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MINUTES CITY OF PLEASANTON SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 29, 2008 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Hosterman called the special meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Councilmembers Cook-Kallio, McGovern, Sullivan, Thorne, Mayor Hosterman Absent: None Mayor Hosterman discussed the special meeting speaker protocols and said the Council would take public comments, adjourn to Closed Session and return to report on any action taken. PUBLIC COMMENT Kelly Cousins said it is the right of citizens to have the referendum process, over 5,000 people spoke about putting the Oak Grove development to a referendum and encouraged the Council to discuss with staff about appealing the decision by the judge. Judith Seid spoke of the City's accessibility to government and the responsiveness by staff to emails and letters. She believed the issue was one of listening to the people and not about whether everyone agrees on the Oak Grove project, said the sense of the town will change if the public voice is shut down, and asked the Council to support the appeal. Michelle LaMarche questioned if there is any way that the Council could support the appeal in spirit but hold back the issue of financing it to determine if there are other ways to finance it with city government funding, and hoped the Council seriously consider what the previous speaker said. Scott Raty said he lives a few blocks away from the Oak Grove area and was speaking in his capacity as the President of the Chamber of Commerce representing more than 800 member firms that employ thousands of area residents. He urged the Council not to join the appeal and urged Council not to spend any public money on it. Some would say that perhaps the Council is denying the public opportunity of its right to vote, but this is the first real time to open up publicly about this, and he looks at this as an opportunity tonight for the Council to go ahead and celebrate and talk about a very healthy decision it has made for Pleasanton. He said the project gives the community nearly 500 acres of new parkland, new trails, and new staging areas, $1 million in traffic mitigation and a new four-wheel drive fire vehicle. Those who exercised their right to petition assumed an obligation and a responsibility to follow the law. A judge has said they didn't do that and the appeal should be at their cost and again congratulated the Council. Jerry Pentin urged the Council to stay the course and continue support for the Oak Grove project, encouraged the Council to remember why they voted for the project, and believed it is a project that has been tested by the process and passed. He said he supports what the Council has done in the past and hoped they continue. Herb Ritter believed the Council has done a great job listening to the people of Pleasanton, said the Council hears facts presented to it, and as a Commission member, he has learned to listen, absorb and try to understand all information. He believed it was important to look at who was for