CCMIN012098 - Laserfiche WebLink

was being deceived. She encouraged the phone calls because the Council and city staff do listen. She had made her vote on the project in good faith and she agreed with continuing the item. Mr. Pico applauded the petitioners for their hard work. He believed the issue was about growth and the impact of growth on existing neighborhoods. The residents want quality development that provided a significant benefit for the future of Pleasanton, not one that created problems. He saw the community coming together over this. He wanted the issue on the ballot. The underlying issue is not traffic but that Pleasanton was growing too fast. He felt if Ponderosa cared for the community it would withdraw its lawsuit and put the project on hold for awhile. The final buildout for the area needed to be looked at before a decision could be made as to what would work. He believed the community needed to send a message to the elected officials and city staff to allow the process to continue. He was confident the signatures would be validated but requested to rescind the direction to the County to verify every signature. Mayor Tarver appreciated Mr. Pico's comments. Growth management is very important to him. He spent considerable time to determine what it was the community wanted. Not everything was incorporated in the General Plan but a consensus was worked out. He wanted to caution the community about confusing the issues. Even if the measure goes on the ballot, it is not about growth. The results of the election will be whether or not to rescind the ordinance on the Ponderosa project. Ms. Dennis asked who originated the letter asking the Registrar's Office to verify every signature. Ms. Acosta answered the letter originated in the City Clerk's office with the support of the City Manager's office. She mentioned there were so many challenges it was decided to verify every signature, so that a random count would not be an issue. Ms. Ayala asked Mr. Pico if this changed his perspective? Mr. Pico said no. He felt if the issue was going on the ballot, either by the petitioners or Council, why waste the Registrar's time and money counting every signature. He believed a random count would suffice. Ms. Acosta said if Council made a decision tonight to put the measure on the ballot, then it would not be necessary to count all the signatures. Ms. Ayala understood there needed to be enough signatures in order to rescind the ordinance. Mayor Tarver said yes. Pleasanton City Council 1/20/98 Minutes 12