Vice President Karen welcomed everyone to the friendly El Cerrito Rotary Club

Visiting Rotarians and Guests: Sec Dr. John introduced our two visiting Rotarians from Richmond Rotary.

Announcements:

• Michael D accompanied Tracy and reported on the Rotary Club Reno Fun Train trip on January 13, 2008.  Michael provided a great handout with all the information so that we could make a decision about going on this great trip.  Be sure and give Michael and answer by the end of October so that you will be assured of having a seat.  Although the deadline is November 29th, getting your reservation in early is always a good thing.
  
  
• Lee has a great idea for a fund raiser for us this year and demonstrated it with a rock, paper, scissors game with everyone and then shared the announcement of an event in Napa where there is a $2500 prize for the winner of the event.  This type of event can be a big fundraiser if it is done properly and Lee believes we could do that – What Do You Think?!!!
  
  

Happy Dollars: Kevin is happy about getting the permit for his Tofu-Yu kitchen.  He also pointed out the launching of the  website at www.TofuYu.com.  Mike G is happy to be at Rotary.  Jane is $5 happy about the results of the Ambassador Rally with the Richmond Chamber and the new electrical and carpeting by Mike G and Joe C.  John F is happy about Jack Freethy sharing the news of a new grandchild.  Dr. John is happy about his Grandson’s third birthday.  Neal is happy about the work Ilhami did for him as he got his permit in good order.



Today’s Guest Speaker:

Tracy introduced Jerry Bradshaw El Cerrito’s Dept of Public Works Director along with Mary Dodge the city finance mgr who accompanied Jerry.  Today’s presentation was done to bring us up to date on the issue of street maintenance in our fair city.  The issue of city streets is something that is an ongoing concern by both citizens and city officials alike. 

The current state of El Cerrito’s streets is that overall we rank in the bottom ten of Bay Area cities.  There are sixty eight miles of streets in the city and they are in three categories:  Arterial, Collector, and Residential.  The rating system for the streets is called the PCI and is a scale of 1 to 100.  the arterial streets rate 80 on the scale, collector streets rank 68 on the scale and residential streets get a rating of 38.  When combined the overall rating for our streets is 51. 

What this means is our streets need maintenance, especially the residential streets.  The real challenge is how to generate the $20 million that it will require to move the entire street inventory to a 70 PCI.  The City Council is attempting to decide what mechanism would be the most favorable to generate the revenue. 

The two options are sales tax or partial tax.  Since the State or Federal govt does not provide any resources this is something that the community will have to do.  The overarching question is what can be done that will get this done.  There will be a number of community information meetings that citizens are encouraged to attend.  Perhaps the results can be a mixture of funding sources. 

The bottom line is that we are going to have to do this in some way unless we want to have El Cerrito become a city with crappy streets.  Perhaps it is a good reminder that we are ultimately responsible for the well being of our city and as property owners we need to make a commitment to maintain our city without expecting the government to do it.  What do you think?

Genie Stone Winner:  Rod had his ticket pulled for the magic stone. 

Lottery Winner: Postponed until next week.

Interact Corner by Gary Buffon– Rotary club advisor to Interact:
The board meeting last Saturday resulted in the creation of the annual calendar of activities for the club.  There will be two or three activities with grammar schools as well as doing a project with one of the Teachers at ECHS.  In addition, the club is anxious to work with the Rotary club to help in a fund raiser or community service project.  We just have to tell them what and when.



Thought for the week:
The world is filled with willing people; some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.
--Robert Frost

B & T BOOKKEEPING BRODY AND TRACY GILES BOOKKEEPING PAYROLL TAX PREPARATION 3020 EL CERRITO PLAZA EL CERRITO CA 94530 510-528-8411 (Office) EL CERRITO LIGHTING ED CANEPA 10330 SAN PABLO AVENUE EL CERRITO, CA 94530 (510) 525-3266 SUNSET VIEW CEMETERY ASSOCIATION MICHAEL J. KLINGER, PRESIDENT MORTUARY - CREMATORY ­ URN GARDENS CEMETERY 101 COLUSA AVE PO BOX 187 EL CERRITO, CA 94530-3187 (510) 525-5111 BEST INN KANTI PATEL 6009 Potrero Avenue El Cerrito, CA 94530 1-800 237-8466 www.sfbaylodgings.com V-K - ENGINEERING, INC. ILHAMI M. KARACA STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS 830 BANCROFT WAY, BERKELEY, CA 94710 510-845-1985 TRADEWAY STORES COMPLETE HOME FURNISHINGS 10860 SAN PABLO AVE. EL CERRITO, CA 94530 (510) 232-2263 (510) 529-2360

MORE CAR CO. RICH WEYENETH 3635 SAN PABLO DAM ROAD (Next to the Shell Station) EL SOBRANTE 510 222-MORE EAST BAY SANITARY CO., INC. MARK FIGONE, MANAGER SERVING EL CERRITO FOR OVER 50 YEARS PO BOX 1316 EL CERRITO, CA 94530 (510) 237-4321 NORGE CLEANERS JANIS SADLER 398 SAN PABLO AVE. ALBANY, CA 94706 (510) 526-3850 EL CERRITO ELECTRIC Co. MIKE GONZALEZ EMERGENCY SERVICES Competitively Priced, Free Estimates 10362 SAN PABLO AVENUE EL CERRITO, CA 94530 State Lic. # 434152 PHONE: 527-3807 FAX: 527-3975 YOUR AD COULD BE HERE Put your name here and remind your fellow Rotarians what you do Contact Tracy Giles for info JOHN C. HOAGLAND, D.P.M. PODIATRIST DISEASES, INJURIES & SURGERY OF THE FOOT EL CERRITO PLAZA PROF BLDG #223 EL CERRITO, CA 94530 (510) 526-4112