Submitted On:
Jan 21, 2025, 11:35AM PST
City Council Regular Meeting -
Submit your written public
comment
City of Pleasanton
Full Name
First Name:
Vicki
Last Name:
LaBarge
Email (this entry is disclosable
if included)
[email protected]
City Council Meeting Date
January 21, 2025
Meeting Type
Regular Meeting at 7 PM
Agenda Item Number
15 Comments
Mayor Balch, Council Members, and Staff,
I attended the first BAC meeting last week, January 16th, and was concerned that the meeting was neither televised nor recorded. For the sake of transparency, it would have been important to do so for the public. Additionally, the public notice about this meeting was insufficient. While it was listed on the website, no notifications were emailed. I only found out about the meeting when I received the email on January 16th about the regular meeting scheduled for January 21st and clicked on the link. It seems it would be difficult to be transparent when no notice goes out to the public.
Furthermore, the details behind the budget were lacking. There is over 4 million in non-departmental spending, and when asked for clarification, the Finance Director only gave a couple of examples. It will be extremely difficult for the BAC to come up with recommendations for expense reductions without the line item detail.
The presentation of the information was also unclear; expenses and revenues were mixed together without showing the connection between them. For example, it was stated that many library services are funding themselves through the collection of revenue, a chart showing this relationship would have been extremely helpful.
I was surprised that the Finance Director did not include any time, nor will provide any time, for revenue enhancement discussions.
She stated that it takes a long time to implement revenue-generating programs and that the focus is on the two-year budget at this time.
It is difficult to develop a budget based on just expenses and not include revenue generation.
I respectfully request that the City Council provide clear direction to staff to send emails to the public providing future dates of BAC meetings and town halls, to provide more in-depth details, and that future meetings are at the very least voice recorded and minutes taken.
Thank you for the time the members of the BAC are giving to our city. I hope they can provide guidance as our budget issues are navigated.
Sincerely,
Vicki LaBarge
Resident