Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-02-2008 Supplemental Council AgendaSaratoga Historical Foundation And Museum Joint Meeting And Presentation to Saratoga City Council July 2, 2008 donations and grants. The Saratoga Historical Foundation (SHF) We are a non profit organization comprised of all volunteers. Today we stand 233 members strong -a 45% increase from the previous year. Financing for newsletters, programs and events come solely from membership fees and fund raisers. The most visible of our work is the Saratoga History Museum and the historic McWilliams House. The Museum and the McWilliams house are funded primarily through Mission Statement The mission of the Saratoga Historical Foundation is to preserve the unique history of Saratoga for the education and enjoyment of the community. SHF Vision Complete the development of the Historic Park, including landscaping in partnership with the city of Saratoga Have the Saratoga Historical Park serve as a gathering place for receptions, celebrations and other events Have the Museum continue to be a community focus for historic study and research, partnering with local schools, organizations, and other historical museums Coordinate with other historic sites and organizations to stage events with a historic focus within Saratoga Continue to draw from SHF membership to provide financial support as well as people resources for programs and administration Continue to add and improve the quality of exhibits for the Museum and expand the programs of the McWilliams House Provide increased revenue for museum operations with a gift shop The Saratoga Historical Foundation Highlights of 2008 Membership grew from 167 to 233 members Volunteers have grown to a force of over 40 excluding students some volunteers give as much as 30 hours per week Produced three well- received programs for our members: "Remembering Old Saratoga The Lives of the Ohlone Indians, Parts I and II featuring well -known speaker California State Parks Archaeologist Mark Hylkema Participated in the production of the Mustard Faire with the Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC) -more than 2500 Saratogans attended a very high turnout for both participants and attendees Organized 2 tours, with one additional scheduled due to demand, of a local resident's Civil War exhibit (fund raiser) Organized 1 tour, with one additional scheduled for August 2, of a Military Vehicle /Tank tour (fund raiser) Awarded the first annual Louise Garrod Cooper memorial award as part of History Week at Saratoga High School to a freshman who used our files to begin her winning report Produced a book commemorating the history of the Saratoga Volunteer Fire Department in partnership with the volunteers, due off the presses in August Annual thank you dinner for all volunteers Annual barbeque at Cooper Garrod Winery and ranch with a silent auction (fund raiser) 2 Produced 4 PowerPoint presentations, available for in- museum viewing, which will be transcoded to DVD for video use and gift shop sales Negotiated a long -term lease on the museum buildings with the City of Saratoga The Saratoga History Museum Highlights of 2008 Built in 1903, the Saratoga History Museum is one of the oldest buildings in the Village and is located one block south -east of Big Basin Way. With its extensive historic collections, it is the perfect complement to the Village's designation as a historic landmark. The museum houses some of the most significant collections of local memorabilia on the peninsula or in the South Bay area. Over 234 visitors have come to the museum during this time period. The Museum is open for 3 hours Friday through Sunday each week and by appointment. Prepared two special exhibits: 50 Years of Warren B. Heid, Architect (held over from 2007 due to popular demand); Early Healthcare in Saratoga, with Saratogans in Wartime and champagne reception scheduled for September. Together with the City installed new alarm systems which will ensure the security of precious collections as well as enable us to begin hosting traveling or borrowed exhibits as they may become available. Installed a new, faster, powerful computer system which will host a new database and allow faster digital recording of photos, documents and archival materials. Implemented "Past Perfect" museum database software for merging of three archival databases into the standard museum format, thereby meeting current museum best practices and standards. Sorted and filed over 2500 Willys Peck Historical project documents, with plans to begin scanning these materials Received donations for our collections from AAUW, Men's Club, an "1876 Atlas" book, and "Patriotic Treason a book on John Brown. Received a donation of video stories on Saratoga by Mercury News photographer Jim Gensheimer Added a 54- minute DVD "The Southern Pacific Coast railway, The One -Horse Railroad" to the gift shop inventory, along with other gift items Began program to send to the Saratoga News each week a photo from our archives with explanatory text for museum publicity and community education Our first museum docent manual is in progress, which will be used for training current and new docents on Saratoga history, museum operations, exhibits, McWilliams family and house, local points of interest, and emergency procedures. Recently implemented docent training included attending a historical fashions seminar and tour of the Santa Clara County Park Museum at New Almaden. SHF Website Statistics The SHF website at http: /www.saratogahistory.com continues to be a popular resource for research by students and adults. The site includes information about SHF, Saratoga history, volunteer information, as well as the popular "Ask a Historian" feature. Visitors can log in with a question and one of our historians will provide an answer. This is a dynamic website as we continue to add content to encourage people to return again and again. As you can see from the chart interest continued to grow from 2007 to 2008, climbing at the rate of 40 The average visitor looks at 2 and 3 pages each visit. 3 Summary by Month 1 I 1 1 1 1 Month Daily Avg Visits 3 Monthly Visits Totals rages 1 Files 14 t N Files Pages Jun 2008 2142 1833 1424 379 1680 527979! 6829 25648 33003 38565 May 2008 14561 1191 931j 319 3086 622448 9891 28863 36935 45160 [Apr2008 1078 878 636 241 2738 398595 7257 19081 26347 32362 Mar 2008 1051 878 685 204 3421 465296 6337 21252' 27244 32590 Feb 2008 1193 1019 673 214' 2656 471586 6208 19543 29574 34602 Ilan 2008 885 698 500 168 2350 378926 5213 15504 21660 27460 Dec 2007 807 620 525 156 1865 339471 4839 16304 15082 19240 19110 25021 26451 Nov 2007 881 637 502 159 2338 308225 4792 Oct2007 935 669 4731 155 4052 367347 4829 14683 20752 28995 Sep 2007 7571 718 811 5131 540 609 402 430' 5881 161 1711 250 2044 2036 2267 259847 279915 274673 4852 5313 7765 12066 13339 18253 15409 16758 18901 22710, 22264 25156 uq 2007 u12007 I I Totals 4694308 74125 2196'18r 284933 361336 I Usage Statistics for saratogahistory.com Summary Period: last 12 months The McWilliams House and Educational Program Located next to the Saratoga History Museum, this 1850s pioneer cottage enables visitors to step back in time and experience the life of an early Saratoga family. It is an excellent educational tool with well- trained docents. Last October we held our grand re- opening with a gala event attended by over 400 people. One visitor, after viewing the house, remarked that he felt like he had just stepped into his grandparent's home. McWilliams house is now listed in the Bay Area House Museums directory and guide. Visitors to the McWilliams house have numbered over 230 excluding special events and tours. The McWilliams house is open Friday through Sunday each week for three hours and by appointment. Volunteers made docent aprons, pinafores, and bonnets, for all participants in events held by the SHF education program at the McWilliams House. A young Girl Scout earned a Silver award for leading a sewing project to create over half of these items for us. Restored interior furnishings including the cast iron stove and icebox at the McWilliams house. Produced an attractive brochure to provide education program information to local educational institutions. Prepared the Saratoga Trunk and Post Card Stories programs for elementary students. 4 Visits to all Saratoga schools, both public and private, were conducted by our Education Program Director with our new brochure, and also conducted a teacher's information day at the museum. Informational tables were setup and staffed at the Mustard Faire for promotion of our education programs and the museum. The SHF education program in nine months has served 45 scouts, 65 adults, 145 public and private school children in a total of 16 sessions, with bookings now scheduled into the next school year. SHF Community Outreach A Chamber of Commerce member and participant Works closely with HPC, with SHF Board member on the commission Participated in Saratoga Village Open House Participated in and contributed to Village Fashion Show Partnered with the Saratoga Village Development Council including participating in Living History Day, upcoming Lantern Walk Continue to work closely with Brownies, Boy and Girl Scout Troops as well as adult history organizations Work closely with Saratoga High School advanced history students. Recent activities: street names research and in- museum history projects. Information from student projects will be added to the SHF website. As part of work projects, the Advanced Placement class identified and labeled two years of photographs. They also sorted and organized the Florence Cunningham postcard collection approximately 5100 postcards. SHF actively supports the Saratoga High School history fundraising efforts for a World War II memorial. Priorities for 2008 -2009 Continue to increase SHF membership as well as recruit volunteers through aggressive publicity and direct mail Produce a promotional brochure to recruit new members, docents and volunteers Design a new logo and standards for use in promotional materials, stationary, etc. in order to project a consistent identity for SHF, the Museum and the McWilliams House Update and publish the popular Walking Tour brochure /guide; make available for downloading on SHF and other websites, in order to reinforce the status of Saratoga Village as a historic landmark Completion of Willys Peck Historical Project Recruit a replacement part -time contractual Museum Director Completion of landscape plan for Historic Park, currently under project management by the City. We are especially looking forward to the installation of the new garden with plants that were introduced and marketed by the Saratoga Horticultural Foundation (once located on Verde Vista Avenue) in the 1951 -1984 time period. The Horticultural Foundation did much to support drought tolerant and California indigenous plants. Those selected include Ginko Saratoga, Louis Edmunds Manzanita tree, a selection of mountain lilacs named for Ray Hartman, Joyce Coulter, and Julia Phelps. A geranium named for Joan Fontaine and first developed by the Great Lakes Nursery on Saratoga Avenue, Salvia named for Louis Saso of the Saso Herb Gardens once located on Fruitvale Avenue; and a rose named for Olivia de Havilland. We believe that use of these plants reinforces the interest Saratogans have in their City's history. New signage for the Historic Park and the museum buildings. 5 Installation of the museum "General Store" gift shop; adding post cards, bookmarks, more old fashioned toys and other items. Website addition of online store; add more local history information to continue providing interest Complete production of the historical picture book of Saratoga with Arcadia, a well- known publishing company, with targeted release in October of 2009. Expansion of educational outreach program to Cupertino and Campbell schools. Continue to provide excellent programs and exhibits. Commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Harper's Ferry in 2009 is being studied. Continue to improve museum permanent exhibits; new informational signage Revive our program to scan and digitize photos and printed materials including pioneer diaries. Document local Asian community contribution (past to present) Install a bookcase to house museum library in the Resource Center Plan and install large- screen video in Resource Center as an educational tool for bringing Saratoga history to life Install a panel unit for display of maps, photos and other documents. SHF Wish List Completion of the Historical Park landscaping project, currently under project management of the City. The SHF has submitted a planting plan to the City, however, the hardscape issues are yet undefined or planned. It is not clear that funding from the City has been targeted for this project. Uniform signage for the Historical Park and the three buildings within the park. New signage will provide a sense of unity for these park attractions. Although money was allocated for this, it seems that it has been used for other projects. We ask that these funds be either reinstated or that funds be again targeted for this project. Parking continues to be a problem with competition from Villa Fatima and the adjacent business and apartments. The fire lane is often too narrow for emergency equipment due to poor parking practices. Cars often go the wrong way on this one way alley to avoid the backup at the Oak St. /Highway 9 intersection. Although we have spoken with individuals from neighboring entities and wrong -way drivers it seems that proactive enforcement is justified. Completion of McWilliams House Phase 2 which includes bathroom restoration with pull -chain toilet and a small bathroom sink; pantry restoration; period wallpapers in three rooms; and functional exterior shutters on two front windows. Current costs are being researched, expected costs to approach $10,000. We would ask that Council consider this in park planning and funding meetings. Museum /McWilliams Grants /Donations The SHF and museum operate on a budget of about $50,000 per year. Obviously, we run very lean, managing expenditures very carefully. We depend upon our membership dues, fundraisers, and private donations to maintain our operations. We received annual funding for the first time from the City. We especially want to acknowledge the following donations: $20,000 from Ann Rick Waltonsmith $200 from an anonymous donor $4,288 in first -time annual funding from City of Saratoga $10,928 one -time City funding for producing printed promotional materials It is important to note that earmarked donations received in past years, i.e. Willys Peck Historical Project, Landscape planting, and promotional brochures, are being used for these projects. 6 Summary The increased SHF membership and visitor attendance to the Museum and the McWilliams House demonstrates the continued interest in Saratoga history Increased website usage reinforces the interest in Saratoga history. The website provides easy access to information and SHF historians The Museum and McWilliams house operations continue to improve and are good examples of Saratoga's heritage. Both are popular sites to visit in the Village SHF will continue to partner with and support the Chamber of Commerce, HPC, SVDC and other Saratoga organizations The SHF and Museums are alive, thriving, and growing! We, the Officers and Directors of the Saratoga Historical Foundation thank Mayor Waltonsmith, members of the City Council, and City Manager for the opportunity to meet with you and to brag, just a bit, about what we have been doing this past year. Saratoga Historical Foundation Officers and Board of Directors Executive Committee Chuck Schoppe, President, Technical Systems Director Jack Mallory, Vice President, Community Relations Director Ron Hagelin, Recording Secretary Bob Himel, Treasurer Board of Directors Nancy Anderson, Social Events Director Ray Cosyn, Willys Peck Collection Project Manger, Historian Linda Hagelin, Education Programs Director Bob Louden, Newsletter Editor Willys Peck, Members Programs Coordinator Peggy Schoppe, Exhibits Chair, Gift Shop Manager, Volunteer Coordinator, McWilliams House Committee Chair, Archives and Collections Coordinator Jim Sorden, Facilities Director, HPC Representative Annette Stransky, Marketing Director Gene Zambetti, Membership Director Consultants and Volunteer Leaders Jill Hunter, City Council Liaison Ann Johnson, Jewelry Designer Jeff Johnson, Webmaster Laurel Perusa, Correspondence Secretary Jenni Taylor, Museum Docent Coordinator Saratoga History Museum 20450 Saratoga -Los Gatos Road Saratoga, CA 95070 Open 1 -4 Friday through Sunday and by appointment http://www.saratoqahistory.com email: info @saratogahistory.com Telephone: 408 867 -4311 7 Memo City of Saratoga City Clerk's Office To: Mayor and City Councilmembers From: Ann Sullivan, Acting City Clerk Date: July 2, 2008 Re: Agenda Item 16— City Council Election Ethics and Standards Attached are emails staff has received regarding agenda item #16. 1 City Hall From: Marcia Fariss [marcia @gizmology.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 2:06 PM To: City Hall Subject: Adopt the Code of Campaign Ethics Dear Mayor Waltonsmith and City Council Members, I applaud your efforts to establish a campaign Code of Ethics! I heartily agree with Jill Hunter (Saratoga News, July 1, 2008) that she had never seen a campaign like the one two years ago. It was not only "unpleasant" (Jill's words) but it was downright nasty and disgusting. Saratoga has always been known for spirited campaigns but lies, innuendos and personal attacks were not typical; two years ago was an aberration that should never be allowed to be repeated. In addition to passing the Code of Ethics, I would suggest that City Council Candidates be required to attend a workshop that emphasizes sign codes (approved locations, clearances, respect for opposition sign placement, etc.) and approved campaign workers' behavior. I am optimistic that the adoption of a Code of Ethics will return Saratoga to issue centered discussions and elections that "turn on" not "turn off" our Saratoga voters. Thank you for your efforts. Marcia Fariss Saratoga Glen Place 1 Page l of l Debbie Bretschneider From: George Marge Bunyard [gmbun ©pacbell.net] Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 4:36 PM To: Dave Anderson; City Clerk Cc: Ann Dan Roberts; Fred Armstrong; Dale Hill; Shirley Hill Subject: Comments on League of Women Voters "Final Word" Candidates Forum To Saratoga City Council: (Dave, Please share any part of this with the Council tonight.) I was at the City Offices today and was caught by City Manager Anderson who commented that he had not heard from Fred Armstrong as yet, and wanted to let me know what the city wanted League of Women Voters to do about a "Final Word Forum" for Council candidates, I had read the Saratoga News article saying the Council was interested in having LWV hold a day- before the election "Final Word" forum for Council candidates to comment on any campaign matters they wished. Fred Armstrong, past LWV president, because Anderson had called him, had called me asking what I thought of the idea which Fred thought at outset would be unncessary. Our League is already sponsoring a Candidates Forum on Sept 24, 7:30 pm at the Foothill Club, along with help from the American Association of University Women. However, "Final Word" forums have been appropriate LWV events in the past. I know that the San Jose /Santa Clara LWV held such an event for Milpitas and Santa Clara in past elections at the request of City Councils. I have just read the various Codes of Ethics to be considered by Saratoga Council. I have a feeling that if candidates sign these codes voluntarily, the "Final Word" event might not prove necessary. However, since KSAR and the local paper would be interested in broadcasting it over Cable or the Saratoga's Internet site -and the paper would like to cover it, I feel that the community of voters would be interested in the event. I personally, as the acting Voters Service Chair, would recommend that LWV discuss the matter at its next Board meeting on July 11 and give the Council an answer. No answer can be given till the Board approves. Marjory Bunyard Southwest Santa Clara Valley LWV 7/2/2008 Project Comer Drive Retaining Wall Continental Circle Landslide Pierce Road Landslide Parker Ranch Retaining Walls Vista Arroyo Retaining Wall Extension Estimated Cost Priority $200,000 $300,000 $150,000 $250,000 $50,000 1 2 3 4 5