Dear Friend:

As we begin the New Year, it is a time to reflect and take notice of what we have accomplished during the previous year. As I was doing this, I realized that in a year where most of us were struggling, Sunnyvale pushed through and we accomplished many important tasks that will continue to make our great city thrive financially as well as bring a sense of community back.

As many of you know, I began my first year as Mayor in January 2008. Since I was first elected to the City Council in November 2005, I have been utilizing my time to understand the issues and concern of the community. My goal has always been to bring strength and vitality back to Sunnyvale. I have brought many ideas forth that I believed would give us the stepping stones we need to make Sunnyvale once again the Heart of Silicon Valley.

With the retirement announcement by Amy Chan, we knew that one of our biggest challenges during 2008, would be to identify and hire a new City Manager that understands our past but can be an integral part of our future. We created many panels made up of business leaders, community activists, labor and city commissioners to ensure that we covered a large cross section of individuals within our city to make sure our new City Manager reflected the true needs of our community as a whole. I am pleased to inform all of you that on December 2, 2008, Gary Luebbers started as the new City Manager for Sunnyvale. I for one, am extremely excited about working with Gary. In such a short time, he has proved that we definitely made the right decision and the Sunnyvale residents will reap the benefit.

Being a resident of Sunnyvale for over 30-years, I have the personal history to remember all of the things that made Sunnyvale great in my mind. Many years ago, Sunnyvale had an annual Pet Parade that was open to everyone. It was a small way to bring the community together in a personal way so that we could get to know each other based on common interests. When I became Mayor, bringing back the Pet Parade was a goal based on my overall desire to create the community environment which will allow us to thrive on the many levels needed for Sunnyvale. On October 26, 2008, we had our first annual Pet Parade in downtown Sunnyvale. It was a complete success with the number of parade participants and the vendors that came out to share their knowledge and insight.

Over the past year, I have expanded the Mayor’s Roundtable to included leaders in business, education and community. My goal was to bring this diverse group together to brainstorm on new ideas that would benefit Sunnyvale as a whole. Through these efforts, I have created a number of Sub Committee’s from the Roundtable group to bring forth new ideas and solutions that can be reviewed and ultimately utilized by the city. The three main committee’s are:

* Paramedic Committee
* Transportation Committee
* Read by 3rd Grade Committee

My first order of business as Mayor was to institute Mayor’s Office Hours. I am available in the office every Monday from 1:00 – 4:00 PM to meet with all members of the community. This has been a complete success. I have had the opportunity to meet with so many individuals from cross sections of the community from residential to business. These meetings have given me a new perspective and understanding of what our community as a whole is going through as well as how we can make a difference in Sunnyvale.

I have enjoyed getting to know more of the community over the past three years on the Sunnyvale City Council. It has been so important to me to get to know so many of you and celebrate your personal and professional successes as well as working with you to overcome and surpass your struggles. I continue to take great pride in Sunnyvale as a whole and believe that I do make a positive difference.

So, taking all of this into consideration, I would like to take this opportunity to announce that I will be running for Re-election to Sunnyvale City Council this year. During my next four year term, I pledge to continue my determination to bring Sunnyvale together through community and fiscal responsibility.

I continue to welcome your thoughts on all that has been accomplished and where you believe we need to focus on for the future.

I once again, respectfully ask for your support and your vote on Tuesday, November 3, 2009.

Happy New Year to you and your family.

Regards,
Tony