Elected officials play a critical role in fostering public confidence and strengthening community resilience through effective crisis leadership. Recognizing this, the Cities Association of Santa Clara County made emergency preparedness, response, and recovery its top Board priority in 2026, dedicating three months to programming that strengthens local government readiness and advances regional collaboration.
Through presentations and discussions with county emergency management leaders, city officials, and public safety professionals, member cities explore emerging threats, share lessons learned, and identify opportunities to improve collaboration across jurisdictions. The initiative emphasizes preparedness, situational awareness, interagency coordination, and clear public communication.
The effort culminates with the June 11 panel discussion, Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery: Leading Through Crisis — What Every Council Member Needs to Know. Experts provide practical guidance on decision-making under pressure, communicating with the public, supporting emergency operations, and leading communities through recovery.
The initiative strengthens community resilience by reinforcing essential partnerships across Santa Clara County and by equipping local leaders with specialized knowledge, and tools key to successful crisis management.
In 2025, the Cities Association of Santa Clara County sharply focused its collaborative efforts on championing good governance, council/staff relations, and regional alignment.
Regional alignment begins with internal alignment. Recognizing that local governments cannot effectively serve their communities without a cohesive foundation, the Cities Association organized discussions and a Summer Event focused on cultivating strong, high-functioning governance teams.
When the compounding strains of political polarization and shifting public trust, CASCC stepped forward to champion organizational excellence. The initiative established that effective governance is entirely rooted in relationships, providing member cities with structured frameworks to navigate divergent viewpoints, bridge communication gaps, and maintain deep mutual respect across all operational levels. Through this regional push, CASCC reinforced the clear understanding of policy-making and administration, ensuring council members and city staff work symmetrically toward community priorities.
Today, member jurisdictions continue to utilize these core good governance strategies to foster exceptional city councils that build an enduring legacy of public service throughout Santa Clara County.
Mental Health Resources & Support
If you are experiencing an emergency, please call 9-1-1 immediately. For non-emergencies, please refer to your local police department for its non-emergency number, as they vary by jurisdiction.
Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
The 988 Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in the United States.
Call 9-8-8 or visit www.988lifeline.org.
Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Services (BHS)
Provides mental health and substance use services for all residents in Santa Clara County.
BHS Crisis Mobile Response programs
Children Youth and Family System of Care
Adult and older adult System of Care
El Camino Health Mental Health & Addiction Services
El Camino Health’s mental health professionals provide expert, compassionate care through a range of specialized programs for mild to severe conditions.
Call (650) 988-8468 or visit www.elcaminohealth.org/services/mental-health.
allcove Center
allcove provides mental health support for young people ages 12-25 with mild to moderate needs.
Call 650-798-6330 or visit www.allcove.org.
Counseling & Support Services for Youth (CASSY)
Since 2009, CASSY’s mission has been to destigmatize mental health support by starting conversations around mental health on school campuses.
Pacific Clinics
Pacific Clinics provides behavioral health, social services, substance use treatment and wellness programs for children, youth, adults and families throughout California.
Call 877-722-2737 or visit www.pacificclinics.org.
MTC convened a committee, CASA – Committee to House the Bay Area, to find consensus on affordable housing.
The Executive Board of Directors response to the CASA Compact: December 18, 2018
Letters from member cities:
- Cupertino letter
- Los Altos letter
- Los Gatos letter
- Palo Alto letter
- Santa Clara letter
- Sunnyvale letter
- Palo Alto letter to ABAG Jan. 16, 2019
Housing policy paper – Adopted March 14, 2019 (click for download)
What is a RHNA Subregion (Government Code Section 65585.03):
Two or more contiguous cities and a county may form a subregional entity for the purpose of allocation of the subregion’s existing and projected need for housing among it’s members in accordance with the allocation methodology established pursuant to Government code Section 65584.04.
What does a subregion do?
- determines a methodology for allocating housing needs per state law
- allocates the distribution of RHNA to the participating jurisdictions
Actions:
At the October 2018 Board of Directors meeting, the Board voted to initiate the formation of a RHNA Subregion.
Jurisdictions supporting the formation of the RHNA Subregion:
- Campbell
- Gilroy
- Los Altos
- Los Altos Hills
- Los Gatos
- Monte Sereno
- Morgan Hill
- Mountain View
- Palo Alto
- San José
- Santa Clara
- Saratoga
- Sunnyvale
- Santa Clara County
Often, one of our member cities will look into an issue and realize the importance and/or impact is regional. And that’s exactly what happened when the City of Sunnyvale created their first Climate Action Plan which proposed creating a Community Choice Energy alternative to reduce Green House Gas emissions.
When the potential of Community Choice Energy became evident, the Cities Association organized a presentation of CCEs for the Board of Directors where the concept received enthusiastic support. Shortly afterward, Sunnyvale partnered with Cupertino, Mountain View, & Santa Clara County to bring Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) to fruition. SVCE formed in 2016 and started providing greener, cleaner electricity in 2017.
Today, of the Cities Association, twelve cities of Santa Clara County and the county are members of the SVCE.
In 2015, the Cities Association adopted Minimum Wage as a priority and endorsed the recommendation to implement regional consistency across the county. As an effort to provide economic data about the impacts of increasing minimum wage across the region, the Cities Association supported a regional minimum wage study led by the City of San Jose. At our April 14, 2016 Board Meeting, we received a presentation on the results of the regional minimum wage study and survey from the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at UC Berkeley and BW Research. This effort was also supported by a number of mayors in September 2015, who expressed a desire to study and then take action on minimum wage to as best possible create regional consistency.
Key findings of the study showed that increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2019 in our County would:
- Increase earnings for 250,000 workers
- Raise average annual earnings of affected workers by 19.4 percent, or $3,200 (in 2014 dollars)
- Increase average prices in Santa Clara County by 0.2 percent over three years
- Have a net effect on employment that is slightly negative at the county level (1,450 jobs) and close to zero at a 10-county regional level
The study assumed these steps, which land at $15 one year after Mountain View and Sunnyvale, and three years before the State of California:
- $12.00 on 1/1/2017
- $13.50 on 1/1/2018
- $15.00 on 1/1/2019
In June of 2016, the Cities Association of Santa Clara County Board of Directors approved to forward proposal to cities and county:
- Ramp-up (increases) take place in three steps ($12.00 on 1/1/17, $13.50 on 1/1/18, $15.00 on 1/1/19);
- “Off-ramp” triggers during ramp-up phase that would allow for scheduled increases to be delayed under certain economic conditions;
- Index to Bay Area CPI-W after 2019, capped at 5%
- Round to nearest 5 cents
- No exemptions
Multiple cities approved accellerated Minimum Wage measures in subsequent years.
Many of the cities continue to increase their minimum wage yearly based upon a yearly CPI threshold.
Silicon Valley workers struggle amid minimum wage increase — San Jose Spotlight, Jan 2026
| Municipality | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain View | 19.70 | 19.20 |
| Sunnyvale | 19.50 | 19.00 |
| Cupertino | 18.70 | 18.20 |
| Los Altos | 18.70 | 18.20 |
| Palo Alto | 18.70 | 18.20 |
| Santa Clara | 18.70 | 18.20 |
| San Jose | 18.45 | 17.95 |
| Milpitas | 18.20 | 17.70 |
| Campbell | 16.90 | 16.50 |
| Los Gatos | 16.90 | 16.50 |
| Saratoga | 16.90 | 16.50 |
| Morgan Hill | 16.90 | 16.50 |
| Gilroy | 16.90 | 16.50 |
| Los Altos Hills | 16.90 | 16.50 |
| Monte Sereno | 16.90 | 16.50 |
| State of California | 16.90 | 16.50 |