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If audience bewilderment over Measures PP and QQ that will be on the Nov. 4 municipal ballot is any sign of the outcome of these competing initiatives on hillside development, Pleasanton mayoral and City Council candidates who are hitching their election chances to these issues may have trouble projecting their own voter strengths.
At least half of the 75 who attended the kick-off forum for candidates Monday night at Pleasanton Gardens looked quizzically at each other when the candidates started answering why they were backing PP or QQ. Their answers made sense if everyone knew what the two sets of double letters signified, and by the end of the one hour discussion most probably did.
For the record, Measure PP will appear on the ballot as: “Shall the Save Pleasanton’s Hills & Housing Cap Citizens’ Initiative be Adopted?” That initiative, placed on the ballot by the Save Pleasanton’s Hills citizens coalition, would immediately ban development on ridgelines and hillsides with a 25 degree slope or greater. It would also tighten rules governing what constitutes a living unit that should be counted toward the city’s voter-mandated 29,000-unit housing cap.
Measure QQ has a similar title: “Shall the Pleasanton Ridgelines Protection and Growth Control Initiative be Adopted?” Placed on the ballot by a majority of the City Council—Mayor Jennifer Hosterman and council members Cheryl Cook-Kallio and Jerry Thorne–it could do much the same as the citizens’ initiative, but only after detailed review by various city commissions, a citizens’ task force, an environmental impact report and final council action.
Candidates who answered questions and addressed municipal issues Monday included Hosterman and her challenger Steve Brozosky, currently a member of the Pleasanton school board who lost in his bid to unseat Hosterman two years ago by only 188 votes. City Council candidates included incumbent council members Cindy McGovern and Matt Sullivan, both seeking re-election to four-year terms, and their challengers: businessman Jerry Pentin, a member of the city’s Park and Recreation Commission and its chairman two years ago, and retired school teacher Howard Neely, who has served on the Parks and Recreation and Housing commissions and currently is on the Task Force for Senior Housing.
All have a stake in the Nov. 4 initiative debate and, except for Neely and Pentin, have helped write and signed ballot arguments for .one of the measures. Hosterman helped prepare and signed the ballot argument in favor of Measure QQ; Brozosky, McGovern and Sullivan signed in favor of Measure PP.
At Monday’s forum, Neely and Pentin said they support the council majority’s initiative, QQ.
With an audience dominated by older Pleasanton residents, including many from Pleasanton Gardens and the city’s senior complex across Kottinger Drive, Kottinger Place, much of the discussion Monday concerned how candidates would meet the needs of seniors if elected—or re-elected.
Brozosky, citing the city’s nearing buildout of 29,000 housing units, said he would require most new housing to be smaller, more affordable homes. He opposed the council majority’s approval last year of a 51-home development called Oak Grove in the hills above Kottinger Ranch, which he said will be mansions and will subtract from the number of units that can be built to serve seniors.
“In fact, the council just approved construction of a house that’s bigger than this entire (Pleasanton Gardens) complex,” he said. “I’m a big advocate of a public-private partnership to address the city’s housing needs for seniors.”
Sullivan said he, too, favors public-private partnerships to build “affordable by design” housing, especially on sites close to the BART station transportation hubs, both at the East Pleasanton-Dublin station next to Hacienda Business Park, and at the new west station currently under construction.
“We need to be pro-active on the council and not wait until developers come in with plans to see what we can get,” Sullivan said. “We need to get together as a community and prioritize our needs.”
McGovern said she has long advocated more affordable housing for Pleasanton, which is why she has consistently voted against new developments of large, expensive homes, including those planned in Oak Grove.
Hosterman said she has long supported the construction of more senior housing, but added that she believes there is much more to helping the growing senior population in Pleasanton to ensure ever-better quality of life standards.
“For me, serving our seniors is not just about housing,” Hosterman said. “For example, we set up cooling centers during the recent heat waves for seniors who don’t have home air conditioners and even provided free transportation so they could get there and back again for relief.”
Pentin, who owns Spring Street Studios and has been a member of the Pleasanton North Rotary Club since 1991, when he and his family moved here, is also a member of a task force that is considering ways to expand and improve Kottinger Place. He also wants to promote the construction of more affordable housing for those who work in Pleasanton but can’t afford to live here.
“The fact is that only 20 percent of those who work in Pleasanton also live here,” Pentin said. “That leaves 80 percent who come to work here from someplace else. We need to provide more housing that they can afford.”
Neely said he has volunteered his services in Pleasanton since 1966 and has served many years on commissions and task forces seeking more and better housing for seniors.
“I moved to Pleasanton when housing was affordable,” he said, “but as we know, that went away. As a city, we need to take the offensive and say here’s what we want in the way of affordable housing, and then work to make it happen. We shouldn’t wait for developers to come to us with their own plans.”
During the one-hour forum, each of the six candidates talked about their experience and qualifications.
Mayor Jennifer Hosterman: First elected to the City Council in 2002 and elected as the city’s first woman mayor in 2004, and again in 2006, she has worked to beef up the city’s finances while also leading efforts to restore Kottinger Creek, build new restrooms downtown, start construction on the Firehouse Arts Center, complete work on the restoration of the Veterans Memorial Building and provide funding to restore and expand the Alviso Adobe and its new community park, which will be dedicated in October.
“At a time when other cities have had to cut back on projects and expenditures, Pleasanton has continued to move forward, including opening a new fire station (Station No. 4) on Bernal Avenue,” she said.
Steve Brozosky: Elected to the City Council in 2002, where he served one term, he was appointed to the school board last year and persuaded the board not to pursue a parcel tax this year. He promised at the time that he would not run for the school board in 2008 so that those in the community who wanted to seek the office would not have to run against an incumbent. He then chose to again seek election as mayor. The founder and leader of two technology companies, he told constituents at Monday’s forum that he also served as chairman of the agency that operates the Wheels bus system, campaigned successfully for a voter-approved initiative to restrict the city’s 371-acre Bernal parkland for public, non-housing uses, and is an active member of the Downtown Pleasanton Rotary Club, where he is scheduled to become its president next year.
“One of the biggest challenges facing our city in the years to come will be maintaining adequate water supplies,” Brozosky said. “If you think traffic is bad, water shortages could be even worse. We cannot keep adding houses if we will not have enough water for our community.”
Cindy McGovern: A 40-year resident of Pleasanton, McGovern served 10 years on the school board before being elected to the council four years ago. She told her Monday evening audience that she has long been an advocate of retaining and expanding open space in the community, including voting against the Oak Grove housing project. For her years of service as a community and school volunteer, she was given the Mayor’s Award and also was named the Pleasanton Weekly Woman of the Year.
“If re-elected, you can be sure that I will continue to appreciate and encourage citizen participation on all issues affecting Pleasanton,” McGovern said. “I will vigorously protect our housing cap, work to widen Hwy. 84, find the funding to start the next phase of the Bernal property, build a teen center and more trails, and seek a regional solution to provide an adult day care center.”
Howard Neely: Recognized last year for his many years of community service with the “Ed Kinney Patriots Award,” Neely considers himself a public advocate for affordable housing for seniors, young families and the workforce. A high school teacher for 30 years, he also has owned three different businesses in Pleasanton, served as an executive of the Bay Area Council of the Boy Scouts and successfully led the effort for the city to acquire the cemetery on Sunol Boulevard, which has been renamed Pleasanton Pioneer Cemetery.
“While we need to do many things to add more affordable housing in Pleasanton, a priority is to expand Kottinger Place to at least 150 units to serve a growing need,” Neely said at the candidates’ forum.
Jerry Pentin: An avid golfer whose daughter Joi is a championship golfer and a senior at Amador Valley High School, Pentin has long been active in parks and recreational facility development in Pleasanton, including years of service on the task force that helped build Callippe Preserve Golf Course. A board member of the Cultural Arts Foundation, he has taken an active lead in seeking funding for the Firehouse Arts Center.
“If elected to the City Council, I will press for more relief on our traffic congested streets, better protection of the city’s hillsides and ridges, improving bicycle and pedestrian safety and pathways in town and doing a better job of encouraging stakeholders in Pleasanton to participate in government decision-making,” Pentin said.
Matt Sullivan: Appointed to the Pleasanton Planning Commission in 1998, where he also served as chairman, Sullivan told constituents Monday that he has long advocated public participation on community issues, long-range transportation improvements, strong hillside protection laws, and rules and practices to ensure good government in Pleasanton. An organizer of an energy task force to look at conservation policies, he’s also been instrumental in drafting an energy element that should become part of the city’s revised General Plan, which is scheduled for completion later this year.
“My record on the council demonstrates that I stand up for the people of Pleasanton and to make sure that their voices are heard in the decision-making process,” Sullivan said. “City councils are important, but what makes them special is when they have active participation by many in the community. My goal is to ensure good government and plan for a sustainable future for our city. This remains my motivation and why I am seeking re-election.”
pleasanton, election, pleasanton city council, pleasanton planning commission, pleasanton school board, hosterman, brozosky, sullivan, mcgovern, pentin, neely
pleasanton, election, pleasanton city council, pleasanton planning commission, pleasanton school board, hosterman, brozosky, sullivan, mcgovern, pentin, neely
