A Message from Chamber President Rick Aschieris:
Board Endorses City's Plan

DECEMBER 2007 - California’s population is going to grow and it is inevitable that the City of Stockton’s population is also going to grow. 

The great question is: How is local growth going to be handled while providing local family-wage jobs, places to live and places to educate a larger “next generation”?

These questions are addressed in the City of Stockton’s General Plan 2035 which is a document that has come together after an extensive five-year planning effort and several community meetings seeking (and receiving!) a wide variety of public comments.

Stockton’s general plan provides a sound analysis of the current conditions of the City of Stockton and the anticipated challenges the City will have to deal with during the next 25-plus years. 

The Plan provides a framework that encourages city-wide job creation and provides a thoughtful basis for how our inevitable growth will be guided.  This plan effectively addresses how surrounding land is to be used, where housing is to be located, where business activity is to be placed, and how transportation of a growing population is to be considered.

In addition, the General Plan also examines how public services, recreation, health and safety and education opportunities are to be addressed in the coming years.

At the last Board of Directors meeting of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce, the Board took a leadership position on this issue and unanimously voted to support the General Plan. 

The Board voted to support the Plan after hearing presentations by competing points of view and a through discussion. 

The Chamber will participate in the final hearings before the Stockton City Council—lending our support to the framework for thoughtful growth that has come from this extensive planning process. 

Chamber members wishing to make individual comments still have the opportunity to review the proposed General Plan at www.stocktongov.com or at www.westplanning.com.

Hopefully you received and read the Chamber’s e-mail of the PUBLIC hearings on the General Plan which were held on Nov. 27, 28 and Dec. 3.  Hopefully you attended or at least watched on Comcast Channel 97.  If necessary the Council is planning to hold another PUBLIC hearing on Thursday Dec. 6.  If so we will notify you with an email blast.  It is the responsibility of ALL citizens to be part of the planning for the future of Stockton.