Meet Newell Arnerich, Candidate For Danville Town Council

DANVILLE, CA — Patch reached out to all candidates for Danville Town Council and the SRVUSD Board of Education with identical questions. Here are the responses from Newell Arnerich, a seven-term incumbent who has been on the Town Council since 1995.

1. What is your personal, educational, and professional background?

Academic Qualifications:

• University of California, Berkeley B.A. Architecture
• University of California, Berkeley M.A. Architecture

Continuing Education:

• 239 continuing education classes

Professional Licenses:

• State of California, State of Hawaii, State of Idaho, State of Washington, District of Columbia, State of Nevada, State of Arizona, State of Oregon, State of Utah, State of Texas

Professional Associations & Boards

• AIA, Member the American Institute of Architects for 38 years
• AIA California, Legislative Advocacy Committee Member - multi years
• NAC, National Academy of Construction
• NCARB, National Council of Architectural Registration Board for 37 years
• EBEDA, East Bay Economic Development Alliance for Business, Exec. Committee - multi years
• ATI Architects & Engineers, Inc. - Board of Directors – multi-years

Awards by professional associations, universities and governmental agencies

• 1st Place Award - Mixed use development creating new downtown in the City of Novato (Hotel, Conference Center and preservation of a historic church and buildings).
• 1st Place Award - China Basin Building, 500,000 SF, renovation/repurposing project. In San Francisco in the heart of the south of market area.
• Calibre Design Awards Recipient - for ICANN International Headquarters. (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers)- Los Angeles
• Calibre Design Awards Recipient – University of Southern California
• Institute of Creative Technologies Research Center - Los Angeles
• League of California Cities Mayors’ Leadership Academy Torch Award recipient
• League of California Cities Mayors’ Advanced Leadership Award recipient

2. How long have you lived in Danville?

It was nearly 38 years ago, my wife and I, along with our two children, moved to the westside of Danville. My wife Janis, a retired Elementary School Principal and teacher, and I have been married for 50 years, she is a retired elementary school principal, and together we raised our two children in Danville public schools.

3. What brought you here?

I was looking for a place to raise our family that had lots of open space and quality schools that also had a sense of community. My wife also decided to leave a teaching position to teach at Montair Elementary School after we arrived in Danville.

4. How have you been involved in the community?

• Town of Danville (California) 7 term Mayor/Councilmember for 28 years
• Danville Design Review Board member – 5.5 years
• Danville Planning Commissioner, Past Chair – 5 years.
• Contra Costa County Mayors Conference, Exec. Committee & Past Chair
• Tri-Valley Transportation Council (TVTC), Past Chair
• Tri-Valley Affordable Housing Committee, Past Chair
• Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA), Current Chair

California State -wide committees:

• League of California Cities: Transportation, Communications, & Public Works Policy (TCPW) Committee – Past Chair
• League of California Cities: Governance, Transparency, and Labor Relations (GTLR) Policy Committee - member
• League of California Cities: Housing, Community, and Economic Development (HCED) Policy Committee - member
• TRAFFIX (School Bus program) Board Member/ Co-founder /Past Chair
• Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority (Recycle Smart), Director & Past Chair
• iGATE Innovation Hub, Director & Past Chair
• East Bay Economic Development Alliance for Business (EBEDA), Exec. Committee
• Contra Costa County Sheriff's Posse, Member
• 100 Club Contra Costa, Life Member
• Silicon Valley Global Innovation LIONS Club Charter Member, San Francisco Bay Area
• Operation Wounded Minds, Board Member
• VillageUp Foundation, Co-Founder/Board member
• San Ramon Valley Mental Health Advisory Council – Board member
• Leadership San Ramon Valley, Board Member Danville, Past President
• Danville Library Endowment - Board Member
• Museum of the San Ramon Valley - Board of Trustees
• Discovery Counseling Center, Board Member/Past Chair
• Street Smarts Committee, Board Member/Founder/Past Chair
• Danville Area Chamber of Commerce-Member - 31 years
• ACE Mentoring Volunteer Monte Vista High School, Danville, California
• Danville Sycamore Valley Rotary Club, Past President/Member-24 years
• Operation Welcome Home, Co-founder
• Published over 50 local articles on innovation, governance, leadership, and economic trends.
• Civic Awards & Recognitions:
• Threads of Hope Award Recipient- Diablo Magazine
• Honorary Chairman of the 20th Annual Teochew International Convention New Zealand 2019
• Community Mentor Award, Tri-Valley APAPA (Asian Pacific-Islander American Public Affairs)
• Friendship City: New Ross, Ireland, County Wexford & Danville, California Founder/Diplomat
• Honorary Life Member Viet Nam Veterans of Diablo Valley
• Graduate of Leadership San Ramon Valley 1995
• League of California Cities Mayors’ Advanced Leadership Award
• League of California Cities Mayors’ Leadership Academy Torch Award
• Volunteer of the Year, Danville Kiwanis Club
• Honorary Principal Silicon Valley Academy
• Honorary Chairman of Launching Pad, California, USA
• Honorary Principal Wenzhou New Star English Training Center
• Community Mentor Award, Tri-Valley APAPA
• Honorary Founding Board Member, Tri Valley APAPA
• Guest lectured at Stanford University MBA International Classes, UC Berkeley & other institutions
• Keynote speaker on 4 continents: topics - leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship

5. What do you feel are some of the biggest challenges facing the
community/school district?

The Town of Danville is constantly targeted by criminal activity because of the visble personal assets that people have in our community. Every solution to fighting crime, brings another response the criminals. Danville efforts never stops focusing on new and better ways to keep our
community safe. Economic viability of Danville’s Historic Old Town remains constant challenge
due to the uniqueness and small scale. The challenges never end and need constant changing
support.

Our local school district, while an independent agency with its own elected board, is a crucial
partner in our community and with the Town of Danville. Our school district was designated as a
‘low’ wealth’ district which essentially is the State’s excuse for giving our schools the lowest
amount of funding per student that all of our neighbors irrespective of the large amount of taxes
we all pay. Danville has partnered on many levels to help support our schools where feasible
such as maintaining several of the schools play field areas, contributing funding at all three
middle schools to enlarge the gymnasiums, enlarging the swimming pool at San Valley & Monte Vista High schools, and providing expanded parking at SRVHS, among other partnerships.

6. What are your plans for addressing them?

I have focused on crime prevention in Danville, particularly, since the passage of Proposition 47,
which subjected Danville to waves of burglaries. The response was to embrace new technologies
which helped prevent crimes and capture the criminals. These efforts have paid off significantly
with Danville becoming the safest city for nearly 8 years in a row. More investment in new crime
prevention and crime fighting technologies are still needed to keep Danville safe. These investments are expensive, but critical to our quality of life. With fiscal responsibility, I will ensure that Danville remains at the forefront of anti-crime technology and policing techniques to protect our community. I continuously support partnerships with our school district, such as our TRAFFIX school bus program, field maintenance, etc. and personally have supported the nearly $750 million of investment in new schools and updated our older facilities and support keeping the current parcel tax in place. Our community’s future in based on a safe community and great schools – these both take great continuing investments from everyone.

7. What makes you the best candidate?

With 28 years of experience on the Danville Town Council, I have consistently worked to keep
Danville debt-free and free of unfunded liabilities, all while preserving our cherished small-town
atmosphere. My focus on fiscal responsibility has ensured balanced budgets and healthy
reserves, helping to maintain Danville as the safest community in California. Under my
leadership, Danville has adhered to a pay-as-you-go policy, avoiding post-retirement obligations
and unfunded liabilities, making it one of the most cost-effective communities in the region.
Danville did not happen by accident, it was carefully planned and I hope to continue that effort on
behalf of our residents.

8. Outside of politics, what do you enjoy doing?

In my free time, I enjoy hiking, fishing, and cooking, along with reading non-fiction about early
American history. However, what I find most rewarding is teaching young students leadership
skills and building their confidence to help them discover and pursue their own passions.

9. Any other comments?

If re-elected as your councilmember, I will remain dedicated to making our community an even
better place to live and work through thoughtful planning and decision-making. I will also continue to focus on recruiting and nurturing the next generation of leaders in our community.