Laserfiche WebLink
$64,000 has already been donated to launch the campaign, said Pleasanton Weekly covers all <br />administrative expenses. <br />Fred Norman said in 2006 when he asked the Council to try and do something to end the war, <br />the Council objected feeling it would split the community. He talked about the number of articles <br />and letters to the Editor about the Oak Grove project as amazing. He reminded everyone that <br />since the last meeting, 33 American troops were killed in Iraq, but there were only 5 references <br />to American deaths in the Valley Times, <br />Pat Murray spoke about how Pleasanton is viewed as green and environmentally friendly, <br />brought plastic bags from grocery stores, stating they are filling up the landfills, said many cities <br />will be voting to ban plastic grocery bags and requested Pleasanton do the same. <br />Mayor Hosterman thanked Ms. Murray, said the City will be discussing the formation of a new <br />Commission on Energy and the Environment, it will need 5 volunteers to serve, and she <br />confirmed with the City Manager that the topic would be agendized in early 2008. <br />Kathy Dowding shared the names of those who died in Iraq in the last six weeks. <br />Julie Testa presented enrollment figures, discussed overcrowding numbers in 2001 according to <br />the State's recommendations, and displayed current overcrowding numbers from K-12 and <br />acreages at sites. She said the School District has not used the mitigation fees well to address <br />the issue, and asked the City to consider this when approving new housing. <br />Karla Brown said the referendum and initiative requires almost 4,000 signatures each, and that <br />certain Councilmembers warned them to avoid sound bites and educate citizens. She presented <br />an article that read, "Don't sign the petition" and "Keep our park" which she felt were sound bites <br />are misleading. She said if Oak Grove does not come to town, residents would not get 51 <br />mega-mansions, will not need a new fire truck, a new water tank, will not have to worry about <br />future ridge top developments, and fires in the southeast hills. <br />Karen Martens said it was legal to allow citizens to have their referendum or initiative. She noted <br />that she received a flyer in the mail asking for money that said, "Keep our Parks" and <br />Councilmembers Cook-Kallio, Sullivan, Hosterman and Thorne's names were on it, which was <br />paid for by the support of Charter Properties, owned by James Tong, the developer. She also <br />received information on the Internet about Mr. Tong and said the exhibit was from the FPPC <br />citing he had eight violations against him which included failure to follow proper format in 2002, <br />disclosure violations of who he gave money to. She said the State settled with him and instead <br />of the $40,000 penalty, they negotiated a settlement of $26,000 in fines. She discussed <br />misinformation and questioned the cost to Pleasanton for keeping the park and the Planning <br />Commission was overridden by the Council. <br />Kay Ayala said every week they have picked up new petition signers and volunteers and have <br />learned that residents want the opportunity to protect the City's southern ridges. Their <br />clipboards are going to be retiring very soon, they will be handing into the City Clerk their <br />thousands of signatures, she thanked all citizens who signed the petitions and for everyone who <br />ended up collecting hundreds of signatures on their own. <br />Allen Roberts said one week after approval of the Oak Grove development, he received "Keep <br />our Park-Save Open Space in the Southeast Hills-Don't Sign Petitions, said the picture shows a <br />view towards Pleasanton with ridges and trees on it without houses. He presented a blowup of <br />City Council Minutes 4 December 4, 2007 <br />