Yet, it's interesting to see how quickly the wheels of government can turn when there's a hard push and a hard deadline—witness some of the rezoning decisions that were done because settlement of the law suit.
The latest good example was the renaming of the sports park to honor the late Mayor Ken Mercer. The new monument sign in front of the 102-acre park was unveiled the Tuesday after Labor Day—which would have been his 72nd birthday.
He died in January and city policy is that there must be a five-year delay between when a person dies and naming a city facility in their honor. The City Council wisely waived that provision in light of Mercer's huge contributions and the city staff got the sign manufactured and installed by last Tuesday.
The unveiling was largely without ceremony, but included the fitting Casper's Hot Dog barbeque for friends and family before and after the minimal talks.
Tuesday's event was one of two honoring former city leaders last week. During the celebration of life for former public works director Bob Warnick, attorney Peter MacDonald spoke and offered an interesting perspective between the city now and back in the 1980s.
They worked together when Hacienda Business Park and the three other major business parks were all under construction as well as hundreds of residential units. Pete observed that four years in a row there was $100 million of investment that was overseen by Bob—clearly a leader who knew how to get things done.
Taking a particularly timely page out of President Barrack Obama's playbook, Dublin Mayor Tim Sbranti is celebrating his milestone 40th birthday with a major fundraiser.
Naturally, it's Italian themed and organizers promise plenty of food as well as bocce ball at Round Hill Country Club in Alamo on Oct. 5. The announcement was headlined, "Holy Cannoli Tim's turning 40!!!"
Tickets are priced from the logical $40 to a very pricey $4,100.
Dublin can also celebrate attracting major offshore investment. The San Francisco Business Times reports that Dublin is receiving a major investment from a Chinese residential developer.
The Landsea Group Co. will utilize a U.S. builder to construct a 109-unit townhome project in the Jordan Ranch area of east Dublin known as Kingswood.
Brooks Street will handle construction in Dublin. It purchased the semi-finished site near the intersection of Central Parkway and Fallon Road and worked with Landsea on the design along with the Pleasanton-based architecture and planning firm, The Dahlin Group. The Dahlin Group has three offices in California and four in China
Landsea also has launched projects in New Jersey near New York City and the Los Angeles area. The firm was founded in 2001 and reports revenue of nearly $2 billion a year. Principals indicated that it would invest elsewhere in the United States.
The Business Times wrote that Brooks Street principal Chuck Dragivevich said Landsea was attracted to Dublin because of it is close to technology firms with well-paid employees and located in a good school district.
