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City Council attends league conference in Sacramento
Reps look out for Sunnyvale's best interest during annual state meeting
By Jana Seshadri
Almost all the Sunnyvale City Council members attended the annual conference of the League of California Cities in Sacramento from Dec. 18 to 20.
The league is the cities' own organization, which breaks up the state into 16 regional divisions. Officials work together through the LCC to further the common interests of their cities and citizens. The conference provides an opportunity for all California city representatives to get together, exchange ideas, offer support to one another and combine resources so they may influence policy decisions that affect cities.
"More importantly, it's an opportunity to coordinate political lobbying activities at the state level," said Sunnyvale Mayor Fred Fowler, who carried the city's flag during the premiere meeting. "It's no secret that the state is known to take funds away from cities in times of crisis or recession."
According to Fowler, during the recession in the early 1990s, the state confiscated a portion of the property tax, and it hit Sunnyvale pretty hard, forcing the cancellation of many capital projects. Despite the financial crunch, Fowler said the city weathered the storm very well when compared to some of its neighbors.
"We are being very, very watchful right now," Fowler said, alluding to the current economic downturn. Among the many discussions at the conference was a proposed ballot initiative to be included in this year's elections that would safeguard the cities' revenues from the state, he said.
City officials also attended seminars, discussions and policy meetings, in which they looked at legislation and discussed ways to solve issues on the city level. Councilman Jack Walker attended the environmental quality policy meeting, while Councilwoman Pat Vorreiter attended the meeting on housing and economic development. Vice Mayor Julia Miller went to the employee Relations meeting, and Fowler attended the seminar on revenue and taxation.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
