Livermore council candidates vie for the vote at Vine forum

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Livermore City Council District 3 and 4 candidates competed for voter support on hot topics like Eden Housing, homelessness and the city’s budget at an election forum on Monday evening.

Participating were District 3 hopefuls Steven Dunbar, David Farley and Jeff Kaskey who aim to represent the southeastern portion of the city. In the absence of incumbent Brittni Kiick, who is not running for reelection, the contest is wide open to any of the three competitors.

And for District 4, Tom Soules and Kristie Wang are competing for the approval of voters in southwestern Livermore. Incumbent Councilmember Bob Carling is terming out this year and not in the race.

While not at the forum, Mayor John Marchand is on the Nov. 5 ballot unopposed.

Livermore Vine publisher Gina Channell Wilcox and editorial director Jeremy Walsh moderated the event at the Robert Livermore Community Center on Sept. 30 in front of nearly 50 residents in the room and more watching the livestream online.

District 3 contestant Dunbar kicked off the opening statement period by stating his five main goals: open and inclusive governance, transparency, vibrant neighborhoods, safe communities and fiscal responsibility.

He brings to the table four years of experience on the Livermore Planning Commission and a few years on the Livermore Community Asset Management Program Outreach Committee. “Those two experiences combine together to give me the skills to accomplish all of those goals,” Dunbar said.

Another candidate in District 3 is Farley, a physicist, business owner, former military officer and current Livermore Airport Commission member. 

Farley prioritizes energy development, housing development within urban growth boundaries, public safety and fiscal responsibility. “I believe I am by far the most qualified candidate for this position,” he said. “My voters will be the only people I will be holding to. I will provide my full, unbiased deep experience for the city of Livermore.”

Wrapping up opening statements for District 3 was Kaskey, who is a curator and former president of the Livermore Heritage Guild. He has also served on Livermore’s Historic Preservation Commission for eight years and on Livermore’s Downtown Steering Committee.

Kaskey voiced support of the urban growth boundary, government transparency and level discussions in council. “We can resolve our challenges if we keep our discussions civil and less polarized than we have seen recently and by respecting the voices of our community,” he said.

Next up for opening statements were candidates for District 4.

Soules, a volunteer at Hagemann Ranch and tutor to English language learners, voiced support for relocating Eden Housing, constructing a park in its place and prioritizing transparent governance.

“I don’t have allegiance to anyone; I’m not a politician, but I really want the best for the city,” Soules said. “I want a beautiful city, I want a safe city and that’s why I’m here.”

Livermore school board member Wang said she’s running for City Council this fall because the city is facing a time of opportunity and challenge as it works to maintain its aging infrastructure, meet state mandates on housing and manage things like traffic, transportation and climate resilience. 

“I have proven myself to be a very thoughtful, hardworking elected leader who works with people in the community to solve problems for our schools,” she said. “And I’ll be ready on day one to work for a Livermore where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.”

Eden Housing

The question-and-answer portion of the event began with the topic of Eden Housing, an affordable housing project slated for nearby downtown Livermore. More specifically, candidates were asked about the progress on the long-debated project as well as their individuals positions.

Farley disagreed with the downtown location of Eden Housing because it breaks what he termed the “fairness barrier”.

“It’s not fair that very-low-income people get the best property in the city, whereas people from the labs are leaving because they can’t afford (housing),” Farley said. “I’d love to live downtown … I can’t afford it.”

In contrast, Kaskey said the city can move forward with Eden Housing in downtown if the council shifts to work cooperatively. “It would be a lot easier to resolve this if council members would stop making personal attacks on residents who present opposing views,” he added.

Soules was another voice on the side of moving Eden Housing away from its current downtown location. It could be shifted north of Railroad Avenue or in the Nob Hill area, in his estimation. And while in favor of more affordable housing, he expressed a preference for  “affordable home ownership” over affordable rentals. 

On the other side of District 4, Wang was in favor of keeping Eden Housing at its current downtown location; the land was bought with affordable housing funds, so there has to be affordable housing there anyways, she explained.

The project has also been upheld by the courts, Wang said, adding that overall she supports moving forward as a community.

Dunbar, who approved the project while on the Planning Commission, agreed with Wang to move ahead with the project. 

“I think the site will be a positive site for the people that live there; but beyond that, I think that we are missing opportunities and I’ve seen it on the Planning Commission,” Dunbar said. “I do want to reset the conversation and just continue to move this community forward.”

Social services and housing

Later in the forum, candidates were asked what the council should do to address the need for social services and to help those in need of housing in the community.

Farley began by questioning why Livermore has four homeless support facilities while Pleasanton and Dublin have none. He said he’d work with the cities to address that inequality of service locations.

Farley added that he’s not convinced these facilities are as helpful as other ways money could be spent.

On the topic of encampments, Farley said, “Once these get established, it’s really hard to remove an encampment so one priority as councilman would be to not let that fester… Once we start seeing more of it – more RVs, more signs of encampments, tents by the freeway – we have to attack it right away before it becomes a permanent fixture.”

But Kaskey said Livermore has a responsibility to help people who are homeless and he also favors working with surrounding cities to provide services.

Specifically to address homelessness, Kaskey supports restarting “safe parking”, or designated area where people can legally park and stay overnight. It promotes stability, he said, which can afford people the chance to get out of homelessness.

Soules said there’s no easy answer to homelessness, but he supports private and public assistance. 

He also made reference Chinese cities, where “they just send (homeless) back to their village that they came from and it disappears, the homelessness disappears,” he said. But Soules did not indicate whether he supports this action in Livermore.

Wang conceded that homeless shelters in the Tri-Valley are solely in Livermore, but said that Livermore doesn’t bear the cost of social services alone because those are provided by all the Tri-Valley cities.

She also voiced support for the Vineyard Resource Center, which she sees helping people in addition to those who live in the facility. She said she wants to work to prevent homelessness in the first place.

Dunbar agreed that prevention is a necessary part of the solution.

To address homelessness, Dunbar suggested working with local partners and those at the regional, county, state and federal levels.

Of high importance on that list is the county-level partnership, where a lot of service funding comes from, he said.

“So have to make sure we’re in touch with the county very frequently to make sure we’re getting the resources, because sometimes it gets assumed that we don’t have needs out here in the Tri-Valley, but we definitely do because we see it everyday,” Dunbar said.

City budget

A reader-submitted question, centered on the city’s budget, further differentiated candidates. How would they budget for new projects without increasing taxes or cutting essential services since city’s budget is already allocated mostly to critical services?

Soules began the discussion by expressing his support for a safe town. But dramatic changes are not necessary, he said.

And on the point of taxes, he doesn’t support raising them since they’re already too high in California. 

Wang wants to keep the city on its track of careful spending.

“You have to be very disciplined and very careful and prioritize, and I think our city has done a good job of it,” Wang said. “I think we just have to continue what our councils have done.”

Dunbar said the council needs to prioritize and decide on asset management projects sooner rather than later. He also suggested seeking grants for additional funding, combining projects to improve efficiency, and using the extra budget to pay off asset management debt.

Farley said that Livermore is in a good place financially. He prioritizes support for public safety, clean energy development and housing. He added that he has the experience necessary to guide policy on clean energy.

Kaskey reiterated the stance that major changes are not necessary. But he did suggest increasing police presence in neighborhoods and improving traffic lights. He also offered using machine intelligence to figure out better ways to allocate resources.

During closing statements, Wang referred to her leader on the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District Board of Education as a sign of her aptitude for City Council.

Soules repeated his desire to maintain the character of the city and his support for a “beautiful downtown”.

Kaskey complimented the city’s public safety and downtown. He also said the city has continued issues with PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination in water and other environmental areas that need to be addressed. And he vouched to listen to the community’s concerns to find common ground as a council member.

Farley recapped his experience with energy projects, national labs, machine learning, military service and the airport, all of which he brings to the table for the city of Livermore.

And Dunbar committed himself to affordable housing. He also shared the name of one of his endorsers: State Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, whose District 16 includes the Tri-Valley. Dunbar said she complimented him on being the “nicest disagreement commenter” she’s met from Facebook – and that will be his approach on council.

Additional topics discussed at the forum included the future of Livermore’s airport, economic development, Dublin’s Measure II and the East of Greenville project. To see a recording of the event, visit Livermore Vine’s YouTube page. 

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