December 29, 1999

Dear Livermore leaders of 2099:

I am Cathie Brown, Mayor of Livermore. I have served as Mayor since 1989, and recently was re-elected to a sixth two-year term. Having resided in this great city with my family since 1973, my husband, Tom, and I raised two children.

Livermore is a general law city with a city manger/council form of government. The Council consists of the Mayor and four Council members. Councilmembers Lorraine Dietrich, Tom Reitter, John Stein, and Tom Vargas currently serve. They are elected every four years on a staggered basis. Jerry Peeler is the current City Manager.

I have enclosed a copy of my 1999 State of the City speech, in which I compare life in Livermore today with 100 years ago. In preparing this speech, I was struck by the tremendous amount of change in the span of 100 years. My guess is that you will have this same experience.

Livermore is especially proud of creating the South Livermore Area Plan, which will preserve over 5,000 acres of vineyards and other agriculture while allowing some residential development clustered in appropriate areas south of the existing city boundary. Did it survive? Only you know. Included in the capsule is literature on our wineries and a bottle of Concannon Port which I invite you to open and toast the current vintners.

Currently, Livermore is playing an important role in promoting world peace. In 1998, the City of Livermore entered into a Sister City relationship with Snezhinsk, Russia, a secret ciiy of the former Soviet Union. The significance of this relationship is that both cities are homes to scientific, nuclear weapons laboratories "that once raced against each other to meet their Cold War missions" (April 5, 1997 Newsline article). Both Russia and the United States have much to gain from this exchange. It is my hope that 100 years from now, the citizens of both cities will enjoy close ties and that the threat of war between these great nations will be far behind us.

I hope the descendants of the people who filled this capsule and students who wrote essays will be present for the opening. We issued special certificates at the Time Capsule burial ceremony to babies born in 1999 as well as the students, some of whom may have passed those pieces of paper on to their children or grandchildren who might be in the area in 2099.

Livermore today is a vibrant, economically diverse community with a unique blend of rural character and technological innovation. I am proud to have played a part of leading the City into the 21st century. Best wishes to you as you lead Livermore into the 22nd century!

Sincerely,

Cathie Brown
Mayor