe Simitian, Mike Wasserman, and Ken Yeager. Superior Court Judge Vanessa Zecher. District Attorney Jeff Rosen And of course, County Assessor Larry Stone. I'll pause for a boo here. >> Keri: No booing. We also have with us today: Mexican Consul General Carlos Ponce Martinez. State Senator Jim Beall Santa Clara valley Water District Board Members Barbara Keegan and Linda LeZotte. And former San José mayor Tom McEnery. >> Brian: We are also joined by Elected Officials from a number of our neighboring cities, including: Mayor Elizabeth Lewis from Atherton. Mayor Steve Tate and Councilmember Larry Carr from Morgan Hill. And councilmember Chuck Page from Saratoga. Councilmember Jeff Cristina from Campbell. >> Keri: And finally, we would like to extend a greeting to the many Board Members from the Santa Clara County Office of Education and San José's 19 School Districts. Please welcome these special guests with a warm round of applause. [applause] ∂ ∂ ∂ [ ∂music∂ ] >> Keri: We begin tonight by introducing San José's elected leaders, your San José City Council. Would you please enter and have a seat on stage as we call your names. Councilmembers Pete Constant of District 1, councilmember Sam Liccardo much District 3. Xavier Campos of district 5. Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen of district 7. And councilmember Don Rocha of district 9. [applause] >> Brian: And please welcome the other members of the City Council. Councilmembers Ash Kalra of District 2, Kansen Chu of District 4, Pierluigi Oliverio of District 6, Rose Herrera of District 8, and Johnny Khamis of District 10. [cheering and applause] 2 >> Brian: And finally, please welcome the distinguished mayor of San José. Chuck Reed, whom you will hear from later in the program. [applause] >> Keri: Welcome to you all, distinguished guests, members of the City Council, and you, ladies and gentlemen, the citizens of San José. We now will begin the program for the 2013 State of the City address. I am now pleased, very pleased actually, to introduce my co-host for this evening's event, Brian Adams. Brian is Vice President for Advancement at Bellarmine College Preparatory, a position that he has held for the past six years. Prior to joining Bellarmine, Brian enjoyed a long career in media and public relations - and remember all those dialing for dollars? Still heard though each week he is on radio stations KLIV and KRTY. as a third-generation resident of San José, Brian is very involved in the community, through such organizations as the American Cancer Society, Hospice of the Valley, and the Rotary Club of San José. I'm happy to say that Brian was also among the first men appointed to the Board of the YWCA of Silicon Valley. >> Brian: Thank you. [applause] >> Brian: Thank you very much and I'm also very pleased to introduce my co-host for this evening, Keri Procunier McLain who has been the CEO of YWCA Silicon Valley for the past fifteen years. Prior to her current position at the YW, Keri was the Director of Agnews State Hospital and developmental center for more than 15 years. In fact, she was the first woman ever appointed by a California Governor to direct a State Hospital and Developmental Center. Keri is also someone who knows A bit about elected office herself, having served as a councilmember for the City of Santa Clara and a Trustee for the West Valley Mission Community College District. Keri continues to be very active in the community through her involvement with civic organizations like the Rotary Club of San José, Soroptimist International and the Mission City Community Fund. Please acknowledge Keri Mclain. [applause] >> Brian: Many people are aware of the good work performed by Kiwanis Clubs throughout the region. But you may not know that Kiwanis also sponsor Key Clubs at local high schools, where the next generation of leaders is 3 learning how to contribute to their community. Please welcome members of the Willow Glen High School Key Club, who will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. [ pledge of allegiance ] >> Keri: Please be seated. We would now like to welcome to the stage Ms. Erika Robertson. Erika is a native Californian who has lived in the Bay Area for over 18 years. She is a true renaissance girl. Erika holds a BFA in Fashion Design from the Art Institute of California - San Francisco, is versed in visual and performing arts, and is a self-described Science Geek. She is representing Silicon Valley in the 2013 Miss California USA pageant and over the next year will be donating much of her time and energy to raising funds for three essential human needs: clean water, food, and housing. Erika will now perform one of our, nation's most favorite songs. America the beautiful. ∂ O beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain ∂ ∂ for purple mountain majesties ∂ ∂ above the fruited plain ∂ ∂ America, America ∂ ∂ God shed his grace on thee ∂ ∂ and crown thy good ∂ ∂ with brotherhood ∂ ∂ from sea to shining sea ∂∂ [applause] >> Brian: Delivering this evening's invocation is Pastor Oscar Dace from the Bible Way Christian Center in San José. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Dace. [applause] >> Pastor Dace: To the mayor, city council, officials, brothers and sisters. Friends and elders. Peace be unto you and may God's mercy and his blessings always be yours. Let us stand now for the invocation. Almighty God, creator of the heavens and the earth, we give you glory and honor and respect. Thank you for the families in which we were born. Thank you for the roof over our heads and all of the blessings, and we do not want to take anything that you have given us for granted. We are grateful to live in this wonderful city where the possibilities of happiness and success are so favorable. Though not perfect we are fortunate to call San José our home. Give our mayor and city council the wisdom to lead, the courage to cooperate, the passion to find new and creative solutions to today's serious and complex challenges. We pray for all elected and appointed officials and leaders. We want them to govern with wisdom and love. Give us victory over negativity and divisiveness. Create unity and peace among us. Protect our hopes, and dreams, that are yet unborn. Thank you for our diversity. And our gifts and talents, thank you for the zeal that we have for success in this city, and let us continue to live in harmony. Forgive us of our wrongs that we have done to others and to ourselves. Help us to learn and grow and 4 share together. And with whatever levels of prosperity and success we have, let us never forget the disenfranchised. The homeless, the poor, those who seem to fade into invisibility. We pray for the city as a whole and we pray for our families, our youth, our children, our marriages. We pray for our community to have safety, so that our children may travel to and from school in peace and safety. We pray for our seniors who are so often lonely and left out. We pray for our communities of faith. I pray that we all can work together for the common good. We pray for our transformation for all those who are hopeless who are forgotten, who may be addicted to drugs and mental illness and who are sick or afflicted in some way. We pray for our veterans, who have risked so much for us. We pray for our first responders. Our police and firemen and paramedics. We pray for our institutions and colleges and schools and hospitals, city workers and all who work and serve in those areas. We pray for our churches, temples, and mosques, and synagogues, and all other places of worship. Protect our neighborhoods from violence in all of its ugly forms. We pray for jobs and businesses and freedom and security, we pray for peace throughout each neighborhood. Lord, enable us to end racism in us, poverty in all forms of injustice, unable us to have compassion for all people. O God enable us to stand for righteousness for grass roots democracy, for equal access to health care. Empower us to stand up for nonviolence, for community-based economics, for equality for everyone, enable us to celebrate diversity and to focus on the future growth and development of our fair city. Heavenly father, please motivate each of us to make time regularly to volunteer, and serve, in our local communities. Lord, please allow our city to serve as a beacon of hope and a place of healing. Enrich us for ideas for healthy families and neighborhoods. Let our city continue to be a welcoming place to live, work play and worship. Great I am, help us to feel refreshed and energized and to approach each new day with renewed strength and vigor. Your word declares that if we acknowledge you in all our ways you will direct our path.