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Pleasanton residents might have the chance to vote on turning their city into a charter city during next year’s election depending on how the Pleasanton City Council decides to move forward on this issue during Tuesday’s council meeting.
According to the July 15 agenda report, staff will present a report on the background of charter cities and the process the city will need to undertake in order to become one before turning to the council for direction on whether or not staff should continue with the process.
If the council decides to give staff the green light to continue the process of becoming a charter city, the process will end with the city placing a ballot measure in next year’s November ballot, which could cost the city anywhere between $194,000 to $291,000, according to staff.
During the May 7, 2024 council meeting, Vice Mayor Julie Testa asked staff to explore the creation of a charter for the city during the matters initiated portion of the meeting. Thanks to majority consensus, the council agreed to have staff compile more information about the process to become a charter city and the benefits of becoming one.
“Becoming a charter city would provide Pleasanton with enhanced local control over municipal revenues and operations,” according to the staff report. “The primary fiscal benefit is the ability to implement a voter-approved real property transfer tax that could generate significant funding for essential City services, infrastructure, and community priorities.”
Other charter cities in the East Bay have implemented transfer taxes ranging from “$7.00 to $15 per $1,000, generating millions in annual revenue for critical services and other growing expenses,” according to staff.
The council previously received an update on the process to become a charter city and the timeline to explore the establishment of a charter city during its July 16, 2024 council meeting where staff outlined the process to become one which includes community engagement, required public hearings and potential California Environmental Quality Act review.
“In the report, staff shared that the next opportunity to include a charter on a consolidated general election ballot would be the November 2026 ballot,” according to Tuesday’s report. “The goal was to return to the City Council in 2025 to receive direction and determine if there is support to proceed with designing a process to place this issue before voters.”
If the council directs staff to move forward with the process, the next steps would be to initiate a charter drafting process in January, draft the charter and conduct community engagement during the following months and conduct public hearings that summer. Then in July 2026, the council would vote on placing the measure to become a charter city on the November 2026 ballot.
The City Council meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday (July 15). The full agenda can be accessed here.
In other business:
* The City Council will be voting on accepting the city’s 2025 Water Rate Study Report and authorizing staff to notify residents and water users about the proposed water rate and sewer rate increases that the council will vote on approving later this year.
The report helped the city and consultants develop this year’s proposed water and sewer rate increases — under Proposition 218, the city must now notify the public about these proposed changes and provide detailed information on why these increases are necessary.
“The 2025 Water Rate Study report documents the proposed rate development process and enhances legal defensibility by providing transparency and demonstrating a sufficient nexus between the costs incurred by the City and the rates charged to customers,” according to the staff report. “The proposed four-year potable water, recycled water, and drought rate schedules and the connection fee schedule are included in the 2025 Water Rate Study report and illustrated in the attached Proposition 218 Notice.”
If enough water customers submit a written protest to the rate increases, the proposed changes cannot be adopted, according to the staff report.
Following Tuesday’s discussion, the next steps include conducting a public review period in August and September before holding a public hearing to adopt the rates and connection fees on Oct. 7. If approved, the updated rates and connection fees will become effective on Jan. 1.
* The council will be reviewing two tentative labor agreements: one between the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department Joint Powers Authority and the union representing LPFD battalion chiefs and the other between the joint powers authority and the union representing sworn fire personnel.
Both agreements will be brought back to the council on Aug. 19 for final approval following Tuesday’s discussions.
According to the agenda report, the previous tentative agreement between the International Association of Firefighters, Local 1974 Battalion Chiefs (IAFF-BC) and the Joint Powers Authority expired on June 30. The union currently represents seven employees.
The new agreement being proposed will cover the employees from Jul 1, 2025 to June 30, 2028, if approved by the council next month.
“Representatives from IAFF-BC and the cities of Pleasanton and Livermore met and conferred in good faith and have agreed on terms for a successor agreement,” according to the staff report.
Some of the specifics of the agreement include general wage increases of 3% on July 1,2026 and another 3% increase the following year; administrative leave being reduced from 80 hours to 40 hours per year and administrative leave pay ending; and other changes to battalion chief coverage stipends and shift management pay.
The other agreement between the International Association of Firefighters, Local 1974 and the Joint Powers Authority will look to cover sworn fire personnel, which includes 102 suppression and six prevention employees, over the next four years.
The previous agreement expired on June 30.
If approved next month, the four-year agreement will begin on July 1 and will include 3% general wage increases over the first three years and a 3.75% during the last year of the agreement in 2028.
Other components of the agreement include longevity pay for LPFD employees who have been with the department for eight years; pay increases for engineers and captains; and ending the ability to sell back vacation hours, among other things.
* During its consent calendar portion of the meeting, which is when the dais reviews items considered routine in nature and are typically approved by a single vote, the council will look to approve the purchase, delivery and installation of 54 replacement automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras from Flock Safety, Inc.
The five-year agreement with Flock will cost the city just under $640,000.
Of note, the company was recently circulating in the news for supposedly sharing data from automated license plate cameras with federal law enforcement, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a San Francisco Standard article from Monday.
According to the staff report, the city’s policy that regulates the use of ALPR data ensured the technology is “not used for unauthorized purposes,” and staff further added that even though ALPR data is shared with local and state law enforcement agencies for the purpose of investigations, the city “does not share the data with federal law enforcement, out-of-state law enforcement, or any non-law enforcement entities.”
“ALPR data is not used for tracking purposes related to immigration or reproductive health,” staff further clarified in the report.
* Before Tuesday’s regular meeting, the council will convene at 6:30 p.m. for a special closed session meeting where they will confer with the city’s legal counsel on existing litigation between the city and the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District along with the Zone 7 Water Agency.
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