Meet The Pleasanton Candidate: Kathy Narum

PLEASANTON, CA — Patch reached out to all the candidates for mayor and city council in Pleasanton.

Two candidates each are running for mayor, District 1, and District 2.

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We sent out questionnaires and reprinted their answers verbatim. Below, read the responses of Kathy Narum, who's running in District 1.

What is your educational background?

BS Chemical Engineering UC Davis

What is your professional background?

I am the managing partner of our family commercial property business, based in Des Moines, IA, for the past 20 years — managing on-site staff, negotiating leases, and making financial decisions. Prior to that, I worked in R&D and manufacturing development for the Pillsbury Company.

I've also spent over 20 years in community volunteer roles, including 9.5 years on the Pleasanton City Council. I currently serve as a Director on the Zone 7 Water Agency Board.

Have you ever held public office, whether appointive or elective?

I have not held elected public office. However, I served on Pleasanton's Economic Vitality Committee, where I helped develop the city's Economic Development Strategic Plan.

What are the top three issues facing Pleasanton right now?

PUBLIC SAFETY--Residents must feel safe in their homes. Continue to ensure our first responders have access to the latest technologies and ongoing training. Evaluate staffing needs as housing comes on-line to ensure response times hold

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY--Increase revenue with active economic development including redevelopment of the Stoneridge Mall while controlling spending so the budget balances. Continued investment in downtown to improve vibrancy, Provide a variety of housing types especially for young families, helping to improve school district enrollment.

CLEAN WATER RELIABLY DELIVERED--Pleasanton is 100% dependent on Zone 7 for its water. We are overdue for a multi-year drought so having access to our groundwater is important. The regional well project with Zone 7 is critical to complete as quickly as possible so the City has clean ground water. Ground water represents 25% of our total annual water requirement so this should stabilize our water rates as well.

What is one specific action you would prioritize during your first year in office?

I would prioritize intensifying economic development activity, including redevelopment of Stoneridge Mall. We need to rebuild the local tax base by making Pleasanton an outstanding location for business investment. This means continuing to streamline the permitting process to attract new employers, as well as small businesses and entrepreneurs. We also need to help residents understand why shopping local matters — it's not just a cute slogan, it directly funds city services. The City already has a 2024–2028 Strategic Plan for Economic Development in place; the priority should be actually using it, not letting it sit on a shelf.

This is important so that we have revenue to fund things important to residents such as public safety, parks and library and why it would be a priority to me during my first year in office.

Pleasanton has faced projected multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls. What services would you protect, and what combination of spending reductions or new revenue would you support to stabilize city finances?

First, I'd expect every department to review its budget for efficiency savings on the expense side, including a hard look at consulting contracts to ensure we're only paying for work that gets used, not reports left sitting on a shelf. I'd also want to examine vacant positions, deferred maintenance trade-offs, and opportunities to share services with neighboring jurisdictions before considering deeper cuts.

On the revenue side, the annual income generated by the Section 115 pension trust should be used to smooth out rising pension costs. This isn't a surprise — the trust's original 10-year forecast indicated we'd need to start drawing on it two years ago, so this is a planned tool, not an emergency measure.

I'd also expect Measure HH, if it passes with an organized "Yes" campaign, to generate meaningful additional annual revenue. Pending housing projects should bring in development impact fees as well, and continued economic development — including efforts like the Stoneridge Mall redevelopment — should help grow the sales and property tax base over time.

If the budget still isn't balanced after all of that, I'd want a structured way for residents to weigh in on potential cuts — whether through a budget survey, town hall, or dedicated council study session — before finalizing decisions. Public safety would be the last area I'd look to cut.

Pleasanton must accommodate substantial new housing growth, including redevelopment around the Stoneridge Shopping Center. Where should new housing be concentrated, and how should the city address affordability, traffic and infrastructure impacts?

Housing growth should be spread through the city as much as possible. This would include commercial corridors, transit accessible-mixed use areas such as the Hacienda Business Park and the Stoneridge Mall, and under utilized commercial buildings rather than single family neighborhoods.

Locating housing in transit corridors, near Bart, and in the Hacienda Business Park should alleviate traffic as there would be other transportation options. Traffic improvement projects need to be completed.

For new housing, we must require that 15 to 20% of the units be deed restricted affordable housing under the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance rather than allowing the development to pay into the affordable housing fund. We also need to challenge projects to be affordable by design.

Pleasanton businesses have experienced a recent series of burglaries and break-ins. What specific steps should the city take to reduce property crime and support affected businesses?

The Police Department has a Crime Prevention Unit that can provide evaluations to harden physical access to a business. Businesses that were affected in the recent break-ins should be offered this evaluation as well as other businesses.

The City should explore grant opportunities for small businesses to help upgrade physical security such as better video cameras

Explore creation of Business Watch programs similar to Neighborhood Watch programs to share safety alerts and information as well as training for crime prevention.

Measure HH would increase Pleasanton's hotel tax from 10% to 12%, generating an estimated $2.3 million annually for general city services. Do you support or oppose the measure, and how should the additional revenue be used if it passes?

II support Measure HH. Raising the hotel tax from 8% to 10% to 12% over a couple of years is a reasonable way to generate additional general fund revenue — an estimated $2.3 million annually — without placing new costs on Pleasanton residents directly. Hotel taxes are paid predominantly by visitors, not local families, making this one of the more equitable revenue tools available to the city right now.

Given the multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls we're facing, this revenue matters. I'd want it directed first toward protecting core services — public safety, street and infrastructure maintenance, and library and recreation programs — rather than funding new, ongoing programs that would only add to future budget pressure.

I'd also want the City to track this revenue transparently and report annually on how it's being used, so residents can see the direct connection between the tax and the services it supports. That kind of accountability matters for maintaining public trust, especially with several revenue and cost pressures converging at once.

Passing Measure HH doesn't solve the structural budget challenge on its own, but paired with departmental efficiencies, the 115 pension trust, annual income and development-related revenue, it's an important piece of a balanced approach to stabilizing city finances.

Why do you feel you're a better candidate than your opponents?

I bring more than 20 years of community involvement, serving on Commissions, the City Council, the boards of Sunflower Hill and Pleasanton Partnerships in Education, committees for the school district, and the Zone 7 Board of Directors. While my opponent was busy running for Congress in Fresno and Stockton, I've been working hard to truly understand our local government--and what makes Pleasanton special.

I've also been the managing partner of our family business for 20 years, so I understand what it takes to balance budgets, negotiate contracts, and manage employees, while dealing with all the ways government can be both helpful and and burdensome.

That combination of deep community roots and hands-on business experience are why our first responders and so many local leaders all agree:: I am the candidate most qualified to protect what matters to Pleasanton today, while preparing our families for a vibrant tomorrow.