Planning Commission Chairman Brian Arkin and Pleasanton businessman Dan Faustina have announced that they will seek election to the City Council in November in a repeat contest of last year’s special election among those two and Councilman Jerry Thorne, who won.
Thorne, 61, a retired businessman and former chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission, narrowly defeated Arkin in the June 7, 2005, election, with Faustina finishing a distant third. Thorne took the seat vacated by Councilwoman Jennifer Hosterman, who was elected mayor in November 2004.
In the upcoming Nov. 7 municipal election, two council seats are opening. Thorne is seeking reelection to the seat he won last June. Hosterman’s four-year term of office on the council would have expired this November, The other open seat is currently held by Councilman Steve Brozosky, who is vacating it to run against Hosterman for the mayor’s post.
Arkin, 45, a member of the Planning Commission since 1999, first became active in community affairs 10 years ago when he worked to block a plan by San Francisco to build 2,500 houses on the Bernal property. Later, San Francisco, which had owned the 520-acre parcel for nearly 70 years, sold it to Greenbriar Homes and associates for $126 million. As part of the sales agreement, Greenbriar gave 318 acres free of charge to the city of Pleasanton in return for permits to build homes and apartments on the rest of the land.
Arkin also co-authored a ballot initiative, Measure V, which voters approved in 2004, that prohibits any additional housing anywhere on the Bernal property.
ìI am running for City Council because I love our town, care about our residents and want to lead our community through buildout,” Arkin said. “I have been working for a decade making Pleasanton a better place to live, work and play and want to continue my volunteer work on the council. I am passionate about Pleasanton – the place we all call home.î
Arkin graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a B.S. degree in Electronic Engineering and has an MBA from California Lutheran University. He holds 13 U.S. patents and is a published author. He works as the Director of Hardware Engineering at a semiconductor equipment company in Milpitas.
He and his wife Valerie have three children: Chris, 14; Angela, 11; and Nicholas, 6.
Dan Faustina, 27, is also back in the race again. A lifelong resident of Pleasanton, he graduated from Foothill High School and went on to earn a degree in Political Science from Pepperdine University in Malibu. While at Pepperdine, he served as President of Psi Upsilon and was captain of the menÃs rowing team.
His interest in politics led him to be a deputy campaign director for a Los Angeles educatorÃs run for the California State Assembly. He also served on the campaign staff for Claude HutchisonÃs bid for the 10th Congressional District in the East Bay. Earlier, Faustina volunteered on the Measure B School Bond campaign in Pleasanton.
Currently, Faustina serves as a County Commissioner on the Alameda County Commission on Consumer Affairs and was recently appointed to the Commission on Human Relations. He also serves as President-Elect of the Pleasanton Kiwanis Club, Youth Leader for the Senior High Ministry at Trinity Lutheran Church, and coach in the Pleasanton Junior Football League.
Professionally, he is an area vice president for Gallagher Benefit Services in the firm’s Pleasanton office, and consults mid-size to large companies on their employee benefit plans.
ìPleasanton has afforded me many opportunities and I feel privileged to now give back,î Faustina said.
In a campaign statement, Faustina said that the primary reason he is seeking a seat on the council is to ensure that decisions are made in the best interest of the community and that the course set forth will give future generations the same great city in which he was raised. Faustina promised that this campaign will be about the citizens and a city unlike any other in this great state.
