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1970 and the City has provided her family a good living and a wonderful place in which <br />to raise children. She felt Pleasanton has always been a place she has been proud of to <br />call home and has bragged about it for years, primarily because of the people here and the <br />values evident in the quality of whatever the City does. She said she is present tonight to <br />say that she wants to continue to be proud of the City. Pleasanton has always been a <br />family town, but now families are being split apart. Our grown children and <br />grandchildren must live away from us and our elderly parents cannot afford to live <br />nearby. Right now we have a window of opportunity to meet this challenge, to continue <br />to be the Pleasanton so many of us remembers. She encouraged Council to appoint a <br />blue ribbon committee. <br /> <br /> Kevin Rabon, 3127 Washoe Way, is a full time student and part time UPS <br />employee. His wife is also a full time student and part time employee at Los Positas. He <br />said he was one of the lucky ones. He has a landlady that cares about people more than <br />money and has allowed Section 8 to come into the picture. She is, however, a rare <br />individual, because most landlords do not. He knows of families that have dropped out <br />of school and moved out of Pleasanton because they cannot afford the rent. Right now he <br />knows of 10 adults living in a two-bedroom aparUnent just to make ends meet. He felt <br />that as a community we must come together with solutions to the problem and he <br />represents the silent masses that are too ashamed to come forward and speak for <br />themselves. <br /> <br /> Howard Neely, 448 Amador Court, discussed values. He stated that in 1966 he <br />was fortunate enough to build a house in Pleasanton. As a young teacher returning from <br />the Army he was able to obtain a GI loan for 5 1/8%. His maximum loan payment was <br />figured on ¼ of his income. The income of his wife could not be used. They built a 1005 <br />square foot house, with a full basement, on a 3A acre lot. The loan was $19,000 when <br />most homes were running for $25,000 at that time. They were very happy, but the rules <br />started to change. Property taxes increased drastically and they gave thoughts to selling. <br />Then along came Jarvis-Gann, which resulted in a godsend for his family and especially <br />those with small incomes. Today his 3A acre lot, with no house on it, is worth $750,000 <br />in Pleasanton, if divided into three or four parcels. Most teachers or entry level positions <br />just do not have incomes to do something in Pleasanton today, but they used to. He gave <br />a brief history on affordable housing since he has been in Pleasanton. In 1966 Pleasanton <br />had Kottinger Village Housing on Vineyard Street, which was an old Navy barracks <br />made into various size apartments. As the economy started to get better people were able <br />to buy homes and move on. The Village was torn down and rebuilt into a senior housing <br />community with a much lower density. Comodorski Village was in Dublin and the <br />Pleasanton Housing Authority, of which he was a member, governed it. The barracks <br />were eventually torn down and rebuilt with a smaller density for the lower income family <br />that exists today. When Dublin became incorporated, they took over the control of that <br />village. Under the drive of Dr. Howard Long, Pleasanton decided it needed to provide <br />some housing for Pleasanton's lower income families. Pleasanton Gardens was built <br />with the help of various organizations in Pleasanton. As time has passed Pleasanton has <br />lost some of the affordable housing, as we have heard this evening. The rules have <br />changed. It really takes a large income to buy a house in town. Under the present <br /> <br />Pleasanton City Council 9 04/17/01 <br />Minutes <br /> <br /> <br />