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Health & Fitness

Is Your Pet Chipped? Supervisor Wasserman's September 2013 Newsletter

Santa Clara County Animal Care and Control along with our partners are proud to sponsor a FREE rabies vaccination and FREE registered microchip clinic on September 8. The clinic is being held in an effort to reunite lost pets with their owners as quickly as possible. Santa Clara County Animal Control Officers carry microchip scanners in their vehicles. When they pick up a stray animal, they scan it for a microchip, and if the animal has a registered microchip, the officers will return the pet to the owners. Remember a microchip or license tag is your pet’s ticket home! The event will take place at 80 W. Highland Ave., Building K, San Martin 95046 from 12-4pm.

Residents have clearly expressed how important libaries are to them through the ballot box. Voters in the Santa Clara County Library District passed Measure A, a 20 year continuation of the existing parcel tax, by 81 percent! These funds help keep qualified librarians on staff, provide an award-winning bookmobile program, maintain children’s reading programs and purchase needed books and up-to-date research materials. Also this month, thanks to an independent study commissioned by the Santa Clara County Library District, we now know that libraries are not only a great community asset, but they also bring a return on investment for local residents as high as 400 percent! The study conducted by the research firm BERK calculated that for every dollar spent by the Library District, the community received between $2.50 and $5.17 in direct benefits. Researchers looked at the numbers of books in print, youth and teen programs offered by the library and the technology. When those quantifiable benefits are coupled with the community benefits of educating our youth, personal recreation, and lifelong learning, the return on investment is even greater. To learn more about the Return on Investment Study, visit www.sccl.org.

Do you love poetry? The County has begun the application process for selecting the 2014 -2016 Santa Clara County Poet Laureate. The Poet Laureate is an honorary post, created by the Board Supervisors in 2008, whose role is to increase the awareness of poetry in Santa Clara County. A notable achievement of the last Poet Laureate was placing poetry on VTA transit vehicles. The deadline to apply is September 30th. Application guidelines are available at:www.sccgov.org/poetlaureate and at www.svcreates.org. For more information, please contact Silicon Valley Creates atgrant.apps@svcreates.org or 408-998-2787 ext 214.

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VTA has earned the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) highest rating of the “gold standard” for their excellent work in designing a robust security program. TSA took into consideration the agency's security plans, security training, drills/exercise programs, public outreach efforts and background checks. VTA was one of 16 agencies to receive this rating in the entire country! VTA should be commended for keeping our vital transportation system safe.

I had the pleasure of serving as the master of ceremonies for the groundbreaking of Martial Cottle Park on August 9th. Martial Cottle Park, Santa Clara County’s newest park, will be a 300 acre open-space oasis among a desert of housing in the heart of San Jose. Once completed, the park will include a multi-use trail system, visitor center, and provide a glimpse into our agricultural past. A portion of Martial Cottle Park will be set aside for use by City Community Gardens, the University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners, and 4-H and agricultural research programs.

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On August 13th the Board of Supervisors voted to make the calendars of each County Supervisor public. I supported this because I believe that, County business is public business.Calendar information posted will include the date, time, topic, and attendees. For more information: www.sccgov.org/calendar

The Santa Clara County Planning Department is in the process of updating their procedures for public outreach and early notification of development projects and they want to hear from you. On September 5th, the department will be holding a public meeting at the Morgan Hill Community Center, 17000 Monterey St, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. The purpose of this meeting is to gather public input as to how best to achieve this goal. For more information regarding the project, or to sign up be included on a mailing list for the project, or to provide additional feedback, please contact Rob Salisbury at (408)299-5785.

As always, you can reach my office at (408) 299-5010, or you can email me at mike.wasserman@bos.sccgov.org with your comments and concerns.

Mike Wasserman
Santa Clara County Supervisor, District 1
www.supervisorwasserman.com

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