Who should follow?
Dear Editor,
It goes without saying that Kathy Narum should be re-elected to Pleasanton’s City Council. Her experience, firm understanding of the issues facing Pleasanton and balanced approach to the position are exemplary.
A question arises then regarding who should fill the position I am vacating by deciding not to run for re-election. If you voted for me four years ago, you should replace me with Joe Streng.
Joe and his wife Elizabeth grew up in Pleasanton and are products of the Pleasanton Unified School District. Joe has solid commission experience having served to term out on the Parks and Recreation Commission. Along the way he helped develop our master plans for parks and recreation, and bicycle and pedestrians. This important effort required listening skills, collaboration and building consensus. These skills are critical for a properly functioning City Council.
Joe Streng favors bringing Costco to Pleasanton and resuming the planning of East Pleasanton, two issues I have supported. One candidate for council has consistently opposed Costco, developers and development, and wants to delay planning the east side. This candidate has tended to dwell on the problems and, as the Weekly has recently indicated, pointing out the problems “isn’t always enough.”
Joe Streng is not anti-developer because he realizes that if one lives in a house in Pleasanton chances are high a developer built that house. Please vote to continue the positive working relationship we have experienced on our City Council. Vote for Joe Streng for City Council.
–Arne Olson,
Outgoing City Council member
False reporting
In the Oct. 12 Pleasanton Weekly, Jeb Bing wrote a column where he reported on my contribution to Julie Testa’s campaign for City Council, a campaign whose platform is “Standing Up for Residents, Not Developments.”
In his article, Mr. Bing referred to my occupation as developer. I’ve never been a developer; in my career I’ve been an electrical engineer and a professional photographer and I’ve been a longtime advocate for preserving Pleasanton’s small-town character. In misstating my occupation, Mr. Bing could taint the Testa campaign as being funded by developers.
In a phone call to the Weekly, the editor explained that instead of using the information provided in the campaign disclosure, which accurately reports my occupation as retired, Mr. Bing relied on a 3-year-old anonymous post from the Pleasanton Weekly’s Town Square forum. Because the anonymous post was not flagged, the information was considered to be accurate.
It’s a sad day for Pleasanton that anonymous postings are now a source for our news. I have consistently supported candidates who care about the quality of life in Pleasanton. Julie is one of those candidates.
–Allen Roberts
Testa for City Council
With so many new faces running for Pleasanton City Council this year, who can you trust with your vote? One way is to examine their records.
Newcomers Joseph Ledoux and Joe Streng have virtually no track record on the issues. Incumbent Kathy Narum has a long record of supporting developers, businesses and the Chamber of Commerce over her years as a planning commissioner and City Council member.
On the other hand, Julie Testa has an equally long record but a different focus: fighting for the residents against over-development, advocating measures to reduce school overcrowding, maintaining local control of land use decisions and opposing ill-conceived policies such as current plans to inject treated sewage into our drinking water aquifer (otherwise known as toilet-to-tap).
Another way is to understand who is funding their City Council campaigns. As indicated in campaign filings (https://public.netfile.com/pub2/Default.aspx?aid=COP0), both Narum and Streng are largely funded by developer, business and other special interests and both have been endorsed by the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce.
The price for this endorsement and the money that will follow is for candidates to pledge allegiance to the chamber’s 2020 Vision, a dystopian manifesto advocating for government of, by, and for business interests.
Conversely, Testa’s contributions come from residents like you and me who understand that Julie will be an independent voice on the Council and will make decisions on our behalf, not for developers or the Chamber of Commerce. Please join me in voting for Julie Testa for City Council.
–Matt Sullivan
City Council, 2004-12
Narum for council
Kathy Reed Narum is a 25-year resident of Pleasanton who has worked hard to preserve the small-town charm of our city. Additionally, she has created a town square and additional parking.
She has a wealth of experience from serving on the Parks & Rec and Planning commissions to becoming vice mayor in 2016. She listens to both sides of issues from residents.
She shows up everywhere all the time in support of our schools, police and fire departments. My favorite project that she has helped complete is Phase II of the Bernal Park.
Please join me in re-electing Kathy Reed Narum to our City Council.
–Lori Murphy
Experience matters
Good experience is essential to good government! Pleasanton is indeed fortunate to have Kathy Narum.
She has served many years on Parks & Recreation Commission, Planning Commission and City Council. Every place she makes a positive contribution that benefits the entire community. Kathy is thoughtful and very thorough. She is a voice of reason and common sense.
Please vote on Nov. 6 to re-elect Kathy Narum to the Pleasanton City Council.
–Brad Hirst
Experience, and fresh ideas
Pleasanton didn’t become No. 7 on a national list of best places to raise a family without sound planning and carefully orchestrated projects. Kathy Narum, as a council member for the past five years, has played an important role in that planning and execution to maintain and improve the quality of life in our city.
Her training and education afford her the solid background to ask the in-depth questions before committing the city’s dollars in costly endeavors, and she uses her insight to assure we get the best bang for the buck.
Her commitment and accessibility to the citizens of this community are evident in her ready response to anyone with questions, even if she is away on business. She always returns a phone call or an email within a day, and if she can’t answer, she is quick to direct you to someone who can.
Recognizing the changing demographics of our community, a fresh outlook can have enormous benefits to the overall workings of our council. Joseph Ledoux, a longtime Berkeley police officer and Pleasanton resident, is a new face in the race.
His earnest desire to contribute to the inner workings of the city and his willingness to familiarize himself with both the residents and the issues make him a viable choice for the second open seat on the council.
I’ll be marking my ballot for Kathy Narum and Joseph Ledoux on Nov. 6. To me, they represent the best of both worlds.
–Linda Kelly
Recent Foothill grad for Baker
Assemblywoman Catharine Baker has been a remarkable leader for our community, consistently prioritizing policy solutions over ideological rigidity. Despite being a Republican, Baker has been willing to be a strong voice for young people, especially on issues that we care deeply about such as environmental protection laws, commonsense gun regulations, and stricter workplace protections against harassment and abuse.
In particular, I deeply appreciate Baker’s strong stance against race-based affirmative action, which has been an unmitigated civil rights disaster for the Asian-American community. According to numerous studies, Asian-American students are forced to score over 150 points higher on the SAT and 0.8 points higher with the cumulative GPA to even be competitive against other ethnicities in prestigious college admissions.
Polls show affirmative action is overwhelmingly opposed by over 70% of the American public. Hopefully, with strict constitutionalist Justice Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, we will finally see the end of the reverse racism of affirmative action — which has done absolutely nothing to help the very minorities it prioritizes over the last forty years.
Finally, Baker’s opponent, Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, who has zero experience in public office, will be an exclusive voice for her hyper-partisan base, but will fail to represent the moderate viewpoints of the vast majority of Pleasanton citizens.
Baker has taken a courageous stance by refusing to participate in special interest questionnaires, standing up for local autonomy over BART’s unconstitutional efforts to force high-density housing into our overcrowded northern neighborhoods, and is willing to put substance before party.
–Andy Li
PleasantonVoters endorsements
PleasantonVoters.com would like to thank all those who attended the recent “Tri-Valley @ a Crossroads” forum, including the four candidates who are seeking the two open seats on Pleasanton’s City Council.
They all shared their views on a variety of issues related to rapid growth in the region and its impact on our infrastructure. A special acknowledgment goes to Christopher Schlies, who served as moderator. Please go to our website, www.PleasantonVoters.com, to find a link to the recent forum on YouTube.
We endorse Julie Testa for Pleasanton City Council. She has consistently supported our mission of protecting the urban growth boundary, preserving ridges and open space and balancing infrastructure needs with growth in our neighborhoods. Julie continues to support slow and smart growth in Pleasanton.
Joe Ledoux is our second endorsement for City Council. He brings a different perspective to the council and is not aligned with any special interest groups.
We need people like Julie Testa and Joe Ledoux on our City Council. They are independent, conscientious and put Pleasanton residents first. They do their homework and premise decisions on input aimed at creating good for Pleasanton as a whole versus special interest groups.
–Kelly Cousins
President, PleasantonVoters.com
Baker doesn’t share my ‘California values’
I’m still in disbelief that Catharine Baker voted against the California Values Act (SB 54) last year.
This critical new law now ensures that state and local dollars and resources are not used to separate immigrant parents from their children or deport them. The law is much-needed until this Administration establishes an immigration policy that is humane.
Too, California taxpayers previously spent $65 million a year responding to ICE detainer requests. Attorney Rebecca Bauer-Kahan coordinated the legal services at SFO for detained refugees and has the expertise and will to deal with these kinds of important issues. Baker does not share my “California values,” so she has lost my vote for Assembly.
–William Oliver
