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Mayor Karla Brown seems to have adjusted her opinion on city spending.
In her recent re-election announcement, she went to lengths to justify the increases in water rates and then talked about delaying capital expenditures such as the new skate park in the Ken Mercer Sports Park and fixing Century House that has been closed for eight years. Councilman Jack Balch has been making that argument for a few years. Earlier, Brown and her colleagues in the majority blithely blew off citizens who questioned those expenditures.
It will be an interesting time this fall, particularly if the council majority puts a tax increase on the ballot. Pleasanton’s finance department is projecting running off the fiscal cliff without either more revenue or less spending or both.
Here’s suspecting, given the substantial bite that Joe Biden’s inflation has taken out of the food and gas budget for residents, that spending less is going to increase in favor over the next several months.
That’s also likely the case in Sacramento where business leaders have mounted a referendum drive to make it harder for governments at all levels to raise taxes. Since Democrats cut a deal with the Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger to drop the two-thirds requirement to pass the state budget, the liberal folks have lowered passage limits to 55% for school bonds and were working to do the same on other measures.
For sales tax increases, such as Pleasanton is thinking of proposing, it remains two-thirds, a hefty challenge. It’s worth noting that Proposition 13, that set off the anti-tax revolt in 1978, passed with a bit more than 65% of the vote and was considered an overwhelming defeat for then-Governor Jerry Brown who was born again as a tax cutter in the aftermath.
A group of anti-tax groups, led by the California Business Roundtable, has gathered enough signatures to put a measure on the November ballot that would require a two-thirds margin for any local tax measure. It also would require any state tax increases to receive a two-thirds vote in the Legislature—not a big deal now given the Democrats’ super majority–plus voter approval. That’s a tough lift given recent results.
The measure also would overturn a state Supreme Court decision that local measures qualified as initiatives could be enacted with a simple majority.
The city of Pleasanton is getting an unusual fit with the selection of retiring Newark Police Chief Gina Anderson as interim chief to replace Chief David Swing.
Swing is moving on to lead the East Bay Regional Communications Authority that is working to ensure seamless communications between East Bay counties and cities.
Anderson, a veteran of 30 years in law enforcement, has served as Newark chief since April 2020. She lives in Pleasanton so there will be no learning curve to figure out the community—she’s been a member of it.
As a retiree, she’s limited to 180 days of service before her current compensation is deducted from her retirement pay. She starts in her new role May 3, the day after Swing leaves.
One Pleasanton family saw the circle of life play out in amazing fashion on Easter Sunday. Nine years ago, their mother of three went home to Jesus on Easter after battling cancer.
This Easter, one of her two daughters gave birth to a daughter in Stanford ValleyCare, the same hospital that her mom passed on in. Mom and daughter are doing well.