December

• Award for Excellence in Information Technology Practices: The City of Santa Clara Information Technology Department was awarded the 2020 Award for Excellence in Information Technology Practices from the Municipal Information Systems Association of California (MISAC). The excellence award acknowledges local government efforts of exemplary performance that exceed industry IT practices, recognizing public agencies that excel in the efficient and innovative use of technology. The award signifies that an agency has met or exceeded standards in the areas of IT related Budget and Strategic Planning, Purchasing, Operations and Staffing, Customer Satisfaction, Internet, Project Management and Application Development, Professional Development and Training, Disaster Preparation and Recovery, Security, GIS, and delivering a Base Level of Services. This is the 14th time that the department has received MISAC’s Excellence in Information Technology Practices Award.
  
  
• San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara Ranks 2nd as Most Dynamic Metro in the U.S.: 

  Heartland Forward published a new report, "Most Dynamic Metropolitan Regions," that ranks 375 U.S. metropolitans by their economic performance. The rankings draw upon both pre-pandemic data and recent job momentum data to assess each metropolitan's economic performance before and during the pandemic. The following metropolitans made the top 5:

  1. Midland, Texas
  2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
  3. Provo-Orem, Utah
  4. Boulder, Colo.
  5. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.

October

• American Public Works Association (APWA) Silicon Valley Chapter 2020 Honor Award for the City’s Santa Clara Safe Routes to Schools Pedestrian Improvement Project: The City of Santa Clara is committed to creating a safe, accessible environment for all members of the community. This award from the Silicon Valley Chapter of the APWA recognizes the City’s dedication to enhancing safe routes to school and removing pedestrian mobility barriers. This recognition confirms the City’s commitment to using infrastructure and public works projects to improve health, safety and environmental outcomes in the Santa Clara community. Using Transportation Fund for Clean Air (TFCA) grant funding and a City funding match, the City used the feedback from the community to design and implement pedestrian and safety-related improvements near the following four local elementary schools: Scott Lane Elementary School, Briarwood Elementary School, Bowers Elementary School, and Montague Elementary School. Improvements included pedestrian beacons at crosswalks, American with Disabilities Act (ADA) curb ramps, and signage and striping improvements at select intersections near these schools. 

• Achievement of Excellence in Procurement® (AEP) Award: The City of Santa Clara was recognized by the National Procurement Institute, Inc. Santa Clara is one of 188 public agencies nationwide, 46 public agencies in California and five public agencies in Santa Clara County to receive the award by demonstrating a commitment to procurement excellence. This annual program recognizes procurement organizations that embrace innovation, professionalism, productivity, leadership, and e-Procurement. Visit the website for more details.

September

• 2020 Pinnacle Award for Website
  The City website, SantaClaraCA.gov, won a National Association of Government Web Professionals (NAGW) 2020 Pinnacle Award in the City/County Medium High Population Group. 
  
  The NAGW Pinnacle Awards celebrate excellence in government web design and innovation. Entries are judged on content, organization, design, performance, flexibility, accessibility, standards and interactivity. For more details, visit NAGW.org.
   
• 2020 Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA) Excellence in Communications Awards
  

  Silicon Valley Power was awarded four Excellence in Communications Awards. Silicon Valley Power placed as follows among the largest public power utilities:

  • Second Place in the Newsletter category for the commercial customer newsletter, the Outlet
  • First Place in the Advertising Campaign category for the SVP Scholarship campaign, soliciting applications for scholarships from students interested in a career in the energy industry
  • First Place in the Photography category for a photo taken during a planned maintenance shutdown of our Donald Von Raesfeld (DVR) natural gas power plant
  • First Place in the People’s Choice Award for Photography in the Employee category

For more information, visit nwppa.org.

• 2020 Safest Cities in California
  Santa Clara is ranked # 14 in the Safest Cities in California for 2020! Cities are evaluated by public safety factors including crimes rates in each area, financial and socioeconomic factors including household income. For more details, visit Safety.com.

August

• California's 50 Top Cities for Fit Lifestyles 2020
  The City of Santa Clara came in at #18 on BarBend's 2020 list of California's Top Cities for Fit Lifestyles. Santa Clara's fit score came in at 86.88, based on exercise opportunities, access to healthy foods, obesity rate and other factors. For more details, visit the BarBend website.
  

July

• 2020 CAPIO Excellence in Public Information and Communications (EPIC) Awards
  
  The City of Santa Clara received 1st place honors in the 2020 Excellence in Public Information and Communications, or EPIC, awards, held by the California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO).
  
  The statewide recognition was in the categories of:
  • Website or APP for the City website, SantaClaraCA.gov
  • Most Innovative Communications for the Great White Website Launch for the City's website launch outreach efforts and marketing campaign 

April

• 2020 Tree City USA Recognition and Growth Award
  
  The City of Santa Clara was recognized as a “Tree City USA” for the 33rd time by the Arbor Day Foundation for its tree management and commitment to tree care.
  
  For recognition of higher levels of tree care and environmental stewardship, the City received its 20th Growth Award highlighting our innovative programs and projects, as well as increased commitment of resources for urban forestry.
  
  
• Silicon Valley Power Wins NWPPA Safety Award
  
  For the third consecutive year, Silicon Valley Power has won an award from the Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA) for its outstanding achievement in workplace safety. The 2020 NWPPA Utility Safety Awards evaluated public power utilities based upon incident experience, utility size and total injury and illness rate of the previous year.
  

January

• San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara Metro Area is among the Top 10 Metros for Millennials Who Want to Relocate

According to , the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara Metro Area comes in at #10 as an attractive location for millennials who want to relocate. The metro areas were evaluated across seven indicators: millennial population growth between 2014-2018, proportion of millennials in the overall population, regional price parity, millennial unemployment rate, percentage of millennials in the labor force with a bachelor’s degree, percentage of millennials with employer-based health insurance, and commuting times. The researchers defined the millennial cohort as the 25-29and 30-34 age groups, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.

• SCPD Named #1 Fundraising Agency for the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics
  
  Thanks to tremendous community support, the Santa Clara Police Department was honored as the #1 Fundraising Police Department for the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Northern California. Members of the Santa Clara Police Department raised over $73,766 for Special Olympics in 2019. On Jan. 31, 2020 in Scotts Valley, the Police Department received the award from the Special Olympics Northern California at the annual kick-off conference for the Torch Run.

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