One hundred Recology volunteers turned out on Saturday, August 8th to give the Fair Oaks Community Center a "spring clean" and landscaping update. This is part of their corporate commitment to the community. I want to give a shoutout ot Gino Gasparini, Vice President of Marketing for Recology/San Mateo County, as well as the whole crew, for pitching in to beautify North Fair Oaks. Read more...

In May, the North Fair Oaks Community Council (NFOCC) and the North Fair Oaks Public Art Workgroup invited local artists to transform utility boxes into works of art on the streets of North Fair Oaks and to create a design for entrance signs for North Fair Oaks. Read details here...

As an advocate of education, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Marianne Chowning-Dray, a math teacher at Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto. Marianne recently received the Presidential Award fo Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. She is one of 108 teachers in the country, and one of only two teachers from California selected for this prestigious award. Read details here...

At the August 4th Board of of Supervisors meeting, the Board approved my Measure A recommendation to fund three programs in District Four. While there are many worthy community needs adn priorities, I focused my allocation of Measure A dollars to fund programs that serve youth from low performing schools and under-resourced communities. Read details here...

This summer the Girls to Women group attended the Creative Ecology Program at Cooley Landing. Resident artist and teacher, Linda Gass, combines art and science to help encourage critical thinking and conversations about the impact we have on our environment. Read more here...

I am so pleased to introduce Emily Cordova, a Junior at Sequoia High School, who was appointed by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to serve on the North Fair Oaks Community Council as the Alternate Youth Member. Emily is a member of the Koshland Leadership Program that cultivates leaders among youth in the North Fair Oaks community. Welcome Emily! Read details...

JobTrain, one of the most successful job-retraining programs in the country, added a course to teach software coding to young adults this spring. It is perfect example of the type of program that we need. It responds to the needs of Silicon Valley, focuses on a well-paid future for its students, and takes advantage of the corporate partners that have made our area nationally renowned. Read more...

I'm happy to report that Semicircular Road Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvement Project will be completed this summer to make the area more safe. The project will widen sidewalks and make a more bicycle-friendly roadway along Semicircular Road, a short bypass road that connects the busy 5th Avenue to the even busier Middlefield Road. Read more here...

Have you ever had a supply of extra drugs that you didn't know what to do with? San Mateo County has a program that allows people to drop off drugs, even controlled prescription drugs. There's no paperwork. It's just a self-service drop off into what looks like old mailboxes at several police departmetns or the Sheriff's Office in Redwood City. Read here...

Enjoy these highlights from the 2015 Bicycle Rodeo! It was such a great day! Loads of kids and families, great food, great prizes, and weather, too! Our partners did a great job and so did the North Fair Oaks Youth Initiative volunteers who helped organize the day.

Remember your very first job? Remember how hard it was to get without any experience? Every year, One East Palo Alto, an organization that brings together all of the community of East Palo Alto, holds a fundraiser for their Sponsored Employment Program (SEP) which helps young people from the city find paid internships and their very first job. This year they will place the 1000th young person.