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Uploaded: Wednesday, January 9, 2013, 6:18 AM
Updated: Saturday, January 12, 2013, 9:41 AM
Narum names her campaign staff in bid to win City Council seat in special election May 7
Planning Commissioner seeking to fill Council vacancy created when Jerry Thorne elected mayor
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by Jeb Bing
Pleasanton Weekly Staff
Photo
 | Pleasanton City Council candidate and city Planning Commissioner Kathy Narum has named two colleagues and a community activist to key positions on her campaign staff.
Narum announced earlier this week that she is seeking election to the vacant seat on the council in a special election to be held May 7.
Narum said fellow Planning Commissioners Arne Olson has agreed to serve as her campaign treasurer, and that Planning Commissioner Jennifer Pearce will be co-manager of her campaign. Also named a co-campaign manager is Nancy Allen, a Danbury Park neighborhood homeowner who is frequently involved in Pleasanton's land use issues.
The council vacancy occurred when Councilman Jerry Thorne was elected mayor on Nov. 6. By municipal code, council vacancies must be filled in a special election, not appointed by others on the council as some other cities do and once was the practice here.
Recently, the council authorized that the election for the vacancy will be filled in a special election to be conducted by mail on May 7. Registered voters will be sent ballots for this position which must be nailed back to the Alameda County Registrar's office no later than May 7.
Narum, the first candidate to enter the May 7 council race, is in her fifth year on the Planning Commission. She has been active in civic events since moving to Pleasanton in 1996. Prior to her appointment to the Planning Commission, Narum served on the city's Parks and Recreation Commission for five years.
Narum is also a member of the city's East Pleasanton Specific Plan Task Force and is chairwoman of the city's Heritage Tree board of appeals.
Callippe Preserve Golf Course and the Val Vista Park were completed while she was on the Parks and Recreation commission, and, as a Planning Commissioner, joined in the approval process for the Hacienda Business Park transit oriented development and the completion of Pleasanton's Housing element. BRE is currently developing a high density apartment complex in Hacienda Business Park as a result of those initiatives.
Prior to her municipal government service, Narum was president of the Pleasanton Seahawks and active in the leadership of that championship swimming organization for 12 years. In addition, she served on Bernal park and recreational task forces and has served on the Rage girls' soccer team board of directors.
Narum's husband Jeff is an R&D Engineer at Thoratec in Pleasanton. Their daughter Jennifer is a graduate of Foothill High School and the University of Virginia, where she swam on the women's varsity swim team. Their daughter Lisa also graduated from Foothill and The Ohio State University at Columbus, where she too swam on the women's varsity swim team
Narum said she is dedicated to maintaining a high quality of life in Pleasanton, in promoting fiscal sustainability for the city and in drawing upon her years of grassroots community involvement to make a positive difference for Pleasanton as a city council member.Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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| Comments
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Posted by William Tell, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Jan 9, 2013 at 8:54 am Wish I knew more about her. Her civic service sounds great and she appears to want to do the right thing for Pleasanton. Or has she already started to accept contributions from developers and unions in order to sell Pleasanton out for high-density Section 8 housing?
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Posted by Frank Capilla, a resident of the Deer Oaks/Twelve Oaks neighborhood, on Jan 9, 2013 at 9:07 am Way to go Kathy. You will make a great Council member.We are all cheering for you!!!
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Posted by A Neighbor, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Jan 9, 2013 at 10:22 am Sounds like an ideal council member to me. Looking forward to hearing more about Narum as the election approaches.
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Posted by Good to hear, a member of the Alisal Elementary School community, on Jan 9, 2013 at 12:11 pm I am delighted to hear Kathy Narum is running. Have worked with her on a couple local initiatives and always found her to be a hard worker, fair, balanced and focused on trying to keep Pleasanton the wonderful city that it is. She also has a strong and proven background of community service and is a strong open space/parks advocate. Preserving open space is key to me and i appreciate Kathy Narum's leadership in this area.
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Posted by Defines Public Servant, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Jan 9, 2013 at 2:30 pm Kathy has my vote, no matter who might run. She has served Plesanton well, and can be trusted to continue doing what is best for Pleasanton. I think it's silly to hold an election. She's right for the job, want's it, she has worked with this team,,,,seems she should be appointed to fill the vacancy.
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Posted by Doug Miller, a resident of the Country Fair neighborhood, on Jan 10, 2013 at 8:49 am Kathy Narum is someone who has served our city extensively and will make a great city council member.
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Posted by Julie, a resident of the Vineyard Hills neighborhood, on Jan 10, 2013 at 10:09 am "silly to hold an election" That is scary!
Kathy may be a good candidate but I hope others run to both identify multiple future candidates and open the discussion about growth in Pleasanton that was missed in the last election.
Pleasanton do not be complacent, there are some significant issues in Pleasanton that could change the quality of life in our community.
Do not take away my vote!
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Posted by lessismore, a member of the Amador Valley High School community, on Jan 10, 2013 at 11:48 am I do not know Kathy but I’m sure she is a nice person who means well.
I have a concern that we seem to lack City Council member with a business development background. Yes we need smart growth, but we need growth. I see a council of let’s get in the way of growth because we do not want things to change.
I hope I’m wrong!
We need the person or persons who will focuses bring the type of jobs and business to our site that we need to grow.
Face some facts the un-funded pension liability is not going away. We need a tax base that can continue to support many of the reasons we all moved to Pleasanton.
I would like to see more balance or people in the middle not to the left.
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Posted by Shuggy Diller, a resident of the Bridle Creek neighborhood, on Jan 10, 2013 at 3:54 pm As long as they put someone in whose racist like me and doesn't do anything to raise my taxes, I'm fine with the pick.
PS Public workers' salaries and pensions are way too high.
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Posted by What is important, a resident of the Castlewood neighborhood, on Jan 10, 2013 at 9:14 pm What is important is: does Kathy want to abolish public unions and give Pleasantonians the right to get as many plastic bags as they want at the grocery store? I had to buy my own doggy doo bags and they are so expensive I will have to sell some of my jewels to pay for them.
Also, I think Pleasanton should be a gated community. The Chinese built a Great Wall around their country to keep out the barbarian hordes. Why can't we do the same? If you don't live in Pleasanton but you come here to work (my housekeeper lives in San Leandro and my gardener lives in Livermore), then you can have a special pass, but you have to be out of town by sundown.
I can't vote for Kathy until I know her position on these important issues, especially the bags. I'm sick of Utopian liberals who want to take away my plastic bags. This is worse than Nazi Germany or even San Francisco.
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Posted by Herb Ritter, a resident of the Laguna Oaks neighborhood, on Jan 11, 2013 at 9:53 am Kathy, Your experience and many years working as a volunteer for the citizens of Pleasanton will be a great addition to the Coucil. You will be great.
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Posted by Less is better, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Jan 11, 2013 at 10:17 am I need concrete goals from Kathy, not Quality of Life or Fiscal sustainability. What do you really mean? As a voter, that is not good enough for me.
No candidate would state Low Quality of life, or Unsustainable city finances, so
Will you seek City Union support? Developer supporters? Did you vote on the Planning Commission against any recent development? Where? Educate us.
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Posted by Democrat fan, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Jan 11, 2013 at 1:31 pm Do you have Pete Stark's endorsement too?
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Posted by June, a member of the Alisal Elementary School community, on Jan 12, 2013 at 8:38 pm Serving on the Planning Commission and other city organizations demonstrates a real commitment to our community along with a thorough understanding of a wide range of issues. We are fortunate to have an experienced and informed person interested in running for this remaining open seat on the City Council.
Our family will vote for Ms Narum. We are 23 year Pleasanton residents
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Posted by George M, a resident of the Bridle Creek neighborhood, on Jan 14, 2013 at 2:49 pm The issues has been raised and no one has answered it yet. I hear that she has been involved in our community. Find. But what exactly does Kathy stand for? Growth? Highways? Pools? Pension reform? Crime? What are her top issues?
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Posted by Nancy Allen, a resident of the Danbury Park neighborhood, on Jan 15, 2013 at 11:26 am Hi George,
Thank you for asking about Kathy and what she stands for. Kathy is in the process of updating her web site and it should be up by February. She will have a lot more detail so others can learn about her. Kathy is also having her kick off fundraiser on February 7th and I am happy to share more information off line if you are interested in attending and learning more(email me at ncallen@comcast.net).
I have known Kathy for over 30 years and worked with her on city committees and commissions as well. No matter what the issues of the day, I am supporting Kathy because I know her top priority is to do what it takes to protect our quality of life in Pleasanton and because she always reaches out to others and listens to input from residents to help her make the most objective and balanced decisions to protect our quality of life. She has been a leader over the years in protecting open space and helping to build parks (e.g, Val Vista, Bernal, Calippe Golf Course). She also has a strong financial background and I believe will be able to understand the financial challenges the city faces and help to make good decisions to keep our city financially sound.
Kathy is also happy to meet one on one with others to learn more about your needs and for you to learn more about her. Community input and involvment is key for Kathy. Again, feel free to reach out to me off line if you would like to arrange a meeting (I am a long time friend and volunteered to be her co-campaign manager).
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Posted by Mike , a resident of the Birdland neighborhood, on Jan 17, 2013 at 8:15 am Will Kathy go against staff and unions to represent the best interests of residents? Are Kathy's relationships as Thorne's campaign manager and friend with Penton going to create a majority of three to maintain status quo?
Kathy seems like a nice person but I would like to see someone who is an independent thinker who has the backbone and courage to stand up for residents even when we do not yet know there is a threat to our quality of life. I have not seen that quality in Kathy.
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Posted by Nancy Allen, a resident of the Danbury Park neighborhood, on Jan 18, 2013 at 10:30 am Hi Mike,
Wanted to address your question about Kathy being an independent thinker. I have known Kathy for over 30 years and found her to be a very independent thinker who is focused on representing the residents of Pleasanton and that is why i am supporting her. Her independence has continued that in her most recent role as Planning Commissioner. For example she was the ONLY planning commissioner that challenged the staff recommendations on the last housing element numbers and recommended we not approve more homes than the minimum required by law. She was fully representing the citizens (and also going against the majority on the Council and Planning Commission) in recommending that the Planning Commission and the Council approve only the minimum required housing element numbers for Pleasanton (and not the higher number recommended by staff).
Kathy has a number of examples of her independent thinking and welcomes the opportunity to discuss with you or others if you'd like to learn more about her. Again feel free to reach out to me off-line if you or others would like to discuss with Kathy (ncallen@comcast.net).
I won't be checking the blog much as activity low but look forward to talking with you if you'd like. Nancy
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