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6.1.A. - Page 19 <br /> 5. SPECIAL ORDER(S) OF THE DAY <br /> A. Presentation: Sequoia Awards Recognition of Recipients - <br /> Alicia C. Aguirre, Mayor <br /> Richard Valente (Outstanding Individual Award), Mr. Beto Chavez (Outstanding <br /> Business Award) and Ms. Alison Logia (Outstanding Student Award) were present to be <br /> recognized by the Mayor and the City Council. The Mayor noted that these individuals <br /> were recognized a few weeks ago at the Sequoia Recognition Awards ceremony and <br /> that their contributions were remarkable at many levels. The Mayor presented them <br /> with a recognition from the President of the United States. The Mayor handed it to each <br /> of the winners. Mayor Aguirre, also recognized other students present who were also <br /> recipients of scholarships from Sequoia Awards. <br /> B. Presentation: SamTrans: a report on California High Speed Rail <br /> Blended System and Early Investment opportunities - Seamus Murphy, Manager, <br /> Government Affairs <br /> Mr. Murphy, provided a brief update on the CalTrain modernization and electrification of <br /> the corridor. He covered some budget issues and spoke about the blended option <br /> (presentation on file). The Council concurred with sending a letter of support of the <br /> blended option and in agreement with the electrification of CalTrain. <br /> 6. PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONSENT CALENDAR <br /> Dennis McBride, trustee of the Redwood City School District, said that today they had <br /> 300 students at a reclassification ceremony. These are students who did not initially <br /> speak English and they are now proficient in their native language and English, next <br /> week they will have another 300 students to be honored, as they had to break the <br /> ceremony into four parts due to all the students — about 500-600 students per year. He <br /> expressed their pride and noted that all the students must take a tough English test <br /> (ESL- English as a Second Language) and opined that even native English speakers <br /> would likely have difficulty passing it. Mayor Aguirre thanked him for his work on the <br /> School Board. <br /> M/S Seybert/Ira to approve the Consent Calendar as submitted. Mr. Bell noted that on <br /> item 6.3D there was a change and the second appointment to the Oversight Board will <br /> be confirmed at the next Council Meeting. Motion carried by unanimous electronic <br /> vote. <br /> Item 6.3E was pulled for comments by one Council Member. <br /> One Council Member thanked the School District for all it does and she is so excited <br /> about this item and supports this because the schools need the support of its community <br /> to continue investing in the future. She understands that people don't want to pay more <br /> taxes but it is important to invest in the future. She believes that supporting our schools <br /> is important. <br /> Another Council Member noted that he is going to call his peers to get support for this <br /> measure. He believes that people need to vote and support this whether they have <br /> SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL March 19, 2012 <br /> MEETING MINUTES PAGE 2 <br />