Governor Schwarzenegger

In 14 days, California will have a new governor.
Last week, I joined our current governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and first-lady Maria Shriver, for a special dinner as he concluded his seven years of service.
Governor Schwarzenegger leaves Sacramento still viewed globally as an international super-star, but with a paltry 25 percent approval rating in the golden state.
Regardless of your view of the governor, let’s consider his solid successes since 2003:
• Historic workers compensation reform
• $20 billion in statewide transportation improvements, and another $20
billion for housing, water & school construction
• $760 million in state support for BART to Silicon Valley
• Governance reforms including re-districting and the open primary
• Significant steps forward for pension reform
• Historic climate change legislation to limit greenhouse gases
His compensation - $1 annually. Love, like or hate him, he put
California first and for that I salute him.

California-The Golden State

The Golden State is, well, out of Gold. A shortfall of 25 billion - that's billion with a "B" - is expected over the next 18 months.

We could eliminate California's entire prison and higher education systems and still not have enough money to close the gap.

California needs solutions along with some serious soul-searching. Tough decisions need to be made:

* First, voters want pension reform. It is not a short-term solution, but it is part of the long-term answer to a balanced state budget.
* Second, with a Legislature suffering from a 17 percent approval rating, voters want trust restored in their state government. On-time, balanced budgets will require more governance and fiscal reforms like those proposed by California Forward.
* Third, any talk of more taxes must first be predicated on adequately addressing the two previous items.
* Finally, if taxes are on the table, we must get away from the "tax the other guy" approach. If something is important to California's success, then all Californians must play a part in paying for it.

The Golden State can shine again - but only if each of us commit the time, talent and treasure to get there.

This year's Turkey Trot was a great success

On Thanksgiving morning, more than 14,000 community members gathered together in downtown San Jose. Their purpose? To personally participate in the sixth annual applied materials “Silicon Valley Turkey Trot,” founded by the Silicon Valley leadership group.

This 5-k run & walk, and 10-k run – after just six years – is now one of the largest “turkey trots” in the United States, out of more than 300 Thanksgiving day races.

While “large” is good, “having a positive impact” is better. Consider these results:
• 14,113 people paid to participate
• They were supported by nearly 900 community volunteers
• We raised more than $400,000 to help our valley’s most needy families
• We collected an additional 11,885 pounds of food for second harvest
through our Synaptics "Can Do Challenge".
• Nearly 600 children participated in our Lucile Packard Kids Fun Run

Silicon Valley may consist loosely of 40 cities in portions of four
counties- but each Thanksgiving morning, we come together as one
community at the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot.