Saratoga

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Saratoga is a city in Santa Clara County, California, USA. It is located on the west side of the Santa Clara Valley, directly west of San Jose, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 29,926 at the 2010 census.

Located on the Western edge of the Silicon Valley, Saratoga is known locally for its suburban small-town feel, wineries, and high-end boutiques. In 2008 CNN/Money ranked Saratoga number 4 in its listing of top-earning towns.Saratoga also was ranked by Forbes in 2009 as one of America’s top 20 most-educated small towns. In 2010 Bloomberg Businessweek named Saratoga the most expensive suburb in California. Bloomberg Businessweek also named Saratoga’s zip code 95070 the 18th richest zip code in America in 2011. Major attractions of Saratoga include Villa Montalvo, Hakone Gardens, and the Mountain Winery.

Saratoga is a general law city under California law, meaning that the organization and powers of the city are established by state law. It has a council-manager form of government.

The city council is made up of five members elected by the public. The council appoints a mayor and vice-mayor from its membership, with the vice-mayor serving in the absence of the mayor. The mayor has no veto power, but acts as chairman for council meetings, and serves as a visible head of government. Council members serve four-year terms, with the election of two and three members staggered every two years.,

The city manager is the administrative head of the government, and also serves as city treasurer. The manager’s duties include preparing financial reports, submitting an annual budget, managing city employees, seeing that city ordinances are enforced, supervising city property, and investigating complaints against the city. The manager also appoints the city clerk.

In addition to the council and manager, the city has a number of commissions that serve to advise the council on various issues. Commission members are appointed by the council, and serve a maximum of two four year terms. Currently, the city has commissions for finance, heritage preservation, the library, parks and recreation, planning, and traffic safety.

Source: Wikipedia.