RES 01063 - Laserfiche WebLink

Judie Johnson, 6289 Garner Court, and said she was present on behalf of affordable housing for Interfaith anC[ aisg.~I~ ~re, se~t on behalf of the St. Vincent DePaul SOCl~y. She takes a d~fferent ,new ~er housing 15 needed for senior citizens, affordable housing for teachers, fh'efighters, etc. She is present representing the Iow, low-income people. She is present representing those people who take care of the food that is eaten in restaurants and for those cleaning the table in that restaurant. She is present for those that are clerks in Walgreen's and Wal-Mart. The housing that Pleasanton has right now and the market that we have right now and the plans we have right now are not really adequate for the low, low-income people. They at St. Vincent DePanl have helped people by going into homes, seeing what the specific needs are, and helping people with some food, rent, and utilities. In the past year they have spent $13,714 on rent and $2,855 on lodging. There are so many people that work in Pleasanton that have lived here for years and years who cannot afford the affordable housing. It should be mandatory that affordable housing be built instead of paying a share of it because developers do not want to build it. There is no place for those people to live and they do not all have cars that can transport to and from the area. She strongly backed what Ms. Belding stated about creating the blue ribbon committee. Sue Cheney, 1920 Buckeye Court, is a 30 year resident of Pleasanton and remembers when the Heritage Days Parade was 20 minutes long and the only stop in town was the sign by Safeway. Her husband has practiced orthodontics in the City since 1970 and the City has provided her family a good living and a wonderful place in which to raise children. She felt Pleasanton has always been a place she has been proud of to call home and has bragged about it for years, primarily because of the people here and the values evident in the quality of whatever the City does. She said she is present tonight to say that she wants to continue to be proud of the City. Pleasanton has always been a family town, but now families are being split apart. Our grown children and grandchildren must live away fi'om us and our elderly parents cannot afford to live nearby. Right now we have a window of opportunity to meet this challenge, to continue to be the Pleasanton so many of us remembers. She encouraged Council to appoint a blue ribbon committee. Kevin Rabon, 3127 Washoe Way, is a full time student and part time UPS employee. His wife is also a full time student and part time employee at Los Positas. He said he was one of the lucky ones. He has a landlady that cares about people more than money and has allowed Section 8 to come into the picture. She is, however, a rare individual, because most landlords do not. He knows of families that have dropped out of school and moved out of Pleasanton because they cannot afford the rent. Right now he knows of 10 adults living in a two-bedroom apartment just to make ends meet. He felt that as a community we must come together with solutions to the problem and he represents the silent masses that are too ashamed to come forward and speag for themselves. Howard Neely, 448 Amador Court, discussed values. He stated that in 1966 he was fortunate enough to build a house in Pleasanton. As a young teacher returning from the Army he was able to obtain a GI loan for 5 1/8%. His maximum loan payment was Ploasanton City Council 10 04/17/01 Minutes