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Kudos to city engineering team
I’d like to send a shout out to the city of Pleasanton’s quick response to a road safety issue.
One of the stop signs at an intersection near my house was largely hidden behind branches of a street tree. The intersection is a minor residential one, but it’s pretty heavily used twice a day by people – mostly kids – walking or driving/being driven to or from Amador Valley High School or Harvest Park Middle School.
I called in my request to the city on a Thursday for the tree to be trimmed back, and the obscuring branches and leaves were gone by the end of the following week.
This is just a note of appreciation for the folks who keep our city running safely.
– Glenn Evans
Strengthen support for local seniors
The Friends of Pleasanton Senior Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for seniors in Pleasanton, proudly announces a renewed commitment to supporting the city’s aging population through expanded programming, volunteer opportunities, and community partnerships.
Founded to ensure that older adults in the Pleasanton area have access to vital services, social activities, and wellness resources, the Friends of Pleasanton Senior Center works in close collaboration with the Pleasanton Senior Center to provide funding, advocacy and outreach.
“Our mission is simple: to enrich the lives of our senior citizens,” said Amy Jones, president of Friends of Pleasanton Senior Center. “Whether it’s through helping fund wellness programs, hosting educational workshops, or sponsoring social events, we’re here to make sure no senior feels isolated or underserved.”
As part of its ongoing efforts, the organization will be hosting a series of events this fall aimed at raising awareness and increasing support, including its Annual Holiday Social on Dec. 11 – a community event featuring live entertainment, raffles and festive refreshments, with all proceeds directly benefiting senior programs. Registration opens Nov. 1 online through the city of Pleasanton.
How you can help: The Friends of Pleasanton Senior Center invites residents, businesses, and organizations to get involved by donating, volunteering or partnering to sponsor upcoming initiatives. Learn more at www.seniorcenterfriends.org
We believe a strong community is one that cares for its elders.
– Janet Burton, treasurer, Friends of Pleasanton Senior Center
Show up for democracy
I love this country. I love that here, power is supposed to come from the people — not from one man who wants to rule like a king. But that promise only works if we’re willing to stand up for it.
On Oct. 18, people across America will gather for the No Kings rallies — peaceful, hopeful demonstrations to remind our leaders that they work for us. And right now, that reminder matters more than ever.
You might hear wild claims about these protests. The truth is, Indivisible isn’t some far-off organization. It’s your neighbors. It’s the person who bags your groceries, the dad coaching your kid’s soccer team, the nurse who checks your blood pressure. It’s regular folks who love this country and want it to live up to its best ideals.
We want to make this country affordable. We want it to be safe for everyone. And we want to preserve our democracy for our children.
These rallies are peaceful by design — just neighbors standing shoulder to shoulder, calmly, firmly, and with courage, because we know peaceful protest is powerful protest.
So let’s do what Americans have always done when democracy is on the line. Let’s show up — in our town squares and on our courthouse steps — and remind the world that power still belongs to the people.
See you in the streets on Oct. 18.
– Kat Rosa
Stop calling them e-bikes
I am reading your article this morning and if there’s one thing I’d like to see in all of these articles about “e-bikes” is to call a spade-a-spade.
This current article is calling these bikes the youth were on e-bikes and they are not e-bikes. These are electric motorcycles. You cannot pedal them; they are purely powered by a throttle. The only difference between these bikes is often they are powered by ICE (internal combustion engine).
These bikes are powered by an electric motor with a throttle and no ability to have pedal assist, which all true e-bikes have. To continue calling them e-bikes you do a disservice to both your readers and the entire community at large.
Please stop calling them e-bikes when they are electric motorcycles.
– Steve Long
Vote No on Prop 50
California voters created an Independent Redistricting Commission to draw California’s Congressional Districts in 2010.
This was to prevent any one political party to draw the congressional districts to favor election of their candidates.
Now the Autocratic Governor Newson and the Democrat lawmakers want to stamp down on the California voters and instead redraw the congressional districts to win more Democratic districts. This means that only Democratic votes count and anybody else’s does not count.
Every vote should count. It’s your right.
What Texas and others are doing is not right either. It’s gerrymandering including California.
It destroys democracy.
Do we in California want to be like countries where the votes are fixed and the public’s votes do not matter?
It is no different than some thieves looting stores; do you say, “hey let’s join them”? The answer is no.
It’s for you to preserve your rights, and vote No on Prop 50.
— Rajinder Ghatoaura
Yes on Proposition 50
On Oct. 10, there was an opinion in the East Bay Times that had an excellent analogy which compared Proposition 50 to two soccer teams: each team has 11 players, but the opposing team cheated and got 5 more players without consulting anyone. The opposing team told the other team they had to stay at 11 players, no more.
How can 11 players beat 16 players? It’s completely unfair.
Governor Abbott and Donald Trump did exactly what the opposing team did when Governor Abbott, without the consent of Texans or anyone else, redrew the districts in Texas to give five more congressional seats to the Republicans.
Governor Newsom didn’t make an autocratic decision like Governor Abbott did. He is giving all of the voters of California the choice to balance the five new seats which Texas received. Please vote Yes on Proposition 50!
– Ramona Krausnick
Sharing ‘Indian American Stories’
My name is Shubh, and I am a senior at Head-Royce School in Oakland, where I also grew up. Oakland has shaped so much of who I am, from playing basketball when I was younger to now spending weekends at debate tournaments as part of my school’s policy debate team. I first began this project in my junior year, wanting to create something meaningful and connected to my community.
Out of that effort came “Indian American Stories”, a podcast where I interview Indian Americans who are making a difference in medicine, technology, politics and community life. I record the episodes myself with a simple mic setup at home, which has made the project feel very personal.
Too often immigrant voices are overlooked or misunderstood, and I wanted to create a space that celebrates identity, resilience, and belonging.
Guests so far include Gagan Biyani, founder of Udemy and Maven, Janani Ramachandran, Oakland District 4 City Council member, and Visraant Iyer, director of the innovation team for Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee. Each conversation has reminded me how much Indian Americans contribute and how much we can learn from the people around us.
I would also love to hear from other students who may want to join me and help interview Indian Americans in their own neighborhoods. Working together, we can tell more stories that bring our community closer.
The podcast is available on YouTube at youtube.com/@IndianAmericanStories, on Apple Podcasts, and on Substack.
– Shubh Doshi
Cost of poor city leadership
The cost of Pleasanton’s poor city leadership from 2020 to 2024 widely criticized by some residents can be measured in several tangible ways.
Financial consequences, structural deficit: Pleasanton is facing a projected structural deficit of $13 million per year for eight years, starting in fiscal year 2025-26. Infrastructure funding gap, that’s a $900 million short fall over the next decade for maintaining and upgrading streets, parks, public facilities.
Unfunded liabilities: the city has over $200 million in unfunded retiree medical and pension liabilities, adding long-term financial strain.
Public safety risks: In late 2024, the city considered cutting over $1 million from the police department, including eliminating school resource officers, ending the K9 program and closing one fire station. These proposals caused concern among residents and small business owners who cited safety as a top priority.
Economic and community impact, declining revenues: Retail and hotel tax revenues have not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. While costs for personnel, utilities and insurance have surged. Rejected tax proposal of half cent sales tax measure aimed at closing the budget gap was rejected by voters in November 2024.
Business confidence: Local entrepreneurs worry over public safety and infrastructure, which could affect business viability and community trust.
Deferred services and investments: The city implemented $2.5 million in budget cuts, including holding positions vacant, pausing new programs, deferring purchases, maintenance.
These outcomes suggest leadership decisions, or lack of decisive action during 2020 to 2024 contributed to mounting fiscal pressure, reduced public services and growing community frustration.
– Michael Austin
Culture is evolutionary adaptation
Psychology and physiology are deeply intertwined, each shaping and influencing the other in ways that define human behavior. Our psychological tendencies — how we think, feel, and act — are rooted in the physiological structure and function of the brain and body.
The unconscious mind, instinctual responses, and even our emotional drives are not abstract phenomena but physical processes arising from neural networks, hormones, and evolutionary adaptations. What we call “human nature” is in many ways the legacy of physiology, shaped over millennia of survival in small, tightly bonded groups.
However, modern society now places us in communities of thousands or millions, a scale far beyond what evolution prepared us for. The very instincts that once protected us — such as a tendency to follow authority, conform to groups, or trust familiar narratives — can leave us vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation in large, complex societies.
This is where critical thinking plays a crucial role. Unlike reflexive instincts, critical thinking is an effortful, learned skill, and it serves as a kind of vehicle for cultural evolution.
It allows individuals to adapt beyond their inherited tribal wiring, equipping them to question assumptions, evaluate evidence, and navigate environments their ancestors could never have imagined. In a sense, cultural adaptation through reasoning mirrors biological evolution, but at a much faster pace.
It is this balance — between physiological legacy and critical reasoning — that defines the human struggle to thrive in modern environments.
In recognizing the tension between our tribal past and our global present, we see that the future depends on our ability to cultivate and strengthen critical thought as a tool of adaptation.
– John Williams
Ward Kanowsky, I appreciate your letter to the editor about Hope. How could I get one of the signs you mention – We support our immigrant neighbors – to display at my local business? Natascha@ThomsonPsychoTherapy.com