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Pleasanton must live within its means
The election was seven months ago. Yet I am grateful to former mayor Karla Brown and former councilmember Valerie Arkin for attending the May 20 Pleasanton City Council meeting. They reminded us why we voted against Measure PP and for new City Council leadership.
Last summer a city consultant crafted the Measure PP sales tax increase campaign. A pre-election poll suggested that it would pass with about 58% support. Mayor Brown and three of the four city councilmembers strongly supported Measure PP.
In spite of that huge advantage, Mayor Brown and her majority were ineffective in leading a successful campaign and the measure sustained a 12-point negative swing by Election Day. In addition, both Brown and Arkin were decisively defeated. This was not a coincidence.
The voters told the city to live within its means. It is no longer business as usual in Pleasanton.
– Doug Miller
Form taxpayer committee
I would like to remind Pleasanton taxpayers of the significant challenges the current City Council inherited. The previous council made several financial decisions that have had lasting impacts.
These included granting substantial raises to administrators and continuing to expand hiring despite clear warnings about impending budget constraints. Furthermore, one of their final actions was to double the severance pay of the city manager.
In the past, Pleasanton invested in essential and vibrant community projects, such as a state-of-the-art Senior Center, a beautiful library and a swimming pool. The city also collaborated with the school district to build two middle school gymnasiums. However, the current financial situation has made it difficult for the city to afford staffing for these facilities, leaving valuable resources underutilized.
Addressing these challenges will require careful planning and active community engagement. To move forward, we propose the establishment of a committee composed of Pleasanton taxpayers.
This committee should meet quarterly to review the city’s budget and provide actionable recommendations. Their focus should include identifying unnecessary expenditures, prioritizing critical services, and finding innovative ways to generate additional revenue.
While the road ahead may be challenging, with thoughtful strategy and collaboration, we can work towards a more sustainable and prosperous future for Pleasanton.
– Jan Batcheller
National labor strike
America is at a breaking point.
Over 36 million of our fellow citizens live in poverty. Hundreds of thousands sleep on the streets. Children go hungry in a nation of abundance, while billionaires consolidate wealth and power. Gun violence, voter suppression, and political corruption are pushing our democracy to the brink. And yet, our government — regardless of party — fails to act.
That’s why I’m calling for a national labor strike.
Through 2025Strike.com, I’ve outlined a peaceful, strategic effort to demand bold, immediate change. If just 3.5% of the population mobilizes — a historically proven threshold for mass movements — we can force a national reckoning. We strike not out of anger alone, but because silence is no longer an option.
Our demands are clear: raise the federal minimum wage; pass universal health care; restore Roe v. Wade; enact meaningful gun safety reforms; eliminate dark money from politics; and hold corrupt leaders accountable, regardless of party or wealth. These are not radical ideas. They are baseline expectations in any functioning democracy.
We are not powerless. We are the workforce that keeps this country running. And we deserve leaders who work for us — not for Wall Street, not for billionaires, and not for special interests.
If you believe that our government should serve the people — not just the powerful — then join us.
This isn’t about left or right. It’s about right and wrong. And it’s time we stand together to demand better.
We are the people. We have the power. Let’s use it.
– Paul Lance, Pleasanton resident and founder of 2025strike.com
Most egregious political cover-up in U.S. history
Over the past four years the Biden administration, the Democratic Party and the mainstream media has participated in the most egregious political cover-up in US history. This immoral action by the corrupt leaders and mainstream media is far worse than Watergate.
Democratic leaders and the media protected Biden from his diminished mental capacity prior to the 2020 election despite early concerns about his mental fitness, raised as early as 2018. They covered up these issues to maintain party unity and to gain power and control of the white house.
From the start of Biden’s presidency in January 2021, White House aides reportedly made accommodations for his “bad days” by canceling critical meetings, avoiding calls with other politicians, and relying on other officials to take on roles typically filled by the president. They limited his press conferences and he did not have a cabinet meeting in his last 14 months in office. These cover-ups were to shield his condition from public view.
Investigations are currently underway which should show who was actually making the decisions in the White House and who was responsible for the thousands of illegitimate pardons issued by the use of the auto pen.
The Democratic Party continues to prove that they will stop at nothing to stay in power because they have no policies and no leadership. The past four years will go down as the most egregious political cover-up in U.S. history.
– David Ott
“Our demands are clear: raise the federal minimum wage; pass universal health care; restore Roe v. Wade; enact meaningful gun safety reforms; eliminate dark money from politics; and hold corrupt leaders accountable, regardless of party or wealth. These are not radical ideas. They are baseline expectations in any functioning democracy.”
I agree. The demands are quite clear (despite the silly non-ideological or “right vs. wrong” characterizations). Government redistribution of income, class envy, equality of outcomes, “free” health care, abortion on demand, and gun bans for the law abiding are baseline expectations for the political (radical) left. They are not requirements for a “functioning democracy”.