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With no Pleasanton City Council meeting this week due to its lighter summer schedule, I thought it would be a good time to look back through a less-covered portion from the council’s session on July 15: the consent calendar.
Police data, neighborhood assessments, affordable housing, BART station redevelopment, crossing guards, recreation fees, public art, cannabis tax funds … There was a lot of interest among the 21-item list.
As a reminder, the consent agenda is a collection of items that require council approval but are deemed routine or non-controversial in nature and typically voted upon all at once with minimal discussion at the beginning of the meeting — unless a councilmember, city staffer or citizen asks for an individual item to be pulled for separate consideration.
Residents have the ability to provide public comment before the consent vote. Councilmembers can ask clarifying questions of staff about an item, but any substantive conversation or attempt at debate from the dais commonly forces an issue off consent and onto the back-end of the public hearing agenda.
Three weeks ago, the council’s consent period lasted almost a half hour, between council questions and public speakers, before the members voted unanimously to pass all 21 items as presented. Let’s go through them.
A chunk of the consent talk centered on the city’s Housing and Human Services Grant Program, and the associated action plan for use of Community Development Block Grant funds – which our reporter covered in last week’s paper.
Two resident commenters also raised concerns about personal privacy and information sharing with federal agencies when it came to the Pleasanton Police Department’s proposed contract with Flock Safety, Inc. for 54 replacement automated license plate reader cameras and related systems (maximum $639,760 for the five-year term).
The PPD consent item that caught my eye was a two-year contract not to exceed $876,172 with All City Management Services for crossing guard services near schools. The city pays for 12 agreed-upon locations, while the school district covers the other 10.
Police also asked the council to accept two state grants on its behalf: $150,453.40 grant from the cannabis tax fund and $60,000 for selective traffic enforcement.
Elsewhere, the city advanced on spending a $240,000 Safe Streets For All federal grant on a contract with TJKM Transportation Consultants (worth $298,343) to develop the Pleasanton Transportation Safety Action Plan.
Another issue to watch: The memorandum of understanding with BART “to cooperatively plan for and consider development at and around” the eastern Dublin-Pleasanton BART Station. No project specifics yet, but this is a sign they’re coming.
The council approved the 2025-26 annual assessments for landscape maintenance districts of Ponderosa-Del Prado, Windsor, Bonde Ranch, Oak Tree Farm and Moller Ranch – as well as cleared raising the contract with SCI Consulting Group, Inc. to max $100,960 for engineer’s reports and public notices related to the districts.
Other financial transactions included $160,000 to CityServe of the Tri-Valley for two years of senior support services and $500 to East Bay Regional Park District to acquire a utility easement for the Lemoine Estates bypass pipeline project.
New public art is coming to the city’s Delucchi Park, a musical art plaza called “Don Lewis Harmonic Symphony” that will feature six musical instruments around a sculpture honoring the late Pleasanton resident and music pioneer.
The franchise agreement with Pleasanton Garbage Service was amended to remove requirements for recyclable material processing and diversion (post-collection), which are now services being provided by GreenWaste Recovery.
The council also adopted an ordinance changing the city code to conform with the state water board’s “Cross-Connection Control Policy Handbook” and an omnibus ordinance covering updates to nine city code sections (such as alternative bidding procedures, regulation of water system and “vicious dogs”).
A new library privacy policy aims to “reflect changes in technology, legal requirements and evolving library practices” compared to the prior version circa 1999.
There was an affordable housing agreement amendment with Avalon Pleasanton LP to allow the 51 affordable units required of the planned residential development on Owens Drive to be split between 45 onsite and six as deed-restricted units at its sister complex, Eaves Pleasanton.
Local organizations will notice the updates to the master fee schedule for special event permits from PPD and recreation fees for programs, classes, services and facility rentals that will “result in higher revenues and reduced (general fund) subsidies” for the city.
Consent also included approval of past council meeting minutes, the monthly disbursement and investment report for May, and a recap of recent actions by the city’s Planning Commission and zoning administrator.
And that’s the full list. Blackjack!
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the associate publisher and editorial director for the Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. His “What a Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly, Livermore Vine and DanvilleSanRamon.com.
Thanks for the recap, Jeremy! One unanswered question for me is who deems these items as routine so they are not discussed publicly unless a councilmember pulls the item? This is an easy peasy approach, it seems to me, to slide an item past the scrutiny of us plain folk who aren’t privy to city hall’s inner workings. And when an item comes off the consent calendar, it moves to the last item of the meeting, which can mean important things often aren’t heard until after most folks have gone to bed. Isn’t there a better way?