 All right, so I'm like, um, thank you so much for joining us for the president city council candidates forum My name is Samina Isman. I'm the government relations coordinator for the council on American Islamic relations The nation's largest sub rights advocacy organization So, you know, we have hope we have co-sponsored this event with the MCC East Bay The San Ramon Valley Islamic Center the Northern California Islamic Center and the Muslim American Society So what our goal for all of these corns is to Forms is to mobilize the Muslim community to let them know about the candidates to you know, quote-unquote meet with their Candidates, we would love to have done so in person and have some chai and some snacks about you know The best thing you could do is just grab a bag of popcorn and enjoy this forum. So, you know, we care is Non-profit civil rights advocacy organization. We are 501c4 so we cannot endorse any of the candidates However, we can just provide you the information by having you meet with them We also provide voter guides and so if you haven't checked it out yet We have a care California voter guide which analyzes the votes of our congressional members and our state legislators as well And you can find that at bit Lee slash care CA vote And you can also find our local voter guides where we analyze the ballot measures of Nine Bay Area counties And you know, we have taken positions on certain ballot measures that deal with civil rights issues and then also you could have found the Propositions are our positions on the propositions as well We also have information about the the different propositions like prop 15 prop 16 prop 17 And then also know your rights information at the ballot box. So, please go ahead and check that out at our Website again, that's a bit that Lee Ford slash care CA votes and With and then also without further ado, let's go ahead and ask the questions. I'm gonna go ahead and Put the first question in the chat group We are gonna try to do this as alphabetically as possible so that we can make sure that no candidate has an advantage of the other since So we're gonna go by lasting and this first question goes to Ms. Arkin And it would be to give an introduction of yourself Please include your involvement in the city and what your top three priorities are if you're elected Okay, great. Thank you. Good evening. I'm Valerie Arkin running for the Pleasanton City Council I am a current school board member in Pleasanton, and I have been on the board for 12 years I've contributed to that financial stability and award-winning programs that make our school district one of the best in the state Number 11, I believe As an elected official I've always been accessible and responsive to community input and feedback and I'll continue to do that as a city council member I was a library commissioner in Pleasanton for eight years. I turned out in 2014 I'm a 27-year resident of Pleasanton and I've raised my three children here I have a bachelor's degree in health science, and I have a master's degree in business and MBA And I currently work at Hiveley, which is a nonprofit here in Pleasanton that provides resources to families in need My priorities I have about five So it's hard to just pick the three because all five are important but smart growth in the environment Supporting the school district and our educational system preserving the downtown and COVID recovery. Thank you Thank you so much. Mr. Pauls Thank you. Hello everyone. My name is Jack Balch I'd like to express my thanks in being here and being invited So I grew up in the Sunol Fremont border and went to Sunol Glen Elementary School raised pigs through Sunol 4-H and have been in the area in my entire life I'm honored to have served Pleasanton for over a decade where 11 years ago I joined the Park and Recreation Commission Where I served for nearly five years and now I'm serving you as a planning commissioner for the past six I've been a certified public accountant nearly my entire life and my adult life and I've been in a business and finance role for more than 21 years Pleasanton is an amazing community. We have growing diversity and an exciting future as we look to this future. I believe we can Get Pleasanton going and use our experience to help Pleasanton recover in these economic times and My priorities are promoting that economic recovery Strengthening our city school partnership and recommitting ourselves to keeping our neighborhood safe. Thank you Thank you. Mr. Brown. Oh I'm sorry. My name is Randy Brown and I believe there are many passive civic leadership And I believe to be to be a truly effective and dynamic council It will consist of members who bring varied experiences and opinions to the table the issues facing our community today Are fairly clear public safety economic stability housing traffic and preservation of local resources? These are all priorities that I have if you want to ask me my top three It would be public safety economic stability and recovery and housing The question is who do you want making this decision these decisions based on? Or these decisions based on behalf of Pleasanton I believe we need leaders who are honest balance committed and motivated Leaders who have a deep set deep sense of an integrity and leaders who embrace a collaborative spirit and who will approach each Situation with an unbiased perspective. I'm eager to bring my unique background of military and business leadership coupled with Community volunteerism to the role of city council. Thank you Thank you. I'm miss It's our Serena. Yes. Thank you. Hi. I'm Serena because the low loo. I'm running for I've been a housing commissioner for three years I'm running for city council with the platform with centering around three major issues affordable housing investment and mental health social services and building a strong community to inclusion COVID-19 and movement of black lives clear and she'll have systematically harming people of color and getting in the way of the Bay Area I want to live in pleasant affluent communities have created segregation and segregation create creates concentrated areas of poverty and equity and access to education economic environment and other opportunities for minorities blacks and Latinx as the housing commissioner We made motion to get rid of in movies and basically built affordable housing But they had city council The now that you do our recommendation. So this housing as a pleasant city council is is a board of directors pleasant and Housing authority and I have to make the changes within so that's why I'm running for city council To affirm it before the fair housing in our city. Thank you. Mr. Lee You made it Sorry about that Hey, my name is Chi-min Lee. I want to thank everyone for attending this event I'm running for pleasant in city council. I'm a son of Hong Kong immigrants and the youngest three siblings I was born and raised in San Francisco Apparently the director of operations at corporate e-way solution so e-waste Sustainability company I lived in pleasant in for about seven years and really Saw a big focus on big business and a disconnect from small business and a community and our environment My top three positions are supporting small businesses and families through this covid pandemic protecting our local environment and our water And really highlighting the need for diversity in our city council and our cities you know really I wanted to raise awareness to you know folks with different cultural backgrounds and really have a seat on the table so that we can highlight that and Promote that diversity Thank you very much. All right for the so before I go to the second question I just want to remind the audience that are both on zoom and also on facebook live that you can ask your questions And we'll try to incorporate that into the questions that we have We did receive some questions from Community members ahead of time as well. And so I've also I've already incorporated that into the question So please make sure to to ask them and then we'll we'll go ahead and incorporate that So for the second question, uh, what is oh, oops, I think I accidentally included a wrong question. Forgive me This one Here we go. So as of october 12th pleasantin had a confirmed number of 475 covid cases and in alamina county as a whole had 22 000 cases This pandemic has shaken our communities through sickness and loss of life along with negatively impacting the economy How should the city of pleasantin be involved in the recovery as we deal with the covid 19 crisis? And the question will go to mr. Balch Yeah, thank you, uh, I think this is a challenge that we have not seen or Forcing and it's challenging us to be innovative in so many different ways The way that I think that the city should be Addressing this is is similar to what they are doing, right? We are doing rental assistance for our residents. We're doing rental assistance or financial assistance for our businesses We're working to open up businesses in a safe manner by providing them additional space like shutting down main street Something that was proposed years ago But was unheard of or unwilling to be considered And so as we look to the future pleasantin needs to continue to see what opportunities exist within the county guidelines To be able to assist our residents in those areas and those businesses But we also need to continue to be flexible with it The downtown specific plan has a few economic suggestions that I think can be implemented to help Businesses throughout the community not just focusing on the downtown. Thank you Thank you. Uh, mr. Brown Well, we need to really rally around our business community right now with covid We need to get them back to work and continue to work to support them in every way possible But at the same time while keeping our residents safe We certainly need to continue to work hard with our downtown and our restaurants by giving them the abilities To open up and and serve people I worked hard to to get the downtown opened up for restaurants And we need to look at that as more of a permanent fixture Because we don't know how long covid is going to uh that we're going to have to deal with it It may be something that we just have to live with but hopefully not Um, but we also need to look at maybe in the future by closing down some parking spaces and opening up some park That's for them as well um We need to continue to work with businesses and make it more easy and accessible for them to open up New businesses as some of the old business or other businesses may have gone out They're entrepreneurs and they're they have an entrepreneur spirit. So they'll be back We just need to make it as easy as possible for them Thank you miss kizako Yes, so this has been really difficult for businesses and people also the elderly and the children so, um You know downtown businesses opened up and i'm i'm happy that it's open but at the same time I'm not quite sure if it's very safe for people to be in close contacts. Yes, the streets are closed on Saturdays and Sundays so people are sitting outside You know and if you're walking up and down you wear a mask That's all good, but you know the economic recovery is going through the Chamber of Commerce in the city. They're doing a great job. They're fantastic I'm not gonna repeat that but as far as the safety and now opening up the schools without consulting the teachers and the students I am concerned. I know that Palo Alto opened up recently And their schools and they're opening up at least the k through five and we're opening in in January Without teachers and high school inputs. I'm worried about us opening up all together Um, this is difficult time. You have to see how the numbers go in 475 is is pretty large number for city of 70 000 Mr. Lee Yeah, um You know, I I think that the city is doing the best I can To help out local businesses. Um, we developed that small business loan zero interest loan I think we need to do more as a city I think that small businesses they're kind of struggling to kind of figure out how to navigate kovid and how to kind of comply with alameda county health um policies that changes every every week or so So, uh, we really need to look at um starting some sort of task force to help small businesses to navigate that You know helping giving free support to small businesses So that they can find this updated info They can find grand zero interest loans and even help with uh getting permits to open up And not just focusing on small business. I mean downtown Uh businesses but businesses throughout pleasantin, right? Um, we also need more testing more contact tracing so that we are That's the end Yes, thank you Um, the the loans to small businesses and more so to the downtown businesses that the city has been doing I'm absolutely in favor of Anything we can do to assist those businesses that need help that are struggling right now I think the city has a responsibility to do we also have the responsibility to the residents in this town and the rental assistance that has been um, they've partnered with city serve to do that and that's another known profit So, um, I think doing more to help our residents that are also struggling right now and there are a lot I think is the is what we need to do. Um, I know how the county is giving food at the fairgrounds I'm here in town and I know The nonprofit I work for has also been giving food and that's been a real blessing to a lot of people Child care is another issue that a lot of parents in town are having issues with and I think the city should Um, try to see what they can do to help with that as well I think we need to continue looking at creative solutions. You know the opening up of main street as others have mentioned have been That's a good one. Um Is my time over I don't see my clock. Yeah, I think that there's something with the timer. I was trying to uh, Try to do it on my own, but um, yeah, you only have five more seconds left for the timer. I just put on my own Um, is are you looking to park looking to partner more with nonprofits and things like that? Thank you I don't know what happened. There was some kind of a glitch. So yeah No, no, is it working out? Just give me a second. Let me just okay. Thank you. And we know how this guy Lots of guys are doing these forms from home That's a we have a big cat. Sorry. Yeah, he takes over my whole life. So That's funny because when I get on zoom, I have a dog that she has to sit on my lap when I'm on So when when I'm doing these forms my wife has to take her outside. Otherwise, she's relentless Oh, no, well, how about this in the meantime? I'm just gonna go ahead and uh, keep the timer I'll go ahead and uh, let's go ahead and have uh, um, mr. bald And I'll tell you when to stop What's the question? Oh, I think I already answered this. He already did. Yeah Yeah You are absolutely correct. They were just having all sorts of fun tonight I couldn't pay my answer. No problem Okay, let me go ahead and put it to over here and Here we go. All right. So, um, many people in pleasant in have filed claims for unemployment Um or unemployment assistance claims and live in households with people who have lost work But don't have access to unemployment or other income and replacement So how would pleasant in address the issue of people facing homelessness Once the eviction moratorium ends and how do we currently help those who are homeless? And this question would go to mr. Brown Yes, thank you. Well homelessness Is This is a large scale. It's a statewide issue. It's actually even bigger than that. It's obviously a national issue If not a global issue As your council member I would encourage our city staff to work closely with the state of california Our first responders our local nonprofit agencies to identify those in need and connect them with resources That are available as quickly and efficiently as possible Empowering our health and human service commission to network with other cities to establish regional resources and protocols Would also be very helpful as a strategy Again, you know networking with with our nonprofits I think is the best strategy that we have and then as a city we need to Continue to look at loans or grants that we can to help The people that need this so this is something that It's definitely something that's going to come up and that we will have to address Thank you. Ms. Kazekalin So housing is the one thing that I've been pushing for as a housing commissioner for the last three years. So if elected in the council, I want to adopt new plans to reopen. I think Homelessness is just side effect of the lack of affordable housing I want to adopt new plans to rezone so so that we can meet that statutory objective of we now which is affirmatively further housing Especially in our area where we have high jobs And high transportation and access to transportation, but no affordable housing Our housing element will be updated in the general plan in December 2020 by may 21 2021 basically we will have two-year budget and the plan for capital improvement And so the new rena is like 4790 homes and 22 thirds of that is going to be affordable housing When we have affordable housing on the ground, then we will be able to get rid of homelessness and lack of affordable housing and they'll be solved but Even with the next rena 5000 home, we will not be able to solve housing crisis This is has been going on for too long and we haven't done anything about it And this is just the first step Thank you. Mr. Lee Yeah, I think You know this whole homelessness and housing issue It's it all ties into jobs right jobs and ensuring that We support our local businesses so that they can thrive and grow and create more jobs but in the short term, I think that Um, this as a city we should look into maybe You know giving giving out vouchers to help people with homelessness Um vouchers that they could uh bring over to the hotels that are not currently You know, uh in business they could rent out those hotel rooms and that would kind of help the hotel industry as well Um, but then on the long term, we should look at affordable housing looking at How we can put more high density housing in areas like the east pleasant in our stormage mall or just throughout pleasant in um, and pulling that funding from The affordable housing fund. Thank you. Um, Ms. Arkin Yes, thank you I think one of the main things to help with um, the homeless population is the partnering with nonprofits um, I like I mentioned before I work for a nonprofit and we actually do deal with people that are homeless So helping them either Um directly we help with food. We help with childcare subsidies. Um, we help with a lot of diapers We help with a lot of things like that, but we also connect them to other agencies that can help Um, we have a lot of women and children that we get into the shelters, which are over in livermore Um, but we connect them with county services the alameda county social services Things that of that nature and that we need to continue to focus on and do more outreach with that in order to reach those populations um, I also think that um housing assistance that the city should look into as the problem is growing Um, see what else the city can do with any type of assistance with getting them into appropriate housing I think is something they should look at doing and then there's the whole affordable housing piece, but i'm out of time Thank you. Um, mr. Bolch Yeah, thank you. Um so in terms of the rental housing that's Uh, the city's already doing we you know, they are evaluating looking at Increasing that from my understanding and I would be as well. So in terms of a short term solution I think that's something that for the people who are looking at the abitian moratorium That is something that we uh need to be looking at if there's additional funding for that and how we could fund that Maybe through the low income housing funds in terms of the homeless overall right now as you may recall We have two officers who are assigned to assist the homeless And with the mental health element that we are speaking about with the police and try partnering with the tri valley with a cahoots or the per program To help them in that uh situation if there's any uh criminal element or even not Really just looking at the services there for identification and getting them places But I do think we also need to partner with the nonprofits such as open heart kitchen To be uh looking for a bed and further services for these People I need Thank you so much. Um Would that be uh Did we get everybody? I'm sorry. I kind of got a little thrown off. Okay, great. Perfect So, uh because of the next question would be for you Um, let me copy that All right, the next question would be uh from 1991 to 2018 pleasantance number of housing units went up from Roughly 19,800 to 28,000 and the current rate of population growth is 0.52 How do you plan on making room for this new population growth and what development plans Do you have for balancing the increase in housing and people when there's only so much space to use? And then also a community member had asked how will candidates promote access to fair housing during this time? A very high rent inequality Okay, so actually In 2010 the uh, we are the our city got because we were not making affordable housing So we went from 19,000 to 28. I think this is more like 24 to 25,000 I don't think it's 28,000 all the housing the population growth is 7,000 people and um Make room for we have the each pleasant and 11,800 1100 acres We have infill areas to build houses And i'm not quite sure what this person is asking for that. We don't have place to grow So this is not making sense to me because it's completely against what I have seen We have people who need affordable housing and we have 63 000 jobs And we only have 23 24 000 homes in pleasant and do not have affordable housing for people who work here They're commuting and we're increasing greenhouse gas emissions. That's the side effect of the fact that we have 63 000 job 51 000 coming go every day Oh, that's what I was yeah, mr. Lee Yes, um How to fix affordable housing? Um Well, there is uh, this inlu fee that developers pay is roughly about 44 000 Uh to get out of building affordable housing Uh for developments. Um, so I would dip into that fund pull out roughly about nine to 10 million and maybe look at partnering with The the company workday to look at building high density housing in in the properties that they've purchased in the last I forgot when a couple years or so, I guess um, that's a great opportunity for them to invest in the Uh community and really resolve some of the housing issues they could build, you know portion for their employees maybe some office buildings Some condos, but then also a good amount of affordable housing For the community and that's earmarked only for like below market rate Rentals or something like that That's enough Thank you miss arkin Yes, thank you Well, I am in favor of more affordable housing and as our rena numbers come out next year Um, I would advocate as a city council member to build more affordable housing We do have a lot of luxury housing already in pleasant and and there is the need for affordable so I would advocate for that I am also, um against the inlu fees and I think Builders need to build the affordable when they have a project come forward Um locations are important. I think locations near transportation hubs, which bart near bart near freeways that sort of thing Is one thing to look at and when we talk about affordable housing You know, it includes multi-family housing But I'm also a big advocate of inclusionary housing Which are kind of if people aren't familiar with that it's kind of duplexes in a way that are mixed in with market rate housing Um, I think that's a great way for a you know, people to have a path to home ownership that otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it But also senior housing and housing for um adults with special needs Another thank you, mr. Bolch Now this is not an answer that's a one minute answer pleasant and so I would just point that out So i'm a planning commissioner I've been a planning commissioner for six years and we've been working on this exact challenge In general, uh, I should mention that the city does not build anything The city actually zones and then they have to wait for a developer either a non-profit or for-profit developer to actually come and put For the project So when we look at how to solve our housing challenges It is a zoning and density question and issue rena numbers are generally Directionally known to be a two hundred and thirty five percent increase over the last or current rena cycle that we're ending And so when we look at that my goal would be to try to encourage a variety of housing mix so that we have housing for every quality A place in life that you are so we have the apartments and affordability at the beginning And then we have the small single family and we move up from there And where it goes is a matter of how dense you want your housing to be and we need to be looking at schools and traffic locations Thank you. Mr. Brown Well housing again is another very complex issue and it's an important one pleasant and will receive its regional housing needs assessment Allocation numbers, uh shortly and well, we actually know what they are But it'll be a requirement shortly these numbers will Firmly dictate the number of new housing units that will need to be zoned within our city And include included in that our housing element by january 2023 This is important because it shapes the future of our housing and also creates opportunities for conversations In the coming years personally, I would advocate for income based housing That serves the needs of our veterans seniors workforce and developmentally disabled as well as A broad variety of other homes This is a critical need for our community and something we have an obligation to address I have a strong, uh, I have been a strong advocate for some for our sunflower hill in their community I would love to see more projects like this in our community And I'm out of time So, Mina, you're on mute. Oh, there you are Oh, of course Uh, so the next question that would go to mr. Lee is traffic has become increasing issue in pleasant in How would you work to alleviate traffic? Um, yes, I would focus more on public transportation. Um, you know, put in more electric buses, uh, bus routes That would go to bar and ace train. I don't think that's highly marketed in in pleasant in So that would be one area of opportunity. Um You know also looking at maybe hiring some traffic consultant experts to kind of Look at why we're having traffic issues in the city And kind of come up with some solution to reduce traffic. Um, I know that we were looking into, um, At least kind of smart signals, I guess um, I I don't think that Uh, I've been hurting the news that they've been launched yet or not But um, I think that's one great idea. We just need to learn And try out new technologies bring in professionals to help us with these traffic issues um Yeah to to relieve it I guess So I have Thank you. Um, miss arkin Yes, thank you. Um, well regionally, I think you know highway 84 needs to be finished So there are some things regionally that will as a result and indirectly will help pleasant I'm assuming the question is more related to pleasant in though. So With pleasant and I think yeah, there are a lot of Timing of lights that could be done better. I think there are a lot of And actually I brought this up to the city council recently Actually to one of my city liaison meetings that I'm Uh, I I am on as a school board member with city council members And I brought up about certain intersections in town that are quite congested during commute hours And what can be done about that and I know the city is starting to look at that And I I think they always look at that actually but there are some that Really need a little more attention to Um, whether it's another, you know, a left turn lane added a lane expanded things like that I think we need to concentrate more on those types of things Um public transportation and get people to take part. I think it is is good, too I know with covet that You know that ridership is down right now, but that's another good avenue as well Thank you. Mr. Bolsch Yeah, so, uh, we want more housing, but we don't want the traffic that comes with it, right? So it's a little bit of a challenge. Uh, so we have a professional traffic engineer on staff And when we evaluate projects for the planning commission, we do look at the traffic impacts But we also are in a unique geographical location with traffic through the Alameda county as an entirety from As we know the hill and the Altamont pass So I look at things such as the cut through traffic associated with highway 84 We need a complete highway 84 with the second lane is already planned from pigeon pass to 680 We need to be looking at the valley link and supporting that and those Getting those traffic cut through off of our streets will help us We're not going to be widening high First street or main street and so then my other comment is locally I was supportive of pocket lots in the downtown to spread parking throughout the linear downtown So the people are not circling looking for the same parking spot. I'm out of time Thank you. Um, mr. Brown Traffic mitigation isn't and alleviation is an ongoing focus in our community We a lot of people talk about that and are concerned about it Our city staff has been and will continue to address our traffic issues as our city grows and jack said it perfectly You know, we want to talk about housing, but you know along with that is going to come more traffic I do support increased infrastructure for alternative modes transportation so that we can As a maybe as a bike and pedestrian friendly Um atmosphere. We've done a really good job with that but again looking at and completing highway 84 to help alleviate that cut through traffic potentially a flyover for highway 580 because that's where Most of our cut through traffic comes from is because of the congestion on Getting on 580 or off of 580 onto 680. Uh, it's it is a nightmare but regional transit Needs that we have and I absolutely am supportive of bring in in Valley link all the way into the uh into the San Joaquin area so that we can have that Thank you. Mr. Kizakaloo Yeah, so traffic I think the reason we have a problem with traffic is 580. We are sandwiched between 580 and 680 And the main reason is because we have a lack of affordable housing We do not have housing if everybody does their fair share building If everybody people will not be commuting to Sacramento or going to Stockton or going to low tide to commute And they don't need to cut through a pleasant around any other places So not just only pleasant and but all cities in the Bay Area There nobody's doing their fair share of building affordable housing people are forced into being in their course for hours and in pleasant in i'm sorry Traffic is nothing compared to the Bay Area where uh, where uh, San Jose Santa Clara We are worried about three minute delay where they're sitting on the traffic for half an hour 45 minutes. So We are not even there within the city. Okay. We have great traffic inside Once in a while there's a traffic jam. There's an accident But we do not have that as a region we are building in affordable housing That's why we have the fury congestion and the road are clogged the way we are All right. Thank you. Uh, so this next question is going to go to miss arkin Uh climate change has become even more apparent with the terrible fires affecting california What changes would you implement to protect the environment? And this could go for multiple things like whether it be water or you know fire or other issues like trash So please Sure. Okay. Thank you. Uh, well protecting the environment is very important to me and a big priority of mine one thing We have a committee of the committee on energy and the environment With the city, I would actually like to see that turned into a commission actually So I think that's important enough to be a commission I'm also personally endorsed by the Sierra club and as I said, I'm very you know I very much want to protect our environment in a lot of ways No building on our ridges that's something that we do have a measure that is protected And I would stand by that and do whatever I can to make sure that's never overturned Promoting solar in town. I think is another good environmental I know like what I got solar in my house and the city helped pay for it So there are city incentives to do that as well I would also expand this into the safe drinking water issue with the contaminants that were found in our water And of course that that well was shut off And the zone 71 has been blended so it's below the regulatory amounts but uh supporting infrastructure and and looking at other ways that we can protect the health and safety of residents Is of utmost importance Thank you. Mr. Belch Yeah, so the city is undertaking a climate action plan at this exact time So if you are interested in participating in this and they're watching at home Your voice can be voiced to that plan through the city's website and I encourage you to do that It is a major issue and I think we've discovered it or become more apparent With the air quality and the heats that we have been facing The city currently has a irrigation assistance program so that you don't overwater your lawn And through zone seven they have in the past had lawn conversions to drought tolerant landscapes Things that I would hope to support and keep growing There was a solar assistance program offered by the city and I would like to see that continue as well in the future But transportation remains the largest polluter in our area And I think that the valley link is one way where we can look at it Where we get these vehicles that are on 580 sitting next to our city off that road And stop dumping their tailpipe emissions into our city In addition, I strongly support the clean water concepts that we've been discussing Thank you. Mr. Brown Climate change is a very complex issue And I believe it's much more of a global issue Than it is a city level issue But there are certainly some things that we can do and focus on and I think the city has And is doing Some a good job there There are some things that we can do like increasing our recycle water program I think that we do a great job, but we can increase that Which would be huge because every every gallon of water that we recycle It's a gallon that we're not pumping out of out of our aquifers Supporting our go green initiative our recycle programs and continue to look at more sustainable project products when we're doing our building We Valerie has a good idea as far as solar, but you know all new projects that are being built They do require solar. So we that part's taking care of on the new construction But we do need to promote solar on existing construction as well I agree that that getting rid of tailpipe emissions is huge I think technology is coming along with I'm out of time Thank you, miss physical that sorry Yeah, so along with the water and the climate change is real and it's because of the cars in this area 51,000 cars just our city just our city imagine other cities So we need solar panels for all the new constructions and the businesses parking lot parking over with the solar roofs like we've seen around the city Uh removing natural gas from the stoves and water heaters. That's gonna um, that's heating the heating system is also another way of reducing And holding PG accountable for carbon-free electricity. That's a huge thing that we haven't We haven't even looked into And so travel do less traveling via airplane. So if from one way from london to JFK, it's like if you go to business class like 3684 kilograms of carbon dioxide and if you go business class is 2671 kilograms of carbon dioxide So do more zoom and ascribe business meetings To reduce carbon and reuse recycle Those are the best way Thank you Oh, okay, mr. Lee Yes, so, um, yeah water for me is a big deal I I think that we need to install these filtration systems now Um versus three years later down the road and we need to demand from zone seven and our our own city Safe clean and chemical free drinking water because PFAS is a big issue Not only that in the future. We're gonna see micro plastics, uh in our waters It's actually in our waters now, but it's going to become an issue in the future So, uh filtration for our waters is uh number one Number two is looking at what sort of investments will get the most bang for a box, right because, um Reducing carbon emissions is is there's it's been done before there's solar panels with battery backups electric trucks electric shuttles planting more trees. So I would look into You know submitting proposals to see what can we do how much we can invest and go with the most carbon emission reduction Program that we could afford Thank you. Uh, so this next question would go to mr. Bolts first and it's a community question that was asked in the chat or in the punate section Main Street businesses are suffering Uh here, I just did it according to whatever Um, you wrote so Main Street businesses are suffering here in every other city To expect to solve all their problems is unrealistic What would you what would you all or any of you do to help our businesses to survive? Yeah, yes So I think this kind of goes back to our earlier conversation about cobit 19, right? So each business is unique each business rental agreement or ownership agreement with their landlords Is unique and so I don't think the city would be able to be an effective Intermediary completely with that But the business support systems that just got increased in the funding available to our businesses I do support that and I think we need to keep that up and be looking at what we can do there The second part of that is we're opening up Main Street for our businesses But it required the city's cooperation to support that closing down the street is something the city is taking on as a responsibility And I think we need to be looking at that both in downtown And where we as a city can assist in in the permitting process or application process to allow other businesses to open up And uh and get back to work as best as they can It would be impossible to have a solution to fit all but we can definitely try to solve or help as many as possible Thank you, mr. Brown I'm sorry. I was reading a question you this is a different question that I thought you had can you repeat that question for me, please So I wrote it in the chat. So Main Street businesses are suffering here and every other sorry my my um Okay, I see that wires is uh covering it. So you're able to see it. Yeah, I did I saw that question So yes, I I'm uh a chamber board chair and I'm also on the pda and we worked very hard to To like I said earlier to get Main Street closed down so that we could open that Open it up to businesses not only restaurants, but also Retailers it's something that I think that we need to look at as a as an annual thing because it's really helping to increase Business and revenues for all a lot of restaurants that I have talked to and polled have said that they're actually having better Uh participation bear better numbers right now than they then they they ever had I would like to look at Maybe even making Main Street a one way in the future so that we can Increase the space coming in on the sidewalks We could probably add about 60 six feet of space on either side And that would help give businesses the ability to expand their footprint and help them grow And and be able to do more more business in the future and be more safe about it because of the air Being outside and having air movement is going to help all you're muted Miss Kizigalin Yes, so uh, we have to understand that uh, the barriers that existed that prevent some business from getting paycheck Protection program PPP from the last stimulus package. I guess we have we have to understand that first I have to offer more utility rate discounts. We can offer Tax deduction we could offer tax credits with incentives to hire individual from targeted group youth SSI CPN snap recipients And we can provide grants and loans by small business Administration to help some of these groups We could also offer incentives, but some business will decide to leave because what we find out the surveys have shown That's 57 of small business owners have increased their concern about their own mental health So they're worn out small businesses feel uneasy anxious confused and they're sensing a Sense of loss. They're looking for external factors to help them. For example, new government assistance programs easing the government restrictions or vaccines. So those are real issues and It's complicated. You can't be asking one minute, but some things to look at Mr. Lee Yeah, I wanted to echo what Zarina said that's very true Small businesses are struggling and they need to make ends meet and that's why I propose to build this sort of Task force made out of volunteers to help small businesses navigate the cobit recovery and the cobit response What what type of permitting what type of Zero inches loans or grants they could apply for I think what the city can do aside from the task force is really to ensure that ensure the safety of the community And make sure that we have enough policies that will enforce wearing masks outdoors social distancing you know Everything else related to that So that when you ensure safety and give the consumers confidence, they will go to the main street and go to You know help out the businesses and and go to the restaurants But I think we could do better in that area and just you know promoting more consumer confidence Is is something the city can do Thank you. Ms. Arkin Yes, thank you. Okay. Yeah, this is kind of similar to our earlier question. So with uh COVID recovery type of thing. So some of it's a little bit of a repeat with helping the struggling businesses with Um with the no interest loans anything we can do to assist them in getting through the crisis We're currently having and we want them to stay open. We we want to protect our downtown So anything we can do looking at more creative solutions and one of them has been the opening up of downtown To the outside so that restaurants can have more patronage Things like that. I you know, I talked to one business that I I frequent down on on main street and They said their business is actually down more than when it opened up and I don't know why I I know the parking is an issue. So that probably has to be addressed But I would say, you know, one of the things I would do is let's ask the businesses What what could the city do to assist? What other solutions could we do? To help them. So I think that would be a key thing. Um, you know asking the stakeholders involved Mr. Bolch Think this one started with me by the way Oh, okay. I'm sorry. I thought it was mr. Brown who had started with that one. That's okay. He did a good answer to Um All right, then I get oh, yes, you are correct. Yes. So then I'll mr. Brown if you could answer this one um So it's a combination between a community question and our question So racist and hate incidents has happened on the rise Especially throughout the pandemic and getting closer to the election What efforts have you made to combat racism and Islamophobia? And what will you do as a council member to tackle the issue? And then the community question is the demography of Um tri-valley is changing um What kind of multi-racial education and tolerance will you promote so that we can get along and grow amiable? Well, I believe that 2020 has been a year of listening and learning We've done a really good job of doing that when it comes to the policing issues And we need to certainly have a deep and personal reflection for everyone as a society and a community We are taking we need to take a hard look at these areas in which we need to improve and we need to work Towards full inclusivity As a civic leader in pleasant and I will always listen learn and work for equality for everyone There certainly is a lot of work to be done. I'm excited for the future I want to be part of that and and the positive changes that are possible As far as things that we that I have done or that I feel like we can done I certainly think that I I do understand that our that our demographic is changing as an agent I'm seeing a lot of new Faces come in and I can see a lot of other races A lot of multi races coming in and the diversity is changing as far as Education that's a good question. I hadn't thought of that But I think that we need to work with the schools and make sure Sorry, I'm out of time Thank you. Ms. Kasekla So yeah, so in pleasant and unfortunately for better or worse, we think that we are melting pot And I was talking to jack and partners market. I said that we are very disaggregated. Unfortunately We need to embrace each other and through understanding and program We have to work with each other in my third leg of campaign is diversity inclusion community Center that will address all of these issues um, so It's just unfortunate that you know, uh, in the middle of school here We have the asian parents have their own whatsapp group the indians have their whatsapp group and the white groups have their own They hang out together An iranian american friend actually was kicked out of the indian whatsapp group because she was not iranian And she had the same kid a kid going on the same middle school same program And not just included that's just not right Uh, so, you know, I've talked to principles teachers. We have racism in the schools. We have racism at the In the teacher. So this is an issue that is We have to combat and you have to we have to work through it And it's through education and program and we have to bring up the difficult issues Mr. Lee Yeah, one of the main reasons why i'm running is that um, you know, I I did see the national level. There was a lot of racism and a lot of racism toward asian Um, and I decided, you know, the only way you can stop that is get a seat on the table and that's why i'm running for city council You know, if i'm there at least I can speak to the asian community and give a different point of view um as far as the education When I was working at Goodwill in san francisco, we were in a lot of leadership and Training programs and there was two that might help pleasantin and its staff is unconscious bias training and diversity and inclusion training Um, that definitely helped me even me being an asian american I had some unconscious bias that I identified. So I think that everyone Uh, city workers should go through that police officers definitely needs to go through that type of training quarterly at a minimum Is arkin Yes, thank you. Well, first of all, I think as a community. We can't tolerate any racism of any kind Um, and so I think, you know, we need to hold people accountable people that do Commit any sort of acts or any sort of anything in regards to racism um me as As a school board member We have done a lot in the school district to educate our staff and our students I mean, we have a lot. We have anti-bullying curriculum. We have all kinds of multicultural types of Celebrations, but also other other things in classrooms. We have Um seed it's called it's seeking educational equity and diversity. I think I have that right That is for our staff and for our students. We have we pass resolutions all the time at the school board Um, I think, you know, we need to increase public awareness at council meetings I think that's what I would do as a city council member More education in the city and the school district is always good the training for police with diversity training and implicit bias training I think is very important and lastly I would say encourage diverse groups to get involved and we do more outreach in order to get them involved Thank you. Mr. Belch Yeah, you know, uh, this whole thing saddens me terribly and and um The thing I told a different group on a different form that I did is be the change you want to be and the one thing that I made sure I did was talk to my 12 year old son about what Um, what all of this means and how it's not a value that I hold in in our family um All of these things that all these candidates have said we have to try all of them We have to do something more than just what any one of us can find because it is so critical diversity Is our strength in this city and we're having that challenge of getting people involved It's been part of my message from the very first beginning I have sat at meetings where we have pleaded for people to be a part of this community And I do encourage that so all of these things are all good ideas But uh, I hope we can show kindness as a city Thank you. So this will be the last question before your final comment and so It is um after the officer involved shootings And killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Stephen Taylor among others Pleasants and police has received a d score on the campaign zero scorecard for police violence There have been greater calls to reimagine defund or even eliminate police Do you believe that changes need to be made with local police departments in training? And if so, what suggested training changes, uh, would you make and this would go to, um, miss kiziglu So the police, yes We uh, the community got together in the city council a few times and they asked for to They don't want the students. They don't want the day program We are one of the only problems schools or community who still has there that all archaic program and we have police officers on campus so They didn't want those two things and unfortunately the city council said they're gonna look at more into it instead of just Easy it would have been just easy just make a motion get rid of the programs and use the money for mental health programs And social services. That's such an easy thing to do community students spoke 50 to 100 of them at the spoke multiple sessions We have to make bold improvements in our communities just putting it hashing it away and putting it aside and waiting for the next community to Talk over and over and over. It's not gonna solve the problem We have a systemic racism in this society in this community and the whole entire country We have to get rid of it and the only way we can do it if we Do some kind of reform within the police departments and teaching Thank you. Um, mr. Lee Uh, yes, I think the Local police is doing a great job ensuring our safety and I do not support the funding the police Um, but I do think that we need to add more training Um, there is unconscious bias and there is police brutality and we just need to call it out when it happens You know, don't hide it So definitely more training. Um, mental health training. Um, they're already on the path towards bringing in mental health kind of Task force or or or The word Anyway, mental health help is uh what they're bringing in but I think that The police staff also needs these kind of mental health Health checks once in a while, right because they're under a lot of stress And some police might even have PTSD and we need to call that out and identify it and help the police Do that and if they are Kind of stressed out get them off put them on vacations and and you know, just move forward with that Thank you. Um, mr. Arkin Yes, thank you I do think there needs to be some changes in some reform in in our and the police in pleasant 10 I do think there needs to be and I kind of look at it as three a three prong approach One is the oversight. So the city council recently voted to have more The city council having more oversight which they have should have been doing all along and they haven't So that is one step in the right direction I was also in favor of and I spoke up about having the independent police auditor. They did not vote to do that I wish they would have because I that would add one layer Extra layer of oversight without being too intrusive And like others have said we all value a safe community, of course But I think adding health and mental health professionals to help people In crisis is something that is absolutely needed and I would advocate for I also think the evaluation of police policies They need to be done on a regular basis just like policies anywhere and that hasn't been done in many many years So that has started and I will advocate for more of that And just to point out the SRO's and dare program We need to look at the data first and there will be the city and school district working together To look at that issue. Thank you. Mr. Bolch Yeah, so The city has gone through obviously a very healthy conversation And I hope it is only the beginning of our conversations related to policing in our community There were a couple of listening sessions as we know then there was a Evaluation of the policies and procedures and then there was the 21st century policing But all of that takes where we don't let it We don't let it all by the wayside Healthy policing for our community will require us to continue to look at these things as we look at all our issues And I support that I do not Support defunding the police in any way as 90 of their budget goes to officers or personnel costs Any defunding would likely lead to an increase in response time and I do not support that We look at the smashing grabs or the deaths we have during the holidays of our packages on our porches And I don't see how that's what our community would like I do support the idea of mental health the implicit bias training all of these things are good ideas and mr. Brown Given the state and national statistics Indicating increased incidents of mental health related public safety calls I am a strong advocate for supplementing And I mean supplementing not defunding or reallocating our top tier police department with access to mental health professionals And that will complement That our officers and their efforts to keep our community safe I believe that we still need to have a fully Outfitted officer to to assist in those calls as a lot of the mental health calls go In a bad direction. I have a personal Experience my grandmother was stabbed six times by a mental health patient That was that the police were called out on so having an armed officer is crucial With that I do support our pleasant and police department and want to ensure they always have an That they have an effective in serving the public continually to seek out and adopt best practices and I'm Thank you. All right, so the final question of the evening and that goes to mr. Lee Um without discovering discussing your competitors, please tell us why we should vote for you All right. Great. I want to thank you for having me here. Um, so I run a clean money campaign that's fully funded by my family my friends supporters and myself I'm a passionate citizen that just felt that it was the right time for me to run Because I want to see that the table and I want to make some changes Um, you know people of color need to speak out. Um, and you can't be Quiet and expect changes. You need to Take a stand Make a change and get your seat at the table um I have experience as a director of sustainability and director of operations. I know how to manage budgets I was on a nonprofit board. I'm also a current advisory committee member for a national stewardship action council So I will fight for the environment. I will fight for pleasant in and I will fight for the community and um, if you vote me and elect me, I will definitely Be your voice on the city council. Thank you Thank you miss arkin Okay, thank you Well, I have a I have been involved in city issues and civic engagement for over two decades My 12 years experience on the school board, which I'm currently in my eight years of experience on the library commission Numerous volunteer organizations in town. I've been involved in and numerous volunteering in schools and whatnot I have a proven track record of leadership. I was elected three times to the school board I've been president of the school board three times and vice president three times I'm the only one that has been elected and I'm the only one that's been accountable to the public with taxpayer funds I've had to make very tough budget decisions including budget reductions personnel decisions I've had from hiring the superintendent approving every personnel Decision in the district. Um, I've had experience negotiating with two different unions Um, I've worked collaboratively collaboratively as a team to get things done I've been responsive and accessible to the public and I listen to all sides of an issue I have a wide variety of stakeholders. I've been teachers parents community members that I've I've been Okay, I guess I'm out of time and I have a background in science and business. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Bolch Yeah, so, uh, hopefully by now you have a understanding of who I am and maybe what I stand for a little bit more I'm also a licensed certified public accountant and a chartered global management accountant I've been serving pleasant in for 11 years as both a parks and recreation commissioner for shortly or less than five And a planning commissioner currently for just over six years for 11 years of service I have been Listening to residents of pleasant in that whole time and I've been putting pleasant in first during that time So why you should vote for me is that we have unique challenges this election both with arena housing and with our city budget and trying to assist our residents and businesses And that is going to take strong financial acumen to be able to accomplish that and I believe that is one of my largest strengths Thank you Thank you. Mr. Brown Well, our future our future requires leaders with a deep sense of integrity With leaders with who will embrace a collaborative spirit And who will approach each situation with an unbiased perspective I believe in my profession. I am a I'm a trained professional to listen I'm a trained professional that looks for needs of their clients And then and then negotiates through those leads those needs I'm eager to bring my unique background my military experience my business experience And my fiduciary leadership coupled with community volunteerism The all the volunteerism and the roles that I have played Serving on several boards with valley care With the chamber of commerce And and many other organizations rotary. I'm a past president Um, and I will bring that experience and that leadership to the city council I'm eager to make decisions based on the greatest good of pleasant and its community and the citizens And ensure our process are transparent and equitable for all Thank you. And last but not least, Ms. Kizigaloo Yes, so I'm a housing commissioner And I have a master's in public administration that emphasis on policy analysts I believe that it's time to make some changes real changes and this pressing time and these difficult issues that we are encountering Small things will not work And it has not worked changes what we look forward than what we need in this community Half of us we recover from this economic down time The hinge on how inclusive and equitable act with the bleak We work together through these issues this pandemic wildfires and protests for racial justice are highlighted Lighting the urgent needs for our region to ensure good health and prosperity for all Bay Area No matter what comes our way our region's current patterns of racial and economic Segregators have made it clear and easy to see that COVID and public losses Police brutality are devastating black and Latinx communities minorities. We need to come together in this moment And we route the bay area towards a future where we all are safe healthy and taking care of each other Go It's what I'm saying That's what I was gonna say. Thank you Thank you so much. Thank you so much to all of the candidates who joined us tonight for the pleasant and candidate forum If you missed any part of it and want to rewatch it you can find it on our facebook And you can also find Some other Events and webinars that we've hosted about like know your rights at the ballot polls Know your rights for other issues as well And then also issues about prop 15 prop 16 prop 17. Um, so we have webinars about that You can check out also our voter guides both the statewide and the Um And the local ones as well on our website. We'd like to thank you and thank our co-sponsors Who is mcc east bay? San Ramon valley islamic center the northern california islamic center in muslim american society Um, and uh, please reach out to us if you have any questions. Um, have a wonderful evening. Thank you again And thank you to minna for a big time keeper. Have to thank her All right. Have a wonderful evening now All right. Thanks for the opportunity. Thank you. Good night. Good night. You