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The majority of the Pleasanton City Council decided this month to ban gasoline-powered leaf blowers June 1, 2024.
It’s a vote they should reconsider before formally enacting it. Gas blowers have been around for decades and neighbors have complained about noise and there has been no effort to ban them. Switch the conversation to supposed environmental concerns and four councilmembers and the city staff are ready to ban them.
Really.
One of the major shifts in Pleasanton over the years has been how few residents maintain their own properties. They hire landscapers to mow lawns, trim bushes and this time of year blow and remove leaves. The gas blowers, worn like backpacks on workers’ shoulders, are an efficient way to do it.
I didn’t note in any of the reporting whether the staff polled residents on how many used a service versus maintaining their yards themselves. My bet would it approaches 75% of the residents seeing how many of those trucks and trailers you see around town along with well-manicured yards.
As I’ve read about other such efforts, it’s notable that some commercial landscapers, given the limited battery life on the electric blowers, have put gasoline-powered generators on their trucks so they can recharge the batteries during their work day.
Personally, my bride purchased a hand-held battery powered blower a couple of years ago because she could not start our gas-powered hand-held without my help—it also was heavy. The lighter electric one is so limited that we could not blow our admittedly large circular driveway without it running out of juice. She went out, unbidden, and purchased a backpack gas blower within the last month.
She’s happy and so am I not having to worry about starting it. Fortunately, we live in the county.
Methinks there’s a rush to judgement here. The state law forbidding the sale in 2026 was cited, but that’s sales, not use—HUGE DIFFERENCE.
In the grab your wallet category, the same four councilmembers, Jack Balch dissenting, approved the city continuing to explore ways to raise additional revenue because projections for the out-years show potential shortfalls against estimated spending. Consider that three council members, Mayor Karla Brown, Valerie Arkin and Julie Testa blithely spent $10 million in the capital improvement budget for Century House and an upgraded skate park.
Before turning to taxpayers, who approved a hefty school bond this year that was a significant increase in property tax, the city budget should be scrutinized. Public employees have shifted a narrative over the last 20 years. Once working in the public sector meant great benefits, good retirement, job stability in exchange for a smaller salary than the more volatile private sector. Instead they’ve sold the need to compete on salary so now public employees make significantly more than private sector employees and did not go backward on benefits or retirement.
What are priority services and what we can done more efficiently and not require as many employees. That needs to be done way before revenue measures are floated for citizens.
I’ve been around long enough to remember when the late Ken Mercer was on the council that had to turn off half of the street lights in the city to balance the budget after Proposition 13 passed and slashed soaring property taxes. With the arrival of Stoneridge mall and all of the business parks, to say nothing of the auto dealerships, revenues soared and spending went along. The mall is much different today and we have a vibrant start-up economy in some sectors.
It’s a perfect time to take a hard look at the budget before searching for more revenue from residents and businesses.
Regarding our environment:
It was a republican president, Richard Nixon who established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), That was more than half a century ago, in 1970.
It was another republican leader Senator Chafee who led the charge that created the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act. 1980’s & 1990’s.
Regarding gas leaf blowers…why not simply use the ‘armstrong method’ (i.e. a rake and a grass catcher) to rid the yard of debris?
Gas-powered lawnmowers are also noisy and polluting. This problem can easily be resolved by using a hand-push lawnmower. It’s good exercise as well.
Part of the problem rests with irresponsible and lazy parents who no longer make their children do chores around the house for their allowances. When was the last time you saw a kid cutting the frint lawn with a push-mower? Most likely several decades ago.
Another viable option would be to fire the gardner along with all of his gas-powered tools and teach many of these good-for-nothing kids a sense of responsibility rather than merely reloading their debit card allowances.
I have always been impressed by those from abroad who enlist in the U.S. military as a viable path to American citizenship.
Security measures aside, many of them have roots from Latin America while few are from China or the Middle East.
A mandatory two-year service period in either the military or public service sector should be required of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 26 regardless of their background or socio-economic status.
This in turn will build character and a better understanding of the real world.
Instead, the majority of our youths are seemingly preoccupied with social media and its influencers, video games, streaming TV, and other non-productive endeavors. Add the fentanyl crisis among young people and the picture gets clearer, we cannot rely on the white middle-class Gen Z segment of our society to save or restore our country in time of need because many of them are either too self-absorbed and narcissistic.
I welcome any and all immigration into the United States providing the immigrant parents instill key American values to their children including the value of hard work, saving for a rainy day, investing wisely, and defending our country against those who wish to destroy it.
In addition to stressing the importance of higher education, countless Japanese-Americans have provided a sound example of this philosophy and despite the hardships they endured in America, most have risen above these hardships because unlike other immigrant cultures, they have fully assimilated into American society and embrace American values and culture.
It is time for the newly arrived to start doing the same.
Semper Fi and God Bless America first and foremost.
In many ways, it is the United States that owes all immigrants an opportunity to come to this country and succeed based on its cumulative exploitation and ongoing intermingling with the political and economic affairs of other countries.
The only obligation immigrants have to the United States is to be law-abiding citizens and nothing more.
Seems to me that if one is an immigrant to this country and unwilling to fully assilimate or defend our nation during times of war, they should not be allowed in.
We do not need anymore asylum seekers looking for a free ride off U.S. taxpayer dollars.
Like many Americans, we enjoy NFL football games, eating hot dogs, and watching Dancing With the Stars and the Bachelor/Bachelorette series.
But unlike the Americans who fought in the Civil War and the Japanese Americans who enlisted during World War II, we will not take up arms against our family and friends in the homeland.
Why can’t the cities coordinate one day in the week where gas leaf blowers are allowed? An army of gardners could then devote one day for residential and commercial landscape maintenance per city before moving on to the next one.
Another technological option would be the use of radio-controlled electric-powered drones to clear out debris and leaves.
Until then we will be reliant on migrant gardners to fulfill the task regardless of their immigration status.