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In the race for Livermore City Council District 2, incumbent Ben Barrientos and challenger Narayan Tadimeti outlined differing approaches to issues like housing affordability and public safety at a candidate forum hosted by Livermore Vine.
The winner of the District 2 seat will represent northeast Livermore on the four-person dais through 2030. It is the only contested race for Livermore City Council this election season.
Barrientos said during the Oct. 5 forum that he supports energy and water conservation, the urban growth boundary — although Livermore has two — and the arts, adding that he envisions Livermore as a “mecca for the arts and sciences”.
As a councilmember, he serves as a delegate for Ava Community Energy and StopWaste and on the Altamont Landfill Community Monitor Committee.
If he is reelected, he said, he will advocate for a large park in downtown Livermore to replace the Downtown Livermore Apartments by Eden Housing. Barrientos said the planned housing can be relocated, though construction on the housing development is expected to begin in early 2027.
Barrientos also said he aims to place flashing lights at the North Vasco Road intersections with Garaventa Ranch Road and Scenic Avenue for students’ safety, install safe bike paths on the Interstate 580 overpasses and request consistent hours of operations at the Springtown Library.
Outside of his role as councilmember, Barrientos is president of the Livermore Lions Club and head wrestling coach at Oakland High School. He previously taught kindergarten through middle school and after-school sports.
Tadimeti said he’s lived in Livermore with his family for more than seven years. During his professional career, Tadimeti has worked for several decades as a medical practitioner, served on healthcare committees and has been part-owner of a medical group.
“All put together, these experiences taught me to listen first, understand the facts, consider different perspectives and then make thoughtful decisions,” he said. “That is the same approach I’ll bring to the Livermore council.”
As the father of two, including a child with a developmental disabilities, Tadimeti said, he understands some of the challenges facing vulnerable members of the community and their caregivers.
Tadimeti said he prioritizes safe neighborhoods, supporting families and seniors, addressing housing and growth responsibly and sound fiscal management.
Housing, land use and development
Tadimeti said all levels of housing affordability are important and state housing mandates must be respected, but there must be a balance between housing development and city character.
He suggested the city consider allocate discretionary funds for rental vouchers.
However, Barrientos replied that the city doesn’t have a lot of discretionary funds.
Barrientos also expressed distaste for the term “affordable housing”, saying it doesn’t reflect actual affordability. Unless multiple families live together, Barrientos said, “no server could do it, no one from IHOP or anything can go buy one of these houses.”
Instead, there must be a federal policy shift to solve the issue of affordable housing, Barrientos said.
There are several local locations for unhoused individuals to seek services, such as Goodness Village, Shepherd’s Gate, Open Heart Refuge and Tri-Valley Haven, he said.
“People say because we offer those amenities that homeless are coming towards us, but we’re trying to meet the need,” Barrientos said.
The city can help, but it doesn’t build houses and it doesn’t have a lot of money to “fix the problem”, he said.
As for development outside the city, there are no compelling reasons to annex any land located east of Greenville Road and west of the South Bay Aqueduct for industrial use, Tadimeti said.
“We do not want urban sprawl,” he said, though he added there may be a future need to do so for economic purposes if industrial and commercial land in the city has been rezoned.
Dublin and Pleasanton have made moves to expand toward their western sides toward Livermore.
Dublin has pursued an extension of Dublin Boulevard to Livermore with the potential of limited commercial development on nearby property, but the city’s efforts stalled last fall after an Alameda County Superior Court judge ordered the city to revoke Measure II, the voter-approved measure granting Dublin City Council authority to OK the development, citing a violation of the state’s environmental laws.
This summer, the Pleasanton City Council initiated the process to annex the approximately 30-acre Arroyo Lago housing development on unincorporated county land in East Pleasanton.
Barrientos said he wants to see Livermore maintain its greenbelt, adding that the city is in the process of purchasing a “big chunk of property” from Wente Vineyards to maintain open space, although he did not say whether the property includes any parcels that were scheduled for negotiation during the closed session of the Livermore City Council meeting on July 27.
Public safety and economic development
Tadimeti and Barrientos both said they prioritize public safety, with the incumbent suggesting the city hire a few more police officers.
Businesses in Pleasanton and Danville have recently been burglarized, Tadimeti noted, and he suggested the city give discretionary funds to small businesses to enhance for things like security cameras and alarm systems.
Both candidates also expressed interest in attracting a business to Vasco Plaza to take the place of Rite Aid, which closed December 2023. The storefront is temporarily occupied by Halloween Outlet.
Tadimeti later added that safety is important to the city’s economic development, as it is key to enticing new businesses to open in the city and to keeping them in Livermore.
“I don’t think we have too much trouble with burglaries,” Barrientos replied.
Barrientos pointed to the cost of rent and the lack of visitors to Springtown as top challenges for economic development in northeast Livermore. There are people who have lived in Livermore for years, but they don’t know anything about Springtown, he said.
Barrientos said he has been endorsed by the Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter but has not received campaign money from “any political group or anything”.
Tadimeti said he has not accepted the endorsement of any special interest group, opposes accepting campaign money from special interest groups and has largely self-funded his campaign.
The candidates also discussed their stance on Proposition RTM, a sales tax proposed for multiple Bay Area counties to help fund public transportation agencies; the upcoming opening of the Springtown Community Park and Disc Golf Course; actions to promote transparency; fire and emergency preparedness; priorities in street safety and working relationships with agencies.
Moderated by Livermore Vine publisher Gina Channell Wilcox and associate publisher Jeremy Walsh via live webinar format, the candidate forum was initially scheduled for Sept. 30, but it was postponed to Oct. 5 due to technical difficulties.
A recording of the forum is available on the Livermore Vine YouTube page.
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