Michael Hosterman installed as president of Pleasanton Downtown Association

OMG! Are you kidding me!!! We now have a personal injury lawyer that is a flaming left-wing loon (as is his wife The Hippy Mayor) as the President of the Pleasanton Downtown Association. One wonders if the PDA will now have a focus on ambulance chasing or lawyer-directed merchant abuse.

P. S. On this news, I will be dropping my membership in the PDA.

BTW, has The Hippy Mayor started her run for the State Assembly yet? It would be really nice if she moves to Bezerkley and runs from that district.

I'm glad someone else see's the problem with this. Mayor Hosterman (along with Councilmember's Cook-Kallio and Thorne) are already in the pockets of the Chamber of Commerce. Now that her husband is President of the PDA (which really is just a city-subsidized branch of the Chamber) all illusions of impartiality are lost! For instance, Mike Hosterman is on the Downtown Hospitality Task Force, where the PDA want's to create Boubron Street West in P-town and ignore the impacts on downtown residents. Can the mayor actually be impartial when her husband presents the plan to the Council, with Scott Raty's (Exec Director of the Chamber for the un-initiated) blessing?

This is Pleasanton's version of crony capitalism. At least in the past there was the pretense of democracy. Where's the outrage?

Loon Plague, Concerned Californian & Crony Capitalism -
You are all flat-out ignorant. It's unbelievable how misinformed & uneducated you are about the organization(s) you are bashing. Do your homework & understand what you are talking about before writing something. What a diservice you do to our community.

Talk about stacking the deck. Vera is on the board so the PDA moves their office from the long time location to one of Vera's buildings. Hosterman is president so the PDA and Chamber can be in bed together for real -- figuratively speaking I hope. Sandi Bonner is on the board but they no longer have a store in Pleasanton at all. Don't forget that Joyce Shapiro will be the mouthpiece for the PDA, as always, even though she has never had a store in Pleasanton. Cronyism at its very worst.
Good luck to the merchants who pay their fees every year -- for exactly what?

Your perception of Mr. Hosterman is way off base. He is a very good person, functions just fine and independently of his wife, is a very busy and active volunteer in this community and is not lead around by the nose from either his wife or the Chamber of Commerce.

BTW Joyce Shapiro most certainly did own a store in downtown Pleasanton. Perhaps you all should find out more about our town before you jump to judgement.

wow, wow, wow...do any of you actually know what you are talking about? Let me answer that....NO, you absolutely do not.

How could this happen? Was there a vote, or did the hippy just coronate her husband? This wouldn't be happening if Obummer wasn't our president.

Does he have expertise in marketing and management??
Jennifer in Assembly? That is why we have a supervisor from Oakland
who is now Pleasanton's superevisor...Jennifer pushed for all one district supervisor and Assembly...so she can win 'all' of Pleasanton. All in trade by giving away our Congressional seat, so that now Plesanton is LOST and buried inside the FREMONT district,k even tho we have nothing in common with Fremont. Those are the kind of dirty, insider trades that took place in drawing new decade lines in the maps for all our political elections. We were screwed politically in the whole mess. She could never win the Assembly when it was split into 3 districts....one is better. BUT, she made it about her, and our Congressional seat was used as barter,k in all the various map manipulation.

Oh please, what has Obama got to do with any of this? Shapiro's store in the early 20th century probably competed with the dive bars and the fact is that she currently has no store nor any other reason to be allowed on the PDA in any capacity. Yet they allow her to consider herself a member and try to run things. (I have been at the board meetings, yes, I am a member). Since the mayor declared Shapiro the savior and showpiece for all of Pleasanton maybe the mayor's husband can continue the a**kissing now as head of the PDA. Let's just name the town "Shapiroville" and be done with it.
That's the biggest problem with the PDA -- sucking up to some and ignoring others. Ask around the merchants and you will get a better feel for it. It's not a real pretty sight.

resident and Frustrated resident, If we are all soooo stupid, why don't you defend your position rather than just say we are stupid. PROVE it. We know coruption when we see it.

Kim,
I am certainly not calling anyone stupid. I am just saying that there are a few people who control what happens downtown. Like it or not. There is nothing that can be done unless you happen to be one of the chosen few. If not, pay your dues and keep quiet.
There is a good deal of dis-satisfaction among many merchants because of this. When the PDA kowtows to a person who has no qualifications other than a loud and strident voice, the rest of us just have to pay up and watch it happen.
That does not make anyone stupid. It just points out that some are opportunistic busybodies.

Joyce Shapiro and I along with several other business people formed the Pleasanton Downtown Association in the early 1980's. I have been active for many years in the community as a downtown businesswoman and member of the Chamber of Commerce. Both organizations work to improve the business climate in Pleasanton because it is business that supports the wonderful quality of life we enjoy in this community. There is NO crony capitalism or favoritism in either of the above mentioned associations. Both are comprised mainly of small businesses trying to make their way. Both organizations are run by paid staff and the board and officers are volunteers that serve for one or two years. Everyone mentioned in this blog is a solid citizen who has become involved to make Pleasanton a great place to live, work and raise a family. I don't agree with every stand they take but I am grateful for their participation. If you so vehemetly dislike these volunteers, please step up and offer to do the job.

I am the past president of the PDA for the years 2010 and 2011 and would like to address the factless and baseless criticisms of our current board president, Michael Hosterman. As per the PDA by-laws, in 2011 I recommended to our board that Michael Hosterman be nominated as the President for 2012. My reasons were that he works tirelessly for the betterment of our downtown. He has spent many hours volunteering for our organization and has been involved in many PDA committees and as a board member. The appointment had nothing to do with Mayor Hosterman and I am confident that he will remain objective in regards to his decisions regarding the downtown. The president does not make decisions per say, the entire PDA board makes decisions based on a majority vote. If anyone has issues with the current PDA board president they should talk to me because I am the one who recommended him to be the 2012 president.

Ugh, misleading headline...

Conflict of interest, anyone?

Hosterman's appointment is a conflict of interest. It doesn't matter how hard he works or how nice he is. He lives in the same house as the Mayor so she has opportunities to influence him that no one else has.

I have lived in this area since 1997. I have been seeing a steady decline in downtown Pleasanton. Just look at how many places have closed recently. The Pleasanton Hotel is on its 3rd tenant in as many years as an example.

After talking with many people I've heard over and over that the City Council inhibits business development with high fees and long processes and that the PDA doesn't seem to be having much influence in the right direction.

We need people on the city council and the PDA who understand business and can promote business growth. At this point I'm considering selling my place and moving to Livermore where they seem to get it. Just take a drive over on a weekend and see the difference.