Please join Supervisor Richard Valle in celebrating the season

District 2 Office
24301 Southland Drive, Suite 101
Hayward, CA 94545

Refreshments will be provided.  For more information or to RSVP contact the District 2 office at (510) 272-6692 or District2@acgov.org.

In honor of the holiday season, the District 2 office is asking each attendee to donate an unwrapped toy that will go to a family in need. All donations will be given to local non-profits: Centro de Servicios and Viola Blythe Community Services.

On Tuesday, December 4, 2012 over 250 of LIFE ElderCare’s strong team of volunteers came together to celebrate the holidays and recognize all the hard work each of them do year round.  

LIFE ElderCare volunteers, staff, and board members help some the Tri-City’s most vulnerable population. It is inspiring just how many people of all ages and backgrounds come forward to provide their time and spirit so that those in need might be fed, get help going to the doctor, or even just provide friendship. For 37 years, LIFE has been providing crucial and basic support for the frail and disabled in Newark, Fremont, and Union City so that people can avoid unnecessary institutionalization.   

We thank these heroes – all the volunteers and the staff and board members who help keep the Tri-Cities a wonderful place where we all can live, work, play, and age successfully!

The Niles Rotary Club recently celebrated its 75th anniversary. Niles Rotary Club was founded December 9, 1937 and was the first Rotary Club in southern Alameda County. Since then, Niles Rotary has helped found several other Rotary clubs in the area, including Newark Rotary in 1961 and Fremont Rotary in 1963.

Over the past 75 years the Rotary’s members community service has lead to many improvement projects including, construction of the Central Park par course, boat dock and fishing pier repairs at Lake Elizabeth, landscaping at Niles School and the Rotary Bridgeway Apartments, house painting for elderly low income residents, Niles Canyon Adopt-a-Highway clean-up, tree planting at the Saber Cat Creek trail, and more.

Congratulations Niles Rotary for 75 years of outstanding work and dedication to the citizens of Alameda County!

The New Haven Unified School District (NHUSD) was named one of 16 nationwide winners in the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top-District (RTTT-D) competition.

New Haven’s application was ranked No. 2 out of 372 applicants in the country. The District will receive more than $29 million over the next four-and-a-half years, to personalize student learning, improve student achievement and educator effectiveness, close achievement gaps, and prepare all students to succeed in college and careers.

New Haven Unified serves nearly 13,000 students in Union City and south Hayward.  The District also is the founding partner of the Union City Kids’ Zone, a consortium of agencies and organizations working together to provide comprehensive services for the District’s most vulnerable students and their families.

The District will use the RTTT-D funds to build on and expand its comprehensive K-12 reform strategies – known as the Seven Essentials for Continuous Growth and Improvement -- that focus on making sure that students acquire critical literacy and mathematics skills across the entire grade spans.  The funds will help the District establish highly effective learning environments for all students, in which teachers instantly access a wide variety of educational tools, content and training aligned with the Common Core State Standards adopted by the State of California for implementation in 2014-15.

This past Saturday, the Alameda County Apps Challenge 2012 took place at the Castro Valley Library.  This unique day-long event challenged residents to harness the power of technology and open government to create web and mobile applications that benefit the community.  

Over 20 teams participated in the Apps Challenge.  Participants had 5 hours to create and code an app from scratch to present to the approximately 150 attendees.  Some highlights included an app that allows you to scan a book with your smart phone to check its availability and reserve it at Alameda County Libraries.  Another app was designed by local high school students that allowed users to filter activities and amenities offered at parks throughout the County. 

The Alameda County Apps Challenge 2012 is an offshoot of the Alameda County Data Sharing Initiative. The Data Sharing Initiative is a robust online data portal that has been set up at http://data.acgov.org to provide the public with easy-to-access links to public information about County government.  For more about the Alameda County Apps Challenge 2012, visit to http://code.acgov.org.  

StopWaste.org has announced the return of the Ready Set Recycle contest.  Here’s your chance to win gift cards from Peet’s Coffee, Jamba Juice, Safeway and more.  Simply keep recyclables out of your trash and you could be a random winner.  You can also play the Speed Sorter Game, pledge to recycle, and share your recycling tips. The Ready Set Recycle Contest is designed to reward the good recycling behavior of County residents and help us achieve our long-term recycling goals.

For the recycling rules in your city visit: http://www.readysetrecyclecontest.org/recycling-in-your-city/

For contest rules or more information on the contest visit: http://www.readysetrecyclecontest.org/about-the-contest/

Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are now accepting applications from aspiring and continuing college students for financial assistance through the ERGs' scholarship funds.  At least 100 students will receive $1,000 to $5,000 each for exemplary scholastic achievement and community leadership. 

All college-bound students living within PG&E's Northern and Central California service area are eligible to apply.  To apply for a scholarship, students need to submit a basic and supplemental application. Complete scholarship information, including award criteria and applications can be found at www.pge.com/about/community/scholarships/. 

Completed applications must be uploaded, postmarked or e-mailed to PG&E by February 1, 2013. 

In 2012, the program awarded $302,000 in scholarships to help 163 students with their college expenses.  PG&E's ERGs have awarded scholarships to deserving students for more than 20 years. The funds are collected from PG&E employee contributions, ERG fundraising events, and from PG&E's corporate charitable giving program.

Every two years, EveryOne Home conducts Alameda County's Homeless Count to measure our community's progress towards ending homelessness and to maintain crucial funding for homeless services.  

EveryOne Home needs help, and is asking for 250 volunteers.  On January 30, 2013, the Homeless Count will be conducted across all of Alameda County.  

What is the commitment of volunteering?

• Attend one Volunteer Training Session during January 2013.  Several dates, times, and locations are offered.
• Volunteer during the Homeless Count on Wednesday, January 30, 2013.  Volunteers will serve as interviewers.  In this role, you will meet with homeless service users and ask them survey questions.  Participation is anonymous and voluntary for homeless service users.  EveryOne Home will work to best match your time and location preferences with site operating hours.  Volunteers will be stationed at over 30 locations across Alameda County.

Questions? 
Please contact EveryOne Home at (510) 670-9796 or everyonehome@acgov.org.

The Alameda Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) is accepting applications to fill the vacant alternate public member seat. The deadline for filing an application is Monday, January 7, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. The Commission will review each application and supplemental questionnaire and expects to conduct interviews the week of January 28, 2013. 

LAFCo is responsible for coordinating logical and timely changes in local governmental boundaries, conducting special studies that review ways to reorganize, simplify and streamline governmental structure, and establishing planning spheres of influence (SOIs) for each city and special district within the County. 

The public members represent all Alameda County citizens in an objective and impartial manner.  The alternate Commissioner fully participates in discussions and deliberations, but can only vote when the regular public member is absent or disqualified. 

Applicants must be residents of Alameda County, and cannot be a current board or council member, officer or employee of Alameda County, a City or Special District in Alameda County.   Meetings are typically held on the second Thursday of every odd month (January, March, May, July, September and November) at 4:30 p.m. in Dublin. The appointment term is 4 years. 

If you have questions please contact LAFCo at (510) 271-5142 or Sandra.Hou@acgov.org.  For more information about Alameda LAFCo or to download the application, visit: www.acgov.org/lafco.

Interested in serving Alameda County and your community?

Since 1853, the Board of Supervisors has encouraged citizen involvement and expertise to assist the Board in serving the community.  Citizens who serve on commissions help the Board deal with the many and varied duties and responsibilities of local county government.  The Board relies on these groups to advise them on a wide range of issues affecting their constituencies and to assure they are responsive to community needs. 

District Two currently has vacancies on the following Commissions: 

Commission on the Status of Women
This Commission represents the women of Alameda County in an effort to target specific issues affecting women.  The objective is to maximize social equality and parity for women of all ages.  There are 17 members on the Committee, 3 of which are appointed by the District Two Supervisor, with currently one vacancy.  Members serve a term of 2 years.  Meetings occur the second Wednesday of the month at 5:30 p.m.  Women who are committed to working for social justice on behalf of the women of Alameda County are encouraged to apply. 

Parks, Recreation & Historical Commission
The Commission consists of 15 members appointed by the Board of Supervisors- District 2 currently has two vacancies.  Interested applicants should be a person with substantial interest in history and/or historical preservation or a person with substantial interest in park and recreation matters.  Commissioners serve terms of four years, not to exceed 2 terms.  Meetings are held once a month. 

Tree Advisory Board
The Tree Advisory Board is a five-member board comprised of County residents appointed by the Board of Supervisors.  District 2 currently has one vacancy.  Each board member serves a term of two years and is subject to reappointment.  The objective of the board is to assist the Public Works Agency Director in making policy decisions related to ordinances. Meetings are held monthly. 

Paratransit Advisory and Planning Committee (PAPCO)
PAPCO makes decisions on transportation funding for seniors and people with disabilities to address planning and coordination issues regarding paratransit services in Alameda County. PAPCO members advise Alameda County Transportation Commission on the development and implementation of paratransit programs.  All 23 members must be Alameda County residents who use transportation that supports seniors and people with disabilities.  Members are appointed for a two-year term, and District 2 currently has one vacancy. PAPCO generally meets on every fourth Monday of the month from 1 to 3:30 p.m. at the Alameda CTC offices in Oakland. 

To Apply:
To apply to serve as a District Two appointee, please submit a cover letter explaining why you are interested in the position.  Please include a copy of your resume.  Email the information to district2@acgov.org, attention Michelle/Ruben.