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Sound wall
Thank you for the article “Supporting the Valley Avenue’s sound wall” that explained some of the history and gave an update.
It is important to note that Valley Avenue used to be a two-lane road, and approval to widen to four lanes forgiven by the residents with the requirement of this sound wall that was installed. Little did we know how heavy the traffic would become, and the addition of stop lights and stop signs would be installed at every intersection.
The Pleasanton school board does not seem to appreciate how heavy the traffic has become, and recently approved adding additional services at Harvest Park Middle School and also removing some green space to make parking lots larger. This will add more traffic coming and going to Harvest Park on the already busy Valley Avenue and surrounding streets.
While local residents have asked for these services to be added to another school site where room is already available, the pleas were ignored. Not only is Harvest Park the oldest middle school in Pleasanton, it is the only middle school surrounded on all sides by residential housing.
The increased traffic does not only effect Valley Avenue, Black Avenue, Greenwood Road and Northway Road, but also the feeder streets of Raven Road, Crestline Road, Mohr Avenue, Harvest Road and quite a few others.
We that live in these neighborhoods experience the school traffic crush twice a day, with other activities at the school at night and weekends bringing additional traffic. Some habits of cars that we see includes speeding, parents stopping cars in the middle of residential streets to pick up their kids and quite a few near misses (some have hit) of cars and kids walking or riding their bikes home.
– Tessie Wagner-Pease
The cruelty is the point
I want to thank Christina Nystrom and Ward Kanowsky for their recent letters. At first glance, one might think these are separate issues — local silence on racism and federal policies causing deaths.
But they’re connected by something darker: the systematic dehumanization that this administration has normalized and the flood of crises designed to overwhelm us into inaction.
Steve Bannon openly described the strategy: “flood the zone with (expletive).” Keep us so inundated with horrors that we become numb, exhausted, unable to respond.
It’s working when we can’t muster outrage for our own principal facing racist attacks. It’s working when measles deaths, extrajudicial killings in South American waters, and deaths in detention centers become mere statistics we scroll past.
This is the enshittification of our society — where basic decency, accountability, and human dignity are systematically degraded until we accept the unacceptable as normal.
But here’s what they’re counting on: that we’ll be too overwhelmed to act. Christina’s letter shows what happens when we let that paralysis win. Ward’s letter shows the stakes of our silence.
So what now? Join a local Indivisible group. Attend a school board meeting. Talk to your neighbors about what you’re seeing and what matters to you. Make your plans to attend a No Kings event on March 28.
They’re counting on us to give up. Let’s show them what we’re made of.
– Kat Rosa
Simply asking for accountability
Dear PDA and City of Pleasanton: May I suggest we retire the term “revitalizing downtown” and switch to SMART goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound?
Merriam-Webster defines business as “a means of livelihood” and Investopidia.com as “the efforts and activities undertaken by individuals to produce and sell goods and services for profit”. Business owners don’t talk about “revitalization” as a tangible goal; our goals include cost reduction and revenue growth.
As Dr. Harry Edwards wrote wisely in his recent letter to the PW, the PDA tends to use “soundbite happy speak” instead of language that makes them accountable. How do you measure making Pleasanton “culturally relevant”?
If businesses can’t pay their bills, they close. It’s that simple.
Middle 8 closed when their rent increased and made them unprofitable. PRIMM Boutique closed when the historic building that hosted their store was condemned. Clover Creek Gifts left downtown because their customers couldn’t find parking. These are the real problems that need solutions in downtown Pleasanton.
So, why did the City Council give an additional $80,000 of our tax dollars to the PDA – during a budget crisis that caused local services, like library hours, to be cut; and in a year when assessment fees for downtown businesses were significantly increased. Based on what?
All I ask is for accountability.
City Council: please share the SMART goals the PDA reached over the past three years that warranted additional funding, and the SMART goals that are used to hold the PDA accountable for the use of this additional money. We have a right to know.
– Natascha Thomson, LMFT
26-year resident of Pleasanton and local business owner
Traffic backups getting into Del Valle Park
I am a 42-year resident / landowner just east of the entrance to Del Valle Park. Getting into the park means sitting in a backup of vehicles stopped on Del Valle Road, which is a county road all the way to across the bridge.
On holiday weekends traffic is known to back up for 1-1/4 miles or more. In the past it has been known to have traffic backed up north of the intersection of Del Valle Road and Mines Road, because they stop traffic there when the park is cutting off residents who live out Mines Road from getting reasonable access to their properties.
Dave Haubert, county supervisor, and Shawn Wilson, Haubert’s assistant, have been working on resolving this for around two years, but nothing has happened to remedy this problem because the Park District is dragging their feet.
Haubert’s office found out that the entrance kiosk that sits in the county road was built without permits from the county and the county has threatened to remove the kiosk and bill the park district if the park district doesn’t remove it. That has been about a year ago but the kiosk is still there.
– Jim Frerking
SRVUSD board approves more teacher layoffs; world language program hit heavilyFebruary 26, 2026 9:57 am