Dublin mayoral candidates square off in Weekly election forum

The four candidates seeking the mayor’s office in Dublin gathered this week for an election forum aimed at giving the public a chance to connect with the candidates and hear about their platforms firsthand.

The event, moderated by the Pleasanton Weekly and hosted by Dublin Chamber of Commerce, featured candidates Shawn Costello, Tom Evans, Sherry Hu and Jean Josey fielding questions on topics on Monday evening including the city’s two ballot measures in this year’s election, the shift in leadership in the city manager’s office and economic development.

Evans and Costello are both longtime Dublin residents who would be in their first terms in office should either be elected in November, with Hu and Josey, also longtime residents of the city, currently holding seats on the City Council.

The mayor’s seat is up for grabs following the departure of former mayor Melissa Hernandez, who was appointed to the BART Board of Directors earlier this year. Michael McCorriston was appointed to an interim term as mayor until December, on the condition that he not seek election to the mayor’s office this November. He is currently the only candidate running for the District 1 seat on the City Council.

One topic of discussion Monday evening was Measure JJ, which would increase term limits for newly elected councilmembers from eight years to 12 years, counting both mayoral and council service. Although the measure also includes language about prohibiting elected officials in the city from accepting gifts from lobbyists and contractors and from appointing lobbyists to city commissions, the candidates were in agreement that the term limit expansion is the main thrust of the measure.

“Gifts – right now, I don’t think that’s a big problem,” Hu said. “Everyone who’s appointed and elected shies away from any gifts.”

However, Hu said that she supported the measure for the sake of expanding term limits, pointing to other neighboring communities less restrictive term limits and the learning curve for elected officials.

“The pro is that we do have new blood in the city to bring new energy,” said Hu, who is running for mayor at the end of her first four-year council term. “The con is this is a lot of work and it takes a lot of time.”

She noted that if approved, the increased term limits would be applied only to any newly elected councilmembers and mayor, not those already in office.

“My thought is we encourage a longer term limit, 12 years in total, and this applies to the future councilmembers, not anybody who’s already elected,” Hu said.

Josey, who voted against placing the measure on the ballot, also emphasized that term limits were the main target of the measure. 

“None of us accepts gifts, and if we did we would have to disclose them,” said Josey, who has two years remaining on her second and final term on the City Council. “We don’t put lobbyists and contractors on our commissions now, and we already post contracts on our website.”

Nonetheless, she noted that Dublin has “the most restrictive term limits in the region,” and that the current eight-year term limit puts the city at risk of being led by an inexperienced mayor. 

Costello said he approved of the fact that the extended term limits would only apply to newly elected officials should it pass with voters.

“I am for letting the new people like myself have more time to run for office and serve our city, and give us more time to do good work,” Costello said. “And that’s what I want to do is do good work, as long as I live and as long as I can stand it.”

Evans said that while he supported the prospect of increasing term limits in the city, he did not approve of the measure as it is written.

“I like the idea of a term-limit extension because experience does help, but the rest of it I think is quite frankly ridiculous,” Evans said. 

Evans was also critical of the other major issue that had been placed on the ballot by the City Council – Measure II, which would allow the city to explore a potential private commercial development on the Crosby Property to the east of the city limits, which is currently designated as open space.

“I am against (Measure) II,” Evans said. “I want to leave this as open space. I don’t want the measure to pass. We don’t need to annex that land to Dublin. We have enough land in southeast Dublin already that has not been developed.”

Josey and Hu, who both voted to place the measure on the ballot, voiced their support for the move and sought to explain why the council advanced the measure to the voters.

“It does not annex any land into Dublin; it does not approve any specific development. All it does is ask voters if they want Dublin to take the first step in talking about what might go along the roadway,” Josey said.

Hu noted that the Dublin Boulevard extension had been envisioned for decades, and that a previously approved plan from the city required current officials to explore development options on the land surrounding the road. She emphasized that while the price-tag for the extension would be high, the goal was to pay for it using federal and state funding rather than taxpayer money.

“Our city will help to get the funding from the state and the federal government to help with cost, and with this measure we can build the road at no cost to taxpayers,” Hu said.

Costello said he was against the measure, citing increased traffic risks and a desire to preserve the existing open space. 

“We’re losing open space left and right because all we’re doing in Dublin is building and building and building,” Costello said.

The candidates also expressed a range of views on the prospect of developing a downtown district in the growing city. 

Costello, a city candidate in multiple elections over the years, noted that while the prospect of facilitating a downtown has been discussed for decades, he continues to face obstacles navigating the city streets in a wheelchair, or to see any follow-through from current city officials on his requests to make the city – particularly a downtown area – accessible to people with disabilities.

“If you make it wheelchair accessible that means it’s accessible for everybody – baby strollers kids on bikes all that stuff – but the most important thing is that we build it smartly,” Costello said. “We don’t want to spend 100 million on a project that is not going to work.”

Evans voiced concerns about the cost for a new downtown area, and said that the costs should be funded in some part by developers who would benefit from business in the area, as well as calling for additional transparency on those costs.

“I have asked specifically what are we paying for and how much is it going to cost,” said Evans, a first-time candidate.  “I’ve asked point blank and I get no answers.”

Josey said that while the city’s housing stock is already sufficient, the need for a shopping and dining district remains. She also voiced support for property and sales tax-sharing programs aimed at incentivizing developers.

“What I want to do is make sure we get a walkable, pedestrian friendly downtown with a true dining district that I’ve been asking for the whole time I’ve been on council,” Josey said. 

Hu said she had mixed feelings about the development of a downtown district. While she voiced support for a centralized district for dining, entertainment and shopping, she said she was worried about overdevelopment. 

“I’m concerned about eight-story buildings and being packed like sardines and not enough parking spaces, overcrowding that will compromise the charm and the functionality of our downtown area,” Hu said. 

The candidates also weighed in on questions regarding public safety, economic development, housing and next month’s city manager transition. A full video of Monday’s forum is also available on the Pleasanton Weekly’s YouTube page.

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