The 29th annual Novato Festival of Art, Wine and Music returns to Grant Avenue on June 9th and 10th. The event will feature arts and crafts, food, wine, microbrews and live music on two stages. The event offers free fun for the whole family.

The festival is also holding a raffle for an iPad 2 or an Amazon Kindle Fire. Tickets can be purchased for $5 each or 5 for $20.

More information on the Festival can be found at the event website. 

The Our Town newsletter features employee profiles to help the community learn about City employees and the services they provide to the public. The profile includes highlights of the employee's interests and community contributions outside of their professional role with Novato. 

The May profile is of Maintenance Worker Bruno Vega. 

What is your role with the City?

I maintain the City's parks and islands. I perform park landscape maintenance work, trim trees and shrubs, and maintain athletic fields. I also help with other projects such as changing the large banner on DeLong Avenue when it is needed. 

How long have you worked for the City?   

I started with the City in June 2008 so I have worked for the City almost four years.

What do you like best about being a Maintenance Worker with the City of Novato?  

I like the fact that the Maintenance division is very professional and workers take an interest in doing their jobs well. In some other companies I have worked for employees did not always take their job responsibilities seriously and did not pay attention to details. That is not the case here at the City.

Bruno Vega, Maintenance Worker

 What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?   

I recently obtained my Class A Commercial Driver's license, which enables me to operate the City's large trucks and trailers. I am proud that I can drive these vehicles if needed to. I am also proud of the day-to-day work I do for the City. I take pride in ensuring that our islands and medians look good.   

What are some of your personal interests outside of your role with the City?

I keep very busy with my family. My wife, Maria, and I have three children: Bruno (15), Freddy (14) and Diana (6). I am very involved in my children's lives. In fact, next week, I am going with my daughter Diana on her field trip to Bodega Bay. I also volunteer as a maintenance worker at their schools.  

What is an interesting fact about you that people might not know?

I enjoy playing soccer and used to play in Mexico. When the professional Major League Soccer league was created in the 1990s, I received two offers to try out for the San Jose Clash (now the San Jose Earthquakes).  

The Smart Lights Program will be in the Novato area offering free non-obligation energy efficiency assessments to local businesses starting on June 5th and continuing for the following eight weeks. Smart Lights is specially designed to help small businesses become more energy-efficient. The program offers free start-to-finish technical assistance and instant rebates to help defray the cost of upgrading and/or repairing existing equipment. Smart Lights services include:

• Free non-obligation energy-efficiency assessment;
• Instant rebates typically range from 50%-70% of total project costs and up to 90% in some instances;
• Negotiated volume pricing with qualified installation contractors;
• Free start-to-finish project management and quality control;
• Rebate paid directly to contractor to help defray your out-of-pocket costs; and
• Referrals to other energy-efficiency programs as needed.

If your business would like to request a free non-obligation assessment, please visit www.smartlights.org to learn more and complete an online enrollment form.

Smart Lights is a member the Marin County Energy Watch Partnership, a joint project of Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the County of Marin. This program is funded by California ratepayers under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission.