In what is likely to be the costliest and most contentious mayoral election in recent memory, Pleasanton Mayor Jennifer Hosterman and her high-profile challenger Councilman Steve Brozosky are duking it out across the city this weekend as they head to the final rounds of electioneering before Tuesday’s vote.
Already, as of the last required financial reporting date for candidates on Oct. 21, Brozosky reported $63,363 in contributions to his campaign, roughly 3-1 over Hosterman’s $22,415. Donations are expected to flow in at least through the weekend to help pay for TV and newspaper advertisements, mailers and automated telephone calls aimed at getting out the vote on Nov. 7.
Analysts say the race is too close to call, with additional uncertainties among the four candidates seeking election to two open City Council seats. Those candidates are incumbent Councilman Jerry Thorne, former Planning Commission Chairman Brian Arkin, high school teacher Cheryl Cook-Kallio and businessman Dan Faustina.
It’s estimated that 40 percent, perhaps even half of all Pleasanton voters who intend to vote in Tuesday’s election already have voted absentee. Even so, with the closeness of the mayoral race, particularly, those who go to the polls Tuesday–even late on Tuesday–could well determine the outcome of one of the fiercest and most exciting Pleasanton contests ever.
Altogether, the six candidates have raised a record-high $140,775 in their campaigns with the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce raising another $26,228 to help fund the two candidates it endorsed: Thorne and Cook-Kallio. In previous elections, thousands of dollars came in during the final days of the campaigns.
In this last week of campaigning, the mudslinging between Hosterman and Brozosky and their campaign teams has intensified. Much to the consternation of the City Council candidates, the media in recent weeks has focused on the numerous appeals for endorsements and donations that Hosterman sent from her city-owned e-mail account, which some charge was in violation of California Government Code 8314, which makes it unlawful to use government property for political campaign activity.
At the same time, in an effort to strike back, Hosterman supporters have accused Brozosky of using his elected title as a City Councilman to solicit business for his new software company, Government Outreach. Nearby cities, including San Ramon, Tracy and Manteca, as well as the Livermore Airport and the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority that operates the Wheels bus system, use the company’s products. Kendall Smith, Brozosky’s partner in Government Outreach, said the firm gave the software to LAVTA and Livermore at no charge and with no ongoing financial commitment.
Even so, Pat Smith of Liberty Drive asked if despite Brozosky’s denials, the firm’s business dealings with the Livermore airport “had any bearing on his refusal to consider Pleasanton’s participation in the airport noise monitoring program.”
“One also wonders how he might be influenced when other contentious issues arise between Pleasanton and our neighbors if he continues doing business with them,” Smith added.
Hosterman’s e-mails, however, have received the most attention since Dan Carl, the Brozosky campaign’s treasurer, obtained them under the state’s Public Records Act, which, like the federal Freedom of Information Act, makes written and e-mail communications on government-run systems available for public inspection. The Pleasanton Weekly also obtained the material, including new campaign-related communications from Hosterman long after she was warned to quit using the city’s system.
“Oh my goodness, it’s not unusual for me the first thing in the morning in my pajamas with my mug of tea to be answering e-mails and bouncing from one account to another,” Hosterman, who has a city e-mail system in her home, told at TV30 community television interviewer. “It’s unfortunate, but it has happened.”
Brozosky, in the same interview, said Hosterman was warned against using the city system last summer for campaigning, but that records show she continued to do so. Even after City Manager Nelson Fialho and City Attorney Michael Roush forwarded copies of the e-mails to Deputy District Attorney Trevor White, Hosterman continued sending election-related e-mails from her city computer. White said he will look at the materials to see if they violated state law.
“This is the electronic equivalent of using city typewriters, printers and copy machines for campaign fliers–akin to elements of the Gayle Bishop case in Contra Costa County nearly 10 years ago,” Carl said. “This is very hard to be seen as ‘an inadvertent slip between e-mail systems’ as Ms. Hosterman has repeatedly claimed.”
Between the mounting accusations and character besmirching, voters seem to be hearing less about the issues facing the next mayor of Pleasanton and how Hosterman or Brozosky would handle the job.
Both were elected to the City Council in 2002 and agreed at the time, as they still do, that no more housing should go on the 318-acre Bernal public lands, which the city was given by developer Greenbriar Homes. They also agreed that traffic congestion and an inadequate supply of moderate-priced housing are major problems for Pleasanton, and that Stoneridge Drive should not be extended to El Charro and Livermore, as called for in the 1996 General Plan.
Both also have actively pursued an update to that General Plan, and agree that after three years of effort, it’s a woefully late but still necessary project.
The two have frequently sparred on other issues, splitting noticeably after Hosterman won the mayor’s race in 2004 against former Councilwoman Kay Ayala, whom Brozosky backed. In the last year, Hosterman has pushed an agenda based on increased conservation and environmental regulations, promising that if re-elected she will also become more involved in national and international issues that she believes have in impact on Pleasanton and the quality of life here, including global warming
As mayor, Brozosky, 45, wants to re-focus the council agenda on local needs, including traffic, business development and housing issues, leaving public debates and time-consuming discussions on national and global issues for those who represent the region in Congress.
“No one elected me to solve national problems,” Brozosky said. “They want us to focus on local problems. Most are saying, for example, that we have done a very inadequate job of coordinating traffic signals,” Brozosky said. “You get to a red light and there’s no traffic, and yet you have to sit there.”
Hosterman, 50, said that she wants to be re-elected to another two-year term to complete her work on the Triangle traffic study committee and to possibly be elevated to top leadership positions on the major regional traffic congestion and housing agencies where she now serves as the Pleasanton representative.
“I’ve been able to secure a $75 million project for a brand new eastbound lane on I-580,” she said. “We’ll break ground on that project in 10 months. That will provide considerable relief to traffic congestion. We can do more.”
Almost forgotten in the media’s focus on the Hosterman-Brozosky mayoral campaign are the four candidates who are seeking election to one of two open seats on the council. Brozosky, who could have run for another four-term on the council, gave up his seat to run for the mayor’s post. Incumbent Councilman Jerry Thorne must run again for his seat.
Jerry Thorne
Thorne, 62, said he is making another run for a City Council seat to finish some of the things he’s started. The former Hewlett Packard and Agilent Technologies businessman was elected to the council in a special election in June 2005 after a seat was vacated when former Councilwoman Jennifer Hosterman was elected mayor.Thorne said there are some main issues he plans to tackle should voters re-elect him to a new term.
The increasing traffic problem in Pleasanton means the city needs to work on a regional, state and federal level to secure funding for improvements on State Route 84 and Interstate 580 and improvements in public transportation, he said. On city streets, Thorne said he is against a West Las Positas interchange because it would be fiscally irresponsible. He also is opposed to extending Stoneridge to El Charro Road at this time and wants the city to focus on other traffic problems.
He would also like to work with the Civic Arts Council, the Cultural Arts Commission and other groups dedicated to improving access to the arts in Pleasanton to make improvements.
On affordable housing, Thorne said he believes the city should explore all possible methods for providing it. As Pleasanton nears its housing cap of 29,000, Thorne said the city will need a long-term plan for how to navigate that transition as revenue from development will cease, including ways to track expenses and capital spending as well as develop an economic development plan to outline how the city will attract and retain a business tax base to continue a revenue stream. He also advocates that the city streamline its city services and emphasize customer service and satisfaction.
Brian Arkin
Council candidate Brian Arkin, 46, has been active in the local community for about 10 years, first getting involved to block a plan to build 2,500 houses on the Bernal property. This will be the second time he has run for the City Council–the first was in the June 2005 special election to fill former Councilwoman Jennifer Hosterman’s seat when she was named mayor. One of his campaign messages has been “Let’s build Bernal Park now.” He also co-authored Measure V, a ballot initiative that was approved by voters in 2002, prohibiting additional housing on the Bernal property. He had been on the Planning Commission since 1999, until he resigned last month, saying he wouldn’t want his role as chairman voting on issues that might be forwarded to the city council to present a conflict of interest should he be elected to the council. It’s that experience, Arkin said, that makes him qualified to be a councilmember.As a member of the Planning Commission, he said he advised the City Council on land use, worked hard to reduce the impact of proposed developments, voted for needed affordable senior housing and facilitated neighborhood meetings.
The holder of 13 patents and published author works for a semiconductor equipment company in Milpitas.
Arkin said he is against the West Las Positas interchange and Stoneridge Drive extension projects as they relate to traffic issues, because he said they would create more cut-through traffic by non-residents in the city. He also opposed the Livermore Airport expansion because it would increase jet noise.
He supports providing opportunities for business and, while on the Planning Commission, worked to simplify the approval process for residents and small businesses. He is also a supporter of creating more lighted sports parks and more practice fields.
Dan Faustina
This will be the second run for City Council candidate Dan Faustina, 27. A health care insurance account executive and lifelong Pleasanton resident, Faustina ran in the special election in June 2005 for an open council seat that went to fellow candidate Jerry Thorne.The youngest candidate to run, Faustina said his youthful point of view and being a Pleasanton native are needed on the council. The 1997 Foothill High School graduate has a degree in political science and first became involved in politics as a student volunteer on the Measure B school bond campaign in Pleasanton. Along the way, he has served on State Assembly and Congressional candidates’ campaigns. He is currently the president of the Pleasanton Kiwanis Club and an Alameda County Commissioner on Consumer Affairs and Human Relations.
If elected, Faustina said he will bring the citizen’s voice back to City Hall. He said he thinks the city needs to look for regional solutions to traffic issues, enhance the quality of life in Pleasanton by adding more recreation opportunities, cultural arts and added infrastructure. He is against the Stoneridge Drive extension because he doesn’t feel it will solve the traffic problem. He also thinks the city must be able to continue attracting and retaining employers to add to the local economy and allow residents to live and work in the same community. In addition, he sees the need to continue addressing housing needs for seniors and younger workers and keeping schools achieving at high levels.
Faustina said he is an advocate for property rights, but wishes to maintain as much open space as possible.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio
School teacher Cheryl Cook-Kallio, 52, is the one political newcomer to the City Council race. The 20-year Pleasanton resident said her long history of public service as a United States history teacher and volunteer work with Scouts and schools makes her the perfect candidate for the council. Cook-Kallio has taught for 29 years, currently teaching Advanced Placement U.S. History and Advanced Placement U.S. Government at Irvington High School in Fremont. She has also been the coach of the “We the People” competition civics class since 2000–taking her team to the California state finals every year.Cook-Kallio said she would be a tireless advocate for the residents of Pleasanton if she is elected. She sees the primary responsibility of the city council as being representative of the citizens of Pleasanton. She cites traffic, community building and workforce and senior housing as the top three issues she would like to tackle as a councilmember.
On traffic, she said she favors finding solutions to cut-through traffic on city streets and does support keeping the Stoneridge Drive extension in the city’s General Plan. She also seeks to find ways to fund regional transportation projects such as those involving I-580 and State Route 84 that directly affect Pleasanton.
She also supports providing affordable housing for youths and seniors and adding more recreational and cultural arts facilities. Streamlining city services is also one of her priorities as she said business is very important to the city.
