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Few people, public officials and volunteers alike, have left the legacy that Dublin’s first mayor, Pete Snyder, carved into Dublin and the Livermore Valley.
I knew Pete in my role as a local newspaper editor as well as a community leader. We collaborated on many projects including the formation of the Tri-Valley Community Fund where Pete served many years as a director. Our kickoff event was a charity auction and our mutual friend and fund director Jim Krause suggested we needed different auction items to start the event with a bang.
Pete sold his tuxedo shirt, being ready to pull it off for the winner, while I was convinced to sell the beard I had worn for several years. Hacienda Business Park co-developer Joe Callahan, a driving force behind the fund, bought it and a few weeks later, my regular barber, shaved it off under the arch in the Joe’s headquarters office building on Chabot Drive (it includes an arch like the park entrance)
Pete’s steady leadership helped move the fund forward, but his most important contributions were helping shape the city. He pushed hard for the civic center, an expenditure and design that I criticized, but one that has become a source of pride to the community as well as a gathering point for valley-wide groups.
He also established the public art program in Dublin, raising the money privately to launch it with the globe Gaia that is located in the courtyard at the civic center. Today, the city owns 39 art pieces on public land around the community.
Prior to incorporation, Dublin’s retail businesses were a cash cow for Alameda County which paid little attention to the suburban neighborhoods. Snyder and his fellow councilmembers wanted to pull the community together.
One of those initiatives continues this day — Dublin Pride Week — where citizens volunteer for a variety of jobs to clean-up and beautify the community. It’s a hands-on morning to unite and inspire people about their city.
He and his fellow council members along with city manager Rich Ambrose (25 years in the role) stayed true to the vision of an efficient city with a small core staff and most services provided by contractors. Those have included the county fire department and sheriff’s department as well as public works; ask Dublin citizens about services and they’re a happy bunch.
After leaving the City Council, he was elected to the BART board with the stated goal adding a second station closer to what eventually Dublin hopes to be its downtown core.
Working on a nine-member board, he demonstrated his political dexterity by engineering the station. It was a public/private partnership and since its construction housing has been developed nearby creating easy commutes for people with jobs over the hill. It also has been great for nearby businesses such as Workday, Safeway and 10x Genomics allowing easy public transit commutes for their workers.
Pete famously said that he would be home in heaven (adjusting the quote) before BART went to Livermore. He saw that seven years ago when the BART board turned its collective back on a 60-plus year commitment to Livermore and formally ended plans for the Livermore extension in 2018.
That gave impetus to Valley Link, a 42-mile route to connect the Dublin-Pleasanton terminal station with San Joaquin County using the county-owned right-of-way through the Altamont Pass. The 22-mile first phase will connect BART with the Mountain House transit center potentially using helium-powered cars running every 15 minutes.
Former mayor Tim Sbranti recognizes how much the city has changed and how few people remember Snyder’s multitude of contributions. He engineered the naming and dedication of the plaza on the Dublin side of the west BART station in Snyder’s honor with a suitable plaque.
Snyder died on Oct. 13 at age 89. In addition to his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, he’s survived by his wife of 68 years, Priscilla. The family invites the public to celebrate his life on Jan. 10, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Shannon Community Center in Dublin.
As I approach my 75th birthday next March, I find far too many familiar faces from my years here in the Tri-Valley in the obituary column. Many played key roles in the years that the valley developed the framework for what it has become today.
One of those was banker and public servant Larry Lindsay. I knew Larry as a fellow Rotarian as well as an active member of the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce and a planning commissioner from critical period in the early 1980s when Hacienda Business Park and three other business parks were studied and approved, thousands of housing units were approved and the general plan was reviewed and modified to accommodate the new development. Stoneridge Shopping Center also had opened in 1981—how things do change. The annual spa sale, typically held at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, is at Stoneridge this weekend.
Larry, like other active volunteers, helped shape the Pleasanton that so many people enjoy and want to call home today. One core value that remained constant—it’s a great place to raise a family—the challenge now is affording the cost of entry.
