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Some of us thought that Jennifer Hosterman traveled a lot when she was Pleasanton’s mayor, a post she left just two years ago when she was termed out of office after more than 10 years on the City Council, including eight as mayor.
Today, we’d be hard-pressed to ever find her at home, except for those rare opportunities she has to sprint with her favorite pets, Sarraqa (a Harris’s hawk) and Faith Eleanor May (her black Labrador retriever).
She was first elected to the Pleasanton City Council in 2002, then elected mayor in 2004 — the first woman to ever hold the office here — and was re-elected by wide margins three more times. If it weren’t for the city’s term limits law, she probably would still be our mayor.
She spearheaded many of the city’s achievements and worked hard to put Pleasanton on the map in a lot of different venues, gaining influential leadership roles with the U.S. Conference of Mayors and a number of local and regional public agencies that benefit Pleasanton.
Hosterman helped in the acquisition of the 318-acre Bernal Community Park and held a coveted board seat on the Alameda County Local Agency Formation Commission when it approved Pleasanton’s annexation of Staples Ranch.
During that time, she addressed many issues facing the city, including transportation, land use, balanced housing needs and types, providing jobs by building up the local economy, addressing serious environmental issues, providing partnership opportunities between the city and the school district, and so much more. She said she is proud to have provided leadership that resulted in yearly awards for a balanced budget.
Besides her role in government, Hosterman is an advocate for environmental sustainability and has received many awards for her work.
She hasn’t forgotten her zeal as a caretaker of the environment. Remember, this is a woman who while mayor of Pleasanton marched with peace groups on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, went to Canada to protest oil drilling, and favored a resolution by her own City Council stating the city’s opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But when it came to keeping Pleasanton in the forefront of green building, solar-powered municipal buildings and quality-of-life rules and regulations, she gained a national reputation that now serves her well in her new career.
As she transitions today to a real estate career, Hosterman continues to build on her political successes in Pleasanton and the Tri-Valley by using her people skills to bring people together for their benefit and the community’s. Her time in public service taught her that doing the right thing, in the face of strong opposition, is the most important thing.
Understanding the issues at hand, asking others’ opinions, taking input from colleagues, and then making a decision which best serves the community at large are her forte. She brings those same qualities to her work as a real estate professional, but instead of focusing on the entire community, she is now able to turn her attention to directly serving one client at a time.
Hosterman graduated from the University of San Francisco with a bachelor’s degree and from the John F. Kennedy School of Law with a Juris Doctorate. Her husband, Michael, is an attorney with offices in downtown Pleasanton and just stepped down as president of the Pleasanton Downtown Association. The couple has three daughters.
In presenting Hosterman with the 2014 Tri-Valley Heroes Community Spirit Award, Mike Conklin from Sentinels of Freedom (the 2013 award recipient) said her strong work ethic is an inspiration for many in Pleasanton. He recognized Hosterman for her selfless, tireless and largely unacknowledged actions that have enriched or improved the quality of life for the local community.
In addition to this year’s Heroes Award, Hosterman also was recognized this year as “Alumni of the Year” at the John F. Kennedy University School of Law, and also received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Women’s Council of Realtors, Southern Alameda County chapter. She’s been active as a Girl Scouts leader, soccer coach, site council representative at elementary, middle and high schools, and a volunteer for causes related to breast cancer awareness. She’s also a licensed falconer.
Hosterman can be reached at the Pleasanton office of Prudential California Realty, which, since she joined the firm (but she insists not because of that) has been acquired by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Pearson Properties, now one of the largest national real estate firms.
Hero FYI:
* Hosterman first elected to the Pleasanton City Council in 2002 and then was elected mayor in 2004, becoming the first woman to ever hold the office here.
* Spearheaded many of the city’s achievements, worked hard to put Pleasanton on the map in a lot of different venues.
* Gained influential leadership roles with U.S. Conference of Mayors and a number of local, regional public agencies that benefit Pleasanton.
* Advocate for environmental sustainability while mayor, marched with peace groups on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, went to Canada to protest oil drilling, and favored resolution by City Council opposing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
* Avid falconer who sprints with her favorite pet Sarraqa, a Harris’s hawk.
* Recognized for her selfless, tireless actions that have enriched or improved quality of life for local community.
Madam Mayor…thank you for your service. Those that take action are the true leaders, those that critique are the followers.
Reads like you are her PR manager…
From my perspective, she worked on a lot of projects that were of no benefit to Pleasanton, traveled a lot. She advocated her agenda like we all were aligned with her. I would have had a better opinion of her if she worked on the local issues.
What a shameless fluff piece. Really, outside of Hillary clintoons campaign manager, I have never seen such flagrant kissing of one’s gluteus Maximus.
Hopefully, this person continues to play with birds and leaves the rest of us humans alone.