From the Opinion Pleasanton Assignment Editor…In future issues look for stories on: A call to City Hall for details on the number and cost of consultants on the payroll… What prevents Stoneridge going through to El Charro? Trees to twigs…

 

Earth to Mayor Pico, Don't Blow the IKEA Deal

When it comes to IKEA moving to town, Mayor Tom Pico seems to be the lone skeptic on the city council.

No growthers, of whom Mr. Pico is one, must now be formulating their phase II strategy to scuttle the proposal (the IKEA proposal was easily dispatched by the usual Livermore suspects in phase I). The usually reliable and vocal Mr. Pico must be agonizing over this new role as his protestations have been timid. Not wanting to appear negative, Mr. Pico is once again relying on the long stall. He is hoping to convince his colleagues not to make any decisions until Pleasanton's "east-side study" is complete. (Mr. Pico is one of those officials who initiated Pleasanton's policy of studying issues to death.) And, the strategy usually works. Consider that the current West Las Positas over crossing study is now five years old; the Happy Valley golf course proposal is six years old; the assisted living project is six years old; and the Bernal Avenue property has been under intense study for 10 years.

Stalling also gives Mr. Pico and NIMBYs time to rally neighborhood opposition. A dozen or more angry opponents usually turn the tide in Pleasanton. If for some freaky reason it does not, six or more petition gatherers in front of Safeway, Albertsons and Raley's gets the job done. Financed by a host of environmental organizations, petitioners usually breeze through the signature gathering process on the way to referendum. Mr. Pico has already signaled those who would referend the IKEA project that he would not be opposed.

Mr. Pico, counting on human nature, can rally opposition using traffic issues. Who, in their right mind, would want through traffic when none exists now? So neighbors, as predictable as a western sunset, will moan and groan about how dangerous and damaging this extension will be to their neighborhood. What remains unsaid is that Stoneridge to El Charro has been planned for 20-plus years just like West Las Positas Boulevard is planned for four lanes from Foothill to I-680. Residents in those two neighborhoods must have been blind not to realize that the two wide boulevards were designed for more through traffic lanes.

The economy is slowing so one million dollars in sales tax receipts should be quite attractive to most reasonable city officials. It should also be to Mr. Pico, a CPA.

Stoneridge Drive, which dead ends 300+/- yards from El Charro, should be completed to improve Pleasanton's overall traffic circulation and to accommodate the IKEA project.

 

News Opinion

School Test Scores and Slight-of-hand

Pleasanton parents think their students are better than average. They think their schools are great. They are pleased that their students have high self-esteem.

Pleasanton students are average. Pleasanton students go to schools with problems. Pleasanton student's self esteem reaches well beyond their actual accomplishments. Recently released STAR test scores indicate that Pleasanton students are just average with only 60 to 80 percent testing average or above. That also means that at least 20 percent of our students are below average.

How can Pleasanton be satisfied with that? How is it that Pleasanton parents (many with many years of education themselves) tolerate being average or below average?

The state system is set up to produce average students and no more. Since local districts have ceded authority and responsibility to the state, there is little local interest in making waves. There is even less incentive in making waves since school funding can be maneuvered to reflect the state's agenda. Social engineering has topped that agenda for the last 25 years. The education establishment, in short, has chosen to pursue the
left-leaning notion of social "justice" rather than to educate each child to the best of each child's ability.

Parents have enthusiastically placed the education of their children completely in the hands of the schools, and unless there are problems with their own students, parent's contact with the school is minimal. Their awareness of school accomplishments is even less. The schools have no problem with this because they are able to pursue their own agenda without parental interference-even while assuring parents that their involvement is strongly encouraged. This pattern is mirrored in minuscule citizen involvement in Pleasanton city government.

Is there a chance that this situation will change? Of course there is, but in the short term, it is a long shot at best.

In the blame game, the press tops the list. It does not ask the tough questions of the education establishment. The headlines on the Star test-score stories were void of any mention of the score's overwhelming mediocrity. One explanation is that those covering the education beat are recent products of the education system that is so lacking. They themselves may be socially engineered to the point that they prefer mediocrity to achievement and see nothing wrong with 70 to 80 percent being just average. Another is that profits interfere with hiring specialists to cover education issues and inexperienced, less savvy reporters develop stories.

The district occasionally publishes a slick four-color school update but it naturally is a self-serving public relations piece for the district. It is understandable that Pleasanton parents have gotten the wrong impression from the district's newsletter. "Everything is good and we're working hard" is the message. It is therefore understandable that busy working parents whose students are well behaved would be positive about Pleasanton education.

Blame can also be heaped on school board candidates who seem more interested in the power of the position rather accomplishment from educational excellence. Since everything is good and we're working hard is the message from the education establishment and parents know nothing different, who would dare stand before the voters and question the motives of the educators and the governing board?

Candidates seem more interested in the minutia of the business of schools and show little interest in the education delivered in those schools. No candidates in recent memory have wanted to explore seriously the curricula and results. It would be refreshing to hear a candidate declare that average is not good enough. (Average for a watered-down curriculum is even more appalling.) Though this flies in the face of the establishment's attitude of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," calling for a more academic curriculum and accountability for results for a more intellectually rigorous program, elevates real issues into the school board race.

The Pico/Communist China Connection

Mayor Tom Pico is quoted as saying that he is "anxious to show them [Chinese] all that we have accomplished through the private economy, not through government mandates and funding."

Is Mr. Pico for real?

Frogs, the EPA and Fish and Wildlife and a bad economy stand in the way of the Happy Valley golf course--$3 million too late, however.

Measure D, that Mr. Pico supported, mandates that all Alameda County citizens vote on development on county controlled property-Hayward, Berkeley and Oakland will give Pleasanton and other Tri-Valley cities mandates on growth.

Pleasanton is scrambling to write a new housing element for the General Plan to accommodate subsidized housing mandates from the State of California and ABAG (Association of Bay Area Governments.) Pleasanton is even contemplating turning a shopping center and mobile home parks into city-owned subsidized housing to meet "goals." The state has even warned that non-compliance might mean reduced state "funding" for essential projects.

It will be very interesting to hear what the Communist Chinese think about this version of the private economy unfettered by government.

Also connected with Mr. Pico's China trip is his new association with Santa Clara County Supervisor Peter A. McHugh. Mr. Pico feels that he and Mr. McHugh can work together on regional issues including transportation. This is strange since Mr. Pico has remained silent on a mass transit hub including an ACE Train station on the Bernal property. He has remained silent on jitney service from each of the transportation options (Wheels, County Connection and BART) to the ACE/transit hub. Mr. Pico has not embraced such transportation solutions as a realignment of Stoneridge at I-680 or the extension of Stoneridge to El Charro. Mr. Pico chooses to stall and stonewall on these and other issues in hope that they will go away. Convenient transportation, public or private, has always meant growth to Mr. Pico and he is still intransigent on that issue.

In fairness to Mr. Pico he has supported a high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane on I-680's Sunol Grade. He feels that this will alleviate the Sunol Grade commute.

He is wrong.

Even if HOV lanes worked the one on I-680 will worsen the commute during construction and will be inadequate after construction. However, they do not work and end up being Sierra Club lanes. The unintended consequence of such a proposal is a worsening of air quality now and after construction. During construction more cars will crawl in fewer lanes. After construction the HOV lane will carry little traffic and even more cars will crawl in the remaining lanes. Crawling cars create air pollution.

 

Quick Opinion

 

More Fallout Over Measure D

Cities were recently asked to contribute funds to "administer" Measure D. Now Measure D has become the stumbling block for the construction of PG & E substations and transmission lines for the delivery of electricity to the Tri-Valley cities of Dublin, Livermore and Pleasanton. The administrative law judge hearing the PUC application has concluded that since Measure D passed and the likelihood is nil that North Livermore would be developed with as many as 12,000 new houses, no substation there is needed. Her decision is about as wrong-headed as the passage of Measure D itself.

Pleasanton and its neighbors need energy and new transmission lines. The need will not diminish. In fact, demand is likely to grow. Eliminating one of PG & E's requested substations simply means that the process will have to be revisited in the near future when demand again outstrips supply. The unintended consequence is a more expensive land acquisition, permit and construction process.

In short, Measure D continues to cost ratepayers and taxpayers.

The Pleasanton City Council Is A Full-Time Job

Councilman Matt Campbell's Spring Break and summer vacations are fine for a schoolteacher. For members of the Pleasanton City Council they are a distraction. In Pleasanton, since the dreamteams, no meeting agenda is benign. Consent calendar items can and often do take on gigantic proportions. Being prepared and on the job is critical. Discussions and decisions (if they can ever be reached) need full council attention.

Vice Mayor Sharrell Michelotti has set the standard for council members. Her vacations have been planned around city business. He vacations have been cut short because of city business. Her family, like most families with public servants, has been shortchanged because of city business.

We are hoping that Mr. Campbell's two vacations were long planned and that if he didn't follow through he would have forfeited deposits, etc. If that wasn't the case, he should look to Mrs. Michelotti's for guidance. Mayor Tom Pico feels that meeting attendance is so important that he refuses to vote on issues that he may have missed while taking time away from his council duties.

When back on the dais, Mr. Campbell should be prepared. His on-the-job training should have been completed many months ago. The McDonalds issue is a clear example of Mr. Campbell's lack of preparedness. Though eventually approved, Mr. Campbell held up the McDonalds development proposal because he was hoping for a more appropriate gateway to Pleasanton on Stanley Boulevard. Had he been prepared he would have know that Stanley passes by planned and approved automotive uses and by mini storage, not to mention gravel mines and railroad lines. Had he been prepared he would have known that the McDonalds franchisee has been a major contributor to local causes and efforts. Those uses do not present a grand Pleasanton entrance. McDonalds will certainly be an improvement and certainly no worse and it is on land appropriately zoned. Mr. Campbell should have also considered other notable Pleasanton gateways. Visible from I-580 and I-680 is the DSRSD sewer plant.

Some have suggested that Mr. Campbell's disagreement with the McDonalds application might have been rooted in anti fast food/anti corporate attitudes and not gateways. In either case he should have been better prepared.

If he is not up-to-speed he should hire a tutor (though politically incorrect, former Mayor Ken Mercer might again be available). At the very least, Mr. Campbell might assign himself some homework.

Deep Croak

Have a scoop? Because of the turmoil over the Red-Legged Frog (the Happy Valley Golf Course is now held up a couple of years because of the frog) we have decided that Opinion Pleasanton's informed sources should be Deep Croaks.

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