SUNNYVALE LAUNCHES NEW ECONOMIC PRoGRAM

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – The City of Sunnyvale has launched a major program that promises to bring millions of dollars in projects to reality, with some to begin work in as little as six weeks.

Sunnyvale Works! will fund in excess of $60 million in capital improvement projects on a highly-accelerated schedule. Where many government projects can take a year or more to move through the approval and contracting process, Sunnyvale has made a commitment to get the projects started as quickly as possible. Sunnyvale Works! is expected to create as many as 600 or more jobs.

“Cities have to change the way they do business,“ Sunnyvale City Manager Gary Luebbers told the City Council Tuesday (April 7) evening. Against the backdrop of a glum budget forecast for the City, Luebbers painted a bright picture of the benefits Sunnyvale Works! will bring to the City.

“Because of the way Sunnyvale prepares its budgets, using a 20-year budgeting forecast, we are in a unique position to bolster our local economy,” Luebbers explained. “We are going to take that money that would normally be spent over the next half-dozen years, and we are going to move those projects to the here and now.” Luebbers further explained that City staff would be shifted to ensure there are enough people to be able to review plans and perform required site inspections.

The more than $60 million that is expected to be spent will come from dedicated capital improvement project funds, which cannot be used for any other purpose. Those monies will be augmented by grants and federal stimulus funding. The city will receive an additional benefit based on the price reductions currently seen in construction bids from companies eager to keep their own employees working. Sunnyvale expects that many of the projects will end up costing as little as 50 percent of the original construction estimates, leveraging the City’s funds to be able to do even more projects.

“We are going to move on this quickly, and we are going to get these projects going right now,” Luebbers said. “Instead of waiting years for some of these jobs, we will see some of them starting within the next six weeks.” The millions of dollars spent on the projects are expected to fund more than 600 jobs. In addition to dramatically helping the job market, there will be a trickle-down effect that will benefit local merchants and the City as workers shop locally, buy gas and eat in Sunnyvale restaurants. It has been described as a perfect win-win situation.

The City of Sunnyvale, with a population of 137,538, is the second-largest city in Santa Clara County. In 1993, President Clinton visited Sunnyvale to examine the city’s unique budgeting process, resulting in his proclaiming the city “One of the best-managed cities in America.” Sunnyvale Works! is the best demonstration that economic recovery does not rest solely on Washington, but can be fueled by local government as well. The fact that federal stimulus dollars will be available to augment Sunnyvale’s funds makes Sunnyvale Works! an ideal federal-local marriage designed to provide a quick, significant, positive impact to the local economy in a matter of just a few weeks.