"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. We are here at the National Steinbeck Center, where Salinas honors its hometown literary giant, John Steinbeck. It's appropriate that we are here at this location to launch an effort to save our city, to save our libraries and to save our pride. Here in Salinas, we are halfway between the day the city council made the tough decision to close our libraries and the time they are scheduled to close. The council is accountable to all the citizens of our city. It did the responsible thing by balancing the budget, but this involved painful cuts. The library budget for the next fiscal year was the largest and most painful cut of all.

In football, when your team is down at the end of the first half, the coach's job at half time is to rally the team so it can come back and win in the second half. Now, at halftime, like the football team, we must rally to win. Winning means working together over the next 120 days to keep our libraries open for the remainder of this year, and planning a longer term strategy that brings new revenue to the city.

In recent weeks, I have talked with many people and organizations in our city. All want to save the libraries. I am here to announce the formation of a Blue Ribbon committee, which will have representatives from the entire community, which I will chair. The Committee will provide oversight of the plan and work to raise $500,000. We've given it a name that fits our cause. That name is, Rally Salinas!

Raising $500,000 will not be easy, but I have some good news as we kick off our rally. A Salinas Valley rancher who wishes to remain anonymous has already pledged $25,000, with another $75,000 if it is matched by Salinas residents. The Community Foundation for Monterey County, with its long record of support for civic causes, has set up a special bank account to receive contributions for the library campaign. All you need to do is write a check to Rally Salinas! and mail it to 945 South Main Street, Salinas CA 93901.

The Foundation will hold the funds until we are close enough to our goal. At that point, the Foundation will turn the funds over to the city to be used exclusively to keep the three libraries open at least one day a week, from July to December 2005.

Rally Salinas! will save our city, restore resident services and bring pride back to Salinas. Right here, right now, I am asking every resident of our city to make a contribution to our libraries. Whether you give $1, $1,000 or more, you will be making an investment in our city's future. Students have already offered to raise funds. One 10-year-old boy will be selling cakes to raise money. Rally Salinas! is in our hands. I am willing to lead this team, but it is up to all of us to make it happen.

This is my 'halftime' message. We must go to work to Rally Salinas. We are behind, but each of us has a stake in our libraries and our city. Let's work together for our kids, for our city's future. Together, we will win. "