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Submitted On: <br />Apr 3, 2025, 03:24PM PDT <br />City Council Regular Meeting - <br />Submit your written public <br />comment <br />City of Pleasanton <br />Full Name <br />Email (this entry is disclosable <br />if included) <br />City Council Meeting Date April 08, 2025 03:18 PM <br />Meeting Type Special Meeting at 5:00 pm <br />Agenda Item Number 2 <br />Comments Dear Mayor and Council members, <br />My name is Mike Moran and I have been a resident of Pleasanton for <br />over 40 years. People complain about the taxes here, but I think this <br />is one of the best-run cities in the Bay Area. I responded to a call for <br />volunteers to join the Pleasanton English as a second language <br />program (ESLP) about one year ago. I currently assist two asian <br />ladies with their efforts to improve their English language skills. <br />They both are very intelligent, physically fit, have (or had) children in <br />Pleasanton’s schools, and are physically fit. These kinds of people <br />add to the desirability of Pleasanton. <br />The professional quality of of the ESLP and their generous support <br />for volunteers is outstanding. The students that they have selected <br />for me have been a perfect fit: I don’t have the energy to support an <br />intense effort, but these women both have basic English skills and <br />want to become more fluent in the language. So, I help them with <br />random conversation and reading out loud from selected texts. I give <br />them detailed definitions of common English terms that they are <br />unfamiliar with. This is exactly the kind of help that they need, as <br />they often use their native language in their home environments. <br />The need to balance Pleasanton’s budget is clear. However, cutting <br />the library budget would have mush greater costs than the savings <br />that you would achieve. The library is not just a place to check out <br />books, but is a broad resource for Pleasanton’s intellectual <br />community. This unusual kind of benefit is difficult to quantify, but is <br />evident in our successful immigrant communities, and enhances <br />Pleasanton’s commitment to being a community of character. <br />Sincerely, <br />Mike Moran