Editorial: Share your thoughts on city priorities

Pleasanton city officials are working to draft their recommended list of city priorities for the next two years, and now is the time to offer your input to city leaders during this important planning process.

Ultimately to be approved by the City Council, likely by the end of March, the city's newest work plan will guide the council's and city administrators' decision-making during 2019 and 2020, especially for how to allocate city resources (financial and staffing-wise) toward achieving those key objectives.

The list typically includes local construction projects large and small, key policy goals with short- and long-term impacts, and regional priorities.

The ongoing 2017-2018 work plan featured 90 council priorities -- and under half of those were carried over from the prior two-year plan.

Expect more of the same this time around, with dozens of previous priorities likely to appear on the 2019-2020 work plan.

But there will be plenty of discussion over potential new priorities as well. That's where public feedback will be vital.

Should the city prioritize the East Pleasanton Specific Plan? What strategies can the city implement to address housing affordability or local homelessness? What city streets should be eyed for key renovations? What about Sunol Boulevard or Stoneridge Drive freeway interchange improvements? Downtown? Civic Center relocation? The Spotorno property? Valley Link? Public safety?

Those are the types of questions city leaders are considering when it comes to developing their priority list.

City staff is meeting this month with each of the commissions and committees to find out what priorities they want to recommend to the council. Each of those is a public meeting, with resident feedback welcome -- the series continues with Youth Commission on Wednesday and Parks and Recreation Commission on Thursday, and then five more meetings the next two weeks.

We also encourage you to reach out to the council members with your thoughts, via email at [email protected]

They are tentatively scheduled to hold their biennial priority-setting workshop on March 12, during which they will debate the draft project list generated by city staff, commissions and committees and hear live input from residents and other stakeholders on other possible initiatives.

Final approval of the work plan is currently scheduled to follow at the March 19 regular council meeting.

To make the cut, a project or initiative needs support from at least three council members. Make sure they hear your voice before deciding.