Thank you for joining our informal group of concerned Pleasanton citizens. 

The response has been tremendous now that the word is getting out.  At last week’s City Council meeting we handed in over 300 signatures from the petition we have been circulating and have over 100 more to be delivered.  We also sent a mailer out to 2,000 residents with a return mailer that could be mailed to the City Council.  They have received over 200 of those mailers.  So the City Council has received over 600 communications from residents all expressing the same sentiment – Drastically slow growth until we have the water, schools and infrastructure to support it.  And, we don’t want any more high-density four story projects than we must have to meet the legal minimums - and those projects should be located in areas not adjacent to single family neighborhoods. 

This is election season with one Council seat open (Cheryl Cook-Kallio is termed out), another Council member, Kathy Narum, is running for re-election, and Mayor Thorne is running fore re-election. 

Having walked the neighborhoods with the petition, several people expressed the sentiment that it is a hopeless fight because of losing the lawsuit.  I disagree.  I am convinced that if the Council sees that the vast majority of people in Pleasanton are opposed to unnecessary growth, particularly in an election season, they will eliminate or reduce the excess inventory of high-density zoned parcels, which are zoned for 1,292 un-need housing units.  We have over 1,600 new units that have been already approved for building in various projects across the city.

Your efforts will make a difference.

• Please consider doing the following:
• 1.     Email the Mayor and City Council.  It doesn’t need to be long.  They keep each letter as public record and provide copies to each council member. Here is their email address - citycouncil@ci.pleasanton.ca.us
• 2.     Get your neighbors to email or mail a letter to the City Council  Every resident they hear from makes our case more convincing!
• 3.     Attend the upcoming City Council and Planning Commission meetings.  Make your thoughts known! 
• a.     August 13 – Planning Commission finalizes the draft of the Housing Element
• b.     August 19 – City Council meets.  They are not planning to address the Housing Element, but it’s important to make comments at the beginning of the meeting.
• c.      September 2 – The City Council plans to finalize the Housing Element. This will seal the future of our growth for the next eight years
• 4.     If you are on Facebook, like our Facebook page and share it with your Pleasanton friends. https://www.facebook.com/votersforsmartgrowth

If there are any ways you can think of to communicate with the City Council how important this is to our city’s residents, please let me know.

Thanks for being involved.  Let me know how I can help you help this critical cause.

 

George Bowen