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of the Team in the audience stood and were recognized. Mr. Manuel reported that the Team was on schedule for a 12-month action plan, and have accomplished the following: Adopted a set of guiding principles; conducted an environmental scan; held an impressive town hall meeting; and developed a Vision Statement. At this time the video from the Town Hall Meeting held October 19, 1996, created by Rene White, was shown. Mr. Manuel said the Team received hundreds of ideas from the community on how to improve Redwood City. Mr. Manuel read the first draft of the Redwood City 2000 Vision Statement (complete statement on file in the City Clerk Department.): The preamble: "Redwood City puts people first. Our commonality binds us as individuals and neighbors. We value our diversity. In an environment that feels secure we seek to nurture the zestful pursuit of personal excellence. We also choose to respect, preserve and enhance the natural beauty of our city. As citizens we claim the privilege of shaping our quality of life, now and in the future." Mr. Manuel said the Community Action Team's next step was to develop strategies to implement the Vision Statement. He said that he and the members of the Team felt very fortunate to be a part of the Team and know they are doing important work for the community. He commended the Council for empowering members of the community to be a part of improving the health and quality of life in Redwood City. Councilwoman La Berge reported that she and Vice Mayor Howard attended the National League of Cities conference in San Antonio recently, and 40% of all the sessions focused on citizen involvement. She expressed support for maximizing community resources and integrating citizens into local government action. Councilwoman La Berge said citizen involvement "stretches" public monies and is a "way to engage the community so that they feel more a part of it and we become, truly, a community." Councilwoman La Berge expressed hope that the Community Action Team would grow and perhaps emulate Red Wing, Minnesota, where a similar program was created, "Red Wing 2020", which now has over 1,000 people on Task Forces resolving city problems identified by the 2020 group. She thanked all the members and said the Council was looking forward to the next report. Mayor Hartnett acknowledged the hard work and commitment of the members of Redwood City 2000 towards a better community and thanked them all on behalf of the Council. He said the Council's actions earlier, enhancing the participation by citizens on the boards, committees and commissions "is reflective of our desire to have a diverse community involved in the governance of our City, and the Redwood City 2000 effort, and I'm confident, is going to further open up our entire government to citizen involvement in a very direct way, and, together, (we'll) work to solve community problems. I think it is a very exciting process." REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTE BOOK NO. 55 DECEMBER 16, 1996 MINUTES Page No. 086 PAGE 12