Pleasanton mayor’s race linked to housing, growth
PLEASANTON >> Four candidates are seeking the City Council’s top elected position of mayor this year, and the topic of future housing, and where to put it, is on everyone’s mind.
Current Mayor Jerry Thorne is being termed out after eight years in the office, and Council members Karla Brown and Jerry Pentin are running for the job. In addition, newcomers Monith Ilavarasan, a product manager, and Tom Turpel, a digital marketing manager, also are seeking the seat.
On the candidates’ minds is growth in Pleasanton, and in particular, where to put additional housing, including affordable, required by the state to address the region’s growing population. Pleasanton will need to plan for, though not build, about 4,800 housing units by 2023. State law does not require Pleasanton to build or finance the new housing.
Pleasanton has a troubled past when it comes to fulfilling housing requirements. Pleasanton voters approved a 29,000home cap for the city in 1996. But Urban Habitat, a nonprofit advocacy group, sued, maintaining that cap did not allow the city to meet its obligation to provide affordable housing.
The city settled in 2010, agreeing to remove the cap, and it also was required to plan for the construction of some 3,277 housing units, including 2,524 affordable homes by 2014, which it did.
Brown, who first was elected to the council in 2012, said she’s for smart development located near transit. She’s cautious of putting all the new required housing in one location, such as east Pleasanton, as some have suggested, which she notes is on the fringe of the city.
“The east side is too remote. It’s not near transit. It requires cut-through to our existing communities,” she said.
Instead, she would like to see a citywide search for new sites. Some possibilities could be near Stoneridge Mall, where some housing already is planned, or near the WorkDay campus,
which is close to the BART station, she said.
Pentin, on the other hand, who has been on the council since 2012 as well, noted that Stoneridge Mall would not be able to accommodate all the numbers needed to meet the state requirements; the same holds true with an area such as the Hacienda Business Park, a mixed-use area next to the BART station.
The east side is a viable option to put some of the required housing, he said. If not, he added, the city will be looking at higher density housing. He said the city will need to do a specific plan, a sort of blueprint for future development, for the east side, and push for workforce housing.
“We need essential workforce housing; we need to fight for that,” Pentin said.
Ilavarasan, who said he’s running to bring a “fresh perspective” to Pleasanton, said what he sees in the city is a “reliance on marketbased developers” to bring affordable housing units to the city.
Regarding housing on the east side, he said he’s for it, as long as there would be adequate public transportation such as a more efficient bus route to the area.
He also wants to take stock of any city and county-owned land and use nonprofit developers to develop “truly long-term” affordable housing, including for first-time homebuyers.
His suggestion is to use the city- owned land at Bernal Community Park, which has been considered as a potential site for a new civic center and library, and instead designate it for affordable housing.
“We need to build apartments that allow people to rent and also to work here,” he said. “A portion of that should be higher- density housing that is more affordable for entry-level homebuyers to get into as well.”
Pentin, in a group candidate interview, disagreed with the notion of using that city-owned property. In 2006, voters approved Measure P, ratifying the city’s vision for a grand park plan on the Bernal property. Pentin said if housing were to go there, it again would need voter approval. “And honestly, in Pleasanton, I just don’t see that happening,” he said.
Turpel, who grew up in Pleasanton and returned to the city, said he is running for mayor because he wanted to show his children that if they wanted to see change, they need to be a part of it.
His stance on growth in the city is “we need to be really conservative with development of Pleasanton, especially with the rural, natural resources we have surrounding us.” He said he would like to see development in the underused or now-abandoned areas of town, although he didn’t offer a direct suggestion as to where.
According to the latest campaign finance forms for the period through Sept. 19, Pentin has raised the most funds for his campaign so far with $ 38,287. Brown has $26,999, Ilavarasan has $1,930 and Turpel has not filed any campaign finance documents.