Joel Liu

To come...

Dean Wallace

To come...

Jamie Yee

To come...

Jeffery Nibert

To come...

Dean Wallace

To come...

Jamie Yee

To come...

Jeffery Nibert

To come...

Joel Liu

To come...

Jamie Yee

So affordable on Stoneridge. I think, just from listening to some of the conversation, there are four different owners at the Stone Ridge mall. So I do think it's going to take a lot of conversation and planning to figure out what works. The owners have expressed some concern about building all affordable because they just won't make any money doing that. So I think it's It's going to really take some rolling up, some sleeves and having the right people at the right table to have those discussions. To figure out how to have affordable. Do I think there should be affordable at Stoneridge? Absolutely, you know. It just came to my attention that in the school district we have 122 teachers that make up about 20% of our School District staff, and they actually are products of our own of our own Community. They went to school here. So I'm very curious to find out how many can actually afford to live here, could we have market rate at Harrison straight? I don't know if that developer would be interested in having market rate, but if they were, I would be all for it. If it included parking and wasn't five stories high.

Jeffery Nibert

Thanks. I do support the city, taking the lead on a conversation with the developers at Stoneridge Mall to propose affordable housing. There, I do not support having the stone, having a city leaders had that conversation with Harrison Street to have market rate. Their the one saving grace of Harrison Street is that it is all 100% affordable housing right now. As much as I disagree with a quitting location there and it's night and it's it's not fitting in with character of the community not fitting with the downtown plan. The saving grace is that it's all horrible. I'm involved with playing commission as someone who helped create the draft housing element that was approved by the city council and is now before the state were review, the Planning Commission designated in the areas around the BART stations, including the one here Stoneridge, or in denser housing as a result of a need. To be smart about where housing is located for Transit oriented development. That, however, is a mixed-use concept, all of the housing there will not be 100% affordable and be commercial would be residential as well as housing. So the whole needs of the entire Community are being considered there. I was at the Stoneridge framework Workshop, that was held on Monday, 153 people joined the large attendance, the whole area needs to be part of the comprehensive plan for what happens at Stoneridge.

Joel Liu

Housing is very critical issue for our city and we are going through the housing element discussions. And there are many places we can look into and Stoneridge Mall Area is one of that for the most part of the reason. The city council has already approved the framework and that's a great opportunity for us to develop the greater and the new area for for our city, for the rule of the city. I would support the city council to participate at the conversation so we should developers. I think the city council row is a zoning, is now the building but we should talk, which all parties and they invited them and bring new ideas for us to, to the, to the, to the better future Alpha Pleasanton. And for stonetree small area, I would like to see that a variety of housing, not only affordable housing. And for Harrison Street, for that, what I again, I would support the participation of the discussions that we should developers. Thank you

Dean Wallace

Thank you for the question James. And actually going to relate this question to the question, we just answered in her saying that. I don't think it's the role of the city council to be doing either of those things, the city is currently going through as others have mentioned, variety of different processes to decide what works for the city. The housing element plan at the broader level, for the city, identifying sites where housing can go. And then here in district 1, Stoneridge element, sorry, the Stoneridge work plan, which will help bring together all the stakeholders, including the community, the owners of the land, and other groups that will be impacted to see, what makes the most sense there. I also attended with see plant planning commissioner knivert, the Stone, Ridge Mall Frameworks, First Community event, the other day and sitting through that. It's just very clear that we're in the very early stages of deciding. What will go there? So, I'm supportive of having, you know, affordable housing, their market rate, housing mixed-use, housing, whatever makes the most sense after that process is what I think is most appropriate to go there. Same with the Harrison Street project, I wouldn't want to dictate what goes there. I would help to you know as a city council member guide the city through these various different processes to make sure that whatever gets done is something the community agrees with.

Jeffery Nibert

You mentioned workforce housing, workforce housing is different from the low-income housing and very low income housing that's called for in our Regional Housing Need allocation numbers for which we designed the housing element. Workforce housing is housing for our teachers, for our city employees, for police and firefighters, for those who can't afford to live in Pleasanton because of the high housing costs and this would include children of residents as well. The locations for such workforce housing could be any of the twenty four areas that have been identified, rather 23 I guess since we excluded Donlan, that have been identified in the draft housing element. Places for the achievement of low income and very low income housing are things that need to be penciled out by developers. The City can't force developers to build on any of these properties. The city can encourage and by its policies support the construction of mixed use properties and also properties that are and can be 100% affordable, 100% affordable meaning, in the RHNA context, to apply to low and very low income. But as far as workforce housing goes for all of our employees and City residents, that can be any of the identified sites in the housing element and I would encourage that.

Joel Liu

Thank you for that question. I would not name any of the locations. I think that the city council has selected 25 sites, and after Donlan site, we still have our 24 site and we already identified those site, hopefully, those are meeting the requirement of the RHNA numbers and we are waiting for the EIR, the environmental impact report. I would wait for results of the environmental impact report and then work together to find the best locations for workhouse --workforce housing. I take workforce housing as a very important topic because I do want our teachers and firefighters and police officers and other professional workers on to be able to live in the city and the close to where they work. I would not name, again, a location. I would wait for the EIR and then find out what's the best location for the workforce housing.

Dean Wallace

Thank you for the question. So when it comes to workforce housing, I think it's important to start by answering this question with how you go about making workforce housing. So workforce housing is housing that we, you know, identify as being for teachers, first responders, younger workers. You have to identify who in the workforce you're looking to make that housing for. And then you have to have the city and regional partners, or the state or another entity help fund it because you're kind of you got to build the housing, subsidized it, and get the resources needed to make it, you know, specifically workforce housing. So one of the sites or a couple of sites that come to mind for workforce housing is the school district sites. I could see us doing workforce housing for our teachers there. I've talked to a couple of our city school board members who have expressed interest and excitement about the possibility. There are various other cities in this state that have brought together the school district, and the city, and nonprofits and gotten grants from the state and other entities to build that workforce housing for teachers. So I think, you know, you'd have to work with those the school board to make sure that they're okay with it, but those school districts sites seem to me to be a very good opportunity to build workforce housing for our teachers.

Jamie Yee

I think wherever the property is free, haha. That makes the numbers work really well. You know, it was a while ago when the current superintendentfirst came on board, when I was a school board member, that was one of the first things that I sat down to talk to him about is, how can we do workforce housing for our school staff. It's not just the teachers, but all the school staff. There are many models around the state now that Have different criteria of how they allow their school staff to obtain the housing. Some of it is for a designated amount of time. Some of them help them save save up money towards down payment, so their rent would go towards down payment money for them. There's many, many, really amazing models that are happening all over the state and we need to take advantage of the fact that the school district does own some property that could be potentially a great spot to do. We did sit down and talk to a non-profit housing developer many years ago and just did kind of a back-of-the-envelope look on how it would work and if the finances would be there and, you know, it's a very doable thing when you own the property. So where would it go? I would choose where the school district owns land. But we do have this housing element and if it was somewhere that was identified in the housing element, I would hope that it fits in to wherever the plan is for the entire city.

Joel Liu

Strengthening the city and school partnership is one of my priorities. I have two school age children. I drop them off and pick them up twice a day. And I myself work as a member of school side council for Harvest Park. I work with school all the time. But in the meantime, the school and the city are two different entities and they are governed by different boards. However, we are all in the same city. There are many things that we can collaborate. I support a school resource officer program. That is a great program to keep our schools and our campus safe and that is a city funded program. That is just one of the many examples of how school can help our school. Regarding the [Measure I], I do support a [Measure I]. As I said, as a parent of two school age children, I care about our school facilities. I see the deteriorating conditions of our school facility. I see that a bond measure is the only option to do a large-scale infrastructure upgrade. So I do support that.

Dean Wallace

Thanks for the question. So I think there are two different ways I look at this question. One is, what is the official way that the city can, you know, work with our schools, and what are some of the unofficial ways that the elected members of the city council can be support of our schools? So, you know, as Joel said and as you all know, having Pleasanton have a strong partnership between the city and our schools is fundamental to the success and the attractiveness of the city. So to that end, some of the official ways that the city can work with our school district, you already see it in the SROs. Its really important that the city continue to help fund that program. It's a program that's supported by the vast majority of parents who are in our schools. And I think that is a good example of the city and school district working as good partners together in an official capacity. I mentioned workforce housing earlier, I think it would be amazing if we could get the city to work in partnership with the school district, on making sure we can house our teachers who are in our district. And when it comes to the school bond, [Measure I], I am supportive of it. You know, we have many young families here in this city who have put their entire life savings in the down payment of a home, have a mortgage with 1.5 to 2 million dollars for that home so that their kids could come to the city and go to our schools. So I think it's important that those schools live up to their reputation and continue to thrive with everything they need.

Joel Liu

Thank you for the question. We all want the safe water. As a councilmember getting safe water is my top priority. In Pleasanton, the water issue is a little bit complicated. We have aging wells and we have the drought, and we needed to work with our partners and to deal with the PFAS issue. For this complicated issue there is an engineering part; there is also a business part. Engineering part is, this is a new issue. What technology we needed to choose? Buisness part is, does it make business sense? As a PhD in engineering and worked on water treatment project on the electrical side before, I believe what I'm well qualified to understand that the technical part. And as a leader who has managed the multi-million dollar projects and the business, I believe I'm qualified to understand the business part also. I agree with the current Council. We should pause. We need to pause and the think what to do. And there are many things for us to think and I'm qualified to help the council to decide the best option for our resident to get the safe water. Thank you.

Jamie Yee

Um, let's see where to begin. The school district and the board and the city council absolutely needs to work together very closely and collaboratively. The two bodies are the community leaders and I think that both bodies set the tone for the city and the school district about just how we operate as a city and, you know, feeling our community pride and our community inclusion and just it's really important that they work together. The bond is absolutely necessary if we want to continue being a thriving community. Schools are a big part of our community. It also helps this community maintain its real estate value and when you look at our neighboring cities, their schools are new or newly remodeled and they look amazing, and we are losing our competitiveness. When you look at our school facilities, if people are moving here and there, looking at Dublin or San Ramon or Pleasanton are their choices, they're going to see the schools and those schools are in much, much better and more, modern shape. Those communities have invested in their schools and Pleasanton needs to step up and do the same. It is not great that our students and our teachers have to work in subpar facilities. So supporting the bond is vitally important to the future of our community.

Jeffery Nibert

I'm the parent of three children who all attended and graduated from Pleasanton schools so this is a matter of it's very near and dear to my heart and also for the benefit of all the other kids that I see attending, the local school. Lydixin is just right down the street from me. I'm talking about their futures. In speaking with members of the school board, current members, it's my understanding that Pleasanton and the city have been working together and cooperatively very closely already, and I see very good reasons for strengthening that partnership and cooperation. It seems to be benefiting both parties and they're even greater benefits I can see from further collaboration and partnering. For example, the gymnasiums at Harvest Park are jointly owned by the city and the school district. That has proved to be very useful and very beneficial to all the users of those facilities and ensures maximum use of those facilities for the benefit of all people. The traffic and road and lighting improvements that were made outside of Foothill High School. That happened at the same time as the revitalization of the front that are also benefit. So, and lastly I support Measure I. It does increase property taxes, that's a concern. The school that was promised in 2016 needs to be built this time.

Dean Wallace

Thank you for the question. So if this is a opinion that our business community is saying they're experiencing, then I would first start by saying that I would trust their assessment of it. I do not own or operate a business, so I would go to the business community to figure out if if that is the case. If elected to the city council I would want to have a working and close partnership with the chamber and with small business communities in my district and then downtown and the city to make sure that I'm aprised about the challenges that are facing our small businesses. I do think that if there are challenges when it comes to permitting and the processing of it and that's impacting the ability for our businesses to thrive here I would want to, from the city council, direct staff --direct the city manager to direct staff to look into it and come back to us with a report and come up with solutions for how we can speed things up. I do think that with all the different ways the city council is currently engaged in micromanaging businesses, I think I would rather steer away from some of those more bureaucratic approaches to the job and steer towards how we can help small businesses and if permitting and the time it takes to process as one of them I would want to address those issues.

Jamie Yee

Thanks for this question. This is a really good one. I have had an earful from business business owners and property owners around town about the difficulties in the permitting process in the city. But on the other side of that, historically it was worse than it is now. Apparently what we have now is the improved version, but I'm still hearing that it's a huge, huge challenge. When I first decided to run for City Council people were saying to me: "Oh, are you going to do something about all the vacancies down on Main Street?" And I said, well, the city council doesn't really specifically have jurisdiction over that. But what is happening, is many of the vacancies, the property owners, you know, have somebody who's interested in renting their their building and they go to the city, they bring their plans, and they find out how incredibly onerous it is and how expensive it is and how long it's going to take to get through, they decide to go elsewhere. So it concerns me because it impacts our revenue to the city, it impacts the vibrancy of, and in case of the main street, it's really difficult how we can streamline the permitting process a little bit better and that the city needs to have maybe of a more can do attitude, instead of can't do attitude. But I don't know all the details and the insides and outs and what the challenges are, that is definitely a conversation that I'd like to have and look into. I have more questions than I have answers.

Jeffery Nibert

As an engineer and a current planning commissioner, my attitude is to let the facts and the figures do the talking. I would always seek to understand the details and the concerns more clearly. So, first step would be to sit down with the business owners to understand exactly what the concern specifically are. The devil is in the details. So, there are, and I know there are some situations that must be that they must be referring to so I want to know those. We work and we now have a terrific new city manager, Jerry Boden. I'd like to have, once we identify those along with the city manager and the other members of the council, to sit down and work with the business community and to understand the point of view of the process. We have a standard process. If it doesn't work, it needs to be fixed. If it can be made better, if there are synergies that can be achieved, by all means we should do them. As a Planning Commissioner, I see the planning process from the point of view of new developments. The permitting process is a little more outside the purview of the Planning Commission, but I want city leaders to be able to work with businesses and understand their concerns and sit down and make it better if it can't be made better.

Joel Liu

Sure there can be talks that affect many, many, many different people. So I do, I am aware of some feedbacks from our business and community regarding lengthy process for permitting and this process, so I'm aware of that. When I'm in the city council, I will look into the details. So, I have already heard from the business community and I will work with city staff and the managers to look into the process, to understand more about the process and to work together to improve the process. I believe that any process can be improved and I'm very pro-business. Our business represents 60% off the revenue for our city, and they are very critical part of our community. I have the full support for our business owners and small business owners, and and business people, so I pledge to look into this issue and work-this better and find a better way to improve for the process.

Jamie Yee

Yes, the water issue is a very serious concern and city needs to prioritize our water situation. As I've said before, you know, I'm not a water scientist or a water expert and I know that the city has been directed to the staff to really make this a priority to work, to come up with different recommendations that they can present to the city council. So I look forward to those recommendations. But it is definitely something that we need to keep an eagle eye on and make sure that we have enough water. Good healthy clean, drinking safe water that's chemical-free. But I do think that our partnership with Zone 7 is vitally important. They are the Water Authority for us in Pleasanton and historically that relationship hasn't always been very good, and I know that it's better, but it needs to continue to be a very tight, close relationship because we need them to help us with our water situation. So I am looking forward to the staff's recommendations.

Jeffery Nibert

The water that flows into our homes must always be safe to drink. 80% of Pleasanton's water is supplied by Zone 7 Water Agency. The other 20% comes from Pleasanton's wells. Both of these sources are threatened with contamination by forever chemicals, called PFAS, which through decades of use have now reached the valley's groundwater. These chemicals pose a threat to our health because they build up in our bodies over time. They'll continue to spread in the ground water. Pleasanton has already shut down One of its main Wheels because of this contamination and the other two are threatened. If we're to continue drinking the city's water and make sure the system can operate the way it should, then action is needed to treat and remove these substances from the water. As an alternative the city is exploring the purchase of water from Zone 7 to replace 20% that comes from our wells. So our cooperation with Zone Seven is essential. Either solution is going to end up being costly and will entail some uncertainty. But action is critical to ensure that the water we drink remain safe. The next city council is going to have some major decisions to make, and I am help make those decisions. The solutions that have been proposed include water treatments and well rehabilitation. For Pleasanton to go into the water treatment business, long term that may be what is required and if that's what's required for safe drinking water for everyone, then I'm for it.

Joel Liu

We all want to save clean drinking water and as a city council member I will make sure that the Pleasanton residents have safe drinking water, and making sure Pleasanton Residents have safe drinking water is one of my top priorities. And in Pleasanton, water is a pretty complicated issue. We have aging wells and we also need to work with our Partner Zone 7, and we also need to deal with PFAS issue. The current city council developed a plan on filtering and on renovating our aging water wells with the new regulation and some emerging cover standard on PFAS and we decided to pass on that, and there will be tough decisions for us to make and that's pretty challenging both technically and commercially. I have a PhD in engineering and I do have the experience on water treatment plan from electrical engineering site and I also managed a multimillion-dollar business. I think I can help us to make the best decision for our safety from a both engineering and business side, and to make the best decision for our city to have safe drinking water.

Dean Wallace

So during this campaign I've come to see this question as the most important and complicated question to answer, but it's very important because we have to figure out how we maintain having a safe and reliable and sustainable source of water for our city and its residents. That question is now becoming much more challenging as we have a shortage of water and as we're entering a new stage of climate change. So, and figuring out how to come to solutions. I think there are a couple of things. First, I want to say that we need to be a better regional partner as a city to our water agencies, both this Zone 7 and DSRSD. I think there have been recent decisions and made by the current Council where that those partnerships were not respected and were not valued as much as they should be. We're not in the driver's seat when it comes to those relationships. If I'm elected to the city council, I will advocate as well as I can for the city, but it also requires being collaborative partner with those agencies so that we can get the best outcome for our city, not just dictating what we want. When it comes to solutions, I'm supportive of the city taking the stance to kind of put a pause on things. I want to look at treatment, blending, new water sources. And the last thing I'll add is I know that the chamber came out in support of building a treatment plant. I also spoken to people in Zone 7 who don't think it's a good idea for Pleasanton to get in the water treatment business. I honestly don't know what my answer is, but I'm looking forward to continue to look into the issue.

Jeffery Nibert

Thank you for that question. The question has to do with accountability for our police officers, police department. The feedback in the latest community survey last August, the performance of our Pleasanton Police Department, was overwhelmingly positive. There are improvements that the city police department has made as evidenced in their recent semi-annual report at the last City Council meeting. There are good things to come out of that report, concerns around how the Pleasanton Police Department deals with mental health situations, in particular with school, resource officers, is quite encouraging. The information on the new pilot program for alternate response unit with mental health experts, assisting in those types of calls or taking the lead. Those are all steps in the right direction. As far as an oversight commission. No, I don't support an oversight commission. In fact, you know it's been said, if it's not broke, don't fix it. I'll reserve judgment on to whether it's broken or not. I need to learn a lot more. It may be that an auditor might be a possible solution, but to say that, I need more evidence would be insensitive to those who have suffered tragic consequences.

Joel Liu

Thanks for the question. Public safety is my top priority. I do not see the need of an oversight committee or commission. I believe our city council is elected by our citizens and that they represent our city and they provide proper oversight for the police department through the City Manager, and actually I believe the police department reports to the city council twice a year, so we already have sufficient oversight from the city council so I do not see the need for another oversight committee or commission. On top of that, all of our officers are professionals. They are following policies and procedures. The city council has a place. I do not see the need for having an oversight committee.

Dean Wallace

Thank you for the question. Like has been previously said, like the vast majority of residents in Pleasanton, I believe that our Police Department is doing an excellent job. I am also very proud to have earned the endorsement of our Police Officers Association. I strongly support preserving public funding for public safety, and I also believe that the police department is currently in very capable hands. I've watched the most recent, I was in the city council chambers for the most recent report from Chief Wwing. I've watched past reports. I think those are always very thorough, and very transparent, and watching him and his staff give those reports, it's just very clear that our cities and capable hands and that our police department is, you know, engaged in addressing and reforming things that need to be reformed, and I think they're doing a very good job at that. And I believe with your primary question when it comes to whether or not we need to spend more money on oversight or reporting the question is you have to first ask yourself is there any evidence that those things are needed? And frankly, I do not see that evidence right now. I do support providing our officers with all the training and equipment that they need. And I do support providing appropriate responses for people experiencing mental health crisis. But, as I said I, think our city police department is doing an excellent job at that and they already do many of the things reformers are asking for in other cities.

Jamie Yee

Thanks, you should know better than James. That no question is simple here. So for about nine years in my role at Alameda County, I got to work, shoulder-to-shoulder, with law enforcement agencies and I have a very, very good understanding of what their role is and what their role isn't. And I believe that our police department does a very good job. The whole 12 years that I was on the school board, we never had one issue or complaint that came forward about the SROs. So very happy about that. I'm glad that the chief has that Chief Advisory Group. I think that, that serves, you know, a certain purpose. But along with the others, I don't think that an oversight committee is really necessary right now because things are going well. We do have the two-year reports that come to the City Council. They seem very open transparent, you know, and happy to collaborate, so I just don't really see a need for it. If that ever changed, I think that would be a good idea. We do have one council member who really would like to have that and would like to spend a lot of money on an outside consulting firm and have this oversight committee and I just really don't think it's necessary at this time.

Joel Liu

To come...

Dean Wallace

TO come...

Jamie Yee

TO come...

Jeffery Nibert

To come...

Dean Wallace

To come...

Jamie Yee

To come...

Joel Liu

To come...

Jeffery Nibert

To come...

Jeffery Nibert

To come...

Jamie Yee

To come...

Dean Wallace

To come...

Joel Liu

To come...