Preserving our Quality of Life: Solutions to Traffic and Safety; Increased Programs for Seniors and Youth; Community Special Events

By Candace J. (Kay) Andersen

Mayor Andersen values our exceptional quality of life in Danville and continues to improve traffic and safety; expand programs for seniors and youth; and encourage special events, enhancing our sense of community.

Traffic is at its worst when school is in session. Next year we will be launching with San Ramon and the School District a new bus program which will take more drivers off the road at our most congested school sites. We continue to improve and make safer the many crosswalks leading to our schools. We have added sidewalks and trails near schools to encourage more children to walk and ride rather than be driven.

On a regional level Mayor Andersen has worked on both the Tri-Valley Transportation Council and on the Southwestern Area Transportation Committees. These committees fund improvements such as the Auxiliary lanes which connected our Danville freeway exits, directly benefitting our residents.

Through our Neighborhood Traffic Management Program we solve neighborhood traffic problems using both education and engineering. Things like stop signs, paved "bulb outs" and speed humps, speed bumps and speed lumps slow down cars on our residential streets. These improvements are only implemented when a majority of residents in the affected neighborhood agree to them.

We've made improvements in the safety downtown with the new cross-walk in front of the library, and lighted cross-walks on both Hartz and Railroad Avenues. Throughout the entire town we've gently reminded speeders to slow down with radar speed display signs.

Safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers is extremely important. Mayor Andersen has been on the Steering Committee for the Street Smarts Traffic Safety program since its inception four years ago. Street Smarts is made up of Danville, San Ramon, the County (covering unincorporated areas such as Blackhawk, Alamo, Diablo); and the School District.

Each year the youth in our community are educated about safety through the Street Smarts Elementary School Poster Contest (where winning posters are now printed in a storybook about street safety); the "BE REEL" middle school video contest, where middle school students created 60 second public service announcement films on a selected topic of street safety; and in the high school internet based "IT HAPPENS" where high school students share on the web what they've learned about driving.

Danville is a safe place to live. Approximately 27% of our Operating Budget is spent on police services. We have an extremely low crime rate compared to other communities and an exceptionally high case closure rate. Our property values remain high, in large part, because people want to live in a community as safe as ours.

Danville is also becoming safer though its Emergency Preparedness efforts. In the last five years we have hired a full-time Disaster Preparedness Coordinator (who is well prepared for the job as one of our former police chiefs); have increased staff disaster training; and have formed a partnership with the City of San Ramon and San Ramon Fire Protection District to have a joint Emergency Operations Center to respond to disasters. Most importantly, we have made great strides in helping the citizens of the community get better prepared with more education, an annual Emergency Preparedness Fair and free training provided through the Fire District.

The quality of life of all of our citizens is impacted by the programs we are able to offer. Last year we were approached by a group of seniors who felt there was not enough available to meet their needs. We listened to them. We did an assessment and ended up increasing funding of their programs by 85%. A senior newsletter that previously reached approximately 400 seniors now reaches 5000. The Veteran's Hall was made available daily for drop in use by all seniors in the community. The number of classes and "Senior Sneaker" outings was expanded. We have added a Senior Committee to our Parks Commission. We are now looking at, in conjunction with upcoming renovations to the Veteran's Hall, providing an even better space for our seniors to use on a daily basis.

Mayor Andersen values the youth in our community and acknowledges the responsibility the Town has to help provide meaningful opportunities to them and their families.

We continue to improve our playfields and parks so that they can be used for the many different sports activities in our community. Through the Sports Alliance field time is allocated by the Town so that all sports have an opportunity to use our well maintained facilities.

At each of our middle schools the Town has created after school Teen Centers. The ages of 11-13 are very vulnerable. Children are old enough to be left alone at home while parents are at work, yet studies show that this is often a time when they begin to experiment in at risk behaviors. The Town helps these youth by providing a safe, fun, social and supervised environment.

Along with our Activity Guide which is full of classes, workshops and outings for youth, the Town also has a Danville Youth Advisory Committee for middle school aged students and participates in the Valley Youth Council for older teens. Young Adults are encouraged to volunteer at various service projects through the "Volunteens" program. The Town also offers summer jobs and training. We appoint Youth Commissioners to our Parks and Arts Commissions. These teenaged youth representatives have full voting rights, the same as the adult commissioners.

Special Events in Danville also add to our exceptional quality of life and build our sense of community. This year we celebrated our Sesquicentennial (150th Anniversary) with wonderful events on both the 3rd and 4th of July. Thousands of residents greeted their friends and neighbors downtown to celebrate. Our annual Hot Summer Nights Car Shows, Shop Danville Events, Music in the Park, Craft Festivals, Art in the Park and weekly Farmer's Markets are just a few of the many events that help foster our small town atmosphere, outstanding quality of life.