Archive for March, 2010
by John M. Zukoski on March 30, 2010 | 
53 Comments | Topics: City Hall · Opinions
The City of Dublin, CA, is expected to have a $1.2M general fund deficit in 2010 and a more sizable $3M-$4.7M deficit in 2011. Dublin’s budget trainwreck is due to the fact that people are buying fewer cars and consumer goods in Dublin, our assessed home values have decreased, and Dublin’s Police and Fire expenses have continued to skyrocket at a breakneck pace. Dublin gets about half of its revenue from property taxes and about a quarter from sales tax revenue. The rest of our City’s funding comes from a variety of sources such as impact, permit, and use fees.
Dublin’s property tax receipts are projected to dip a little more than $1.5M in 2010, compared to that in 2009. Although this decrease is significant, property tax receipts will still be higher in 2010 than they were in 2007. While Dublin’s property tax funding has decreased gradually, our sales tax revenue has fallen off a cliff. Dublin averaged roughly $14M per year in sales tax revenue during the 2004-2008 period. Dublin’s Finance Director Paul Rankin now expects 2010′s sales tax revenue to come in at just over $10.5M, which is about a 25% decline from the average during the boom years.
Dublin’s precious impact fee pipeline ran dry in 2009 and has not started to flow since that time. During the housing boom years of 2004-2008, Dublin was pulling in roughly $12M per year. For 2010 we are only expecting about $2.7M in impact fees.
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by Around Dublin Team on March 29, 2010 | 1 Comment | Topics: Development
Located within the southwestern area of the approved Positano at Fallon Village, a master planned development in Dublin, CA, D.R. Horton’s Fiorano at Positano is a new residential community covering approximately 9.2 acres with 43 single-family homes. If constructed as planned, Positano at Fallon Village will have a grand total of 1,043 detached residential units. The lots in Fiorano at Positano are a minimum 5,000 square feet. All of them have usable yard space like those seen with more conventional single-family homes. Fiorano at Positano offers a variety of exterior elevations including Craftsman, Cottage, French Country, Spanish Colonial and European Eclectic, per plan that complement the beautiful surroundings of Dublin’s rolling hills.
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by John M. Zukoski on March 27, 2010 | No Comments | Topics: Announcements · Things To Do
Do you love animals and have an interest in becoming a volunteer? Tri-Valley Animal Rescue (TVAR) will be holding an orientation for new volunteers. Come and learn about current volunteer opportunities, including socializing shelter animals, becoming a dog/cat foster, helping at adoption events, helping with fundraising and marketing efforts, and plenty of other supportive roles available for you to participate in!
Tri-Valley Animal Rescue is a 100% non-profit, 100% volunteer organization, whose mission is to end the unnecessary euthanasia of homeless animals. TVAR cooperates with area shelters and rescue groups, primarily the East County Animal Shelter in Dublin, to provide homeless animals with socialization, foster homes, medical care, and an opportunity for a second chance. The organization has no payroll or overhead expenses, making it possible for all resources to be focused completely on the animals.
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by John M. Zukoski on March 25, 2010 | 18 Comments | Topics: Things To Do
Family fun has arrived in Dublin, CA! Butler Amusements’ family-friendly carnival will be in Dublin from Thursday, March 25th, until Sunday, March 28th. This year’s carnival is located directly across from Hacienda Crossings on the corner of Hacienda Drive and Martinelli Way. Admission to the carnival is free. Each person may choose to pay $25 per visit for unlimited carnival rides or use 3 to 5 coupons for each ride. The cost of one coupon is $1.
Among the 17 carnival rides at Butler Amusements in Dublin are the traditional Century Wheel, Carousel, Kids Coaster, and Tilt-a-Whirl. Butler will also have the more adrenaline-inducing rides like the Cliffhanger for teenagers and the Super Shot, a freefall ride that is similar to the Edge at Great America.
Kids and adults alike are welcome to try their luck at winning prizes with the midway games including favorites like Water Races and Balloon Darts. Butler also has plenty of traditional carnival snack, meal, and beverage options for visitors.
The hours for this year’s carnival are:
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by Around Dublin Team on March 25, 2010 | No Comments | Topics: Announcements · Schools
Dr. Douglas Treadway has joined the Tri-Valley Learning Corporation (TVLC) to help in several areas critical to the ongoing development of three world-class schools. He offers his expertise in creating innovative, sustainable facilities and learning environments to the TVLC facilities projects. Dr. Treadway will be also be working to formalize partnerships with top-tier regional higher education institutions to provide students at Livermore Valley Charter Preparatory (LVCP) in Livermore, CA, and Tassajara Preparatory High School (Tassajara Prep) in Dublin, CA, with the opportunity to take university-accredited courses and receive full college credit from many of the premier colleges and universities throughout the region. As a first step toward that overarching goal, Dr. Treadway will bring the research and expertise of Stanford University as a higher education partner in the planning and construction of the Livermore Valley Charter School (LVCS) and LVCP facilities. By applying the latest research and best industry practices, Stanford University will be helping LVCS and LVCP build state-of-the-art schools that maximize learning for all students in Livermore, CA, and beyond.
Dr. Treadway is currently serving as Director of the China Extension Program for the University of California Berkeley. Dr. Treadway is also currently serving as Interim President of San Jose City College, a community college with 35,000 students in San Jose, CA. In addition, he has a private consulting practice specializing in organizational and individual leadership development and serves as a visiting professor in Leadership Studies at the University of San Diego. Dr. Treadway received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Northwestern University. He received two post‐doctoral fellowships, one to study international environmental sustainability at Harvard University and the other with the Kellogg Foundation and the University of Minnesota to study the higher education and economic development relationship in Asia/Pacific Rim countries.
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by John M. Zukoski on March 22, 2010 | 127 Comments | Topics: Schools
Based on the latest data available for Tri-Valley high schools from the California Department of Education (CDE), students from high schools in Pleasanton, Danville, and San Ramon, CA, have significantly outperformed those from high schools in Dublin and Livermore, CA, on the SAT Reasoning Test (SAT). This observation is consistent with the trend in API and the trend in AP exam scores for Tri-Valley high schools. SAT results for 2005-2008 reveal that Dublin High School students scored lower on average than students at Livermore High School and Granada High School. Additionally, students at Dublin High School have progressively scored lower on the SAT each year from 2005-2006 to 2007-2008.
The SAT is a standardized test used by nearly all college admissions throughout the United States to evaluate a student’s college readiness. Owned, published, and developed by the College Board, the SAT consists of three distinct sections that objectively measure the critical reading, mathematical reasoning, and writing skills of the students. Each year, more than two million students take the SAT.
SAT scores are arguably the most reliable measure of a high school’s ability to prepare their students for college. The scores from each of the three sections can range from 200 to 800, so the best possible total score is 2400. Since the average score for each section is roughly 500, the average total score is about 1500. Nearly all traditional four-year colleges require SAT scores as part of the application process for high school students.
In general, most high school students must achieve a combined SAT score of at least 1500 for admissions into the mid-tier colleges. To be considered by the top-tier colleges and universities like Stanford and MIT, students need a total score of at least 2000.
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by John M. Zukoski on March 21, 2010 | No Comments | Topics: Local Issues
The number of crimes reported in Dublin, CA, dropped for the second month in a row. The decrease in activities was mostly due to the fact that February is a short month. Of the 172 crimes reported for February, almost half were theft, 39% were traffic-related or categorized as quality of life crimes, and the remaining 14% were violence and sexual offenses. While Dublin saw a slight shift away from cases involving theft to traffic and quality of life crimes, there have been a few disturbing developments involving prostitution and breaking & entering activities this past month.
Dublin Police Services worked with the Pleasanton Police Department on a prostitution sting in front of the Extended Stay and Hyatt Summerfield Suites in Pleasanton, CA, on Chabot Drive. On February 18, 2010, Dublin Police Services made a total of eight arrests from that prostitution sting. Dublin Police Services also made arrests on February 9, 2010, on the corner of Hopyard Road and Owens Drive in Pleasanton and on February 10th in Dublin next to Shannon Park and St. Raymond’s Church. Both incidents were categorized as other sexual offenses.
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by John M. Zukoski on March 19, 2010 | 31 Comments | Topics: City Hall · Local Issues
The City of Dublin, CA, has been working diligently to prepare residents for a new City tax on the next ballot measure. The proceeds from the new tax will be used to fill the projected annual budget gaps resulting from Dublin’s sustained period of declining property and sales tax revenues and increasing police and fire expenses. For 2010 alone, Dublin is expected to pay an additional $1.74M for police and fire services, while general fund revenues are projected to plummet a hearty 13.9% for the same period.
Cities like Dublin have the power to impose a variety of taxes. These taxes can be either general or special, depending on how the money will be used. General taxes only require a simple majority of voters for approval, while special taxes require two-thirds of voters. Special taxes must be used for the specific purpose for which they are imposed.
Dublin has two likely options to consider in an effort to bridge the projected budget shortfall. The projected budget shortfall can be filled with either an increase in sales tax rate or an additional parcel tax.
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by Around Dublin Team on March 18, 2010 | No Comments | Topics: Announcements · Schools
Livermore Valley Charter Preparatory (LVCP) has just hired Dr. Jeffrey Watkins as its Principal in Livermore, CA. Dr. Watkins comes to LVCP as the newly appointed Principal for the 2010-2011 school year from Buckeye, AZ, with over seven years as a high school teacher and 8 years as a secondary school administrator in Southern California and Arizona. Dr. Watkins has a BA in economics from The Ohio State University, an MS in Special Education from National University, and an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from Pepperdine University in 2006. In addition, Dr. Watkins holds CA Clear credentials in Administration, Social Science and Special Education, and Arizona credentials as a Principal and a specialist. He has also been a successful varsity and collegiate soccer coach.
As an administrator and consultant, Dr. Watkins developed inclusive models for students with disabilities, resulting in CA Distinguished School designations, improved test scores, and duplication at other sites. In 2004 and 2006, Dr. Watkins presented at Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) national conferences on school wide reform in New Orleans and Chicago, respectively. Areas of interest are producing high quality learning experiences while supporting struggling students, and nutritional impacts on student learning. As LVCP Principal, Dr. Watkins will emphasize the importance of differentiated instruction through a rigorous, college preparatory curriculum.
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