Julie filed late on deadline day and has run into some problems. The city clerk’s office refused to accept her statement for the voter’s handbook because it was delivered after the deadline. There’s lots of moving parts, but the issue has shifted to the courts where her attorney, Matt Morrison, has filed a suit challenging the city clerk’s decision.
It will be interesting to see how the judge rules. There are arguments on both sides—it appears Testa failed to meet the rule of handing a hard copy to the clerk’s office by 5 p.m., but it had been emailed and thus city officials could have printed it out. .
No doubt, a statement in the voter’s handbook will help the challenger and give her the opportunity to broaden her platform.
Julie has harped on the council for years about over-crowded school (she sang the same refrain recently at the Planning Commission). So she likely can be expected to give the folks who want no more housing in Pleasanton a choice come November.
It appeared that Thorne was going to get a free pass as San Ramon Mayor Bill Clarkson has along with John Marchand in Livermore. Dublin Mayor David Haubert faces a token challenge from Shawn Costello who has been running for council and mayor seats in Dublin since Pete Snyder was mayor in Dublin back in the 1980s and early ‘90s.
Interestingly, Danville, which has its share of development squabbles in the current council’s terms, will not have an election. Only incumbents Newell Arnerich and Renee Morgan filed for re-election (long-time incumbent Mike Doyle decided to retire) and are joined by Lisa Blackwell. She had been endorsed by both incumbents.
The Legislature has produced a lot of whacky bills, but there is one with some common sense that has gone to the governor’s desk.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community’s agenda has captured both Sacramento and Washington D.C. to the dismay of many Americans who simply believe boys should use the men’s room and girls should use the women’s room. Incidentally, it is mind-boggling to see the public policy agenda attention paid to a population that makes up a rounding error on the second number after the decimal point. Remember, in San Francisco, the number of self-identified LGBT folks was 6.7 percent.
When Target bought into the agenda position that a person is free to use the bathroom they identify with that day, it sparked a boycott that now has resulted in a $20 mllion plan to retrofit bathrooms for single users.
The bill before the governor is that simple: let anyone use single-user restrooms. It does not deal with the much more difficult problem of locker rooms on school campuses, but it will take care of the issue with smaller restrooms.
It might even reduce the lines for women.