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DRAFT units are close to his home. He emphasized that he lives in Pleasanton and cares about Pleasanton, and that is the reason he is here to speak today. He indicated that he chose Pleasanton as his home for the same reasons that probably most families have chosen to live here: the schools are good, open space, the rate of congestion, and the rate of safety. He noted, however, that in recent years, he has seen all this activity and more traffic on the street, over - crowding at schools, and new construction across the City. He recalls that he took his children to the playground one day, and it was so crowded that they could not even use the slide. He asked the Commission to slow down and listen to them, the citizens of Pleasanton who are concerned with the rapid changes, the pace of rapid growth and its impact on their quality of life. James Bitter stated that he is from Marin County, Mill Valley and has done a lot of sailing on San Francisco Bay but now races radio- controlled sailboats on some ponds up in Marin and San Francisco. He indicated that he has a friend who comes up from Pleasanton and was telling him that Pleasanton did a remarkably good job of avoiding the mandates for housing from the State of California. He stated that he told his friend that he did not think that was the case. He noted that he saw the lawsuit of the State of California Urban Habitat and has attended some City Council meetings. He stated that while historically, city General Plans have reflected land use preferences of the residents, recent changes in legislation have created a new dynamic with the State legislating land use in ways that usurp local government control. He indicated that he is astounded that every Planning Commission and almost every City Council in the Bay Area is oblivious to those State laws and California code sections, and how those things were drafted: who drafted them and what special interest drafted them. He pointed out that one in particular is the American Planning Association. Mr. Bitter stated that he was in Larkspur, and Larkspur did five thumbs down on its RHNA number for their Stationary Area Plan, but one City Councilmember remarked that this document was very expensive, and when something is very expensive, there is another part to that transaction, and someone is on the receiving end of a lot of revenue: every consultant in the State of California is in every City Council telling the Planning Commission and the City Council what they have to do to meet these mandates from the State of California. He indicated that it is very disturbing that three of Pleasanton's City Councilmembers are attached to the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), one as an ABAG member and another as an Alternate, and that makes three "Aye" votes. He addressed the Commission stating that they were appointed by the City Council and ventured to say that they were not appointed because they opposed this regional giant plan that is inflicting punishment on every city in the country. He added that he is waiting for a brave City Councilmember or a brave Planning Commission who took their oath of office to stand up and say that this is wrong and that he or she represents the City. He noted that one in Marin did that, and five members of a City Council did it. He further noted that for the most part, this is a done deal in the State of California, and the only people who can stop this are the five Commissioners. He stated that he would turn in his badge if he knew what he knows now, so he is finding out that the Commission must not know what is going on with the State of California. He added that Darrell Steinberg did not draft SB375; the DRAFT EXCERPT: PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, 8/13/2014 Page 10 of 18