River Road/Santa Clara Urban Services Committees Final Report and Recommendations

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_ _ CO11/IIVIIT'TEE STATEMENTS o Innovation doesn't happen easily under duress, but if it does, the outcome can be spectacular. The reigning example seems to be Curitiba, Brazil -said to have surpassed Paris as that city in the world residents are most reluctant to leave. Faced with extremely daunting circumstances, the leadership of the Curitiba city government waded in among the people, developed methods to systematically prioritize their service needs, and used the people's input to come up with innovative low cost ways to deliver needed services. Presumably, Curitiba's approach could be adapted anywhere. So, to me, innovation here would call for investing in the corporate culture of our local government, rather than freaking over the operating budget. In a challenging time, hope and confidence and good options are relatively far more critical than squeezing every marginal dollar. We will need fresh vision, new practices, and better public processes. So, perhaps, send the mayor to MIT for the innovation short course; send the city manager to check out Curitiba; bring in the mediation pros from the law school to mitigate posturing in public processes-solidarity may be a sine qua non. Whatever: Underwriting exploration will bring in the new ideas we will need; hoarding, standing pat or playing possum will not. River Road/Santa Clara seems to us where innovation is most needed as we have been `out of sight, out of mind' for a long time. Again, our notion of the simplest solution is to hire a (heroic?) general manager for the River Road Santa Clara transition: To straighten out the immediate problems, to develop a new path that has mainstream endorsement, and to make the transition work for the majority. - Continuing the Quest By V. Margaret McKenney, resident of Santa Clara 30 years; work at River Road Park 15 years; went to school in combination River Road/Santa Clara for 12 years. As the end approaches, for what seemed at times a rather formidable task of analyzing nine specific urban services, as provided to us River Road/Santa Clara residents, I am amazed at the different transitions that have occurred, in both myself and the committee. Keeping it short, what started as a group of individuals, with individual agendas and reasons for joining this committee, has now shaped to be a blended group with one common goal: to accept what has been happening in terms of providing these urban services, as well as address a controversial issue, namely annexation; and to accept that we are all part of the annexation process, whether we realize it or not. Put another way, I have learned that annexation isn't necessarily a bad thing, while staying status quo may not be the right answer either - I have discovered it's been the actual annexation/transition process involving both city planners and River Road/Santa Clara residents, that's been a bumpy ride. 54