March 26, 2009

Mayor Reed spends busy week

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed spent a busy week launching an organization for viable green businesses, thanking the president, working on Building America’s Future—a program focusing on investment in Americans’ infrastructure—and declaring April “Donate California Life Month.”

In the latter declaration, Reed invited an Almaden donor family, K.C. and Phyllis Monroe, to speak during a March 24 ceremony at the council meeting. He designated the couple as representatives of Donate Life California Month for the city with a proclamation encouraging all Californians to check when applying for or renewing their driver’s license or I.D. card, or by signing up at www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org or www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org.

Mayor Chuck Reed

The Monroe family’s daughter was an organ donor who saved five lives.

More than 100,000 individuals are currently on the national organ transplant waiting list.

Of the 20,000 waiting in California and 812 are San Jose residents. Every 90 minutes one person on the waiting list dies due to the shortage of donated organs.

Donate Life California is a nonprofit, state-authorized organ and tissue donor registry, administered by California’s four nonprofit, federally designated organ procurement organizations, each responsible for facilitating the donation process in the state: California Transplant Donor Network, Golden State Donor Services, Lifesharing and OneLegacy. As a state-authorized public service, the registry assures that all personal information is kept confidential and stored in a secure database, accessible only to authorized organ and tissue recovery personnel.

For more information about the Donate Life California Registry, the process, and how donation saves and improves lives, visit www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org. or www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org.

Last week Reed thanked President Obama and BAF co-chairs Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for their work in focusing on a renewed federal commitment to infrastructure.

Reed is part of the BAF coalition, which is dedicated to smart infrastructure investment – energy systems, roads and bridges, mass transit, water and sewer systems, rail, ports, airports, levees and dams, schools and housing – to enhance the quality of life and safety of our communities, create jobs, and promote energy independence.

“Every year San Jose commuters waste 54 hours in traffic; time they would rather spend at home with their families. Smart infrastructure investment, like the future BART to Silicon Valley connection that will provide 100,000 commuter trips per day, is so critical to our quality of life and economic vitality,” Reed said.

San Jose currently has a backlog of over $500 million in unfunded road repairs and transportation infrastructure needs, according to the city’s Department of Transportation.

While San Jose commuters spend an extra 54 hours in traffic every year, they are wasting on average 38 gallons of fuel, according to the Texas Transportation Institute.

San Jose’s Water Pollution Control Plant is over 50 years old and needs to be upgraded. Studies have identified $1 billion in infrastructure upgrade needs, of which about $250 million in critical items are moving forward in the next five years. The plant also is essential to meeting two other city goals: recycling or beneficially reusing its 100 million gallons per day of treated wastewater, and helping to achieve zero waste by turning biosolids to energy, according to the San Jose Environmental Services Department.

San Jose relies on the California Delta for much its drinking water. A 6.5-earthquake in the Delta could destroy levees and, within four to seven days, obliterate much of California ’s fresh water supply. Providing recycled drinking water is critical to San Jose’s water independence, according to the mayor’s office.

On March 19, Reed launched California Clean Tech Open’s fourth annual competition in San Jose. California Clean Tech Open is an organization dedicated to helping great ideas become viable businesses that will drive the new green economy. A proven catalyst for promoting and fostering early-stage companies innovating in the clean technology arena, the Clean Tech Open brings together a community of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, business leaders, government officials and others to drive economic growth and ensure environmental sustainability.

Reed joined California Energy Commissioner Jeff Byron, New Enterprise Associates General Partner Scott Sandell and previous and potential California Clean Tech Open winners.

Clean Tech Open is a catalyst for clean tech innovation and job creation, and complements San Jose’s Green Vision’s roadmap for 10 ambitious goals for environmental protection and economic development. The 15-year plan envisions: creating 25,000 clean tech jobs; building or retrofitting 50 million square feet of green buildings; installing 100,000 solar roofs (1/10 of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1 million solar roofs for California initiative); reducing per capita electricity use by half; becoming a zero-waste city; recycling and reusing 100 percent of the city’s water; and moving to 100 percent renewable energy. San Jose is a leader in clean energy and solar innovation, with leading corporations such as SunPower, SoloPower, Stion, Nanosolar, Fat Spaniel, SunWize, Sopogy, and others headquartered in the city.

For more information, visit www.sanjoseca.gov/greenvision/.