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Almost to the point where I can come up for air after a grueling month or so at work and at home – but any relaxing breath will be fleeting.
Last week we held our 11th and final candidate forum of the local election campaign season, visiting historic Sunol Glen School for our first-ever debate for the small, TK-8 district just south of Pleasanton. A fitting end to our series, with all four candidates participating in front of several dozen residents and supporters in the cafeteria/boardroom.
Like in Sunol, many of the communities in the greater Tri-Valley would not have any election forums without us, losing out on the chance to hear directly from candidates in an objective and professional question-and-answer format.
We step up to offer this service for local voters every two years, but it is a haul for our bare-boned staff and dedicated partners to pull together and pull off. Trust me, I sat as the lead moderator (and primary organizer) for all 11 events – 15 different programs in all, since we separated mayoral and council candidates where applicable.
The results in 2026 speak for themselves, with forums for all five school districts, all five cities and the lone local park district in the Tri-Valley offered live for audiences and videos posted online for viewing after the fact.
Our series started Sept. 14 with the three candidates for Danville Town Council debating in the Family Justice Center community room on Diablo Road. We then had Dublin school board and San Ramon Valley school board Sept. 16 and 17, respectively.
We were thrilled to feature Livermore Area Recreation and Park District for the first time on Sept. 21, hosting all seven candidates competing for three seats on the Board of Directors in front of an audience of nearly 50 people. Pleasanton Unified School District Trustee Area 5 was two nights later; this was one of only two events where we had a candidate skip our forum.
Livermore school board followed Sept. 28, another crowded dais with seven candidates, and then Pleasanton mayor and council candidates in two separate programs Sept 29.
Our lone hiccup occurred one night later, when technical difficulties forced us to postpone our sole virtual forum; we were so grateful to Narayan Tadimeti and Ben Barrientos for agreeing to quickly reschedule the Livermore City Council District 2 forum for Oct. 5.
We grilled the candidates for San Ramon mayor and council in The Roundhouse at Bishop Ranch on Oct. 7. Closing out our series last week, we did Dublin mayor and council (three separate programs, with two absent candidates) on Oct. 12 and the aforementioned Sunol school board forum on Oct. 14.
You can read our reporters’ coverage of the forums and watch all of the videos on our websites now. We hope they help you make more informed decisions when you fill out your ballots by Election Day, Nov. 3.
Eleven events in 31 days, an amazing accomplishment for our small team.
Shoutouts to our reporters Christian Trujano, Jude Strzemp and Jeanita Lyman for their coverage, our freelance photographer Chuck Deckert for his pictures, our publisher Gina Channell Wilcox and new editor Emily Lavin for co-moderating (Jude and Jeanita, too), and our marketing and design teams for their promotional efforts, Alexandria Perry, Heidi Hartley and Kristin Brown in particular.
We also benefited from critical support from partners like the chambers of commerce in Pleasanton, San Ramon, Danville Area, Livermore Valley and Dublin and the five school districts with venues and videography, plus groups like Livermore Indivisible, Pleasanton Council of PTAs and AAUW for publicity, timekeeping and logistics in the room.
And for myself, I could not have done the series without major help at home – because every one of those events was during the evening after a full workday. My mom and mother-in-law stepped in for daycare pickups, dinners and bedtimes when my wife needed relief. Thanks to her and our 4-year-old son for their patience and support during the forum season.
What a blur it was.
Beyond the actual work involved in putting on the events, maybe four to six hours worth each for me, my regular professional load didn’t diminish. In fact, it was amplified for several weeks there when I was pulling double duty before Emily started on the job Sept. 28 and through her onboarding.
Every Pleasanton Weekly newspaper got out on time. Every Express and Preps Playbook newsletter published (mostly by deadline). Projects major and minor advanced internally. Scores of local stories were written and edited, including several reported by me, such as the Dublin homicide that made headlines nationwide the weekend of Sept. 26-27.
I also presented to the Rotary Clubs of San Ramon Valley and Dublin, participated in a donor cultivation event and sat in on our quarterly foundation board meeting.
A whirlwind period at home too: children’s birthday parties, cracked windshield and ensuing repair, tooth filling, “Bluey” live show, HVAC tuneup, car maintenance, seasonal vaccinations, Rush concert, soccer practices, a postponed vacation and (not to bury the lead), a pregnancy in the third trimester.
A baby girl is due around Thanksgiving. While all tests and images continue to look great, it has not been smooth sailing of late. My wife has had four hospital stays with a recurring complication since Aug. 31, mostly for monitoring but stressful and scary all the same.
A long list of tasks for both home and work before my daughter arrives: a two-day leads team offsite on the Peninsula, two chamber presentations, Holiday Fund prep, an exit interview and maybe prewriting some What A Week columns; a car wash, taking my dress shirts to the dry cleaners (lord knows I can’t iron), follow-up with the dentist as the fresh filling isn’t feeling quite right, state-mandated smog check, trick-or-treating, watching the WNBA Finals (go Valkyries!) and converting my home office to another child’s bedroom.
Despite all that, I ground myself by reinforcing that I’m probably no busier than any of my colleagues, the candidates at our forums, the officials and sources we cover on a daily basis and our loyal readers.
It’s a hectic world; one of the most important things we can do is exercise patience while also respecting each other’s time. I’d say sleep too, but I know better than to count on that in the newborn era.
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the associate publisher and editorial director for the Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. His “What A Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly, Livermore Vine and DanvilleSanRamon.com.
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