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The Pleasanton City Council is set to vote Tuesday on the final map to solidify the boundaries for the four new council districts with the city transitioning away from at-large council elections beginning in November.
The council, which agreed to voluntarily make the switch after being compelled by the threat of a lawsuit alleging discrimination in the city’s current at-large election process, had been reviewing potential maps from the city’s demography consultant and hearing public input on the boundaries in recent weeks before voting 3-2 at a special meeting last Thursday to advance the so-called “Tangerine” map for final adoption.
The change will divide the four City Council seats into representative districts and will allow candidates to run for council election only for the district they live in. It also means residents will vote one time every four years for the lone council representative in their district, as opposed to voting for two open council seats every two years. The mayoral position will remain at-large citywide every two years.
The Tangerine map has the characteristic that each current regular council member resides within a different district from all others.
Under the proposal, District 1 in northwest Pleasanton (where Councilwoman Kathy Narum is termed out) and District 3 in the southwest (where fourth-year Councilwoman Julie Testa is eligible for another term) would be up for election in November 2022. Districts 2 and 4 would be on the ballot in 2024, and councilmembers Valerie Arkin and Jack Balch, who live in those respective areas now, would technically serve out their existing first terms at-large for the next two years.
Another top choice previously on the table — the so-called “Lime” map — would have seen Testa and Balch placed in the same residential district, among other nuanced differences in the boundary lines.
All maps up for final review last week were within the legal parameters for population deviation and general contiguity, according to the city’s consultant. The Tangerine map does split Ventana Hills in different districts, which has become a point of contention for the neighborhood in recent days.
The council majority of Testa, Arkin and Mayor Karla Brown determined the Tangerine map was the best option at Thursday’s special meeting and directed staff to move forward with packaging that map for future approval. Balch and Narum dissented, preferring the Lime option.
The election map would be finalized through the approval of an ordinance, a required two-step process. The first reading is proposed for Tuesday’s meeting, with the second reading and final adoption to likely occur at the following regular council meeting.
Once adopted, the election map will be in effect for the next 10 years, in line with the U.S. census schedule.
The council’s open-session meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday (March 1) via Zoom.
In other business
* The council will conduct a hearing on a landowner’s appeal of the Planning Commission’s denial of their proposal to build a new two-story house behind the existing commercial building at the front of their property at 218 Ray St. in downtown.
The commission majority voted down the application because as designed the property — which currently houses the Pleasanton Dublin Dental Center — would be short one required parking spot if the 1,069-square-foot house is added, opposing the applicant’s request to pay an in-lieu fee to the city in exchange for not offering the additional parking space, according to city staff.
The landowner appealed the denial up to the City Council.
City staff recommend council members go against the Planning Commission and approve the project as presented.
“The proposed residential unit — as conditioned — will be compatible with the surrounding properties. Staff also suggests the site design, building design and massing are appropriate for the site and design review criteria are met,” community development director Ellen Clark wrote in her staff report.
* City staff will present the midyear update on the city’s 2021-22 fiscal year budget.
The city’s general fund is now anticipated to realize a $5.4 million surplus compared to the initial budget projections at the beginning of the year. Staff recommend allocating that money to the capital improvement program reserve.
They will also talk with council members about other city funds, including the water and sewer utilities, the golf course fund, the cemetery fund and the internal services funds.
* The council will meet in closed session beginning at 5:45 p.m. to discuss the hiring search for Pleasanton’s next permanent city manager. While the recruitment process has been ongoing, Brian Dolan has been working as interim city manager since Nelson Fialho retired from the city at the end of November.
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