Unusual speech celebrates city

Metropulos said he wanted to focus on all the projects that are moving forward despite the city's catastrophic budget situation. For example, City Hall and the police station are currently undergoing a major renovation and retrofitting. Voters also recently passed a bond to help build a new library slated for completion by 2005; the new building will be four times the size of the current one. Metropulos also pointed out that five new parks have been rolled out throughout the small city.

"I want to focus on the things people can see," Metropulos said.

The upbeat tone of the annual speech was punctuated by performances from student jazz bands, cheerleading squads and choruses. Metropulos' third-grade class at Central Elementary School also performed a medley of patriotic songs including "Proud to be an American" and "This Land is Your Land."

Serving as a backdrop to the festivities nevertheless is a serious fiscal crisis. Belmont's sales tax dropped by 12 percent this year and its hotel tax fell by 30 percent. The city has cut about $3 million from its general funds in recent times; it's a refrain heard over and over in cities up and down the state.

That's why yesterday's speech was such a departure from state of the city addresses around the Peninsula in recent times, where members of the business community grimly gather at a luncheon to hear the mayor tell of the city's budget crisis. Adding insult to injury, attendees are typically charged a fee of about $50 for the privilege of sitting in on such events.

Then again, Metropulos said Belmont is a town full of colorful characters. When City Clerk Terri Cook was mayor in 2000, she said she opted to hold her address at the Senior Center during breakfast. Metropulos' decision to orchestrate his address at the Ralston Middle School Gymnasium came from his work as a teacher.

At yesterday's free event, however, parents, students and community members crowded into the gymnasium to hear the mayor speak - it was the first "state of the city" address for many.

Resident Sarah Weden turned out because her third-grade child was performing at the event.

"It's a good excuse to come and listen to the mayor talk about what's going on in the city," Weden said.

If it wasn't for her child's participation in the event, however, Weden said she probably wouldn't even know about it.

Yunmi Choi can be reached by e-mail at yunmi@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.