Volume One, Number 7                                               What ElseYou Need To Know                                          December 27, 2001

 

Council report card

The current city council has been seated for more than one year. Its accomplishments are few and its deficiencies are many. Mayor Tom Pico feels good about this. Mr. Pico uses “the process” to stall and stymie any development that does not match his environmental, no-growth agenda. Oh sure, he will support a golf course as long as it prevents private property from being developed. However, he remains silent on the Bernal property-the largest and possibly most important of the last large properties to be developed. It is apparent from the lack of progress from the entire council that Mr. Pico’s colleagues are willing to go along to get along.

It is clear that this policy has cost Pleasanton citizens millions of dollars and plenty of headaches.

The process, embraced by bureaucrats and liberal politicians, simply means that proposals will be studied to death. The studies are usually conducted by outside consultants at an enormous financial cost. More importantly, the cost in staff time and wasted motion by well-intentioned citizen volunteers is staggering.

Below is OpinionPleasanton’s council report card for 2000-2001 for the important issues facing our elected representatives.

     Bernal - F                                        The council has abdicated its leadership position to a citizens
                                                             committee and offered no direction to the  committee. The
                                                             committee founders trying to prioritize potential projects
                                                             including a spot for an animal farm. The Bernal property has
                                                             been under study for more than 10 years and intense study
                                                             for about five.

                                                                                          
     Happy Valley Golf Course - F          The council is perfectly willing to suffer the environmentalist’s
                                                             Red-Legged Frog demands but unwilling to even consider
                                                             yielding one inch to the demands of the state and the
                                                             Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) for subsidized
                                                             housing. The golf course study is approaching five years. By
                                                             the time the council gets around to the course, green fees will
                                                             be in the hundreds of dollars.

     Subsidized Housing - F                    The council appears to be elitist unwilling to clutter the landscape
                                                             with houses selling for less than $1 million. The Bernal
                                                             property and the newest fad of putting high-density housing near
                                                             transportation hubs stare the council in the face and they appear
                                                             as though they are deer caught in the headlights. The city has
                                                             nearly $10 million in a subsidized housing fund and is considering
                                                             buying shopping centers and trailer parks for subsidized housing
                                                             rather than work with developers on Bernal or elsewhere.

     Staples Ranch - F                             The council should be leading the charge for the IKEA project.
                                                             Pleasanton needs the sales tax revenue and the Staples Ranch
                                                             location is perfect for a high-visibility retailer. The Council seems
                                                             perfectly content to study this project to death wrapping it into
                                                             an East Pleasanton study area. The project is a perfect segue
                                                             into extending Stoneridge Drive to El Charro and El Charro
                                                             to Stanley, two approved plans.

     ACE Train station - F                       If anyone should embrace public transportation and a mass
                                                             transit village it should be environmental extremists. Our council
                                                             leadership is afraid of houses and business and the ACE Train
                                                             station that they promised (especially on the Bernal property)
                                                             would encourage (be perfect for) high-density housing and
                                                             compatible office, retail and hotel development.

     Assisted Living - F                           The council talks a good game. Their actions speak louder
                                                             than words however. There has been no council action over
                                                             the last year even with an outside operator on board. Inviting
                                                             Marriot to convert their Courtyard by Marriot property on
                                                             Hopyard Road into assisted living in exchange for land on
                                                             Bernal and allowing them to develop a regional conference
                                                             center and hotel complex seems beyond the rural,
                                                             off-the-hard-road mentality of the mayor and council. Their
                                                              idea is to give away land and then loan money to get a puny
                                                              project off the ground. Because it is seniors who need
                                                              subsidized housing and assisted living the most, it also makes
                                                              sense to assist in building rooms at Valley Care hospital in
                                                              exchange for subsidized housing and assisted living credits
                                                              with the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG)
                                                              and the state.

    West Las Positas Overcrossing - F     The current study is now about four years old. The interchange
                                                              has been in the General Plan since the mid-seventies. It
                                                              seems that most people would just like to put the issue to
                                                              bed and there is excellent support for shelving the interchange
                                                              and simply making improvements to the current overcrossing.

     Stoneridge Drive Extension - F          This extension has been in city plans for many years. It should
                                                              be no surprise to anyone that Stoneridge would connect to El
                                                              Charro. One need only to look from its dead-end a few
                                                              hundred feet to El Charro to see that the extension was planned.
                                                              Additionally, connecting Stoneridge to El Charro will complete a
                                                              vital link to and out of Pleasanton in the case of a national
                                                              emergency at the two Livermore labs. As it stands now only
                                                              Stanley, Vineyard and Highway 84 are the safety links west out
                                                              of Livermore.

     Flood control - F                              The council has taken a dangerous wait-and-see position on
                                                              upgrading our flood control plan. This could be the year of the
                                                              hundred year flood that they talk so much about and do so
                                                              little to mitigate. Drought-like conditions have helped the
                                                              council up until now but when might their luck run out? Costs
                                                              for upgrading keep going up the longer that we wait just like
                                                              the Happy Valley Golf Course. Letting developers do the
                                                              upgrading is a good idea except that Pleasanton does not allow
                                                              development. More importantly, there are several neighborhoods
                                                              that are subject to flooding and the council puts those
                                                              homeowners in jeopardy by not acting.

     Traffic - F                                          It just keeps getting worse. The council must provide for current
                                                              needs even while advocating no-growth. There are several areas
                                                              where the council can make a major contribution without inducing
                                                              growth. A mass transit hub and the long-promised ACE Train
                                                              station and high-density housing on the Bernal property will take
                                                              many cars off the city streets and the freeways. The Stoneridge
                                                              extension to El Charro is a vital east-west connection. El Charro
                                                              to Stanley would be a vital north-south connection. Realigning
                                                              West Las Positas Boulevard to its long-planned for four-lane
                                                              configuration would move traffic off of Foothill Road to the
                                                              Hacienda Business Park. Improvements to the Stoneridge/I-680
                                                              interchange will reduce accidents and speed traffic off Foothill to
                                                              Hacienda and eventually to El Charro. Synchronizing traffic signals
                                                              would speed-up traffic along Stoneridge, Hopyard, West Las
                                                              Positas, Stanley, Foothill, Bernal.

It is no wonder that, in his recent re-election announcement to the Pleasanton Weekly, Mr. Pico failed to mention one accomplishment besides televising council meetings that few people watch. It is no wonder that all he mentions is the number of committee assignments he will now have as senior Tri-Valley mayor. For Mr. Pico, and apparently the council, it is all about process. Accomplishment be damned.

From the Opinion Pleasanton Assignment Editor…In future issues look for stories on: From the OpinionPleasanton Assignment Editor…Is our professional staff getting the job done or are they just acting as an arm of the Mayor’s political agenda?… Where is the very quiet Chamber of Commerce on the Bernal Avenue development?… Why are our innovative high-tech CEOs so quiet on big ideas for their headquarters city?

Kernan and Fredette win school board

seats. Now the hard part begins

OpinionPleasanton was extremely disappointed that school board members Patrick Kernan and Gloria Fredette refused to answer our candidate questionnaire presented before the November 6, 2001 election. We reluctantly endorsed Mr. Kernan, however, because of his five years on the board and his fairly consistent record and because Ms. Fredette and third candidate Marion Leach were simply school volunteers with no experience that was relevant to a seat on the board. During the campaign, Ms. Leach, like Ms. Fredette, employed edu-speak that frightened us because we are in the fourth decade of experimentation, characterized by social engineering and edu-speak that has left us with students who cannot read or enter college without remedial class work.

We are so sure that our questions were relevant to the school board election and now to the business of the board that we are running them at the end of this essay. Mr. Kernan and Ms. Fredette will have to deal with some of the issues presented in the questionnaire. We hope they have formulated their responses now that they are elected and have less fear of political fallout over an explosive issue or a politically incorrect answer.

The first order of business for Mr. Kernan (recently named board president) is to get our schools into high gear with educational achievement and accountability. He proposes that we raise the bar. It is time to convince his colleagues that it is past time and get it done. We know that he is correct in his assessment of Pleasanton's academic achievement because departing Superintendent Mary Francis Callen resigned to move to a new district where academic achievement is paramount. Our recommendation to Mr. Kernan and his board colleagues is to hire a new superintendent who will stress academics of the variety that prepares our children for entrance to any university without needing remedial courses. It may be necessary to hire a facilities manager for school buildings and grounds so that the new superintendent can concentrate on academics. Ms. Callen, in her resignation statement, said that she spent too much time with buildings and not enough time pursuing academic excellence. To Mr. Kernan and to Ms. Fredette and the rest of the board, we say good luck.

Has class-size reduction worked?

Superintendent Bill James promised class-size reduction test and accomplishment results measured against baseline scores. Do we have those results from five years to now?

       How have we done?

Would you sponsor discontinuing class-size reduction if the results are minimal or non-existent?

Would you then favor returning to class sizes just before class-size reduction?

Because of class-size reduction, teachers have been hired with little or no experience. What is Pleasanton's situation vis a vis experienced teachers?

       Do we have plans to remedy any deficiencies in non-tenured teachers before they are tenured?

Do you favor the Beck ruling allowing union members to withhold union dues used for political purposes?

Do you favor the teacher's union's financial participation in the political process?

Should bad teachers be fired?

Do you support subsidized housing for teachers?

       If you do support subsidized housing for teachers, what is your rational?

Do you have experience in teaching or curriculum selection?

       If yes, what is your experience?

       If no, will you be up-to-speed on curriculum issues when you take office?

Should our schools teach gay and lesbian sex, lifestyles and reproductive methods?

       If yes, at what grade level?

What does the word diversity mean to you?

Under which section of the Constitution of the United States will we find education a federal obligation?

       Do you favor continuing the federal department of education?

       If yes, with what authority and responsibility?

Plenty of work for Kernan and Fredette

At state report released on Wednesday, December 12, 2001, finds three percent of Pleasanton teachers are under qualified or under prepared. For a district that pays nearly $50,000 per year for beginning teachers this seems incongruous. The board must reassess its hiring policy to establish and to maintain a 100 percent prepared instructional staff. At $50,000 per year, Pleasanton teachers must be classroom ready.

For those who would say that it is only three percent, we ask what if those three percent were teaching your children.

Board president Patrick Kernan, during his recent re-election bid, called for more accountability. We could not agree more. The personnel department is one area where Mr. Kernan must demand immediate accountability. Mr. Kernan also promised during his campaign that academic achievement using new stricter standards would be among his highest priorities. How will he raise the bar academically when his instructional staff is not prepared? And, it is not the money. Livermore has only one percent of its instructional staff unprepared for classroom duties and the pay there lags behind Pleasanton.

What more, Mr. Kernan and the board cannot suggest that those three percent unprepared teachers would be any more prepared if they were teaching with credentials and not teaching with provisional credentials and teaching during internships. That is simply the education establishment feathering its own nest. A teaching credential means that a teacher candidate went to school a fifth year. It is not ipso facto that the fifth year and/or the credential makes for a prepared teacher. The district personnel department must make that determination with strong direction from the board.

Finally, Mr. Kernan and the board better have an exit strategy. Unprepared teachers who are tenured are next to impossible to terminate.

 

News Opinion

Candidates needed for mayor and city council

Though the Pleasanton city council election is a year away, Pleasanton politics demand that now is the time to organize. Next year’s race will likely have only one incumbent, Mayor Tom Pico. Mr. Pico’s election to mayor to succeed ex-mayor Ben Tarver cost $25,000. His opponents spent another $30,000. Therefore, an unknown will have to organize now in order to collect the $25,000. to $30,000. needed to mount a credible challenge to Mr. Pico.

It is possible that two newcomers will sit on the 2002 council with the Mr. Pico or a victorious opponent. For them, buying name recognition will be key. This process takes time and, of course, money. Now is the time to organize, secure endorsers and collect campaign contributions.

There are two basic constituencies in Pleasanton. One favors no-growth and are eco-extremists-people more concerned about frogs than people. Sustainability, whatever that really means, is their watchword. The alternative constituency is business oriented-people who favor the free market. In Pleasanton that is generally framed in terms of development but pro business people also look for excellent schools for an educated workforce, an excellent hospital for a healthy workforce and city infrastructure to help prevent floods, maintain water resources and a road and street network to carry less-stressed workers to their jobs.

For the last 12 years, the two sides have lined up to do battle but the eco-extremists from the Dreamteams have easily carried the day. They have been able to connect with the Pleasanton voters not so much out of what they believe but how they characterize their opponents. Anyone who questions their no-growth position is either a developer or a developer sympathizer. Their demonization has sunk the campaigns of former Vice Mayor Sharrell Michelotti, Vice Mayor Becky Dennis, Innkeeper Bob Cordtz, and Planning Commissioner Jack Hovingh. Only counselor Matt Campbell has been able to breakthrough and that was because of his close association with the education establishment, many of who are eco-extremists and no-growthers as well. It did not hurt that Mr. Campbell was a young, handsome hometown hero whose youthful naiveté was interpreted as freshness by the local press more interested in influencing the news rather than reporting it.

It did not hurt the Dreamteamers that, over the yeas, the developers have made several missteps in Pleasanton politics. They tried to electioneer through tele-marketing and direct mail onslaughts. The very appearance of wealth and success doomed them with voters who believed that the environmentalists correctly characterized their slick “media” campaigns. At the same time, environmentalists could be supported in a slick and calculated way through the Sierra Club that is not held to the same standard in expenditures or presentation.

Dreamteamers, first to dangerously clog Pleasanton intersections, wave to the people. They campaign with their dogs. They wear brightly colored t-shirts with baggy jeans and well-worn tennis shoes. They connect. The opposition is too button downed. Even though most of the voters commute out of town bedecked in their grey flannel suits, they like the casualness of a Saturday morning at the Farmer’s Market.

Dreamteamers have also benefited because they have not had to answer the difficult questions. Major campaign events are staged--audience question cards shuffled to the advantage of the perceived credible candidates or to embarrass the unannointed. In short, it is politics and it is petty.

The media care little for a serious debate of the issues and write only candidate profiles, the occasional sign-stealing story or endorsement hit-piece stories.

To find out who might oppose DreamTeam Three, look to see who visits former mayor Ken Mercer or local developer Brad Hirst. White smoke has come out of Mercer’s chimney for former Vice Mayor Sharrell Michelotti. Ms. Michelotti has, however, been reluctant to take on the Dreamteamers for a second time. She has recently said that she is looking around the community to see if she has support for another run. She has won election and re-election as those election’s top vote getter.

New Vice Mayor Becky Dennis has stated she will not run for re-election choosing to honor a commitment she made when voting for council term limits. Ms. Michelotti opposed term limits suggesting that voters easily impose term limits on the representatives they no longer support.

 

Matt Sullivan joins Jennifer Hosterman in a
test of support for a Pleasanton City Council run

Pleasanton Planning Commissioner Matt Sullivan took the first step in declaring that he will run for the city council with his recent letter to the editor. Having spent the last year putting his toe into the roiling waters of Pleasanton politics, Mr. Sullivan all but declared that he has the necessary support and financing to make a serious run. He did this with his recent domonization letter to the valley newspapers.

In Pleasanton, observers must watch for code phrases from no-growth Dreameamers. Mr. Sullivan in his letter said, “…will we let developers of the hook again?” and “We elect the school board and the City Council to work in the best interest of the community-not in the best interest of developers and their money…” which is code to the Sierra Club, Greenbelt Alliance and other eco-extremist organizations that he can be counted upon to be the spike in the redwood tree or, closer to home, to be a staunch no-growther who will say and do about anything to stop progress. It was not necessary to convince Mayor Tom Pico or counselor Kay Ayala who will surely back Sullivan and, in fact, are probably already at work setting up his committee. It was probably necessary to convince eco-extremists that Sullivan, who works with the evil oil giant, Chevron-Texaco, that he really is one of them. The newspaper volley should do the trick.

Bernal Avenue Task Force co-chairman, Jennifer Hosterman who unsuccessfully ran for the council in 2000, rounds out DreamTeam Three. Unlike the tentative Mr. Sullivan, Ms. Hosterman simply continued her environmental claptrap beginning at the new council’s swearing in. No shrinking flower, Ms. Hosterman who hasn’t held any high-profile elected or appointed positions in town, called for an energy commission and the adoption of a “sustainability” plan which is a socialist-style social engineering program designed for an electorate that spends most of its time in hibernation. Her hand was also first up when the Bernal Avenue Task Force was formed. Her candidacy in the 2000 council election was enough to get her appointed to another of the endless task forces, committees and commissions as chairman. She is now co-chairman because of her commitment to earning a law degree.

From the pro business side, Otis Nostrand may have signaled that he is not seeking elective office by assuming a leadership position with the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Nostrand, owner of the Hopyard Brew Pub on Hopyard and Valley avenues has been mentioned as a possible candidate as far back at a year ago. CPA Wally Mayer has also signaled that he prefers to remain behind the scenes. Mr. Mayer was co-chair of Citizens Against Redevelopment (CARD) and was campaign manager for Jim Jordan’s unsuccessful bid for a seat on the council in 1975 the first year former mayors Ken Mercer and Frank Brandes took seats on the council.

 

Quick Opinion

 

Haggerty fakes right, goes left

Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty has gone off the deep end in his editorial (co-authored by Oakland Councilman Dick Spees) in the Castro Valley Forum. The piece entitled “Toward a Sustainable Bay Area” is a collection of Socialist claptrap and bureaucratic sloganeering. Mr. Haggerty has thus joined the small but alarmingly growing group that is making stupid assertions. In Pleasanton, Mr. Haggerty joins Watermelons Jennifer Hosterman and Matt Sullivan who carry the water for Mayor Tom Pico and environmental extremists.

Mr. Haggerty, as a county supervisor, is charged with delivering housing, transportation and sound environmental policies. Social equity is not his responsibility. Social equity, is redistribution of wealth, a purely Socialist idea that has failed all around the world and is a 50-year failure in the United States through our generous but ineffective Welfare State. Certainly, that is not a part of Mr. Haggerty’s job description.

This Socialist garbage must be challenged at every opportunity. Sustainability sounds so benign to the suburbanites that Haggerty represents in the Tri-Valley. It is almost always hooked to admirable environmental goals and to transportation solutions. Frankly, his constituents are asleep at the switch-uninvolved and uninformed and easily duped. To them, if it sounds good, it is okay with them. Sustainability sounds good. It, however, is an insidious plan to equalize outcomes-whether in housing, in schools or in the workplace. It is easily spotted with the code words including: stakeholders, gentrification, living wage, investing in this or that. Spot those few phrases and you have spotted a Socialist plan in the hatching hidden in bureaucrateese designed to obfuscate the actual intent of the plan.

Redistribution of wealth happens in our representative democracy. It is, however, not couched in claptrap language. It is charity. It is called welfare and subsidies. We subsidize housing, education, training, public transportation and wages with the minimum wage.

Our charity and quality-of-life governmental programs are not social engineering. It is not to equalize income. It not to equalize outcomes. It is not to determine who lives and works where. It is not to make cultural diversity into sameness by demanding that everyone be equal regardless initiative, work or social standing.

Mr. Haggerty is an astute politician. He has determined that his Tri-Valley constituency will not object to the high-sounding programs that sound and feel good enough to assuage its guilt for living over the hill and for their accumulation of wealth. He is well aware that they are disinterested in government until it hurts them financially. He is certain that his constituents will not miss their confiscated wealth (no matter how small that wealth) because it is extracted from their accounts in little pieces. Those little pieces combined with the troughs of money at the state and federal level make up the total to finance these Socialist concepts.

What’s more, Haggerty, as president of the board of supervisors, needs to maintain cordial relations with the other four board members. To do this and to maintain his short-term hold on power, he apparently feels a need to transfer the Tri-Valley’s money westward, over the hill and transfer the county’s social problems into the Valley.

No matter Mr. Haggerty’s motivation-do-gooder or duped--it must be pointed out that Sustainability, no matter how you slice and dice it, essentially penalizes his constituents. It takes what they have earned and transfers it to those who have yet to earn and removes the incentive to earn. If the Tri-Valley stays asleep, no problem no foul for Mr. Haggerty.

Better yet, Mr. Haggerty should concern himself more with what is his duty as supervisor-BART to Livermore, Fremont and Walnut Creek, coordinating other transportation systems with BART and the successful ACE train, water and flood-control needs, reasonable environmental policy, public safety and roads. Do this and he has made his contribution to sustainability, which is passing on a stable government, that can make it possible for a better life for our children.

Guest Opinion

Joe Jones thoughtful correspondence

To OpinionPleasanton Executive Editor Bob Cordtz:

Hi Bob,

I was extremely pleased to hear you question Kris Weaver’s previous comments at the recent Bernal Avenue Task Force meeting. As a school board member, she should be expected to know the accurate status of a potential school site. Ponderosa has now had three workshops with the city council and the public regarding the proposed development of the Busch property. At all three, the 35-acres for the school has never been a question or any consideration of it not being there. It has always been a sure thing for them. However, it appears they have not given it enough interest to show up to find out. Hopefully now they will take some interest so they know what’s going on and do not speak from ignorance.

Regards,
Joe Jones
Wednesday, November 7, 2001

Hi Bob,

Pleasure seeing you last week at the council workshop. I sense from hearing you that you do not support the construction of affordable housing in Pleasanton. As a housing commissioner, it is most disappointing to hear the very people who commissioned you to accomplish something for them don't support you doing it. For instance when interviewed by Mayor Pico for the position, I inquired what would be the greatest accomplishment he would like to see for the housing commission over the next 10 years. His response being "build more affordable housing." His leadership in this community at the recent workshop was--this city does not want affordable housing despite the recent city-wide survey that placed affordable housing in the definitely needed category second only to a Teen Center. I would ask you to realize [that] affordable housing is not just something we would like to have or would be nice, but a state mandated requirement along with all California cities. If Pleasanton decides to not meet state requirements, which supersede local jurisdictions, it becomes vulnerable to $million + fines. We can face this challenge now with the many opportunities that currently exist or pay the state later. [The] law also states that if a city doesn't meet its requirements and a suit is filed against the city for being out of compliance by a little as a single person, it will result in all permits being suspended until compliance is met. You should also understand that the housing referred to in the range from $36 to $72K per year. The no-growth community may believe that they are helping Pleasanton. However, they may be causing Pleasanton to face severe penalties. Perhaps Jennifer [Hosterman] can soon learn in law school how to understand state law along with letting you finish while you are talking and she can help both of us…

Regards,

Joe Jones
Sunday, November 18, 2001

To Joe Jones, Pleasanton Housing Commissioner:

Dear Joe,

We approach subsidized housing on two fronts. Philosophically, we oppose subsidies. Quite simply it is a transfer of wealth that we feel is more appropriate for socialist governments. We also feel that calling subsidized housing "affordable housing" is disingenuous. Affordable housing already exists. Tracy, Manteca, Ripon provide such housing stock. It wasn't that long ago that Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore and San Ramon provided affordable housing stock for people who were priced out of Lafayette, Orinda, Walnut Creek and Concord.

Realistically, however, we concede that state and federal governments have mandated local governments subsidize housing for a favored class. We do not concede, however, that there is no local mandate to subsidize housing or to impose rent control. What passes for a mandate is simply an upper middle class, disconnected, uninformed, populace repeating what is politically correct to assuage guilt for being successful. It might also be that those people look for a financial advantage to keep their adult children close by. If they realized that the subsidies doled out were added to the price of their houses they might be less charitable.

We approach this reality in Pleasanton by suggesting that we should fine-tune the selection process for those receiving our charity and fine-tuning who benefits from such charity and who gets to feel good about these subsidies. We believe that seniors are the group in most need. Single mothers are next. The rest of the population is in their prime earning years and less deserving of our charity.

Inclusionary housing is simply another knee-jerk way of favoring one group over another because is feels good. But who can be serious suggesting that a newly hired Pleasanton school teach who makes nearly $50,000 per year would be more needy than a senior on a fixed income? Who can be serious suggesting that a police officer making $65,000 is more needy than a single mother who must pay for expensive childcare in order to work a lower-paying job?

We do see ways of fine-tuning the process. Hospital beds for Pleasanton seniors are a way of meeting our mandated objectives. Subsidizing beds at Valley Care and at various skilled nursing facilities and rehabilitative hospitals is a perfectly reasonable alternative to subsidizing 20, 30 and 40-somethings just beginning or in their peak earning years.

Because of the number of Tri-Valley communities and the number of other East Bay communities who will not meet the state mandates, we feel that Pleasanton has an opportunity to reject the socially engineered housing numbers and to propose an alternative such as the one I have outlined above. The firestorm over fines, penalties, permit suspensions will far exceed the firestorm over our recent power crisis. The state cannot take the chance in imposing these levies in face of the huge power debacle. The political fallout will sink our current administration. They'll back down to fight another day over wealth redistribution--one of their favored pet projects.

We certainly applaud your enthusiasm for helping people with their housing needs. We just feel that the targets for our collective altruism are off base.

Because we wish for an open, honest discussion regarding housing subsidies, we would like to run your message on our letters page.

Regards,

Bob
Opinion Pleasanton

Copyright © Opinion Pleasanton 2001