Caltrain

Here’s food for thought . . . It was 1863 – Abraham Lincoln was president – when Caltrain service between San Francisco and San José began.
Fast forward 150 years, and this venerable service is at risk of going away.
The popular line, running 79-miles from Gilroy to San Francisco, carries 42,000 daily passenger trips, has one of the highest fare-box returns in California – yet has no dedicated source of revenue to fund its daily operations. Bart has a parcel tax, VTA, SF-Muni and SamTrans each have a sales tax – Caltrain has nothing.
Does it impact you? If we lose Caltrain, we will need the equivalent of 2.5 new freeway lanes of traffic on highways 101 or 280 to simply maintain today’s current sluggish conditions.
Join the Silicon Valley leadership group to identify and implement thoughtful solutions to keep Caltrain running. Visit svlg.org. We can – we must - save Caltrain.

Steve Jobs

In a Valley known globally for innovation and entrepreneurship, Steve Jobs is a first among equals.

He co-founded apple with Steve Wozniak, came back to revive the company years later, and came back again after his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer and a liver transplant.

Sadly, he has announced an indefinite leave of absence, once again, to focus on his health.

I have never met nor worked with Steve Jobs, yet like millions of people across our nation and world, I have been touched by apple's technology and innovation. I typed this Food for Thought message on my Mac Book Pro, jogged this morning listening to my iPod, and watched a weekend movie with my six-year old daughter on our iPad.

His visionary leadership is looked upon by other CEO's. When I ask executives which CEO they most admire, the most common response is Steve Jobs.

Many media stories right now are focused on the future of Apple. That is understandable and important. At such a time as this, however, let's focus first on the future of Steve Jobs and his family. Yes, he is a technology giant. He is also a human being - a husband, a father and friend.

Steve, our thoughts and our prayers are with you. May you recover completely and return quickly.

Civic unrest

The tragedy in Tucson, AZ serves as a stark reminder that our nation needs to be knit back together.

All too often, partisan politicians attack individuals rather than ideas; some in the media reward those who divide us rather than unite us; and even religious leaders on occasion offer anger over mercy and grace.

Yet we live in a valley where wonderful role models survive and thrive.

My friend and mentor, Tom Campbell reminds us we can disagree without being disagreeable, that we can use "soft words but hard arguments."

Jim Cunneen, former state assemblyman and former CEO of the Chamber of Commerce is a living example of effective service. As Chamber CEO, he strengthened an institution with numerous policy and political successes, always respecting, rather than reviling, those with different points of view.

At the Mercury News, thoughtful columnists like Mike Cassidy and Gary Richards have strong opinions, but their words build bridges, rather than burn them down.

CEO's like Aart de Geus and Mike Splinter balance global business acumen with local civic engagement.

Let's model those who lift others up, rather than reward those who tear others down.

Gov. Brown needs "game changers"

As California welcomes a new governor, he must welcome a new era of business competitiveness to create and retain jobs in the golden state.
As I wrote in a recent op-ed for San Jose Mercury News, California needs "game changers" to strengthen our business climate to compete with regions around the nation and world.
The Silicon Valley Leadership Group is preparing a white paper on economic competitiveness for Governor Brown, covering the following items:
• An economic development strategic plan, with the governor as our chief recruitment and retention officer.
• A K-12 and higher education system that tracks each student, ensuring each dollar invested offers the best return for each child.
• Rewarding companies that invest in California, encouraging them to stay here and grow here.
• A renewable energy strategy that ensures that 33 percent of the energy we use is from clean sources by 2020.
• A statewide transportation system that we adequately fund.
• Restore trust in government with serious pension, governance and budget reform.
Silicon Valley CEOs and citizens want results from our state government and have high hopes for our new governor. He shouldn’t veer California to the extreme left or right. He should simply move California ahead.

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.