Experience

By Steve Tate

Positions held, assignments, etc.

1966 + Graduation, UC Berkeley, BA in Mathematics

1966-2003 + IBM Corporation, marketing planning positions

1980-1985 + HLE Maint. Assoc., Board Member and President

1988-1990 + Morgan Hill General Plan Update Committee

1991-1998 + Morgan Hill Planning Commission (Past Chair)

1995-2014 + Rotary Club of Morgan Hill (Past President)

1997-1998 + Morgan Hill General Plan Update Committee

1998-2014 + Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce + Ambassador

1998-1999 + Chair, Campaigns to Extend Redevelopment Agency

1998-2006 + Morgan Hill City Council Member

2006-2014 + Morgan Hill Mayor

2007-2014 + SC County Cities Assoc. Board (Cur. President)

City Council-related Assignments:

1998-2014 + SC County Library Joint Powers Auth. Past Chair

1998-2012 + SC County Emergency Preparedness Council

1998-2004 + SC Valley Water District Advisory Committees

1999-2004 + MH City/MH Chamber Economic Dev't Committees

1999-2014 + MH Council Liaison to Lib.-Culture-Arts Comm.

2000-2001 + Chair, Morgan Hill Fire Master Plan Update

2001 + Chair, Measure P Update Committee

2001-2004 + Chair, Library Bond Act Advisory Committee

2002 + Vice-Chair, Morgan Hill Downtown Plan Committee

2002-2012 + Morgan Hill City/School Liaison Committee

2002-2012 + MH City Council Liaison to Youth Action Council

2004-2005 + Morgan Hill Ethics Policy Committee

2005-2006 + Chair, MH City Council Financial Policy Comm.

2005-2006 + MH Council Pub. Safety/Community Services Comm.

2006-2014 + SC County Cities Assoc.Board, Current President

2006-2014 + Liaison to SC Valley Water Dist.: Flood Control

2006-2014 + Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce Board Associate

2007-2008 + MH Council Regional Planning/Transport. Comm.

2007-2012 + League Calif. Cities Div. Board, Past Pres.
2011-2014 + Organizer/Convener, MH Interfaith Council

2013-2014 + MH Post-RDA Oversight Board, Vice-Chair

2013-2014 + Leadership Team, South Cnty Comm. Trans. Grant

2013-2014 + MH rep,South County Youth Task Force Pol. Team

Non Council-related Positions: 2000-2003 + Chair, Youth Empowered for Success (YES!)

2001-2006 + Committee Member, Independence Day, Inc. (IDI)

2001-2014 + Interact Club Advisor at Central High School

2002-2008 + Leadership MH Board of Directors (Past Pres.)

2005&2013 + Co-Chair, libr. campaigns to Extend Parcel Tax

2005-2006 + Morgan Hill Centennial Project Co-Chair

2006-2014 + Silicon Valley Housing Trust Board of Directors

2009-2014 + United Way Silicon Valley Board of Directors

2009-2014 + Member, Amigos El Toro Youth Center

2009-2014 + Interact Club Advisor at Oakwood High School

2014 - Boys/Girls Club of Silicon Valley Board Member

Experience - Narrative

Summary

My experience is extensive in business, as a volunteer, as a City Council member and as Mayor, qualifying me very well to continue serving as your Mayor. I have the leadership, knowledge, skills and experience to make Morgan Hill an even better place.

Business Career

After graduating from UC Berkeley in 1966 with a degree in Mathematics, I started a 37-year career with IBM. I worked in sales and marketing positions in Sacramento and San Francisco, and then transferred to San Jose in 1977 to assume planning, marketing and project management roles for computer storage hardware and software products. I had many varied assignments in my San Jose IBM career, and gained extensive management experience.

Morgan Hill - Early Involvement

My job move to San Jose also brought me to live in Morgan Hill. I found some spare time from job commitments that allowed me to get involved locally, coaching youth soccer and assuming a Board position on my neighborhood association in Holiday Lake Estates. I served three terms as president in the early 1980s.

When we moved to Morgan Hill in 1977, the initial growth control initiative known as Measure E was just being adopted by voters to address the strain that rapid growth was putting on the infrastructure of the community. In the 1980s, I was involved with Citizens for Orderly Development (CORD), who led an initiative process to update Measure E to Measure P, eliminating certain loopholes and clarifying the original measure. My involvement got me interested in general community planning and I set an objective to be appointed to the Planning Commission.

Morgan Hill Planning Commission

After serving on the General Plan Update Committee of 1988-1990, I made several applications to be on the M.H. Planning Commission. I was finally appointed on my sixth try in 1991. I spent seven years on the Commission, an experience I thoroughly enjoyed. The Planning Commission's dedication and hard work, especially in the Measure P (now C) process, is exemplary.

I was appointed as a Planning Commission representative to the next General Plan Update Committee in 1997 and served on it until I was elected to the City Council in 1998.

Transition to City Council

I had retired from IBM after 30 years in 1996, and was still working there as a supplemental employee. Fortunately, I had a job that was very flexible, so I was able to meet my Council obligations while also giving IBM the effort they deserved. I re-retired from IBM at the end of 2003, so have no other employment and can enjoy serving as Mayor of Morgan Hill with full concentration.

When I was elected to the Council in 1998, the City had recently completed a visioning process where our residents strongly endorsed building community facilities for cultural and recreational purposes. In order to finance the building of the facilities, we needed to extend Morgan Hill's Redevelopment Agency. I successfully led the campaign to secure voter approval for the extension in 1999, my first year on the Council.

City Council Assignments

Serving as Mayor and on the City Council requires also serving on a plethora of other boards, committees, task forces, etc. I've been Morgan Hill's representative on the County Library authority since I was elected. I've served as Chair of the Joint Powers Authority twice. My strong affiliation with and affection for libraries has also given me other lead roles in the placement, design and financing of our new library, and also in two successful campaigns for the passage of the extension of the County's library parcel tax.

I chaired the task force that did the update of Measure P to Measure C, as well as the task force that updated our Fire Master Plan. I was Vice Chair of the Downtown Plan Committee and chaired the effort to develop our Economic Development Strategy. I've also served on several Water District Advisory Committees, our City/School Liaison Committee and the committee that developed the City's value-based Ethics Policy.

As a Council member and continuing as Mayor, I support both our Youth Action Council(YAC) and our Library, Culture and Arts Commission in an informal liaison role. I also stay involved in many of the great activities the YAC puts on for youth.

I served on two Council committees (Regional Planning and Transportation; Public Safety and Community Services) until 2009 when we discontinued these committees so that all Council members could be involved in all areas. However, we did continue the public safety effort focusing on a regional SouthCounty approach to fire and emergency medical services as an ad-hoc committee. We were able to reestablish our Morgan Hill Fire Department with staffing provided by a contract with Cal Fire in January of 2013 and it has been doing a great job, meeting or exceeding all goals while providing significant savings.

Mayor

When I became Mayor eight years ago, my leadership role expanded. I became in charge of our meetings and assumed a major role as spokesperson for the city. It further expanded when we discontinued the Council committees, as I consult more frequently with staff about items coming to the Council and in setting and overseeing the Council agendas. There are many, many appearances and speaking opportunities. Several years ago I created an Interfaith Council of the City's religious leaders that meets regularly. I also represent the City in the association of all Santa Clara County cities where I currently serve as President and I am a past president of the Board of our Division of the League of California Cities. Through these regional roles, Morgan Hill is becoming recognized as a major influence in regional issues. We received a grant to implement a South County anti-gang task force where we are working with Gilroy, the Sheriff and all public safety-related entities that serve South County. We are also heavily involved in the leadership of a Community Transformation Grant aimed at improving the overall health of the South County community. My schedule gets quite hectic, but it's never boring!

In the Community - Beyond the Council

I joined the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill in 1995 and served as President in 2003-2004. Always an active Rotarian, I especially enjoy working with youth. I started the Interact Club, a youth service organization, at Central High School and am still involved there. I am also advisor to the Interact Club at Oakwood High School, a flourishing group of motivated and enthusiastic teens.

I've been active in the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, serving on committees and as an Ambassador to welcome new businesses. I've also been involved in planning and putting on many community events. I was a longtime Committee member of IDI, the folks that put on the annual Fourth of July celebration. Through Jennifer's involvement in the Morgan Hill Historical Society, I find myself quite involved in their events celebrating Morgan Hill's history. The 2006 Centennial celebration was really special and fun; I co-chaired the History Trail project, created at the Morgan Hill House on the Villa Mira Monte site.

I went through the Leadership Morgan Hill program as a student in 2002 and thought it was a terrific experience; a great program to groom future community leaders. I joined the Board and served two terms as president, then "termed out" in 2008. I stay involved by facilitating the Local Government and the Community Based Organizations sessions every year, and also on the committee that puts on the Leadership Excellence Award annual recognition program and dinner event. The program just gets better every year, accomplishing very visibly the objective of growing tomorrow's leaders!

I am in my ninth year as a member of the Board of Directors of the Santa Clara County Housing Trust. This organization, now in its twelfth year of operation, has a fantastic track record, nearly reaching the two billion dollar mark in leveraged funding to make housing more affordable in the Santa Clara Valley. I am proud to be part of this organization.

After retiring from the Leadership Board in 2008, an opportunity presented itself to join the United Way of Silicon Valley Board and I started serving there at the beginning of 2009. It has been a great experience and really expanded my contacts in the Silicon Valley region. As the only South County person on the Board, I have been successful in assuring that South County is served by and supportive of United Way's efforts to improve lives by improving income, education and health. I also lead our local United Way South County group, which is working hard to improve educational and income opportunities and to increase community awareness of United Way in South County..

I have also been an ardent supporter of the Lori Escobar El Toro Youth Center (now Clubhouse), located on Crest Avenue and serving low income families with free after school programs for youth. In 2007, I was able to raise nearly $100,000 and convinced Catholic Charities to take over supervision of the Center. I founded Amigos El Toro, an informal support group that is dedicated to helping the Center in any way needed, raising community awareness of the Center and producing fun events that raise funds for the Center. This past year, we again enabled and facilitated the takeover of the Center by the Boys and Girls Club of Silicon Valley and the new Clubhouse is thriving under their direction.

Morgan Hill is really special to me and I work very hard to improve what is already an outstanding place, not just in the capacity of Mayor, but also as an involved and caring community volunteer. I have built extensive contacts and valuable relationships that have and will continue to benefit our community. I love this job, I'm good at it, and I want to continue.