Resident Likes Kathy Narum For City Council: Letter To Editor

Dear Editor:

We have lived in Pleasanton for five years, and as a real estate agent, I’m concerned about preserving the quality of life in Pleasanton. If you’re looking for a way to differentiate the candidates for City Council, one of the best indicators is their position on planning for the east side of Pleasanton. We have a huge, 400-acre, piece of land that will either be developed by Pleasanton, for Pleasanton. Or, the state will develop it to achieve their housing goals, and we will have no say.

State lawmakers are working on legislation that could jeopardize our local control of open space, because they need to increase the amount of new housing in the state. Without a plan for the east side of Pleasanton, we run the risk of leaving this part of Pleasanton vulnerable to state control.

The candidates’ understanding of this issue was on full display at the Pleasanton Weekly’s candidate forum. On one end of the spectrum was Julie Testa who wants to wait until 2022 when the state gives Pleasanton the next round of Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) numbers, essentially laying out a welcome mat for the state to come in and dictate how we build on the east side.

On the sensible end of the spectrum was Kathy Narum who advocates for putting east side plan on the City’s workplan in mid-2019 once the Downtown-specific Plan is complete, recognizing both the urgency of starting the planning process and the reality of City staff capacity.

Let’s protect the sovereignty of Pleasanton to plan our City our way. Vote for Kathy Narum.

Randy and Lisa Brown, Pleasanton residents