Resident Supports Kathy Narum For City Council: Letter To Editor

Dear Editor:

Some want public decisions about housing, downtown planning or other critical community development issues to be simple. They will declare, “No more growth for Pleasanton,” or “Pleasanton should remain as it’s always been,” or “No one can tell us to build more housing because this is our town and I’ll make sure that’s the way it is.”

Only if this could or should be true. We live in a region that’s in a state that continues to create jobs. People need places to live. Diverse types of housing are needed to reflect the fact that not all household incomes can afford to purchase million-dollar homes. That’s our reality and no simplistic statements will cause our needs to be answered by some other community so we can be left alone.

Leaders make decisions based upon the facts before them. That’s what I’ve observed Kathy Narum to do with skill, sensitivity to what makes Pleasanton the town we cherish and with a deep understanding of the responsibility to govern that she’s accepted. It’s not good enough to Kathy to just get mad. That’s not a luxury she allows herself because real planning and community development challenges exist, and it takes a leader like Kathy to recognize the complexities and see us through them.

David Nagler
Chair, Pleasanton Planning Commission