Most San Rafael residents are satisfied with their city, San Rafael Mayor Gary Phillips announced recently at the 29th annual State of the City Awards.
An independent research group city officials hired this year determined that “San Rafael ranks among the highest satisfaction scores in all of California,” Phillips said in front of a packed ballroom at the March 7 San Rafael Chamber of Commerce State of the City Awards and Taste of San Rafael at the Embassy Suites Hotel in San Rafael. “We know by this survey that some things are going pretty well in San Rafael and we should be proud of that.”
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During his speech, Phillips highlighted many of the city and San Rafael council’s accomplishments in the last year (including tighter open alcohol container laws – which he humorously addresses in the video above) while sharing priorities for 2013.
Near the top of the priority list is continuing to combat homelessness in the city, Phillips said, and the city is taking a multi-pronged approach this year that includes:
- Hiring a mental health officer to work in the San Rafael Police Department
- Increasing fire protection on the hillsides
- Better coordination with other agencies in the county
- Putting some of the homeless to work
- Increasing foot patrol downtown
This year city officials plan to work to create SMART “quiet zones,” the San Rafael Police will reinstate its K9 program and officials will install street parking meters that accept credit cards, Phillips said. Efforts are also underway to create a community garden in the Canal, he said.
Phillips thanked the packed room of 350 diners for supporting Measure C and the paramedic tax, which helped city services stay in tax during the recession that “hit San Rafael hard.”
He said the council might ask voters to continue a half-cent sales tax and asked everyone in the room for their support with the tax measure.
During his speech, Phillips also took a moment to publically thank the city’s 2,500 volunteers who put in more than 50,000 hours a year to clean up the city.
Local businesses serving food at different stations included Il Davide, the Double Rainbow, San Rafael Joe’s, Big Jim’s BBQ and Taj of Marin, and Lotus Cuisine of India.
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