Calling All Saratoga Artists!

You can apply to turn plain utility boxes into works of art through the City of Saratoga’s 2019 cycle of Paint the City: Saratoga Utility Box Art Project. Through this program, a total of 5 City utility boxes will be painted by Saratoga artists. The artwork for each utility box will reflect the history, heritage, culture, geography, or neighborhood area where the box is located.

Saratoga residents age 10 years or older can submit their applications by January 13, 2019. Groups of artists that meet this criteria may also apply. Applications must indicate the desired utility box location(s) and include full-color conceptual artwork for each location.

The Saratoga Public Art Committee will review applications that meet minimum criteria and select up to 3 designs per location. The community will then be invited to rank the designs, and the highest ranked designs will be presented to the City Council in February 2019. Selected artists will receive a stipend of $400 to $600 depending on location.

The Saratoga community will then be able to admire the completed paintings in April 2019. For more information, visit www.saratoga.ca.us/paintthecity

Coming Up

Nextdoor Digest

Sign Up for the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot
Join the City of Saratoga at the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot, the largest timed Thanksgiving run in the United States with more than 25,000 participants and $7.8 million raised for local charities in 13 years. The Turkey Trot will be held in Downtown San Jose on Thanksgiving Day, November 22. For more information and to sign up, visit www.svturkeytrot.com

Donate to the Food & Toy Drive
’Tis the season! Help those in need by donating to the City of Saratoga’s annual Food and Toy Drive. You can drop off new, unwrapped toys and donations of non-perishable food through December 19. Toys can be brought to City Hall, and food can be dropped off at the Joan Pisani Community Center or the Saratoga Library.

City Information Now Available in Chinese
Three key City publications have been translated into Chinese, the second most common language used in Saratoga households. So far, these materials include a Back to School information sheet, a general City fact sheet, and The Saratogan, which is the City’s annual newsletter. You can read these translated publications online at www.saratoga.ca.us/translate

Are you not a member of Nextdoor, or did you miss a post last month? Read about the recent trending topics right here! Sign up to receive updates from the City of Saratoga, other agencies, and your neighbors at www.nextdoor.com

Quick Tip from Captain Rich

Captain Rich Urena oversees the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office West Valley Division.

Thanksgiving is one of the busiest times for travel! If you will be driving to visit family and friends, make sure you stay alert, do not text and drive, and prepare a roadside emergency kit just in case. When making pit stops, keep anything of value in the trunk and out of sight. 

Keep track of crime in your area. Visit www.crimereports.com
Be notified when emergencies happen in your area. Sign up at www.sccgov.org/sites/alertscc
For information on Neighborhood Watch and tips on staying safe, visit www.saratoga.ca.us/stayingsafe

Ask Our Staff

Q: What changes have been made to Saratoga’s Neighborhood Watch program?

A: Saratoga’s Neighborhood Watch program has proven beneficial with neighbors meeting, looking out for each other, and reporting suspicious activity in their neighborhoods. It takes the commitment of many dedicated volunteers to make Saratoga’s Neighborhood Watch program thrive. The City Council received feedback from these volunteers and decided to implement a number of changes to make the program even more effective and efficient.

Some of these changes include creating a privacy policy for personal contact information and other sensitive data; requiring 1 public point of contact per group; establishing a process to request representatives from the Sheriff’s Office attend group events; eliminating overlapping group boundaries; increasing Neighborhood Watch information and resources on the City’s website; providing standards for outreach materials so it’s immediately clear to neighbors when handouts are related to Neighborhood Watch; and requiring each group to hold 1 neighborhood gathering per year. Groups can apply for a Neighborhood Watch Grant that can be used to cover the cost of the gathering.

For the full of list of requirements, helpful resources, and more information about Saratoga’s Neighborhood Watch program, visit www.saratoga.ca.us/neighborhoodwatch

Have a question for City of Saratoga staff? We would be happy to answer it! Send your question(s) to lpettipiece@saratoga.ca.us or call 408.868.1275 and your question could be answered here!

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