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Holiday Fund
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VOL. XXI, NUMBER 42 • JANUARY 22, 2021                                                    WWW.PLEASANTONWEEKLY.COM
                                                                                          WWW

                                          Save Mount Diablo expands
                                         offerings in its 2021 hike series
                                                      Page 14

                                                                5 NEWS   PUSD’s reopening plans continue to take shape

                                                                5 NEWS   Livermore Lab working on ‘universal’ vaccine

                                                                16 SPORTS    ‘Let Them Play’ movement arrives in town
Holiday Fund concludes - Pleasanton Weekly
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Page 2 • January 22, 2021 • Pleasanton Weekly
Holiday Fund concludes - Pleasanton Weekly
VALLEY VIEWS                                   BY DOLORES FOX CIARDELLI

           A beacon of light
W           e are fortunate here to be
            surrounded by natural
            beauty — the Pleasanton
Ridge, Augustin Bernal Community
Park and the Lake Del Valle area just
                                         “blasphemous and profane.” Al-
                                         though the suggestion to rename
                                         the mountain was dismissed, appar-
                                         ently some agree with the negative
                                         connotation. Diablo Yoga Center
outside our doors. And right about       was named thus when it opened in
now we need something to rest our        1996, but a decade later, new own-
eyes on besides our four walls, at-      ers renamed it Danville Yoga and
tractive though they may be.             Wellness Center.
   My personal favorite view — and          I prefer to think of the word as its
getaway — is Mount Diablo. I have        meaning in “daredevil,” “handsome
wonderful memories of camping            as the devil,” or having a “devil-may-
in the state park when my kids           care” attitude. These uses speak to
were young. It was a blessedly short     being rakish or adventurous rather
drive to meet other families for a       than evil. Then there is “the devil
fun evening, sharing an outdoor          made me do it.”
meal, roasting marshmallows and             The peak is definitely worth a
singing around a campfire. In the        visit — its observation platform
morning we loved hiking Rock City,       allows a 360-degree view, said to
the youngsters scrambling over the       include the San Francisco Bay on a
boulders.                                clear day. The grand old sandstone
   Outdoor areas remain open dur-        Summit Building, constructed by
ing the pandemic although camp-          the Civilian Conservation Corps in
grounds and visitor centers are          1939-42, houses the historic bea-
closed. But even from afar, gazing       con, first lit in 1928 as a signal for
up at Mount D lightens my heart.         pilots of the newfangled aircraft.
Perhaps it’s thinking about the Na-         The beacon lighting was stopped
tive Americans who considered it to      after the attack on Pearl Harbor on
be the birthplace of the world. Some     Dec. 7, 1941, and it remained dark
reserved the top of the mountain for     for more than 20 years. It was relit
special worshiping purposes, and         as part of a ceremony at the sum-
even today, it remains a meaningful      mit Dec. 7, 1964, honoring the
place.                                   survivors of Pearl Harbor. Each year
   The mountain also provided            afterward, survivors gathered for a
for them — it was a fertile hunt-        beacon lighting.
ing ground for deer, elk and ante-          Then last Easter Sunday, Save
lope, and also rife with nuts and        Mount Diablo, the nonprofit land
seeds, including bountiful fall acorn    trust that preserves lands on and
harvests.                                around the mountain, lit the beacon
   The original inhabitants had          and continued to do so each Sunday
many names for the mountain in           night to light up the night — and
their own languages. Then came           our spirits — as we coped with the
the Spanish, and one of their early      COVID-19 pandemic. The beacon
names for the peak was “Cerro Alto       was kept dark the week prior to
de los Bolbones” or “High Point of       Dec. 7 so the Pearl Harbor lighting
the Volvon Indians,” a Bay Miwok         would be special.
group that inhabited the area.              But the lighting has resumed and
   The reference to “Diablo,” or         will continue “for as long as the pan-
devil, has been tracked to 1805          demic rages,” according to the Save
when Spanish military troops             Mount Diablo website, to remind
searched for Native Americans who        everyone to lift their eyes to the light
had run away from a mission, ac-         and to nature, and also to thank
cording to SaveMountDiablo.org.          heroes in these troubling times.
The soldiers encountered a camp of          We need a high point to savor
Chupcan people and surrounded it,        right now when we are at a low
but somehow during the night, they
escaped unseen and unheard.
                                         point as pandemic deaths in the
                                         U.S. pass 400,000, variants are                What is local journalism worth to you?
   The Spanish soldiers, spooked,        appearing and the vaccination
tagged the site “Monte del Diablo,”      rollout is struggling. Some might                Keep strong journalism alive in your community.
meaning “thicket of the devil” but       say we are trapped in an unsightly
English-speaking newcomers mis-          ditch. But we must keep our eyes             With local retail advertising steadily declining around the nation, the
takenly assumed “monte” meant            on the peak. Q                               future of local journalism is in the hands of our readers. Only with your
“mountain” and this linguistic ac-          Editor’s note: Dolores Fox Ciardelli is
cident gave the Tri-Valley its Devil      Tri-Valley Life editor for the Pleasanton
                                                                                      direct support as a subscribing member can we retain our professional
Mountain.                                   Weekly. Her column, “Valley Views,”       journalists and continue to provide insightful and engaging coverage of
   A few years back, someone chal-        appears in the paper on the second and      the community.
lenged the name, saying it was                        fourth Fridays of the month.
                                                                                      For just $10 a month, or 33 cents a day, you can do your part to ensure that a
                                                                                      free and responsible press continues to hold institutions accountable.
About the Cover                                                                              Sign up for membership at pleasantonweekly.com/join
Save Mount Diablo recently announced its 2021 Discover Diablo hike
series, which has added hikes, rock climbing and mountain biking activities
in response to growing demand — all while keeping COVID-19 safety
                                                                                                                                               Danville
                                                                                                                                               San
                                                                                                                                               .com
                                                                                                                                                    Ramon
protocols in place. Photo by Al Johnson/Save Mount Diablo. Cover design
by Paul Llewellyn.                                    Vol. XXI, Number 42
                                                                                                                                      Pleasanton Weekly • January 22, 2021 • Page 3
Holiday Fund concludes - Pleasanton Weekly
$82M+
                                                                                        volume Wb•“”œœ 20•“
                                                                                                                    Streetwise
                                                                                                92
                                                                                                                                                                              ASKED AROUND TOWN
                                                                                      transactions Wb•“”œœ 20•“
                                                                                                                    What are some of the first things
                                                                                               78 +                 you’re excited to do as soon as
                                                                                       years of local experience

                                                                                                                      you’ve been fully vaccinated?
           ”“›š@x\nTM@K UmI]MÛ/@`.@_b`                                                                                                       Guin Van Dyke
                      !bmmUn @`zb`nq@qMn M@rqzŇ/bjTUnqUI@qUb`                                                                               Property manager
              ˜ MKmbb_nŎ˜à˜ @qTmbb_nŎ˜Û—™š/ŎUnqMKqÚđ•Û›››Û“““                                                                     Travel! I cannot wait to get on an airplane
                                                                                                                                                  bound for Hawaii. It will feel like going
                                                                                                                                                  home again.

                                                                                                                                                  Simon Cohen
                                                                                                                                                  Laser systems/optical engineer
                                                                                                                                                  Travel and eat indoors at restaurants. We
                                                                                                                                                  had such grand plans for the summer of
                                                                                                                                                  2020; Israel, Paris and a cruise on the Black
                                        +! !Ý                                                                                                  Sea. My beautiful wife Sharon and I are
                                                                                                                                                  really looking forward to getting to go on
                              `Mnn2T@`\9MM\9UqT”–#RRMmnÝ                                                                                this epic trip that got canceled last year due
                                                                                                                                                  to COVID. I miss my family in Israel. It will
          UmU`SqTMmUSTqqM@__@\MnqTMxbm]KbRKURRMmM`IMà                                                                                   be so nice to be amongst family and friends
                                                                                                                                                  without having to wear a mask.
    | tsW_WWbU dto aBo^Os O{lOosWpO œ Wal_OaObsWbU sVO lodlOo psoBsOU|Û
  zOKtoBsO B tbWntO KdaloOVObpWyO aBo^OsWbU l_Bb sVBs ldpWsWdbp OBKV dT                                                                Mahbob Yar
  dto _WpsWbUp MWTTOoObs_| sd oOBKV Wsp sBoUOs BtMWObKO pd sVBs dto pO__Oop                                                           Chemist/validation scientist
  JObOTWs Toda B VWUVOo pB_O loWKO Wb _Opp sWaOà /O__WbU B VdaO MdOpbäs                                                              I can’t wait to be able to see and spend
  VByO sd JOKdal_WKBsOMà9O_dyOsdKdaOWbOBo_|ÛtsW_WOdtoO{lOoWObKOœ                                                                   time with and hug my family members and
                                                                                                                                                  friends who are not in my “social bubble.”
  BMM yB_tOWb |dto l_BbbWbU lVBpO œ zdo^ sdzBoMBpaddsVOolodKOpp                                                                       Once I’ve been able to that, everything else
  TodapsBossdTWbWpVà                                                                                                                          is just icing on the cake.

                         /OOWsTdo|dtopO_TÛyWpWs”“›šBz^pVOBMàKda

  T |dtĆoO _dd^WbU sd pO__ |dto VdaO Wb sVO bO{s pW{ adbsVpÛ _dd^ bdTtosVOoÝ
            9OĆ__aB{WaWOsVOldsObsWB_dT|dtoVdaOWbsVWpVdsaBo^OsÝ                                                                        Julia Thompson
                                                                                                                                                  Attorney
                          WyOtpBKB__sdMB|Bsœ•˜ø—““øš˜––                                                                                   First, I’ll travel to see family. And then
                                                                                                                                                  hopefully go to an in-person college
                                                                                                                                                  signing day. And I’m so looking forward to
                              .M@KzqbãMq#rqbR bKSMãá                                                                                        attending a real, live (as opposed to virtual)
                                                                                                                                                  graduation ceremony for my high school
  tpsBpzOBoOVO_lWbUsVOBJdyOVdaOdzbOoadyOdtsdTsVOBoOBÛzWsVsVO                                                                      senior in June.
  oOKObs lBppWbU dT +odldpWsWdb ”œÛ aBb| pO_OKsOM B_WTdobWBbp BoO JOWbU
  UWyObsVO dlldostbWs| sd KBpV Wb db sVOWo bOps OUU œ soBbpTOo sVOWo O{WpsWbUÛ
  _dz lodlOos| sB{ JBpO sd Bb| Kdtbs| zWsVWb B_WTdobWBà 9VOsVOo |dt bd
  _dbUOo bOOM Bp atKVplBKOdoBoOsWoOMdTsVOVWUVOoKdpsdT_WyWbUÛ|dto_dz                                                               Mike Haas Customer relations
  lodlOos| sB{ JBpO Wp bd _dbUOo ^OOlWbU |dt soBllOM Wb |dto VdaOà .O_WOT                                                            For sure, I’ll be going to some kind of a live
                                                                                                                                                  ball game in an indoor stadium or arena. I
  WpVOoOà                                                                                                                                       don’t even care what sport it is. Could be
                                                                                                                                                  basketball, football — you name it. Even
  MMWsWdbB__|ÛWT|dtäyOJOObBVdaOdzbOoTdoadoOsVBb”“|OBopÛ|dtäyO_W^O_|                                                                 tennis. Just a big, noisy, indoor venue, chock
  MdtJ_OM|dtoOntWs|à9VOsVOo|dtäoO_dd^WbUsd_dzOo|dtoKdpsdT_WyWbUÛUOs                                                                  full of sports fanatics like myself who are
  adoOVdaOTdo|dtoadbO|œ_WyOBJOssOo_WTOÛbdzWpsVOsWaOà t|OopBoO                                                                     cheering and making lots of noise, and not
  BKsWyO_|_dd^WbUTdoVdaOpsdJt|BbMsVOoOäpbdsObdtUVptll_|à daJWbWbU                                                                    worrying about maintaining a safe social
                                                                                                                                                  distance.
  sVWpzWsVdtosOBaäpbO{sø_OyO_aBo^OsWbUpsoBsOU|Û|dtKBbzWbJWUJ|aB^WbU
  BadyOoWUVsbdzà
                                                                                                                                                                            —Compiled by Nancy and Jeff Lewis
     /tJpKoWJOsddtoWbsOoOps_WpsÛoOKOWyOtlMBsOpÛBbM_OBobadoOBJdtsVdz
        +odldpWsWdb”œzW__WalBKsdto_dKB_aBo^OsBbMVdz|dtKBbsB^O                                           Have a Streetwise question? Email editor@PleasantonWeekly.com
         BMyBbsBUOdTsVWpdTTOoWbUsdadyOdbsd|dtobO{sMOpsWbBsWdbà
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Page 4 • January 22, 2021 • Pleasanton Weekly
Holiday Fund concludes - Pleasanton Weekly
Newsfront
DIGEST                                      Pleasanton Unified’s plans for reopening
State of the District
   Registration is now open for
the annual Pleasanton Partner-
                                                 schools continue to take shape
ships in Education Foundation
(PPIE) State of the School Dis-
                                                           High school principals are making alternate plans for graduation this year
trict, being held virtually next                  BY JULIA BAUM                plans to eventually return to the        students would be on campus two           staffing and vaccinations.

                                       P
Wednesday (Jan. 27) at 1 p.m.                 lans to reopen for in-person     classroom.                               weeks after the county has been              PUSD will also receive about
   Presented via Zoom this year               learning at Pleasanton Unified      Ed Diolazo, assistant superinten-     in the red tier for 14 days. Third        $950,000 in new federal Elementary
due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
                                              School District took center-     dent of student support services,        through fifth grade would return a        and Secondary School Emergency
the second annual event will fea-
ture an address by Superinten-         stage during the Board of Trustees’     told the board last week that Gov.       week later, then grades 6 through 12      Relief (ESSER) funding, from a pool
dent David Haglund about the           first regular online meeting of the     Gavin Newsom’s plan to reopen            the following week.                       of approximately $6.8 billion allo-
status and future of Pleasanton        year.                                   schools released in late December           New legislation proposed as part       cated to California schools based on
Unified School District and a             While Alameda County remains         “pretty much aligned to what we          of the Safe Schools for All plan          Title 1 eligibility.
presentation of the PUSD annual        in the state’s purple tier of COVID-    already approved for when we’re          would deem schools open for in-              Assistant superintendent of busi-
report.                                19 monitoring and the Bay Area’s        able to reopen,” by staggering the       person instruction eligible for addi-     ness services Ahmad Sheikholeslami
   Newly sworn-in Mayor Karla          regional intensive care unit (ICU)      reopening of elementary grades and       tional funding. The funds would be        said the district is “not a very large
Brown will also “highlight plans       capacity has been in the low sin-       focusing on small cohorts at the sec-    one-time in nature and are meant to       Title 1 eligibility,” and funds will
to enhance city-school relations,”     gle digits for most of this month,      ondary level.                            support a district’s in-person instruc-   most likely arrive in the 2021-22
followed by a presentation of
                                       instruction continues for PUSD             On the district’s return timeline,    tion efforts with mandatory COVID-        fiscal year.
the annual Pillars of Pleasanton
awards, which recognize leading        students via remote learning, but       preschoolers and transitional kin-       19 testing, personal protective
local businesses for their support     PUSD officials are progressing with     dergarten through second-grade           equipment (PPE), contact tracing,               See SCHOOLS on Page 8
of local schools through fundrais-
ing, volunteerism and more.
   To learn more or register for
either event, visit www.ppie.org.
                                                                                                                                                                      Council
Toxic mushrooms                                                                                                                                                      waiving
   Toxic mushrooms spring up in
numbers after the first sustained
                                                                                                                                                                   impact fees
East Bay rains, so park officials
issued a wild mushroom warning                                                                                                                                    for new ADUs
last week.
   Two of the globe’s most toxic                                                                                                                                     State law prompts
mushrooms, the Western de-
stroying angel and death cap,                                                                                                                                      changes; city prohibits
grow in the East Bay, but other                                                                                                                                       2nd-story units
toxic ones grow here, too.
   Symptoms of mushroom poi-
soning from the Western destroy-                                                                                                                                             BY JULIA BAUM
ing angel and death cap begin as                                                                                                                                     Pleasanton homeowners will no
severe stomach distress and prog-                                                                                                                                 longer pay development impact
ress to liver and kidney failure if                                                                                                                               fees when adding a smaller acces-
a person doesn’t get treatment                                                                                                                                    sory dwelling unit (ADU) to their
immediately. It may take half a                                                                                                                                   property, under proposed updates
day for symptoms to appear.                                                                                                                                       to the city’s master fee schedule
   The two mushrooms can kill
                                                                                                                                                                  endorsed by the City Council in a
some animals, too.
             —Bay City News Service                                                                                                                               4-1 vote on Tuesday night.
                                                                                                                                              CITY OF DUBLIN         The vote followed more than
                                          COVID memorial                                                                                                          an hour of staff discussion and
Pelosi picks Swalwell                                                                                                                                             amending the original motion to
   Local U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell          The Wave in Dublin was illuminated in amber on Tuesday evening as city officials joined local and state                  prohibit second-story ADUs, in-
(D-Livermore) was selected by             agencies across the country in honoring the lives lost to the coronavirus during the pandemic. To date there
                                                                                                                                                                  cluding those built atop detached
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to             have been more than 400,000 deaths due to COVID-19 reported in the United States, and millions more
serve as an impeachment manag-            Americans have suffered from the disease over the past year.                                                            garages, with Councilman Jack
er for the upcoming trial of now-                                                                                                                                 Balch casting the sole dissenting
former President Donald Trump.                                                                                                                                    vote.
   The U.S. House of Represen-                                                                                                                                       Since Jan. 1, California cities
tatives impeached Trump in a
mostly party-line vote (232-197)               Lab works on ‘universal’ vaccine                                                                                   must now approve new detached
                                                                                                                                                                  ADUs with only a building per-
on Jan. 13 on one article of incite-                                                                                                                              mit — as is done for converted
ment of insurrection in the wake                                  LLNL forms new partnership with UK firm                                                         ADUs — and without applying any
of a mob of Trump supporters                    BY JEREMY WALSH                broad-spectrum coronavirus vaccine       collaboration will bring together         standards except a maximum 800
breaching the U.S. Capitol on
                                          Lawrence Livermore National Lab-     candidate,” said Kimbell Duncan,         ConserV’s expertise in identifying an-    square feet, 16-foot height limit
Jan. 6 while attempting to pre-
vent congressional certification of    oratory announced this week a new       CEO of ConserV Bioscience Limited,       tigens and LLNL’s nanolipoprotein         and 4-foot setbacks.
the Nov. 3 presidential election,      collaboration with a United King-       the UK-based company specializing        particle (NLP) delivery system, ac-          Adopting the second-story ADU
which Trump lost. It marked            dom company to develop a broad-         in late-stage vaccine development        cording to officials at the labs.         exclusion is one way for the city
Trump’s second impeachment by          spectrum or “universal” coronavirus     that is now partnering with LLNL            The vaccine construct consists of      to retain some local control over
the House.                             vaccine.                                researchers.                             conserved immunoreactive regions          increased density, according to Vice
   Swalwell will be among a team          The scientists’ work aims to pro-       “We have identified regions within    from external and internal coro-          Mayor Julie Testa.
of nine impeachment managers           vide broader protection against coro-   the proteins of the virus that are not   navirus proteins, from each virus            “I support ADUs. I think done
presenting House Democrats’            navirus pathogens of human and ani-     susceptible to change and if effec-      genus, encoded in messenger RNA,          right and done with consideration
case to the U.S. Senate for con-       mal origin, including but not limited   tive, the vaccine promises to protect    or mRNA, officials said. “The mRNA        of the neighborhood, they’re a very
viction — proceedings that will
                                       to MERS, SARS and SARS-CoV-2            against a broad spectrum of cur-         construct will be formulated with         good asset to our community,”
take place with Trump out of
office, since new President Joe        — the virus that causes COVID-19.       rent circulating coronavirus strains     LLNL’s propriety nanolipoprotein          Testa said. “But the way this law
Biden was sworn in on Wednes-             “We are pleased to be working        and future emergent ones,” Duncan        particle vehicle prior to injection,      mandates us and takes that away,
day. A hearing schedule is not yet     with the Biosciences and Biotechnol-    added in a joint message.
known. Q                               ogy Division at LLNL to develop our        On the technical side, the                     See LAB on Page 10                      See COUNCIL on Page 6

                                                                                                                                                        Pleasanton Weekly • January 22, 2021 • Page 5
Holiday Fund concludes - Pleasanton Weekly
NEWSFRONT

                           Fate of Livermore’s Equity and Inclusion
                                Working Group still undecided
                             City accepts new round of applications after recent controversy over group’s flag discussion
         BY CIERRA BAILEY                this?” Kiick continued, adding that     the working group should move             the city was considering the Thin        bought into the propaganda and
   The city of Livermore is accept-      she believes the group “absolutely      forward.                                  Blue Line flag — which is used to        academia-based lie that there is sys-
ing new applications for its Equity      should still exist,” but the council        “We are right now four members;       express support for law enforce-         temic racism born out of something
and Inclusion Working Group fol-         should consider possible conse-         by the next meeting we’ll be a full       ment, but is considered by others        they like to call white privilege,”
lowing a City Council update last        quences of expanding it.                complement. This seems to me              as a symbol of intimidation — as         she said during public comment.
week.                                       Following the meeting, the city      to be exceedingly important work          a symbol of hate. At the time, Wo-       “This is a bully tactic Marxists like
   During the council’s Jan. 11          reopened applications on Jan. 13        that we’re doing,” Munro said.            erner and Munro said the notes had       to use to silence you.”
regular meeting, city staff asked        and will accept them through today          “There seems to have been a little    been taken out of context.                  Woerner clarified that the con-
for direction from the council on        (Jan. 22).                              kerfuffle back in December that led          As a result of the debate, several    versations and ideas that the work-
next steps for the working group,           When the public working group        to this becoming more contentious         community members shared their           ing group has had so far have not
including whether to reopen ap-          was initially formed last year, the     opening up than we might have en-         input about the group during pub-        been implemented in any form of
plications for more people to join.      Council Subcommittee Equity and         joyed,” she continued. “That said,        lic comment at the Dec. 14 regular       policy or action by the council.
   “I think opening (the applica-        Inclusion — co-chaired by now-          it’s opened up and we have applica-       council meeting. Some expressed             “We have to maybe reset our ex-
tion period) back up will poten-         Mayor Bob Woerner and now-Vice          tions and that’s great; however, how      support for its efforts, while oth-      pectations in general as to what we
tially make sense but I think that       Mayor Trish Munro — accepted            we go forward with this seems to          ers called for it to be disbanded        can do and on what kind of time
we do need to consider where is          all 48 people who submitted ap-         me to be a longer discussion that         altogether.                              frame and how,” Woerner said. “In
this going and again what is the         plications by the Aug. 7 deadline.      we should have when we have the              Jackie Cota was one of the resi-      other areas, we have advisory bod-
goal?” Councilmember Brittni Kiick       However, the current council has        full complement.”                         dents who spoke out against the          ies and we have a structure; this
asked.                                   not yet decided whether it will take        Last month, the working group         working group in December (iden-         one we created to hear from people
   “Let’s say we get 300 applicants;     the same approach with the new set      was at the center of a social me-         tifying herself at the time as Jackie    and of course, we heard a lot.”
are we going to take 300 appli-          of applicants.                          dia-fueled controversy after notes        Faith). She returned on Jan. 11 to          “I would say at this stage, where
cants? Are we going to limit down           Munro proposed last week wait-       from a Nov. 17 meeting were ref-          echo her opposition to the group.        we’re at, is we’ve been listening to
those 300 before we say abso-            ing until the council has appoint-      erenced in an article by pro-law             “This subcommittee made up of         what people said, and I think we
lutely ‘yes’? Are there any restraints   ed its fifth member before hav-         enforcement website Law Enforce-          principals, vice principals, thera-
that we’re considering putting on        ing a larger discussion about how       ment Today, which suggested that          pists and misguided activists have                See EQUITY on Page 7

Livermore delays council applicant interviews until next week
                                                Hearing postponed until Monday after death of vice mayor’s father
         BY CIERRA BAILEY                regular meeting.                        part asks them to explain why they        Patterson and former city planning          Additionally, University of Cali-
   The Livermore City Council has           Woerner successfully campaigned      should be selected for the role.          commissioner Neal Pann.                  fornia at Merced student Faith Nor-
temporarily postponed the inter-         for mayor this fall in the middle of       As initially planned, the chosen          Other candidates include Liver-       dvik, Mendenhall Middle School
view process for selecting a new         the four-year regular council term      appointee would take their oath of        more Valley Performing Arts Cen-         teacher Kyra Pervere, sales repre-
council member to fill the open seat     he won at-large in 2018 — which         office during next Monday’s meet-         ter education manager Arthur Bar-        sentative Eric Payne, Ace Comput-
vacated by Bob Woerner upon his          was the city’s final election before    ing after the council’s deliberations.    inque, retired Lawrence Livermore        er Systems, Inc. owner Alex Shezifi,
ascension to mayor.                      switching to district-based voting.     Woerner said the appointee could          National Laboratory scientist/pro-       insurance agent Jennifer Spriggs,
   The four sitting council members      His mayoral victory left a vacancy on   be sworn in that same evening for         gram manager Regina Bonanno,             Tri-Valley Haven communica-
were scheduled to interview all 21       the council that 21 people are vying    the public on Zoom and then again         Village High School teacher Evan         tions specialist Samantha Valdez
candidates who applied for the ap-       for.                                    in person the next day by the city        Branning, Baca Properties CFO Jef-       and Musco Family Olive Company
pointed position this Tuesday in a          Each candidate will have up to       clerk, “to make sure there is no          frey Hateley, life and business coach    marketing brand manager Jennifer
special public virtual meeting, but      five minutes to answer a single         ambiguity as to satisfying the legal      Abigail Helfer, Chef’s Warehouse         Vierra are among the variety of
the proceedings were pushed out          two-part question during the pub-       requirements.”                            vice president Greg Janssen, Glaxo-      applicants. Q
following the death of Vice Mayor        lic interviews. The first part of the      The list of applicants consists of a   SmithKline executive Dennis Kai,             Editor’s note: Due to an editing error,
Trish Munro’s father, according to       question will ask them to identify      diverse group of community mem-           seamstress Christine Lusty, FABS          last week’s story “Livermore to interview
the city’s website.                      what they think are the most im-        bers, including previous City Coun-       Group, Inc. property manager Me-              all 21 applicants for council vacancy”
   The interviews are now set for        portant decisions facing the council    cil election candidates, including Re-    lissa Lynch, Apple Inc. data engineer        listed an incorrect day of the week for
next Monday (Jan. 25), which also        over the course of the term, which      altor and former police officer Mony      Darci Martin and security analyst            the original interview date of Jan. 19.
coincides with the council’s next        ends in December 2022. The second       Nop, medical account manager Pete         Nathaniel Moore.                                      The Weekly regrets the error.

        COUNCIL                          completely within an existing single-
                                         family home, or built as an extension
                                                                                 residence for units approved be-
                                                                                 tween 2020 and 2025, according to
                                                                                                                              “If I bought a unit specifically to
                                                                                                                           be able to see the ridge and now I
                                                                                                                                                                    mandate isn’t possible, “what is fea-
                                                                                                                                                                    sible is to make a statement for our
        Continued from Page 5
                                         or a detached unit. Junior accessory    city senior planner Shweta Bonn.          can’t see the ridge anymore, I would     community and for state legislators
to say we’re just going to give that     dwelling units (JADUs) are simi-           “However, the Planning Commis-         be very upset and it would change        by doing the absolute bare mini-
blanket approval on the ADU over         lar but located completely within a     sion recommended that owner-oc-           my property value, so I just can’t       mum required by the state law,” and
the garage that we do not have to        single-family dwelling, and are no      cupancy requirements be removed           support that,” Brown said.               urged the council “to maintain as
give, knowing that we won’t be           more than 500 square feet in size.      for all ADUs, irrespective of when           Balch replied, “If I bought a home    much control as possible.”
able to individualize for a neighbor-       Over recent years, supporters        they were approved,” Bonn said,           and planned to let my child stay            “You don’t need to accept change
hood or a neighbor, I think is a big     have advocated for the units as a       adding that owner-occupancy be-           there or move into it and an ADU         in the owner occupancy except
mistake.”                                viable solution to the regional af-     tween the primary residence and a         was approved by the (planned-unit        for new ADUs. If you do so, you
   Under the fee update, the city        fordable housing crisis, with shorter   JADU can still be required, though.       development) as an already existing      will essentially be extending the
would no longer receive impact           construction timelines and less ex-        Balch objected to prohibiting          condition and now it’s being pro-        state and approving their mandate
fees for new ADUs measuring 749          pense to build.                         new second-story ADUs, and re-            hibited, it would decrease the value     beyond 2025,” Zampierin said.
square feet or less. Reduced impact         City staff said the intent of the    ferred to the Walnut Hills neighbor-      of my lot.”                              “Please err on the side of neighbors
fees would still be received for         new state legislation is to provide     hood as “a perfect example” of how           Brown countered, “If I bought         and neighborhoods wherever pos-
ADUs totaling 750 square feet or         greater flexibility when it comes to    the units can complement, rather          a unit and it didn’t have a place        sible. Don’t turn a poor state law
more, as required by the state. A        building and converting existing        than conflict, with the community.        over the garage and now I want           into poor city municipal codes.”
deed restriction would also no lon-      space to ADUs and JADUs, limit             Mayor Karla Brown said, “I’ve          to insist that I can get one, I don’t       The 4-1 vote Tuesday approved
ger be required, and existing deeds      impact fees and streamline approvals    seen many good units over a garage        think that’s reasonable. It affects      the first reading of the proposed
could be extinguished by the city at     by eliminating discretionary review.    and I’ve seen some really bad ones,”      your neighbors.”                         ordinance to enact the fee changes.
the property owner’s request.               The new law also requires no         adding that neighboring homeown-             Resident Paul Zampierin, who          The second reading and final adop-
   Known also as in-law units,           owner-occupancy can be im-              ers need to be considered before          phoned in during public comment,         tion is expected to take place at the
among other names, ADUs may be           posed on the ADU of the primary         approving a second-level ADU.             said that while rejecting the state      next council meeting. Q

Page 6 • January 22, 2021 • Pleasanton Weekly
Holiday Fund concludes - Pleasanton Weekly
NEWSFRONT

     LVJUSD nurses receive first round
          of COVID-19 vaccine
       Staff inoculations are ‘critically important’ part of school reopening
           BY JULIA BAUM                  vaccine rollout, including health care    students and staff to stay healthy,”
   Livermore Valley Joint Unified         workers, long-term care patients,         Bowers added.
School District made significant          and individuals aged 65 or older.            Last month, the district submit-
strides toward reopening when sev-        Phase 1B aims to vaccinate those          ted and received approval for its
eral district nurses received the first   at risk for exposure due to working       school reopening plan by the Al-
of two doses of the COVID-19 vac-         in education, child care, emergency       ameda County Office of Education.
cine last week.                           services or food and agriculture.         However, increased restrictions by
   The first round of vaccinations are        LVJUSD Superintendent Kelly           county public health officials and                                                                                 LVJUSD
“another tool in our toolbelt as we       Bowers said it’s “critically important    being set back to the state’s purple      From left: Livermore school nurses Julie Howard, Carolyn Reggiardo and
look towards the safe reopening of our    that our school nurses be vaccinated,     tier have paused that plan for now.       Shelley Casey ready to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations.
schools,” district COVID-19 liaison       as they are specially trained and cer-    LVJUSD cannot reopen until the
Carolyn Reggiardo said in a statement.    tified to assess staff and students for   county has been in the red tier for 14
   “Our hope is that when more doses      COVID-19, conduct contact tracing,        consecutive days, and met all other
are released (in the next phase), we      administer our COVID screening            ACOE requirements.
will be ready to help vaccinate school    tests, and eventually administer vac-        Knowing school nurses “are first
staff to protect against COVID-19,”       cines to employees.”                      in line for the vaccine gives me con-
Reggiardo said.                               “We are relying on them heavily       fidence that we will be able to return
   Nearly 1 million people have been      during this pandemic and we need          to on-campus teaching in the near
inoculated during Phase 1A of the         them to stay healthy in order for our     future,” Bowers said. Q
                                                                                                                                                         HIGHLIGHTS
             Murray Elementary featured                                                                                         Planning Commission
                                                                                                                                Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.
             on ‘Ellen DeGeneres Show’                                                                                          Consistent with State and County Orders regarding the COVID-19
                                                                                                                                pandemic this will be a virtual meeting. Instructions on how to
                       Dublin teachers receive array of gifts from show                                                         WHY[PJPWH[LHUKVќLYJVTTLU[Z^PSSILH]HPSHISL1HU\HY`^OLU
                                                                                                                                the agenda is posted on the City’s website at: cityofpleasantonca.
           BY JULIA BAUM                  Murray Elementary teachers.               Android television, a three-piece
                                                                                                                                gov/gov/depts/cd/planning/commission/planning_agenda.asp
   Nearly a dozen teachers and prin-         After recovering from her bout         luggage set and a $300 Nordstrom
cipal Meghan Boriskin at Murray El-       with coronavirus, DeGeneres re-           gift card.
                                                                                                                                • P20-0992, Lindsey Leblanc for Futures Academy,
ementary School in Dublin received        cently resumed work and the                  Dublin Unified School District
                                                                                                                                  4301 Hacienda Drive, Suite 120
a special late Christmas present dur-     school was able to film the final         gave a “special thanks” to Murray
                                                                                                                                  Application for Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to operate a
ing a segment that aired on “The          segment on Jan. 12. The clip aired        third-grade teacher Grace Samara in
                                                                                                                                  private school with more than 20 students located at 4301
Ellen DeGeneres Show” last week.          the following day, and DeGeneres          a statement and said, “Grace was the
                                                                                                                                  Hacienda Drive, Suite 120. Zoning is PUD-I/C-O (Planned Unit
   Each year, the show recognizes         said, “Thanks for all you do,” after      one who made this all happen. Her
                                                                                                                                  +L]LSVWTLU[0UK\Z[YPHS*VTTLYJPHS6ѝJL+PZ[YPJ[
the good deeds of people who im-          introducing the group, who ap-            efforts added a little fun into a chal-
prove the lives of others, and shows      peared virtually in a Zoom grid           lenging school year and provided
their gratitude by giving them an         on screen while holding up hand           recognition for the work teachers do                  COMMISSION RECRUITMENT
array of gifts during their annual “12    made signs bearing messages of            across the world, in Dublin, and at
                                                                                                                                The City Council recruits and appoints residents of Pleasanton to a
Days of Christmas” special.               thanks and appreciation.                  Murray.”
                                                                                                                                variety of boards and commissions, allowing them to contribute to
   This year, essential workers such         Among the gifts the teachers re-          A clip from the Jan. 13 episode of
                                                                                                                                HUKPUÅ\LUJLKLJPZPVUZHќLJ[PUN[OLJP[`
as nurses, first responders, food bank    ceived were a six-day vacation at         the show featuring the Murray teach-
workers and teachers were high-           a Mexican resort, a 65-inch TCL           ers can be viewed at EllenTube.com. Q       providing advice and feedback on important community issues.
lighted. On what was meant to be                                                                                                Applicants must reside within the Pleasanton city limits.
the final day of filming last month;                                                                                            -VYHKKP[PVUHSPUMVYTH[PVUJVU[HJ[[OL6ѝJLVM[OL*P[`*SLYRH[
however, show host Ellen DeGe-                                                                                                  925-931-5027
neres found out she had COVID-19,
putting production on pause and                                                                                                          Applications are now being accepted for an
postponing the “12 Days” segment                                                                                                                unscheduled vacancy on the
— the same one meant to feature the                                                                                                 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE COUNTY OF ALAMEDA
                                                                                                                                             (HACA) HOUSING COMMISSION

          EQUITY                                                                                                                Applications are due by Monday, February 1, 2021
        Continued from Page 6                                                                                                   The Commission is composed of 12 members: one from
                                                                                                                                each of the nine cities that HACA serves, one representing
also want to clarify that the fact                                                                                              the unincorporated areas and two HACA tenants. The HACA’s
that we’ve listened is not the same                                                                                             Governing Board, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors,
thing as the council taking action,                                                                                             YH[PÄLZUVTPUH[PVU[V[OL/(*(/V\ZPUN*VTTPZZPVUHZ
for sure, and it’s not even the same                                                                                            recommended by the respective city council.
thing as the subcommittee making
a recommendation to the council                                                                                                 HACA operates a number of programs administered by the U.S.
to take action. We’ve done none of                                                                                              Department of Housing and Urban Development with the HACA’s
those things,” the mayor added.                                                                                                 mission to deliver housing, housing assistance and related services
   Woerner agreed with waiting                                                                                                  to low-, very low-, and extremely low-income persons; elderly
until a fifth council member is ap-                                                                                             WLYZVUZHUKWLYZVUZ^P[O]LYPÄHISLKPZHIPSP[PLZ[VLUHISL[OLT[V
pointed to have a more expansive                                                                                                live as independently as possible within their economic resources;
discussion but he asked staff to                                                                                                HUK[VWLYZVUZ^OVHYLUV[LSKLYS`VYKVUV[OH]L]LYPÄHISL
develop some structural recom-                                                                                                  disabilities, for the time necessary to enable them to become self-
mendations for council to consider                                                                                              Z\ѝJPLU[HUKLJVUVTPJHSS`PUKLWLUKLU[
at its next regular meeting, to be                                                                                              Apply online on the City of Pleasanton website at http://www.
held on Monday (Jan. 25).                                                                                                       cityofpleasantonca.gov/gov/depts/clerk/boards/default.asp
   More information on the work-
ing group and subcommittee can
be found on the “Equity and In-                                                                                                              To explore more about Pleasanton,
clusion” page on the city website,                                                                                                         visit us at www.cityofpleasantonca.gov
www.cityoflivermore.net. Q
                                                                                                                                                            Pleasanton Weekly • January 22, 2021 • Page 7
Holiday Fund concludes - Pleasanton Weekly
NEWSFRONT

 BART able to balance budget with lifeline from federal funding
                                         Nine-figure deficits still loom as agency grapples with 90% drop in ridership
   Federal relief funding is expected    and Economic Security Act, a hiring          Simi cautioned that while rider-     windfall of relief funding in the com-      Ames went on to suggest the
to cover BART’s previously projected     freeze and an incentivized retirement     ship should eventually rebound as       ing weeks once President Joe Biden       agency may have to rethink its place
budget deficit, preventing the transit   program.                                  more Bay Area transit riders get        begins work in office.                   in the Bay Area’s transit ecosystem
agency from having to lay off staff or      “The takeaway from (fiscal year        vaccinated against the coronavirus         Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion        post-pandemic if that work-from-
reduce service, the agency’s budget      2021) is that while it remains a          and return to work, the timeline        stimulus bill would include $20 bil-     home shift remains permanent.
officials said at BART’s Board of Di-    challenge, we know we can close           and extent of that ridership recovery   lion for beleaguered transit agencies       “There’s going to be a shift, I
rectors meeting last week.               the year balanced,” BART budget           remains volatile.                       across the country, a portion of which   think, in the way people live, how
   The agency is expected to re-         director Christopher Simi said dur-          Board Director Janice Li expressed   would likely trickle to the Bay Area.    they commute and then the efficacy
ceive in excess of $55 million from      ing the Jan. 14 board meeting. “And       gratitude that the board did not           “Clearly it will change in two        of the vaccine,” Ames said.
the federal stimulus bill passed in      with most of our cost structure in        make reactionary budget choices to-     weeks and two weeks after that and          Board Director Bevan Dufty ar-
December, which will make up for         place for the remainder of the year,      ward the end of the 2020 calendar       two weeks after that and two weeks       gued the agency is on the right path
BART’s loss of roughly 90% of its        we need to shift our focus to ‘22         year, when board members floated        after that,” Board Director Rebecca      by turning its focus to the next two
ridership revenue as a result of the     and ‘23, which present much greater       the possibility of limiting or tempo-   Saltzman said of the budget update.      fiscal years and balancing its current
COVID-19 pandemic.                       challenges.”                              rarily stopping weekend service or         Board Director Liz Ames noted         budget.
   BART budget officials had, in Oc-        Without taking future federal relief   laying off workers amid concerns        that the pandemic has led some of           “We’ll have challenges but I’m
tober, projected a deficit in upwards    funding into account, BART’s pro-         that more relief funding wouldn’t be    the Bay Area’s largest technology        confident going forward,” he said.
of $33 million by the time fiscal year   jected budget deficit by the end of       approved.                               companies to allow their employees       “I think everything that we hoped
2021 ends on June 30, even when          fiscal year 2023 will total nearly $500      “We made the right decision, and     to work from home permanently,           would happen has been happening
taking into account more than $250       million, even when accounting for a       the numbers here show that,” Li         potentially hampering BART’s hopes       and hopefully will continue to hap-
million in pandemic relief funding       projected 465% increase in ridership      said.                                   of ever reaching its pre-pandemic        pen.” Q
from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief         revenue between now and then.                The agency could also see another    ridership again.                                    —Eli Walsh, BCN Foundation

            SCHOOLS                      a proposed second round of fund-
                                         ing with similar deadlines for early
                                                                                   urgency on one main priority.”
                                                                                     Duggan continued, “We’ve al-
                                                                                                                           for both levels that would provide
                                                                                                                           both remote and hybrid instruc-
                                                                                                                                                                    protocols and creating traffic flow
                                                                                                                                                                    patterns in hallways and other
            Continued from Page 5
                                         March and that the district is “really    ready had to apply a new grading        tion, including in-person instruc-       shared spaces to facilitate physical
   “However, we can expend to-           tracking that closely.”                   system because of the increase of       tion on assigned days of the week.       distancing.
wards those efforts, and then those         PUSD would need to satisfy sev-        Ds and Fs ... the failing grades is        With middle- and high-school             Though the likelihood of second-
monies will be back billed from          eral “key components” to receive          a much stronger indicator of how        students normally changing class-        ary students returning to school in
the federal program in the com-          state funding including establish-        remote school is actually going.”       rooms several times a day, PUSD          the current school year is unclear,
ing year,” Sheikholeslami told the       ing memorandums of understand-              Several students also phoned in;      has been faced with the challenge        all three principals at Foothill, Ama-
board on Jan. 14.                        ing with the district’s two labor         one urged caution with returning        of figuring out how to safely ac-        dor Valley and Village high schools
   If state lawmakers approve New-       groups, the Association of Pleasan-       to campus while the other said the      commodate in-person instruction          are making alternate plans for grad-
som’s plan, schools that submit          ton Teachers and California School        wellness of student mental health       and minimize mingling among as-          uation ceremonies in spring.
a reopening plan by Feb. 1 and           Employees Association, and meet-          outweighed the risk of COVID-19.        signed small cohorts.                       Officials recently held several
reopen by Feb. 15 would be eli-          ing the COVID testing mandates.                                                      Other details in district docu-       online secondary site reopening
                                                                                          In other business
gible to receive about $450 per             “That’s where we’ll have to look                                               ments on secondary reopening             task force and community town
average daily attendance (ADA) of        at the cost impacts of what that             • In a separate discussion related   models were similar to those in          hall meetings, including one last
additional funding, less the inde-       would be, where they’d get tested         to school reopening that evening,       the district-wide reopening up-          week. A virtual student town hall is
pendent learning students.               and all the protocols related to          the trustees received a report on the   date, including key considerations       scheduled to take place on Monday
   “That ADA is for the entire           that. Yet the funds are one time and      secondary transition to returning to    for health and safety like cleaning      (Jan. 25). Q
school. So as long as we have the        meant to support COVID testing            in-person learning, with particular
students return in the K-5 pro-          and contact tracing,” Sheikholesla-       focus on a recent district survey.
gram by those deadlines, we’d be         mi said.                                     Most of the 1,911 parents who
eligible for that funding,” Sheik-          PUSD also received $6.44 mil-          responded to the online survey
holeslami said, adding there is also     lion in one-time Learning Loss Mit-       last month said remote learning for
                                         igation funds to offset the impact        their secondary student was going
                                         of the pandemic, with about 75%           “Well” (24.6%), “Somewhat well”
                                         committed or expended to date.            (32.9%), or “Better than expected”
  FD #429                                Funds were mainly used for PPE            (28.5%), while 14% selected “Not
       LOCALLY OWNED                     as well as materials and technology       well at all.”
    AND OPERATED SINCE 1891
                                         related to distance learning.                The social connection with stu-
   Burial & Cremation                       The district’s operational pre-        dents and teachers was one of the
                                         paredness and planning for safety         key motivating factors parents also
    Celebration of Life                  and cleaning, ventilation and air         cited when they thought about
         Services                        quality, child nutrition services,        their student returning to school,
   Reception Facilities                  technology, and transportation re-        along with academic support and
                                         mains mostly the same, with new           mental health concerns.
   Advance Planning                      information added accordingly.               Respondents also indicated lack
       Made Easy                            During public comment on Jan.          of social interaction and too much
    for a free consultation              14, some parents expressed their          screen time were also major con-
     or in-home visit call               frustration with changing pub-            cerns, followed by challenges with
                                         lic health guidelines and concern         feedback on student progress.
                                         about the effects of extended school         A total of 949 secondary school
                                         closures.                                 students responded at similar rates
                                            Kate Duggan, mother of two             as parents did to how remote learn-
                                         PUSD students, said, “My concern          ing was going for them, though
                                         is the current plan to reopen, the        only 7% said it wasn’t working out                                                                      CULINARY ANGELS
                                         length of the staggered approach          well at all.                            Checking out the new digs
                                         and the new hurdles introduced at            Students also said social connec-
                                         every turn from the county. Now we        tions and academic support were         From left: Pleasanton Mayor Karla Brown joins Culinary Angels Executive
             Deanna Moser                                                                                                  Director Lisa McNaney and chef Claudia Castillo Holley in putting the
                                         may not be able to go back because        their top two priorities for going
                                                                                                                           final touches on meals for residents with severe health challenges in the
            925.846.5624                 of a new cleaning standard. It’s an       back to school, and their main          Tri-Valley. Brown dropped in to volunteer some meal prep time at Culinary
  to view our facilities visit:          impossible bar to reach for reopen-       challenges with distance learning       Angels’ new kitchen site in the Sunflower Hill at Irby Ranch community.
  www.grahamhitch.com                    ing schools this calendar school          are the lack of face-to-face interac-   Nonprofit Culinary Angels prepares and delivers delicious and nutritious
                                         year, and the district seems rather       tion and excessive screen time.         meals at no cost to patients and their caregivers living in Dublin, Livermore,
     4167 First Street,
                                         passive about it versus applying any         In July, the board approved plans    and Pleasanton.
        Pleasanton FD#429
Page 8 • January 22, 2021 • Pleasanton Weekly
Holiday Fund concludes - Pleasanton Weekly
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                                                                                           Pleasanton Weekly • January 22, 2021 • Page 9
Holiday Fund concludes - Pleasanton Weekly
NEWSFRONT

    San Ramon residents file appeal
    over proposed Costco gas station
             Challenge cites traffic, environmental, procedural concerns
         BY RYAN J. DEGAN               residents,” Safer San Ramon posted           signage on all sides, an approxi-
   A group of residents has filed an    on its Facebook page. “Why doesn’t           mately 200-square-foot control fa-
appeal with the city over the San       Costco have to do what much smaller          cility and associated site improve-
Ramon Planning Commission’s de-         gas stations are forced to do and con-       ments and landscape enhancement
cision to approve a 32-pump Costco      duct a full and comprehensive EIR so         on the 2.88-acre lot after tearing
gas station, citing traffic and envi-   that residents know all of the impacts       down the old Office Depot building.
ronmental concerns among other          this will have on traffic, air quality          Among a number of potential
potential issues.                       and public health? Why is the City           problems, petitioners took particu-                                                                        CITY OF SAN RAMON
   Filed on Dec. 21 by San Ramon’s      giving Costco special treatment?”            lar issue with negative impacts the      Rendering shows design concept for proposed Costco gas station on Fostoria
Reza Mahmoodi on behalf of resi-           Originally approved by the Plan-          gas station would have on traffic cir-   Way in San Ramon, across the street from the Costco Wholesale store in the
dential group Safer San Ramon, the      ning Commission on Dec. 15, the              culation in the region, finding that     Danville town limits.
appeal challenges the approval of the   gas station would be located at the          the city’s review of traffic impacts
project, stating that impacts related   site of the Office Depot building            was less than satisfactory.              those of facilities co-located on the       workers and residents in the project
to traffic, the environment and qual-   on 3111 Fostoria Way and serve                  Arguing that a traffic study should   warehouse property.”                        area,” the appeal reads.
ity of life would be detrimental to     the Costco Wholesale store located           have been conducted by an inde-             Petitioners further claimed that            Other items the appeal lists as
the community, further stating that     across the city’s border within Dan-         pendent entity, appellants are con-      the traffic report prepared for the         remaining unresolved related to
the review process itself was flawed.   ville town limits — the Danville             cerned that since the gas station is     city was not created from an objec-         the project include: complete en-
   “We sadly have to appeal the         Costco store located at 3150 Fos-            located outside of the main Costco       tive source and have called for addi-       vironmental impact report (EIR),
MEGA Costco gas station to the City     toria Way currently does not have a          grounds — about a street away            tional review from an independent           fiscal impact study, cumulative air
Council since the unelected Plan-       gas station.                                 from the store — additional traffic      source.                                     quality study, independent study of
ning Commission put Costco’s greed         The project would also include            congestion will most likely occur.          Specifically, the petitioners said       impact on local businesses, hours
before the needs and concerns of        a 12,663-square-foot canopy with                “When a fueling facility is placed    the report’s author, Kittleson Associ-      of operations, fuel delivery sched-
                                                                                     within the parking lot of a Cost-        ates, has “a long-term arrangement”         ule, queuing capacity for each fuel
                                                                                     co warehouse store, and is highly        with Costco where the firm “pro-            pump, demand (which is based on
                                                                                     popular or experiences big surges        vides advocacy transportation anal-         regional members and not Danville
           Bettie Jean (Erker) Hunt                                                  in demand and large queues form,
                                                                                     those queues are generally confined
                                                                                                                              yses that cast new Costco projects in
                                                                                                                              the most favorable light plausible.”
                                                                                                                                                                          membership), construction emis-
                                                                                                                                                                          sions of pollutants exceeding Bay
               May 19, 1934 – January 12, 2021                                       to some of the parking aisles of the        Appellants have also listed poten-       Area guidelines, and a wholesale
                                                                                     warehouse store parking lot,” the        tial health and environmental con-          warehouse facility for gasoline was
       Bettie Jean (Foster) (Erker)
                                                                                     appeal noted, adding:                    cerns as additional motivations for         not considered in the North Camino
    Hunt, age 86, formerly of
                                                                                        “When a Costco fueling facility is    their appeal, expressing concerns           Ramon Specific Plan.
    Pleasanton and Groveland, CA
                                                                                     located on a site separated from the     over emissions from vehicles visiting          City staff have not officially set
    passed away on January 12, 2021.
                                                                                     warehouse store property, there is a     the gas station.                            a date for when the appeal will be
       Bettie was born in Montebello,
                                                                                     reasonable likelihood that the trip         “For example, emissions associ-          heard by the City Council; however,
    CA and soon after she moved to
                                                                                     characteristics of the patrons of the    ated with travel and idling of 9,500        plans to review the case are tenta-
    Alameda, CA where she spent
                                                                                     separated site will be different from    vehicles per day is of concern to           tively scheduled for February. Q
    her younger years growing
    up. She met her first husband,
    Howard Erker, in Alameda
    and they spent their first years                                                               LAB                        We hope to advance the vaccine can-         in Wuhan, China in December 2019
                                                                                             Continued from Page 5            didate to human trials as quickly as        has killed more than 2 million peo-
    of marriage in the Bay Area.
                                                                                                                              possible,” LLNL biologist Amy Rasley        ple worldwide and infected some
    Most of their married life was
                                                                                     allowing freeze drying of both com-      said in a statement.                        86-million-plus more during the on-
    spent raising three children in
                                                                                     ponents separately to avoid cold            “Our NLP technology is very ver-         going pandemic.
    Pleasanton, CA. Bettie decided to go to work once her children
                                                                                     chain storage and transport issues.”     satile, so we anticipate that we can           Genomic analysis of SARS-CoV-2
    entered school. She worked in the Pleasanton School District
                                                                                        The NLPs, which are water-soluble     tune our platform formulation to            indicates that the virus accumulates
    in various jobs, most prominent was being a teacher’s aide. She
                                                                                     molecules that are 6 to 30 billionths    produce safe and effective vaccine          two mutations a month, and recent
    also went back to school herself and received her AA degree                      of a meter in size and resemble HDL      candidates,” added fellow LLNL              variants have been found to drasti-
    in Child Development. Bettie enjoyed working with her fellow                     particles in humans, are a nanotech-     principal investigator Nicholas             cally increase infectivity, according
    teachers and students for over 30 years.                                         nology (also known as nanodiscs)         Fischer, who is also working on the         to the labs. The 501.V2 mutation
       Bettie and Howard were married for 35 years until Howard’s                    that LLNL scientists have been using     project in Livermore alongside Wei          originating in South Africa “has been
    passing in 1986.                                                                 as a delivery platform for tulare-       He, Matthew Coleman and Sandra              shown to reduce antibody recogni-
       Bettie was fortunate enough to meet and later marry Larry                     mia and chlamydia vaccines that are      Peters.                                     tion and could therefore affect the ef-
    Hunt. They enjoyed a wonderful country club life at Pine                         under development, according to the         Coronaviruses, which are a group         ficacy of the licensed vaccines,” they
    Mountain Lake in Groveland, CA for 29 years. The two of them                     lab.                                     of single-stranded RNA viruses, can         said.
    spent the last few months in Brentwood, CA.                                         “We look forward to combining         cause respiratory tract infections and         While the newly released inocu-
       Bettie belonged to many groups, two of them being the VFW                     our nanolipoprotein particle technol-    other mild-to-lethal symptoms in hu-        lations focus on SARS-CoV-2, the
    Auxilary and the R.O.O.F.B.B. group.                                             ogy with ConserV’s mRNA construct        mans — and the novel strain of coro-        recent mutations and other develop-
       Bettie was a loving mother and mother-in-law to Chris Erker,                  encoding conserved viral epitopes.       navirus (SARS-CoV-2) first identified       ments make the work toward creat-
    Craig and Debbie Erker, and Corrie and Paul Sundgren. She                                                                                                             ing a universal vaccine even more
    absolutely loved being Nana to Patrick and Catrina Erker,                                                                                                             important, according to the labs.
    Megan and RJ Natal, William Erker, Kyle, Thomas, Kent, and                                                                                                               “A broad-spectrum vaccine is a
    Katie Sundgren. She also had the pleasure of being great-Nana                                                                                                         necessary next step to protect against
    to June and Grace Natal.                                                                                                                                              continued mutations of SARS-CoV-2
       Bettie also stepped in as a mother figure to Lynne Larned                                                                                                          as well as strains that jump from
    after the passing of Lynne’s mother at an early age.                                                                                                                  other host to humans or human
       Bettie is preceded in death by her sister Gloria Pratt and                                                                                                         strains that become more virulent
    brother Tom Foster. She is survived by her sister Alice Hord.                                                                                                         and pose a pandemic threat,” they
       Bettie’s greatest joys were being a wife, mother, mother-in-                                                                                                       said.
    law, Nana, sister, Aunt, and best friend. She will be greatly                                                                                                            For its part, in addition to its uni-
    missed by all.                                                                                                                                                        versal coronavirus vaccine candidate,
       A celebration of Bettie’s life will be planned at a future date                                                                                                    ConserV’s pipeline includes vaccine
    in Pleasanton.                                                                                                                                                        candidates to protect against broad-
       In lieu of flowers or gifts, donations to Alzheimer’s Association                                                                                                  spectrum influenza, mosquito-borne
    or any charity of your choice would be appreciated.                                                                                              JULIE RUSSELL/LLNL   diseases, HIV, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis
                                                           PA I D   O B I T U A RY
                                                                                     LLNL researchers Nick Fischer and Amy Rasley are characterizing nanolipoprotein      B, Rotavirus and Chagas. Q
                                                                                     particle vaccine formulations using a dynamic light-scattering instrument.
Page 10 • January 22, 2021 • Pleasanton Weekly
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