Health Advisory: Wildfires
As you are aware, the many wildfires in California and the Bay Area are having a significant affect on the air quality in the Tri-Valley. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has issued a health advisory warning that the air quality in the East Bay is at an unhealthy level today and throughout the weekend. (
http://www.sparetheair.org).
Weekend Health Advisory: WildfiresSmoke from wildfires in northern and central California is currently affecting air quality in the Bay Area. Air quality throughout much of the nine-county Bay Area region-comprising Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, southwestern Solano and southern Sonoma Counties-is forecast to reach unhealthy levels on Friday, June 27, Saturday, June 28, and Sunday, June 29. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is advising residents in areas affected by the smoke to be cautious and avoid unnecessary outdoor activities. For more information about local wildfires, see the CAL FIRE website, and the USDA Forest Service. For general smoke and fire information, see our wildfire safety tips and CAPCOA's Smoke Impact information and resources.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Yours in Service,
Jennifer Hosterman
LINKS:
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
CAL FIREUSDA Forest ServiceWildfire Safety TipsCAPCOA
Beat the Heat at a Pleasanton Cooling Center
Looking for a way to beat the heat? The City of Pleasanton has designated public Cooling Centers to allow residents heat relief when it is too hot inside their homes.
When temperatures reach over 100 degrees over two consecutive days, or when unexpected high temperatures occur, the City will activate the Cooling Centers.
Cooling Centers will be in operation on Friday, May 16. Residents are welcome to visit any Cooling Center location.
Cooling Center Locations:
-Pleasanton Senior Center, 5353 Sunol Blvd., open until 10pm, water and activities provided
-Aquatic Center, 4455 Black Avenue, open 1pm to 9pm, recreation swimming will be offered for a reduced rate of $1 per person
-Tennis and Community Park, 5801 Valley Avenue, open until 10pm, water and activities provided
Pleasanton Paratransit Services will be providing free transportation to Pleasanton's Cooling Centers for residents 60 years and older or ADA qualified. Call (925) 931-5376 to arrange a ride and advise the dispatcher that you would like a ride to a Cooling Center.
For more information, call Parks and Community Services Department (925) 931-5340. Please let me know if you have any questions.
June Ballot: Propositions 98 and 99
On June 3, vote No on Prop. 98, Yes on Prop. 99
For more information, please click on the following:
http://www.no98yes99.com/go/resources/questions-%26-answers-about-propositions-98-and-99/Thank you!
Sister City 25 Year Anniversary - Pleasanton y Tulancingo, Mexico
Last week, my husband, Michael, and I traveled to Tulancingo, Mexico, Pleasanton's sister city, to celebrate 25 years of cultural exchange and friendship. Our Mexican friends went way overboard in welcoming us, treating the entire delegation to a reception never before seen!
As a bonus, we were able to meet our foreign exchange student's Mother, Senora Marta Del Blanco, who hosted our daughter, Sarah, some ten years ago, and who's daughter, Nadyr, we hosted that same summer. It was a very special time!
In addition, the two delegations distributed 260 wheelchairs to people in dire need. For the first time, I realized that the wheelchair program is not necessarily for the recipients, but really serves the caregivers. I couldn't have imagined what it is like to receive elderly gentlemen, thanking us, with tears streaming down their faces, pushing their elderly sons in new wheelchairs! It was amazing to me to realize that these elderly people have had to literally carry their adult offspring everywhere. The simple and rather inexpensive gift of a wheelchair is a life-changing event.
Thereafter, we visited the local orphanage, which is currently home to 24 little girls, ages 5 to 12. Most of these kids have been seriously abused, or flat out given up by their parents. They are very well cared for by the nuns, and attend the public school next door. They are clean, and happy. But, their plight is not over. The delegation struggles to find a way to bridge the gap - allow these girls the opportunity to continue through high school from a safe, loving environment, and hopefully, go on to college. Hopefully, we'll find a way to support these kids.
As you can see from my note, Michael and I enjoyed a very rich, life-changing experience, and we made a lot of wonderful new friends! If you have a high school aged child, and you would like your child exposed to a similar wonderful experience as an exchange student, please get in touch with the City of Pleasanton, ask for the phone number for Jorge Victoria or Pat Murray, and get involved! You will be forever grateful that you did!
Annual Workshop Between City Council and School District
Tonight we held our annual workshop between the Pleasanton City Council and the Pleasanton Unified School District. We talked about many issues, beginning with a report from students who attended Youth In Government Day - an opportunity for high school students to "shadow" councilmembers, school board members, and staff, including our City Manager and our Superintendent. We then heard reports and discussed the Youth Master Plan and the Tri-Valley Adolescent Health Initiative. I have to say, as I did during tonight's workshop, that while we have discussed youth mental health wellness issues for years, I feel tonight that we have a team of people in place who are really going to bring form and substance to this issue, and implement policies, and programs, that will really and truly address some of these issues for the boys and girls in our community.
The plans are to:
-Develop site-based counseling, support groups and education programs for youth, families, school staff and the community to identify mental health warning signs and provide support and referral
-Establish a youth suicide prevention and early intervention strategy
-Provide family support groups and one-to-one parent mentoring to enhance child-adult communications and relationships by partnering with community service providers
-Provide 40 developmental assets training at schools and community to help parents promote positive youth development
We have kids that are super high achievers, and that's great - but they also need to be kids! It's okay to be tops in one's athletic field, and take a ton of AP courses, but its also okay, as one Amador Valley High School Senior pointed out, to take them one at a time - not all at once! No wonder kids are stressed.
And then we have a huge number of kids that are just getting by - or maybe not. Kids who want to go to college, but are not Yale-bound. These young men and women need our support, too.
Finally, the message was clear that students, boy and girls, need their parents to set "boundaries" - they need limits. We all do. Boundaries and limits make us feel safe, because we know what the expectations are, they're realistic, and we can meet them.
I am so proud of this group of people, and again, I really think they are going to develop the strategies needed to address the needs of our Pleasanton youth.
Iron Horse Trail
Today we celebrated the completion of yet another section of the Iron Horse Trail, in Pleasanton. Of course, we have a long ways to go in meeting and completing desired additional bike and pedestrian (and equestrian) trails that will eventually connect us throughout our town, neighboring towns, the ridge, and the southeast hills. This 1.6 million dollar project necessarily included the joint partnership of the City of Pleasanton, East Bay Regional Parks & Recreation District, the County of Alameda, and ACTIA (Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority) which is the Authority that spends the tax monies we taxpayers agreed to some years ago (it's our 1/2 cent added sales tax for transportation needs). Eventually, the Iron Horse Trail will comprise 40 miles from Suisun Bay to the City of Livermore! This is just another way that we recognize the importance of allowing people the opportunity to leave their cars at home - which serves many issues from our health to reducing our dependence on foreign oil. I couldn't be more proud of our good work here, with our partners, in our City of Pleasanton!
Happy Holidays
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
As we close out the year, I find myself reflecting on the highlights of 2007 in our town of Pleasanton. I continue to be honored to serve allof you! We've worked through some rather contentious issues, and we have more yet to go! Let's take a moment though to reflect on the manythings we have accomplished in the past 12 months.
This year we opened our first public restrooms downtown, we startedwork on the Alviso Adobe interpretive park, we finished renovations on what must be the most gorgeous Veteran's Hall in America, we finished the restoration of Kottinger Creek, we’re moving forward on financing our new Firehouse Theater on Railroad Avenue, we are renovating Pioneer Cemetery, and in early 2008 we will break ground on three new ballparkson the Bernal Property! All exciting stuff, but there's more.
I’m extremely pleased that Supervisor Haggerty and I have been ableto work together for the betterment of Pleasanton. After much discussion and compromise, Supervisor Haggerty and I, through our respective staffs, agreed to Pleasanton's acquisition of the downtown railroad right-of-way, which will eventually add a tremendous number of parking spaces for our shoppers and our shop owners!
In addition, the Supervisor and I supported, and City and County staff negotiated, a memorandum of understanding on the Staples Ranch property (that 140 or so acres sandwiched in between Pleasanton and Livermore on I-580). This MOU is the document that will lead to Pleasanton's abilityto develop that property, moving the burgeoning Pleasanton Auto Mall which will allow us to continue to enjoy a steady stream of revenuefrom one of our top 25 producers of sales tax in our town, build a much needed 17 acre community park, as well as other land uses.
I just got a call from Congressman Jerry McNerney who was very excited to report that it looks like the President will sign the AppropriationsBill which includes $800,000.00 for the Radio Interoperability Joint Powers Authority - a Board on which I sit - toward funding radios and ashared frequency for all first responders throughout Alameda County andContra Costa County. This is a huge homeland security issue and it affects all of us. The bill also includes $1.8 million for a much needed San Ramon Valley water project, and $3 million for the BART bus rapid transit project!
All of these exciting projects will be the stuff of much discussion in 2008. But for now, I'm going to take a much-needed break to enjoy my family and friends over the holiday season. All three of our daughters will be home for Christmas, and Michael and I are very excited! I wish for you and your family a wonderful, safe holiday! See you in 2008.
I remain yours in service,
Jennifer
