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Pleasanton’s Mayor Karla Brown confirmed over the weekend that she would be running for re-election in November, becoming the first mayoral candidate to declare for the general election.
“Pleasanton is a beautiful and safe community with expansive parks, upscale amenities and a historic picture-perfect downtown,” Brown said in a news release. “I am proud to serve as mayor to our friendly community, and I vow to continue to use my skills and expertise to better our city, preserve our historic features and keep our community safe.”
Brown won the 2020 election with 47.13% of the vote, defeating four other candidates on the ballot led by fellow outgoing councilmember Jerry Pentin in second place with 35.06%. Headed into the election, Brown had served in a regular City Council seat for eight years, two of them as vice mayor.
“My motto has been, ‘We are in this together,’ so when the pandemic created financial hardships for many of our residents and small businesses, I supported the city’s approval of using Alameda County grants and city sponsored zero interest rate loans, as a lifeline to recovery,” Brown said.
Brown’s campaign platform is focused around that motto as she emphasized supporting residents, small businesses, reasonable housing development and safe drinking water.
She said in the news release that one issue she plans to work on is helping the city meet state mandates for future housing.
“Reasonable and smart growth policies helped to shape Pleasanton into the award-winning community we have today,” Brown said.
Most recently Brown and the City Council voted for the return of Pleasanton’s First Weekends on Main, which block Main Street from vehicle traffic on the first weekend of each month to support downtown restaurants and retail shops.
She currently serves on the Tri-Valley Water Roundtable and as a liaison to the Zone 7 Water Agency, saying that she is passionate about the quality and supply of water as the state is in the throes of another drought season.
Brown also serves on the Alameda County Mayor’s Conference for regional influence and has seats on different transportation boards that support transportation funding for Pleasanton and the Tri-Valley.
She was also selected as the chair of a liaison committee between the city and the Pleasanton Unified School District, which formed new policies for school resource officers to be complimented with mental health clinicians.
“I am endorsing Karla Brown for re-election to her second term as Pleasanton’s mayor. Karla is collaborative and respectful to residents and her colleagues on the City Council,” Vice Mayor Valerie Arkin said in Brown’s news release. “As a mayor, Karla is always prepared, respectful and she works hard to find a common ground where all five of us can offer our support.”
Brown promised voters that, just as in 2020, she would turn down campaign donations from “builders and developers that often hope to buy influence” in the 2022 election cycle.
A Pleasanton resident for more that 25 years, Brown is a real estate professional and previously worked for more than 10 years in the semiconductor industry. She holds a bachelor degree in marketing from San Jose State University.
To learn more about Brown and her campaign, visit www.Vote4Karla.com.
Hello, New here..what exactly has Mayor Brown done for Pleasanton in her term? Can someone give me a list?
Thank you.
@Apples – I’ve lived in this city for 25 years and volunteered in and for the city for most of that time, and I can’t tell you anything that Karla has accomplished as an elected official. Sorry.
I can say she stepped in during pusd’s ignorance during the pandemic. How involved she was I don’t know, but maybe the initial act was enough of a threat for the district to get the return to school and district/union shenanigans aligned enough to get our kids back in the classroom.
I strongly recommend a NO vote for Karla Brown. Karla is fiscally irresponsible. Karla Brown led the charge to remove money from the rainy-day reserve fund, in doing so she said, “it’s only a million dollars.” This is with a recession knocking on our door. Many economists are stating we are in a recession now, that inflation may be here for two years.
Karla Brown is one of the three vote majority on our city council. The other two are Julie Testa and Valarie Arkin. Testa is somewhat of an egotistical, self-centered, self-anointed grandiose wannabe. Julie Testa is dishonest, has been involved in questionable behavior in multiple issues that have impacted the council and the citizens of Pleasanton in a negative manner.
Valarie Arkin came into the council stating she will take Bart to Livermore. It was determined years ago Bart is not going to Livermore. Valarie Arkin has asserted her contempt with trying to stop police department display of the rescue vehicle, claiming it will harm Pleasanton children. Quite the opposite is true. Children are attracted to the police rescue vehicle. During the police open house they were all over it, exploring it, asking the officer questions. Some of the children are potential future Pleasanton police officers. Arkin has no clue what the community pulse is.
Brown, Testa. and Arkin with the majority vote, gerrymandered Pleasanton voting districts. Splitting up a neighborhood, to keep Testa separated from other more qualified candidates, in order to keep their three-vote majority for the next two to four years. One has to wander how they got around the Brown Act. Or did they?
Ask her about Costco. Crickets is what you will hear.
It’s unfortunate that some people aren’t aware of ALL the positive things Mayor Brown has done for Pleasanton! In addition to respectfully listening to residents concerns, researching issues to be knowledgable, making fair decisions and always keeping Pleasanton’s best interests her top priority, she actively works to insure our city is the best it can be now and in the future! If you read the local papers, you’d see that Mayor Brown has done the following things…..AND MUCH MORE!
Implemented fiscally sound budgets
Supported downtown businesses through annual funding of the Pleasanton Downtown Assoc.
Did NOT support adding 1.6 million sq. ft. of industrial, plus 1,300 new houses in East Pleasanton, during historic drought.
Approved Kottinger Gardens affordable housing for seniors
Implemented new protections for historic resource homes in the Downtown Plan area
Supported Sunflower Hill Housing for developmentally delayed adults
Supported inclusionary housing to blend lower-income housing with at-market housing
Supported Purple Pipe recycled water for irrigation at public parks & business parks reducing demand for critical potable/drinking water
Did NOT support narrowing of Owens Drive in front of BART
Supported funding State Route 84 to reduce cut-through traffic
Supported Testing the Shared Autonomous Vehicle (SAV) for LAVTA/Wheels
Replaced older busses with hybrid buses (built locally)
Supported Bernal/Patelco Park all-weather fields, walking trails & baseball fields
Liaison to East Bay Regional Park District Castleridge Trail by Alivso Adobe
Supported Cubby’s dog park
Supported completion of Foothill Rd. bicycle corridor design
Gathered community support for completion of Pleasanton Tennis Center
PLEASANTON IS VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE SUCH AN HONORABLE AND HARD-WORKING MAYOR!! I’M GRATEFUL THAT KARLA IS WILLING TO GIVE HER EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE, LEADERSHIP AND DEDICATION TO PLEASANTON FOR ANOTHER TERM!
The mendacious grouping Mayor Karla Brown managed with redistricting Pleasanton voting districts that removed a council member from district four to district three because that council member is not electable in district four.
This redistricting method provides a better probability for that inferior candidate to be reelected in district three. That will allow the ongoing three vote majority on the city council.
This redistricting divided a neighborhood and deprived that neighborhood from electing a candidate of choice. This was manipulation of an electoral constituency’s boundaries so as to favor one candidate. This is called gerrymandering and keeps a bad incumbent on the city council
Marilyn,
All of the items you listed were done under Mayor Thorne’s leadership or earlier. She was a City Councimember when most of the items you listed were done. Some of the items were in place prior to her being on the city council such as inclusionary housing.
That’s a helpful list, but “support “ in todays age of keyboard activists needs more definition, and some happened ie owens road is narrower, so not supporting it, but it happening doesn’t really serve as an accomplishment
Marilyn, thank you for that list. It’s a good reminder that Karla takes credit for things she didn’t actually do.
Karla Brown’s results in the last election are a much more factual representation of how Pleasanton residents feel about her than the comments on this thread.
Democrats always take credit for what Republicans have accomplished.
Bay Area Native – Do you remember that Karla got less than half of the votes cast in the last mayoral election?
Keep in mind that the Chamber plays a large role in school board and city council elections. These are pro-growth people, and they are not necessarily for low income housing.
@Kathleen Ruegsegger you must know different Chamber people than I do. The ones I know are greatly concerned with housing their employees can afford. Keep in mind that Chamber members are the business people whose businesses keep the city coffers afloat.
All I can say is to talk to people at the top. I believe your assertion, but not for the PAC.
Jake Waters
“Democrats always take credit for what Republicans have accomplished”
Hilarious; Affordable health Care…Hahahahahah Where’s your plan…waiting….
Dena, affordable healthcare is anything but affordable. Do you have it or are you on a company policy?
Dana – stick to what you know. Besides, affordable healthcare is the least of our problems.
In case you missed it, Pleasanton’s mayoral election is an “at large” race. That means it’s not about Democrats or Republicans, it’s just a city governmental position in which every registered voter in the city gets to vote for a candidate. No party affiliation is stated, and except as it applies to city employees, healthcare is not on the city’s agenda.
There is a reason Karla overwhelmingly beat the 3 other candidates garnering 47 percent of the vote in a field of 4. She has strong resident support because of her proven track record on the Council, she does her homework, she collaborates well, and she is focused on serving our residents first. Unlike many candidates, Karla does not take developer donations as she knows how important it is to maintain objectivity in her decisions.
Here are the previous election details.
https://www.acgov.org/rovresults/241/indexA.htm