|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Pleasanton mayoral candidates Karla Brown and Jack Balch faced off last week during a public forum where the two shared their views on important issues such as the proposed sales tax measure, housing developments and water.
Brown — the incumbent who is seeking a third term as mayor — argued that since she stepped as mayor during the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2020, she has made being Pleasanton’s mayor her full time job and noted all of her achievements as reasons she deserves the nomination in November.
“I’ve been influential in bringing in new businesses to Pleasanton … we brought a huge employer and a tax base,” Brown said regarding the 10x Genomics expansion. “We are (also) home to some of the fastest growing companies in the country.”
Balch, a current City Council member, said he is running for mayor because he believes the city needs a fresh start with a new leader who will focus on fiscal responsibility, public safety and community engagement.
“Pleasanton is an extraordinary place, but we are at a crossroads,” Balch said. “The challenges we face … rising cost of living, stretched public safety resources and misdirected spending, demand proactive leadership that’s willing to ask tough questions and listen to you, our community.”
Hosted in-person at the Pleasanton Civic Center on the evening of Sept. 5, along with a livestream option, the forum was moderated by Pleasanton Weekly publisher Gina Channell Wilcox and editorial director Jeremy Walsh. A standing-room-only audience watched as both candidates gave their opening statements, responded to 10 questions from the moderators, and presented closing pitches and rebuttals.
The hour-long forum opened up with a discussion regarding the “Pleasanton Essential Services Protection Measure” — a half-cent sales tax increase that the council majority voted to place on the November ballot in order to address a structural deficit that the city staff say will threaten cuts to things like first responders, recreation and other quality of life services.
Brown, who was part of the council majority who voted in favor of placing the revenue measure on the ballot, said she did so in order to let the voters decide whether they want to increase the city’s sales tax from 10.25% to 10.75%.
And as a voter herself, she said she will be joining the city’s police, fire and city staff unions in support of Measure PP because it is the only way Pleasanton will be able to maintain certain services and amenities that residents have grown accustomed to having.
She said even though she helped bring in millions of dollars in grants to the city, those and other one-time funding solutions won’t help tackle a structural deficit projected in the tens of millions that could result in the city getting rid of one of its fire stations.
“There are many reasons why we’ve gotten into this fiscal situation … but one of them is increased expenses,” Brown said. “Another one is we’re seeing much less revenue coming out of the Stoneridge Mall and the third is rising pension costs.”
Balch — who was the only councilmember who voted against placing the revenue measure on this year’s ballot — on the other hand said the city had multiple opportunities in the past to save money and that they as city leaders needed to do more work on balancing the budget before turning to residents and asking them to pay more out of their pockets.
“We saw the budget crisis coming,” Balch said. “I spoke more than two years about the declining problems in our budget and tried to get my fellow councilmembers to alter the course of the spending to adjust and save and make minor cuts.”
He said he has some trust issue with the city and does not yet know how he will be voting on Measure PP come November.
One of the questions that came from the public near the end of the debate was what the two candidates would do if the sales tax increase does not pass in November. The city has already made it known of its back-up plan to make further extreme cuts across various city departments.
Balch said the city has known tough financial times were coming since 2018 and that while he does not have all the answers to Pleasanton’s obvious budget issues, he has some ideas that, with time, might work.
He said that while the city will still need to take a closer look at where it can make some cuts to its budget — maintaining the Century House was one thing he questioned — they should look at updating developer fees, passing along credit card fees and working with the school district to ensure housing is built so that the city can cash in on those impact fees.
Brown said while the city’s Section 115 Pension Trust Fund, which was set up years ago to pay down the city’s unfunded liability and proactively stabilize its pension costs in the long term — will help the city’s budget, it won’t be enough to the city from having to make some serious cuts if the revenue measure doesn’t pass.
“It is going to be painful, it is going to be difficult … and that’s why I think it should be your decision,” Brown said regarding the revenue measure.
She said one thing the city might even have to look into would be potentially selling the Century House or cutting back on the city’s grass-cutting services.
While the revenue measure was one of the hottest topics during last week’s forum, another major topic of contention was housing.
Balch said he believes there is a housing problem and that Pleasanton needs to specifically look at ways to ensure younger generations can secure affordable housing in the city because, currently, he said they are not doing enough for them.
“We can get into the driver’s seat of housing a lot better than what we choose to do,” he said. “It’s got to be proactive … not reactive.”
Brown on the other hand talked about the city slowly relinquishing its local control when it came to housing developments over the past couple of years and how Pleasanton’s ability to keep its small-town charm has slowly gone away.
She did previously mention how the city has made efforts to boost housing during its recent sixth Housing Element cycle by working with the Stoneridge Shopping Center owners to bring housing around the mall.
But the discussion further tensed when it came to talk about Pleasanton’s east side and the two large housing projects that were recently submitted for development with Alameda County.
Brown said that when the city was determining sites to zone for housing during its latest Housing Element cycle, transit was a huge point when it came to choosing sites.
She also said she was on the task force for east side development in 2016 and that in the past, thousands of residents complained about developments in that area because of the proximity those developments would be to the drinking water supply at the Zone 7 Water Agency Chain of Lakes.
She said, however, that she is interested in learning more about the possibility of annexing those two unincorporated projects that are being proposed in the area — the council will discuss the annexation at a later date after city staff gather enough information.
Balch, an avid supporter of development in East Pleasanton, countered by saying that while neighborhoods in that area will present its own challenges, the city knew developers were looking into building housing in that area years ago and should have began asking questions at that time because now the approximately 800 units of housing could impact residents and the city in a negative way.
Another pressing item for the two mayoral candidates was water quality and supply. While the two had similar goals, they did not see eye to eye on certain aspects.
One major water issue was rates.
Balch said the council did not challenge enough the water rate increase that was meant to replenish the city’s Water Enterprise Fund while Brown said those increases were the only way to ensure the enterprise fund remained fiscally solvent.
The two also clashed on the city’s economic vitality.
Brown said she doesn’t believe downtown is outdated and that Main Street weekend closures and the Pleasanton Downtown Association are keeping the city’s downtown vibrant. She also said big businesses like 10x Genomics coming to the city in recent years is helping the city’s tax base and is bringing more jobs to the city.
Balch, on the other hand, criticized the city’s Downtown Specific Plan by saying it makes it too hard for diverse businesses to move into the downtown area. He said businesses pass on moving in because of the city’s active ground-floor policy and that businesses are changing, which means the city needs to as well.
The two also did not agree on concerns regarding decorum at the dais. In the past, Balch and Brown had notable disagreements that resulted in them speaking over each other. Brown said she believes the conflicts are being exaggerated and that she runs clean and respectful meetings.
Balch countered they should “call a spade a spade” regarding the lack of decorum sometimes — however, he said he does try his best to control himself in these situations because he is there to serve the public.
During closing statements, Balch said during his time as a councilmember for these past four years, he has learned how to listen to concerns about rising costs, public safety and responsible growth and is running for mayor because he believes he is the best candidate to represent the city’s values in a transparent and accountable manner.
“Do you want a leadership that maintains the status quo?” Balch asked. “Or do you want a leadership that challenges the status quo?”
Brown used her closing remarks to refute claims about the city closing the library, public pools or that the city won’t be receiving money from the new Costco being built — she assured the city will be receiving funds from the new business.
She said there was a lot of misinformation going around, and that as a person who has been in city government for 12 years, she trusts city staff with the budget because they have the city’s best intentions.
Brown also used her closing to criticize Balch’s past actions on the council, some of his talking points and his support for the city to pay — as she put it — “the most expensive energy available” with Ava Community Energy (Balch is the chair of the Ava Community Energy Joint Powers Authority).
“Is this really where we are at?” Brown said, regarding Balch’s candidacy.
See the candidates’ responses to all questions in the forum video on the Pleasanton Weekly’s YouTube page.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify Karla Brown’s reference to the 10x Genomics expansion in Pleasanton. The company was first founded in Pleasanton in 2012 and has experienced major growth in recent years, including expanding into its new headquarters on Stoneridge Mall Road.
Lawsuit alleges electric vehicle to blame for crash that killed Pleasanton family of fourApril 14, 2026 5:22 pm
New state law prohibits law enforcement from posting mugshots on social mediaAugust 1, 2021 11:12 am